i tell her easy, but her hands they find a way, confusing passion for the love he never gave;

[scinlac]

He had prepared for everything, for the interrogations, the psychological evaluations, for Him, she had learned all the answers. To get past those obstacles had been easy. The detox hadn't been, and it had been a detox, to find herself in a world without Him, a world where her decisions were her own again. It hadn't been long, actually, their affair, not longer than His absence was, but it had thoroughly messed with her head, and now, she had woken up. Somewhat. She was questioning things, wasn't writing him in prison. For a while, she had continued to live in the delusion, had told herself the sleeping pills he had made her drink, and said he'd drink as well, had been for her comfort.

She has doubts, now. She rather thinks he wanted one final murder, a last huzzah for the key witness. He worked fast, but the cops, for once, worked faster.

It's that kind of thought that actually has her walking into the auditorium, head held high, never sure that she doesn't get recognised. She scans the room, finds a free seat, and takes it. The man next to her looks a bit too much like he might be a jock, in spite of this being cognitive psychology. Who cares? She doesn't. They don't need to be friends.

She doesn't speak to him before class starts, doesn't speak to him at all for the first twenty minutes of him, only stealing the occasional glance.

Until she hears it, and then hears it again. "Are you meowing?"

Comments

[malificence]

His eyes flick to her when she sits next to him, and it's not entirely clear whether the lingering nature of the look is recognition - the Riddle case was especially fascinating news for a psychology major with interesting proclivities - or the very brief red plaid wool skirt. Lucius Malfoy has an excellent poker face.

Even that poker face, however, isn't fully enough to resist a slight smile, just a twitch really, when she leans in to whisper to him. "I did not," he murmured back. "But my kitten may have done. She's in my bag."

Why? There's a semi-sensible reason. The building where Lucius' flat is needed to be fully vacated today, but most would have boarded their three month old cat instead of bringing him along to the hallowed halls of Oxford.

[scinlac]

He is hard to read, she gets that right at once – reading the unreadable has been a bit of a survival strategy, with Riddle, even if she would be hard-pressed to think of it that way. It doesn't put her at unease, not really, but it does pique her curiosity.

She gives the bag a quick glance, and she can see a little bit of movement, now that he mentions it. Her eyebrow darts up. "Moral support?"

At any rate, it's... charming, that. He must be fond of the little creature, to bring her along, and she figures few kittens would appreciate being left alone or with a stranger. "May I see? Show me yours and I'll show you mine?"

[malificence]

Lucius glances at the instructor, but he's engaged in an animated discussion of a topic Lucius has already mostly mastered already, so he sifts his back between the two of them and lifts the flap. Peeking up at them, lifting a single fluffy paw, is a perfect red kitten, with long, silky fur and huge green eyes. Juno is, honestly, almost the platonic ideal of a kitten. Strong, independent women have squealed at the sight of her.

He tilts his head with an amused look. "I don't see another cat here, Miss...?"

[scinlac]

"Oh," she makes, almost like a gasp, at the sight of the kitten. At this age, she looks almost round with short limbs and loads of fur, and it's only the presence of the instructor that has her keeping somewhat of a pokerface. It's not much, though – she's definitely smiling.

Oh, and then there's that question.

"Black." There had, in the end, never been a marriage, and while she would have said something else last year, she now begins to have doubts he ever meant to let her keep the ring. "Alas, Gremlin had to stay home, and he is a bit too big for my bag, anyway." She slides him her phone, and opens a folder full of pictures of a sweet, fluffy cat. "And you are...?"

Don't mind her, she is very much offering her hand to his bag.

[malificence]

It's too much to expect for her to pay attention to a human in the face of such kitten perfection. Lucius has no illusions about his own appeal, but he also knows that it pales in comparison to a perfectly round, perfectly tiny ball of fluff. That's why he dutifully admires the very cute Gremlin while Juno pokes Miss Black's other hand.

