Russian roulette is not the same without a gun

[looneyloopy.livejournal.com]

*Electricity is a funny thing. It can do so much, and yet it's so very easy to disrupt. Such are the woes of the proprietors of Maurice's, an upscale café that tries to look more edgy than fancy, and fails. It can't quite shake the air of snobbery infecting the area, the taint of We-Have-Too-Much-Money. Maybe it's the silk ascots; maybe it's the disproportionate number of Italian shoes. At any rate, no one thinks to notice the young man slipping out of the alley next to the building, in his new wingtips and old waistcoat, his button-down a bit rumpled and his trousers mended here and there. By the time anyone notices the breaker box on the back wall sparking and smoking, he's vanished into the crowds.

He takes the long way 'round back through some side-streets, timing it so that he walks up to Maurice's - again - about five minutes after he's agreed to meet Amrita there. Perfectly late, perfectly nonchalant, as he strolls up to the café, pretending to be unaware of the frustrated owners and the 'closed for maintenance' sign now hanging on the door.*

Comments

[dapperdeath.livejournal.com]

*Evan has been busy all day, but his last appointment was surprisingly brief--the shoddy underground wandmaker, instead of being ready for a round of fierce negotiation in which he tried to raise his prices yet again, was actually just dead in his little dingy office. Evan covers his tracks--and the tracks of Rosier & Sons, with a quick glance over the man's correspondence--and makes his way home an hour early.

The door opens silently when he presses his hand to it, and shuts behind him with a quiet click.*

Darling?

[cellarandmoon.livejournal.com]

*And that's thrown cold water on her little germinating confession before anything else can come of it. At his voice, Amrita jumps, as if someone's dropped a crystal ball on the hardwood floor. But she recovers quickly enough: a genuine smile blooms on her face, and she calls to him.*

Hello Evan, I've got Remus over, Maurice's was closed because of the plugs or something and it's been terrible out today--

[dapperdeath.livejournal.com]

Oh, dreadful. Well, I'm through for the afternoon, and I'm glad I'm just in before the rain.

*He emerges, looking at their guest perhaps too warmly. It's the perfect opportunity, after all, and he doesn't intend to waste it.*

Hello, Lupin. So sorry to intrude.

[looneyloopy.livejournal.com]

*Nothing good ever comes of a Death Eater looking quite so pleased to see someone, but it at least serves as a distraction from his disgust over the Registry. Rosier himself was not part of the plan, and this whole endeavor just got exponentially more dangerous; he'll have to tread carefully, and it's ruined any idea of poking about more.*

Not at all! It's good to see you.

*Would be better to see him in shackles headed to Azkaban, of course, but....*

[cellarandmoon.livejournal.com]

I'm sure you two remember one another, from school--

*She's sitting up very straight, now, and pointing a bright please get along smile at each of them in turn.*

[looneyloopy.livejournal.com]

Of course, we were both prefects.

*There was also the time Rosier had tried to pay him. And then, of course, there were all the times that they'd probably nearly killed each other in running battles. Also that.*

[dapperdeath.livejournal.com]

I think I remember being rather hard on you and your friends. I do hope there's no hard feelings now.

*It's innocent enough, but the hidden meaning is clear enough to anyone who lived it: You'd do well to remember how I used to put your friends in their place every chance I got.*

In fact, why don't you come out to dinner with us? We can catch up. We were planning on heading out just after I got home, but I shouldn't want to cut your visit short just on my account.

[cellarandmoon.livejournal.com]

Yes!

*It's a wonderful idea: Evan can finally see how clever and kind Remus is and he'll understand, and there's the added bonus of showing Evan off, besides. They'll be fine for dinner--her dress is on the plain side and he's got a waistcoat on and that's close enough, and he is Remus and delightful and no one could possibly mind him. She fixes him with all the considerable power of her most plaintive expression.*

Please? Remus, you must.

[looneyloopy.livejournal.com]

*It is marginally less horrifying than the wank folder, but only just. What was supposed to have been a quick poke around the flat is spiraling out into what could be actually and seriously dangerous - dinner out means too many opportunities for Rosier to get him alone, too many chances for a quick curse and a hidden corpse, and every rational fiber of Remus's being is screaming that this is a terrible idea.

And it is. He knows it is. Except that backing out now, when Rosier's just laid down that thinly-veiled power play threat, would be potentially riskier. He's obviously got this time blocked off for Amrita; he can't plead a prior engagement. His "wife" is ostensibly Muggle; they all know she wouldn't be welcome company, so he can't put it off on her. Short of looking like he's running, there isn't a back door out of this - and he can't look like he's running without looking like he has a reason to run. The all saw the crime scene photographs of what happened to the McKinnons; obviously the Death Eaters figured out that they were in the Order. That isn't a hand Remus is willing to tip so easily.

Thinking that Sirius is going to absolutely pitch a fit over this, he feigns a quick, self-conscious scrub to his hair and a rather uneasy smile, but his acquiescence is a given already. He just hopes it's enough to cover the dread in the pit of his stomach that has nothing to do with shyness.*

Ah - really, I would hate to be a third wheel....

[dapperdeath.livejournal.com]

Don't be ridiculous. My wife's friends are my friends, and I'd love to get to know you better.

Sweetheart, did you have a place in mind? I had thought La Parisienne might be nice.

[cellarandmoon.livejournal.com]

I'm not dressed for La Parisienne.

*And neither is Remus, which is what she's really thinking of--still, it's elegantly done on Amrita's part. She appears only the spoiled wife briefly acting the brat.*

And I'm not changing.

Let's go to Trois-Echelles.

[looneyloopy.livejournal.com]

*Remus has been to none of these places, so Amrita's intervention reads as exactly what it's meant to. To him they all mean one thing: a sharp class distinction that he will always be on the wrong side of, and a reminder of such. Trois-Echelles, La Parisienne - either way he'd rather be at home with take-out and Sirius, but of course can't say so. Instead he just lets them figure it out and sips his tea, hating himself for feeling out of depth over stupid restaurants.*

[dapperdeath.livejournal.com]

Perfect. Well, I see no reason to delay. Are you both ready to leave, or would you like a moment to freshen up?

[looneyloopy.livejournal.com]

*It's a good opportunity, but Remus checks himself - he needs to contact Sirius just in case, but not here. He isn't sending a Patronus from this flat, not after all the spellwork that was on that cadenza. No telling what it'd come up against.*

Well. If you insist - of course, thank you. I'm ready when you are.