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Dominik Wiedman was hoping for some kind of miraculous upheaval in his life.  He may have had it coming in the form of an enormous career change, if you could call his ten year contract with the Falmouth Falcons a career... it was more accurately a sentencing after all, albeit a very gracious one.  He had spent the last ten years making an arse out of himself and getting into fights, both in the public eye, then the last six months literally stalking his one-night-stand ex-girlfriend Niobe Thursby who was a Half-Blood.  Only in the last two moons had his life begun to drastically change - one barely skirted travesty after the next leaving his mind just slightly out of orbit.

With his contract coming up for review and the possibility of a relationship with Dolores St. James sparkling on the horizon, Dominik was trying to figure out what angle to take with his impending future.  What did he want out of life, is what he had to wonder.  He was also, strangely, thirty-five days shy of his thirtieth birthday, which had certainly helped to galvanize his sense of concern.  His family expected little Pureblood babies soon, and he hadn't even married a suitable wife.  He hadn't married any wife at all.  He wasn't even engaged!

It was a bit of a beautiful mess he'd made for himself; revolting against his current calling since the end of the war, he had essentially failed to grow up.  Dominik knew that this was his chance to finally beat his life into submission.  How to start and what to do was as yet a mystery, but in his first go at soul-searching he turned up a curious answer:  Liadan O Morain.

Liadan had always commanded something within him to clean up, behave, and act a gentleman.  She was very frank about her high expectations and his respect for her necessitated his acquiescence to her demands.  Today he had shaven, dressed well in something other than black, and had even combed his hair.  He came bearing flowers even more beautiful than his last bouquet, again from his mother's garden.  They were markedly more vibrant and exotic in their nature, the giant purple star shapes dazzling to the senses.

He hoped to walk the farm with her and see how she had been fairing since the misfortune she had suffered.  They had all suffered it really, which only went to show how at the mercy their community was to the generations-old farm that had always provided them with the best.

Greeted at the door by her elf, he found himself led into the same sitting room as before - familiar territory, though he did wonder if he could have a look at the remainder of the house or walk the fields. 

1.	Thread title has been taken from this very suiting song by James Marsters.

Liadan had been genuinely flattered when Dominik had sent an owl, reaching out to her in his time of need. She knew that he was a man with a questionable reputation, especially among the pureblood community. His family seemed to think that it was time for him to settle down, and with the quidditch contract coming to a close everyone was curious as to what he would do. Liadan had heard mentions of it in her own social circles, and even in the sports section of the Daily Prophet.

Needless to say she was curious about how the conversations of the day would go. As a pureblood woman she was no stranger to gossip, and knew that she would end up holding some true golden nuggets of information before the day was out. Liadan's goal was not to trumpet Dominik's business to the entire wizarding world, but if any of her closest friends had questions to ask- she would answer them.

The sitting room which Mr. Wiedman had been led to was already filled with bouquets of flowers. Mr. Whitman had been sending them to her regularly since they had started owling earlier in the month, and had promised that he would send a new bouquet every day until they saw one another again. The sitting room was, therefore, currently boasting seven fabulous and ostentatious flower displays (Liadan had wanted to place them somewhere that any of her guests would see them and be curious).

As soon as her house elf announced his presence, Liadan found her way down to the sitting room. She was dressed far more casually than usual, in a simple dark gray gown. Typically Liadan would not receive guests dressed in such a way- but she felt no overwhelming urge to impress Dominik, and did not want to intimidate him with her usual attire. Even Liadan's hair was allowed to flow, instead of being carefully arranged atop her head.

"Mr. Wiedman! How wonderful to see you!" Liadan greeted as she swept into the sitting room. "You look so handsome! Really, imagine all the pretty little ladies you'd have falling in line if more of your pictures had you looking like this!" She smiled sweetly at him, and took a seat in one of the large arm chairs. "What beautiful flowers!" she commented. "Fetch us a vase," she said to one of the house elves.

Dominik found himself broadly smiling, charmed by her approachable manner.  He nodded once and handed the flowers to an eager elf and, in the next instant, Dominik was made glad that he'd taken the additional time with his bouquet - looking round the sitting room it seemed she had been no stranger to the most beautiful arrangements made in London in recent days.  It certainly did its part to brighten the room and spark one's curiosities, the impressive array of flowers in her sitting room, though the host of the parlour was just as pleasing to look at and Dom's gaze found its way back to her soon enough.  He lowered himself carefully onto another of her deep arm chairs and gave a partial, semi-embarrassed smile. 

"Thank you," said Dominik, surprised to find himself feeling bashful.  "It looks as though you're not a stranger to beautiful flower arrangements," he observed.  "You must have very many Wizards fawning over you, Liadan.  I wonder how you've the time to meet with a bloke of my sort."  His tone was marginally teasing, a healthy dose of humour displaying his gratitude for her audience.  He was not trying to court her, though if you weren't careful it certainly could have looked that way.  Dominik was at the best of times slightly awkward around women (when not in alpha mode) and it would have been easy to mistake his careful and uncharacteristic preening with another of his unrequited obsessions.  The trouble was that he had far too much respect for Liadan to consider himself anywhere close to being in her league.   

"I'm happy to be here, though.  Life... well it's been interesting, Liadan.  But before I get too into why I'm here... how have you been?  How's the farm, everything?"