"Lucius Malfoy," he says carelessly. Often there's no need to clarify further - the Malfoy name is associated with vast, pharmaceutical wealth. But he also suspects Miss Black will be unimpressed. It's a common name, it might be another Black family, but he doubts it. He recalls the beautiful fiancee of the now incarcerated Tom Riddle, after all.

[scinlac]

"Bella, then, if you prefer Lucius." The Malfoys are quite familiar, she can absolutely put a face to Abraxas Malfoy, and it must be pure chance that has made this their very first meeting. "Funny, between the two of us, we could buy and sell every person in this room."

She says it in a slightly higher whisper, because her attention is drawn back to Juno, whose soft little paw is just about the biggest blessing in the universe. "She is so sweet. Gremlin is just about six months old now, she must be what... four? Three?"

[malificence]

Her whisper draws the attention of the student Lucius has wanted to murder since he entered Oxford's psychology program - the type that judges them for being rich while claiming they're doing the same thing, and he bends his head closer to Bella. "Bella," he says, to a distinctly pissed off look from chip on his shoulder Potter, who turns back around.

"She's just three months old," he says when they're left alone again. "But the vet says she'll always be a small cat."

[scinlac]

"The only thing growing about Gremlin is his ego," she jokes, and it's a little bit to mask the shift she just felt. The kitten is glorious, but the change in his eyes, the blade-like steel when he looked at that fellow student...

Truly, she can't recall why she hadn't sat down in his lap for an introduction.

She withdraws her hand when Juno decides to add claws to playtime. "Her eyes are stunning."

[malificence]

She might be getting an inkling that the Malfoy heir is perhaps not the purest of heart. He might remember enough about the trial to suspect that Bella was not necessarily the sweet and innocent victim her family's lawyer had been quick to cast her. But right now, they don't know for certain. It's easily rectified, especially as the professor calls an end to the first half of the seminar.

"They are stunning," he agrees as he carefully nudges Juno back inside. He clearly thinks Bella's eyes are too, but isn't going to go for a trite compliment. "We've about ten minutes before the torture starts up again," he adds. "Coffee?"

[scinlac]

It's just a little too soon, and it will be a little too soon for a while – Bella has been in the middle of the trial, and she is not keen on repeating that anytime soon. As much as the look in his eye has sparked her curiosity, it's one she'll explore... carefully. The last thing she needs him to be is a journalist with a chip on his shoulder and a point to prove.

"Coffee sounds fabulous." She smiles. "Even if I'd rather sleep through the next round and perhaps see what could happen after the seminar."

[malificence]

Lucius carefully lifts his bag and slings it over his shoulder, and then checks to make sure Juno hasn't somehow gotten injured in the meantime, despite the soft cashmere sweater he put in there for her to blithely destroy with her razor-sharp kitten nails. Juno's in for a life of being spoiled fully rotten, clearly.

"We could always skip the rest," he murmurs as they step into the hall. "I doubt we'll miss much."

[scinlac]

The great care he takes with his kitten does exude a particular charm, to her, though it is arguably one other girls in their year could relate to. "He seems to be leaning towards repetition, right now, so I wouldn't be opposed to taking the rest of the day off."

A small meow from the bag: "I suppose Juno more than agrees. Where would you like to go?"

[malificence]

He still can't go home, he thinks and curses the management company extra hard in his head. Still, there are other places where they can find some privacy, should they end up needing it. "We could skip the coffee and have lunch instead," he says. "There's a little sushi restaurant that's just opened."

And could be closed to anyone else but them as long as he presents the credit card at the start. "They do an excellent jasmine tea," he says with a faint smile. "And the thinnest slices of sashimi."

[scinlac]

"I believe the third member of our newly founded study group wouldn't be opposed to a slice of sashimi." She smiles, just to make sure that they are on the same page: "My flat would be an option, too, as long as Juno wouldn't be too disturbed by gremlin."

So, if they should require privacy later...

"Though lunch does seem like a properly excellent idea."

[malificence]

"She might try to cow him into submission," Lucius warns Bella with a laugh. He brushes his hair back and offers her his hand. "It's probably best to placate her with salmon first."

