Guess Who I Saw Today, <Dee>

[Delia Fleming]

Dee laughs. "Well, he knows that dragons end up making belts and shoes," she says consideringly. "But they're very staunch about upholding the new conservation laws... I guess that's why they had to set up the breeding programs at the reserves, yeah?"

Dee pulls a face, still not convinced that it was a good enough excuse for Trent to have harassed Blaise in that fashion. She does give him a curious look, because he's a big brother, too. "Did you threaten Miya's husband, then?' she asks.

"Well..." She sighs and pouts slightly. "Alright then," she mutters, although she's rather pleased with what Blaise had just admitted.

~

Dee smiles, and leans back against Blaise, smiling. He won't see it, but a mischievous, wicked smile graces her lips. "Dressing... or undressing?" she asks.

The salad made, Dee makes sure the sauce is cooked and the pasta is done, adding them together with cooking magic--removing pasta from water without a colander is easy if you know the Charm.

[Blaise Zabini]

He chuckled and his tone was wry when he spoke. “Yes, I did. Multiple times and with threats of bodily harm.” And worse, actually, and the thing was that he had meant every word, and still did. He wasn’t that good of man that he wouldn’t do that for his baby sister who he had seen painstakingly through to adulthood. “Though perhaps the circumstances were a little different.”

After all, his sister had really barely known Raoul when the two had had to get married. But it really had been a brilliant match, and he liked his brother-in-law. He was a devoted man and adored Blaise’s sister.

He smiles down at her and drops a kiss to her lips. At least he’d managed to somewhat please her, if he read her right.

~

He laughs, the vibrations muffled against her skin. “Mmm. Both,” he said, smiling behind her. She had such a delicious wit and loved to flirt. He loved it.

“You’re good at this,” he compliments as she easily throws everything together with magic and skill. He doesn’t need to rifle through things to know where the silverware is kept, and he fetches utensils for them to eat with.

[Delia Fleming]

Dee shakes her head, but her smile is somewhat bemused. In the language of brothers, it seems, threats are offerings of love and caring, dropped like heavy offerings into their siblings' laps. Look. I love you. I protected you. I still protect you.

"Poor Raoul," she murmurs, with a fake woebegone expression. "Lucky for you that you didn't scare him off... then Miya would have been upset." And if she remembered the story correctly, then Blaise would have ended up with a brother-in-law old enough to be his grandfather.

And lucky for her that Blaise didn't seem to find anything askance about Trent's actions. She relents, and it shows in her smile and lights in her eyes. "I forgive him, I think, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to mention it."

~

Dee smiles delightedly. "Well, for now you can fetch the dressing out of the fridge," she says, pretending that the thought of undressing hasn't made a swarm of butterflies come to life inside of her. "I think there's a choice: balsamic or honey mustard or just plain French dressing." She eats a lot of salad.

Dee smiles at the complement. "Thank you," she says. "Mum would be so happy to hear that." She laughs... delight and irony mingled in the bell-clear notes of her giggle. She finds a bottle of wine in the fridge--something that's so much nicer to share--and they settle with dinner. For a quick conjuring of food, it's not bad, she thinks as she takes a first bite.

[Blaise Zabini]

Blaise chuckled. “Oh, I didn’t think I’d actually scare him off. He was the best option I could see for her, but that didn’t mean I wouldn’t hurt him if he had hurt my sister.” But it had all turned out for the best. Luckily. And Lilith had been so mad. “But yes, she wouldn’t have been upset. She didn’t like me having words with him any more than you like Trent having words with me, I think.”

Just the scheme of things, he thinks, though it had been a little annoying to be on the receiving end of everything.

He smiles lopsidedly for a moment. “All right, then. Just don’t get me in too much trouble with him for having told you about it. I said I would, but I know he’d rather I hadn’t.”

~

He mms as the choices are presented to him and obediently goes to the fridge to fetch it. He rather thinks basalmic is just the thing for this evening. “You like your salads, don’t you,” he says with a smile.

Blaise takes the wine and uncorks it, pouring it for the both of them, and they sit down to eat. It’s really quite pleasant, and the food and company are both excellent. “Good job,” he tells her, holding his glass up as if to toast her cooking skills.

[Delia Fleming]

Dee sighs and shakes her head. "Wow. I haven't met your sister, but I kind of admire her for not completely freaking out in a situation like that." Dee just doesn't like to be told what to do; she can be contrary sometimes just because of that fact.

She realises, though--there's something in the way he says it and the frankness of his gaze--that he absolutely mean he'd have hurt Raoul if it had come to that. A part of her isn't surprised; Blaise exudes a rippling aura of strength sometimes. Dee isn't ever frightened of his intensity, but it's a thrill.

Dee realises that she's looking forward to meeting Miya--she sounds like a strong, accomplished woman.

Dee laughs and gives Blaise a cheeky smile. Happiness lights her from the inside and sparkles in her eyes. "You're a tattle-tale," she says, shaking her head and tsk'ing. "I'm actually wondering if I should tell Jani and let her deal with him." Her smirk indicates that would be a sneaky plan of action.

~

Dee nods. "I do, yeah, especially in the summer... although they're always best with a big steak on the barbie..." She hasn't had a good barbecue since she's been in England.