Liadan smiled when he commented on the flowers, and gave a tinkling laugh when he said there were many wizards fawning over her. "One would think, wouldn't they?" she commented. "These are actually all from one wizard. I've been receiving a bouquet a day from Mr. Whitman." Liadan saw no reason to lie about who the flowers were coming from. "He does have excellent taste in floral arrangements, I have to admit." Not that she would complain even if they were not beautiful- the idea of any influential man sending her flowers every day was too exciting to complain about.

"And I've all the time to meet with such a long time family friend, and I'm glad to see you. I feel as though I do not socialize nearly as often as I should, especially with the people who matter." But with her business finally recovering she was busier than she had been.

He asked how she had been, and how the farm was, and Liadan smiled. "I've been quite well, actually," she told him. "The Farm is finally recovering- whatever happened is over and the ingredients are back up to snuff and the number of creatures is slowly increasing. It's a lot of hard work to get everyone to believe in us again. I often wonder how we've managed to stay afloat considering the tragedy that is always striking!" First with her father's arrest and now with this. The name of the business had certainly been dragged through the mud quite a bit.

"And between you and I, if things continue to go well in other areas of my life, I may find myself engaged sometime in the next few months." Though to whom was yet to be seen.

"But enough of me and my trivial little life, tell me about you! How have you been? It has been such a long time since you and I have seen one another. I trust you are doing well? How is Dazmond and the rest of your family?"

Dominik was reassured by the restored importance she gave him, acknowledging that even if they hadn't been meeting regularly in recent years, they were long-time family friends and that could not be changed.  Connections through the family were so important to Dominik that this subtle reinforcement held great weight for him.  He instantly began to feel more at ease.

"That is so wonderful to hear, Liadan," said Dominik.  "As always, if there's any way that I can be of assistance to you or your farm, I'm all yours.  Of course, if nothing else, my word in the community will always be in favour of the work that you do here."  He smiled and dipped his head shortly in response to her asking after his family.

"We're well," he said.  "Dazmond is facing some challenges with her own business, actually, but she - like you - is, of course, resilient.  I'm sure that she'll also come out stronger for it, given enough time.  My parents are looking forward to the Summer months since my cousin Liviana is coming home.  Actually, late next month the two of us will be celebrating our birthdays together, so I'll have an invitation for you once I know more about that."

Dominik looked down at his boots and sighed, his optimism faltering with the reminder of his upcoming thirtieth birthday.  He decided he may as well speak openly of his consternation, given that she'd asked and that it was part of the reason he had come to see her in the first place.  "I -" he started, pausing heavily.  "I'm turning thirty, and I'm afraid I haven't a lot to show for that.  I should have been following your example long ago in considering my prospects for marriage and a family of my own.  Even just thinking about what on earth I'd do when this bloody contract of mine would finally come up for review - I just don't feel prepared for the rest of my life, though it's fast approaching....  I don't know that I can keep on playing Quidditch - or keep on as I have most generally, for that matter."

Dominik's eyes glowed with a child-like, genuine sense of loss as he continued.  "It isn't that my family hasn't prepared me for this change," he said.  "But that I've dug myself into a hole so deep that I can no longer see the sky or even smell the grass from where I am - and blast if flying out's an option, because my broom is made of a loose clay that would warp and crumble if touched by the morning dew."

Liadan smiled. "Just a nice word from important people will help business pick back up. Too much scandal in a short amount of time will ruin any business." Hopefully things would be easy to patch up after the recall and the subsequent werewolf attacks. But that was not a current concern of Liadan's- she pushed her own problems from her mind as she listened to Dominik speak.

He mentioned Dazmond having business troubles, and Liadan clucked her tongue. "I'm sure she will come through just fine. Dazmond is a strong young woman, after all." To say the very least. "And I shall be looking forward to the invitation. I do not believe I've had the pleasure to meet your cousin Liviana in the past." Or if Liadan had met her it had been at some benefit or party and the girl was written off as Too Young to Matter.

She watched his gaze fall, and then he got into the meat of the matter. He was turning thirty, and felt as though he had little to show for it. Liadan felt pride in hearing that he should have been following her example, but hoped that he was not going to get around at hinting the two of them should marry. There was nothing wrong with Dominik Wiedman, but that did not mean she would consider him as a prospective husband. Still, she would keep those comments to herself, and made the appropriate expression of pity and concern as he mentioned being stuck in a hole.

"As a man you have more time to waste than a lady, if that is any consolation Dominik. You're hardly past your prime and have plenty of time to prepare for the life you were raised to lead. I do agree that Quidditch is hardly an appropriate or respectable career for someone of your breeding, and leaving the league would likely be the best course of action. There are younger players to fill your spot, and there is no need to risk your physical health for the entertainment of the masses."

"If you do not renew your contract, that is certainly one step in the right direction. After that..." she trailed off for a moment, then gave a gentle shrug. "Well, after that the best thing to do is make yourself known in society and decide what to do with the rest of your life. Politics are quite lucrative, getting involved at the ministry is respectable, or any type of family business."

Liadan smiled. "It is not so hard, really. Stop quidditch, find a new job, insert yourself into society, and find a proper wife- then marry her, settle down, and produce an heir. It's a simple path to peace and prosperity, one that I'm sure has been engrained in you since you were a child. No reason to get so flustered over something so simple, Dominik!"