It doesn't take long at all to walk to the restaurant, which is as cozy and dim as Lucius promised. It also takes no more than a word and a glossy black credit card for the owner to lock the door behind them, flip the sign to closed, and lead them to the most private booth. Lucius lets Juno climb onto his lap while the waitstaff brings them hot jasmine tea and warm sake, and he smiles at Bella. "I hope you don't mind," he says, "I hate a crowded lunch."

[scinlac]

There is a growing sense of agitation about her as they get closer and closer to their destination, but it dissipates as Lucius ensures that they will not be disturbed. While the media circus has moved on to a new target by now, while fewer and fewer people recognise her, it still has a... lingering effect on her. Especially when what she wants to focus on is lunch with someone as interesting as Lucius.

Who would have thought, just this morning, that she would even consider another? "I am not a fan of crowds myself," she says, and takes a sip of her tea, blue eyes watching him all the while. "So I deeply appreciate it. I suppose next time, it will be my turn to buy out a charming little café." Then, she tilts her head to the side. Or he could be a journalist, and now there's no witnesses. "Do you usually do this?"

[malificence]

"Buy out charming restaurants to have lunch with a girl?" He asks. At least he's not insulting her intelligence by pretending not to know what she means. Juno reaches up to paw at his shirt and he strokes two fingertips across her head. "No, most of them aren't interesting enough, in my experience, to trap myself with in an empty restaurant."

He tilts his head to one side. "Is that terrible of me to say?" Yes, Lucius. "Do you find it's hard to find anyone who can keep up with you?"

[scinlac]

What had her lawyer called it? Deep-seated desire for approval, to be viewed as 'special', easy pickings for a psychopath more than twice her age. Where a few other girls might ask what on earth was so special about their short, hushed conversation and their spontaneous lunch trip after, she is drinking in every word.

"Hard?" She thinks of blood on her hands, of watching someone die by Riddle's knives and scalpels and wires, of the desperate hunger. She thinks of the steel in his look, when he had fixed the other student with it. "Nearly impossible. It has been a while since I last went out with anyone. You could consider yourself lucky." She reaches forward, but only to stroke Juno herself. "Do you believe in fate?"

[malificence]

Truthfully, on the surface there is nothing special - except that she's very beautiful, clearly proud, haughty in exactly the same way he is. She'd come to an all-day psychology seminar not in the stretchy soft clothes that most girls even at Oxford wore for classes but in a sharp and short skirt and heeled boots. She had the same sharp, borderline cruel look that he knew he had himself. "Oh, I do consider myself lucky," he says as she leans in to pet Juno and a waiter unobtrusively places sashimi on the table. "You don't strike me as someone who would hesitate before cutting a man off at the knees."

His brow arches when she asks about the hands of fate. It's something where he really ought to be too logical for such things. In almost all ways he is too logical for such things. But then, the attraction was instant on his side, and he can't entirely blame that on her looks. "Yes," he says. "I believe I do."

[scinlac]

"It isn't part of my usual belief system, but, ah..." She smiles her darkest, most seductive smile. "I am finding myself willing to make an exception, in this case."

Food appeared, at some point, and he can tell that she's been a bit too absorbed in him to pay attention to the waiter. Now, she picks up a piece of sashimi with her chopsticks, and offers him the first taste. "To a new dawn."

[malificence]

"Mmm." He leans in to accept the sashimi from her, and Juno is already smart enough to know when it might be best to defect from Lucius' lap. "Delicious," he says, his eyes dark and hot on hers, and really, it's obvious he's referring more to her and the two of them together, and less to the absolutely superior tuna he's just eaten. He picks up the dark, polished chopsticks with one practiced hand and hooks the fingers of his other hand in the loops of her very brief skirt to tug her closer. "To a beginning worthy of both of us," he purrs.

When he next picks up a piece of fish, it's to feed the demanding kitten next to them, and for a moment the tableau is slightly less disturbing. "Have to apologize to her for dislodging her," he says to Bella. "She is not used to me paying attention to other girls."

[scinlac]

She is easily drawn closer, putting up exactly no resistance, really. It's more convenient to sit at the same side of the table, anyway – for her purposes, at least.