It's a very 'home' thing to her, and goes with Aussie summer and beer and Dad. She wonders if Blaise has ever had a barbecue like that... growing up in Italy and London makes her think not, but he's urbane and has a lot of life experience... maybe.

Dee smiles broadly. "I had a good little house-elf," she teases.

[Blaise Zabini]

“I think you and she would hit it off famously,” he tells her. They both have outgoing mentalities, love talking and just loved life. Those were traits he quite liked, really. Upbeat and contradicting his more brooding personality. “I think she did freak out a bit, but she had me and her friends to help her through it.”

She and Miles had spent a lot of time together for awhile, he remembered. The German had helped her out, for which Blaise was grateful. He rather thinks that perhaps Miya might drop by when they make it to Monte Carlo.

“Well, I told him that I wasn’t keeping it from you. I don’t know if he’ll tell his fiancé, though.” He had said he would, but Blaise wasn’t sure if he would go through with it.

~

Blaise, while well rounded and experienced, had never done the ‘family barbeque’ thing. His family wasn’t that sort, and he’d rarely associated with people that did that sort of thing.

“That sounds quite nice, really,” he said, and it wasn’t a lie. It would be a different sort of experience.

He chuckled. “So am I enslaved to you?” he asked almost suggestively.

[Delia Fleming]

"I hope we do," Dee says honestly; she knows that a sister's opinion is vitally important, even moreso than a parents' opinion in her estimation. That she and Jani get along so well is wonderful.

Dee shakes her head. "God, I'd have done so much more than freak out," she admits. To Dee, freedom of expression and choice is very important, and she doesn't generally like to be told what to do. Working at the Prophet hadn't been that bad, but perhaps it's apt that she's going to be working for herself now.

Dee snickers. "Not if he knows what's good for him," she says with a smirk. "But I think he knows that he won't get away with it." She gives a mock-fierce scowl.

~

Dee smiles widely and nods. "It is," she says almost wistfully. "It rains too much here for good barbecue, but I hope I can persuade Dad to do one when he and Mum are here for the wedding..." Of course, Dee knows that her Dad will do most anything for her; she is his darling, after all.

Dee grins and gives him a sensual curve of a smile. But she shakes her head. "Sadly, I believe in free elves," she says with a fake-sigh. "Even if it does mean clothes." She shrugs. "Now... willful enslavement is another issue altogether..."

[Blaise Zabini]

“Well, she grew up knowing that Mother would consider an arranged marriage for her at some point – she just happened to choose a more recent time than either of us expected,” he says with a shrug. “Luckily enough she had started seeing Raoul, and it worked out so wonderfully.”

He chuckled. “Well, perhaps you should leave it to your sister-in-law. I’m sure she’ll find the appropriate punishment for him,” he said dryly. After all, romantic attachments had some of the best ammunition to use – sex, for instance.

~

“I’m sure your father would enjoy doing that.” Blaise still hasn’t been invited, directly, to the wedding, but he has set aside the weekend just in case. He won’t be hurt if she doesn’t invite him – it is a huge family event – but it seemed to be the prudent thing to do.

Of course, that would mean meeting her parents, though he wasn’t as intimidated by the prospect as some might be. Though he couldn’t – wouldn’t – offer to reciprocate the meeting. Keeping his mother across the ocean was something he preferred at the moment.

“Ah, clothes.” He pulls a mournful expression before smirking faintly. “Well, now, I might be able to enslave myself to you for a time, though…”

[Delia Fleming]

Dee's eyes widen slight. "Oh, God... imagine if she'd had to marry a complete stranger!" Admittedly, Dee can't really imagine that sort of situation. Although her family are pure-bloods, they were always more liberal than arranged marriages.

"Where is your mother at the moment?" Dee asks. If you ask her, the further away the better, for now. "Did she ever try to make you marry anybody?" she asks curiously. Blaise doesn't seem the sort who would put up with being told what to do like that.

Dee smirks. "Oh... I'm sure she will," she says. "Although it is most evil of you to suggest such a sneaky thing." And completely in character, although Dee actually finds his Slytherin characteristics quite charming.


~

Dee grins broadly. "I would ask if you have a nice set of dress robes for the wedding, but I know the answer already."

Her eyes sparkle with amusement. "Unless, of course, you have a prior engagement."

Dee takes a bite of her pasta and chews, then regards him with a curious look. "And, pray tell, what sort of services might an enslaved editor have to offer me?" she enquires.

[Blaise Zabini]

Well, it wasn’t the complete stranger part that had worried Miya, or even him. It was the whole ‘evil ugly slob bastard’ part that had worried both of them. Miya was young and vibrant – that man that would have married her would have killed her by degrees, sucking the life out of her. His Miya deserved a better fate.

“Brazil, with her husband,” he said with a nod of his head and a glance in the correct direction. “Though I’ve heard that his health is poor. He’s approaching ninety, I believe, but those South Americans tend to be rather hardy.” Not that he would admit, even to her, not yet, that his mother really is responsible for her husbands’ deaths.

He smirked. “Well, you know me, evil to the core,” he said with a wink.

~

He smiled. “Not at all. I’d love to accompany you to the wedding,” he said. Admittedly, he was pleased that she had asked him, even if it meant he got to be around all of her family.

He stretches out his legs to one side, crossing them at the ankle, and sips at his wine before answering her. “Hmm. Well, that would depend on what you want, my dear,” he drawled in a soft, silky voice.