| Details for Bubbles and Brandy |
| Summary: | Copper and Adelphus chat idly about life and life choices. |
| Date: | 8 September 1939 |
| Location: | A. Prince's Flat, London |
| Related: | — |
| Characters |
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The bath is divine. With a few flicks of her wand, Copper has created her version of heaven. There luxurious, rich bubbles in the steaming water of the bath, and only very high quality soaps and shampoos and thick, fluffy pale cream towels. The bathroom itself is a lovely, airy sort of place with creamy marble subway tiles and art deco mirrors edged in silver. Floating orbs of light cast a soft glow around the room, the temperature is warm and comfortable. A subtle smell of sandalwood and teak fill the air from the candles burning in the air. It's just… relaxing.
"Oh thank Rowena that I paid attention in charms class," Copper says with a contented sigh. "Did you bring the brandy?"
Adelphus holds up a bottle in one hand and two glasses in the other, setting them on the floor just outside the tub before he slips in behind her, setting with her head against his chest. "There." he says, "All comfortable now?"
It's one of those big marble soaking tubs too, so there's plenty of room. "Mm. Better," Copper says as she leans back, closing her eyes. "How was work today?" she asks softly. A soapy hand finds her wand and 'swish-flick'… The bottle of brandy is pouring itself into the two glasses, and the two glasses levitate up onto the wide ledge. Wand is set back down.
Del runs his foot along the outside of her leg and then puts his hands on her shoulders and begins to massage softly, "Oh, it was fine. At least I know on the wards nobody is going to be coming to get me. I mean, you need to use a bubble-head charm just to walk through the door."
Copper chuckles softly. "I'm less worried about you at St. Mungos than I am anywhere else, truth be told. I imagine that there are any number of wards on that place against damage physical or magical…" She shakes her head, mrrphling quietly as the hands kneading her shoulders. And for a long while, Copper lapses into silence.
"Probably less than you'd expect, but you have to be a particular sort of jerk to attack someone in a hospital." Adelphus says, as his hands continue to massage her shoulders. "How about you?"
Chuckling, the woman says, "I think sociopath count as a particular sort of jerk." She sighs. "It's almost a pity. He might have been a useful contact if he weren't so barkers." Again, she's silent for a while, just enjoying the pampering as if this was how she was made to be treated. She is probably a -little- bit spoiled. But it's a self-made spoiled, so it's okay. Right? "It was quiet. I sold a wand. Nothing expensive, per se, but enough to cover today's overhead with a little to spare… And then I sold some trinkets I picked up in the Rhine last summer. Mostly, I drank tea and read. It was a lovely day."
"Sounds like a particularly relaxing day, yes." His hands move down over her shoulder blades, still massaging, working his thumbs into the big muscles of her back. "People buy second-hand wands? Isn't that… dangerous?" He bends forward a bit and kisses her neck as they relax in the tub, then moves one hand to the back of her neck to knead gently while the other picks up his drink.
Copper's eyes twinkle faintly as she looks back at Adelphus. "I sell them as curios, Darling. They are bought by collectors who want to put them behind glass and under ward and lock." She shrugs. "But it -is- nice knowing that, should I ever be disarmed in my own shop, I know where the spares are… So tell me." She tilts her head so that the man can rub better at a sore spot. "What do you want from life?"
"Right, curios." Adelphus says, as if he's finding that a little hard to believe given where her shop is, "I'm sure that there's nobody on knockturn who might have need for a wand that can't be traced back to them or anything. So that certain spells don't show up on the one they usually carry." He gives her a little chuckle and kisses her cheek, then says, "I want to be Chair of Mungo's someday."
Copper cuts her eyes up to Adelphus. "You may believe it or not, but I -do- have some scruples. I sell to collectors. That -is- my trade. Now, some of it -may- have fallen off the back of a lorry, as the muggles say, or maybe it was not -supposed- to turn up in England, but I don't sell to the thug on the street. Certainly not the good stuff. If they want to buy a bauble, I don't mind. But the good stuff, the special and rare items?" She smiles. "I vet you before I do business with you." She grins then. "Ah yes?" She lifts her brandy over and inhales before sipping at it. "I could see it, but will you be happy as an executive, or will you miss the hands-on-wand-out that you get now?" Her grin spreads a little. "And what then? A wife and fat little wizarding children in Hogsmede?"
"Well, the wife and fat wizarding children enter into it somewhere. And I'm getting older, I should probably look for that. But no, I think I like it well enough here, unless I got a job teaching at Hogwarts or something." Adelphus says, laughing. "I like it here in the City too much. And I think I'd still try to get my wand dirty now and again."
Copper laughs softly. "You know, I can't imagine living anywhere else," she says softly. "I do enjoy London quite immensely." She falls silent for a moment. "I suppose at some point I should think about 'settling down' as you called it the other day." She looks up at Adelphus. "I suppose you're something of a trial run," she says teasingly.
"Are you feeling like it's boring? I mean, I'm sure you love to flirt and dance with a different man every night…." Adelphus says, with a grin, "Though I might have found out today that you really /aren't/ the femme fatale I was thinking. Even if it was fun."
Copper looks at Adelphus with a sudden seriousness when he says 'femme fatale'. She bites the inside of her lip for a moment. "I have killed before, Adelphus," comes her soft voice at length. The purr is gone. "I used an artifact, and it was in self-defense. I didn't take pleasure from the act, but it was necessary, and I do not regret doing it. Were I faced with the same situation again, I would do exactly the same thing." There is a pause. "Adelphus, no one knows. I just ..disappeared what was left of the body. No one knows. That is, my family doesn't know; the M.L.E. doesn't know…"
Adelphus takes a long moment to absorb that, his hand stopping on her shoulder. He takes a sip of his brandy, and then says, after that long pregnant pause, "Well, then we should make sure it stays that way, shouldn't we?"
Copper's eyes become subtly warmer, subtly gentler. "You know," she says softly. "I thought surely only another denizen of the Underworld would be able to take me in stride." And now she rewards him with that lovely, intimate smile of hers. "I am quite glad to report that I don't find being with you boring…"
"Healers know how to keep secrets too, you know. And I might not… approve of some of your business dealings, but it's your life to live. I mean, I'd probably feel a little better if you stuck to dealing in antiquities…" He gives a little shrug, "And Knockturn is a dangerous place. Which I guess means I understand why you need allies."
Copper smiles at Adelphus and leans back against his chest. "Yeah, I know. But Knockturn is what keeps things simple," she says softly. "I don't deal in dark magic or anything like that. Just.. trust me there." She looks up at the man. "And thank you for respecting me enough to let me make my own decisions in peace." After a while has passed, she stands, dripping water and suds as she leans down to kiss the man gently. "Now, come along. It's late, and we both look bushed."
Adelphus stands up, and picks Ariadne up, tossing her over his shoulder, and giving her rear a swat. "Let's go to bed, then." And he carries her back to her boudoir. For sleep this time. Probably.