She is momentarily distracted by fish, and then the sweetest kitten, and she choses a suitable piece of salmon as well. "I suppose this might help sell her on the fact that I intend to share you?" And down the kitten-hatch it goes. "Perhaps if you bring some for Gremlin, he will be disinclined to vacate his side of the bed for the night."

[malificence]

A boy with a healthier outlook on life would almost certainly find the electric pull disturbing - if not now, than once they'd slept together and the initial desire was sated. Lucius, however, has never had a particularly healthy outlook. Part of it's the money, part of it's the somewhat distant parenting, so to speak, but part of it is just the way he's been twisted since birth.

A way that very nicely coordinates with how Bella might be twisted.

"I'm certain that could be arranged. And perhaps Gremlin might take a liking to Juno if we are otherwise occupied." She said it had been a while since she dated, he thinks. How long has it been since someone else made her scream with pleasure? It's likely egotistical that he thinks he can, but then, one of Lucius' better qualities has always been an insistence that all parties in the bedroom get as much out of it as he does.

[scinlac]

"He does like the company of other cats, and I don't think he is cruel enough to deny me some pleasure." She leans forward, brushing some of his silky blond hair back behind his ear.

When was the last time she had been on a date? Perhaps back in school, before Tom Riddle took over her life. After, there hadn't been much opportunity, and she'd not thought she would feel drawn towards another anytime soon. Not until earlier that day, when she'd met Lucius, and she'd felt very, very drawn in indeed.

Screaming with pleasure might be another... issue. Oh, Riddle had made her scream, alright, being a man who took far more pleasure in her pain that he ever could in her arousal, letting her come had always been... well, a matter of making her forget whatever had come before. Not that pain and pleasure are far separated for her to begin with. Being in bed with someone who wanted to give her as much as he got will be a twist she'll be all to excited about.

"Now it's become quite difficult to think about the food."

[malificence]

It isn't that Lucius does not have a wide, sadistic streak - of course he does, and it will be one of their greatest commonalities. Likewise, he's utterly convinced of his own superiority. He can, of course, be unspeakably cruel and take extreme pleasure in pain. But unlike the man currently locked away for life in one of Britain's most secure prisons, Lucius also is capable of a greater variety of emotions, including a desire to please, and an attachment to a beautiful girl. Including love, though they're far from there yet.

They are quite close to pleasure, however. "Do you live far?" He asks, tilting his head and then taking a risk as he leans forward. The kiss is slow but intense, and it's bold, considering. He's clearly not too worried for his health, though, as he leans back.

[scinlac]

It is bold, but his lack of worry is entirely justified – Bella seems more interested in another kiss than just about anything else in the world. Her hand is resting on his thigh.

"Not at all." She takes a deep breath, trying to rein herself in, and leans back to take a sip of sake. "Right around the corner, if you are... interested in a tour?"

[malificence]

"I am," he says, as he kisses her again. He's not one to couch in uncertainty, which has gotten him more than one irritated look in his dating life, but he doesn't think Bella will mind so much. "And of course, Juno must meet your Gremlin."

Juno herself is in danger of clamoring on the table to take more sashimi for herself, and Lucius grabs her before the restaurant owner has a heart attack - and before Gremlin is left with no salmon of his own. "Shall we, then?"

[scinlac]

"He does get along well with other cats, which is a tender way to say that he is a bit of a pushover." This would mark her turn to kiss him, and she does, even as he holds his Juno.

Of course, she asks the waiter to wrap their sashimi for them to take home – "Gremlin may go easy on other cats, but other people... Less so. This should even the road to friendship."

[malificence]

Lucius laughs as the waiter returns the box, and his card, back to the table, and he slips Juno back into his bag. "I won't reject any opportunity to bribe him," he says as they slide out of the booth."

It is true, at least, that her flat is close, and soon they're stepping into an elevator of an elegant concierge building. He expected no less, and really, he has every intention of making friends with her Gremlin before making even closer friends with her. But elevators are a temptation.