| Details for All the Single Ladies |
| Summary: | Beryl stops by the Natrix's flat to get reacquainted with Wolfgang after many years apart - and is unexpectedly showered with gifts. |
| Date: | Sunday November 16th, 1939 |
| Location: | Flat Above the Natrix |
| Related: | — |
| Characters |
   |
Even though Wolfgang has people that make sure everything is tidy, Signe is busying herself with making sure everything is in its place. Yes, Beryl won't care of there's a whiskey glass from earlier in the afternoon left out on the bar - but it gives her something to do, and moving about is good. She has an excess of excited energy at the idea of Beryl and Wolfgang finally meeting each other. It's rather overdue.
She hasn't dressed up for the occasion - wearing only one of her day dresses that she'd sewn for herself the last fall. She hasn't even bothered with shoes.
It's only been forever and ten days, three hours, six minutes and twenty seconds too long since Beryl Crabbe managed to get out of the house feeling like herself and unfettered by social complications. Not that she doesn't adore her daughter - who wouldn't? She's the most adorable thing that ever existed. But, she's been left at home and Beryl needs to make an extremely important call.
Right on schedule, a cloud of "smoke" belches out of the floo and just as quickly withdraws, leaving a fairly stunning, green-eyed, red-haired woman in its place. A redhead in red - most can't pull that off, but Beryl most certainly can.
"Siggy, darling," Beryl calls out quietly in her usual, subdued way whilst brushing daintily at her clothing with her hands.
"Beryl!" Signe answers happily, setting down the pillow she'd been fluffing to make her way to the floo. She greets her sister with a hug, and a kiss to the cheek. "Do you want the grand tour?" she asks, after taking a step back.
Beryl smiles genially and embraces her little sister quite warmly, closing her eyes for a moment. Laughing softly, she draws back, releasing Signe from her arms for the most part. "You don't even give me time for social pleasantries. I'd ask how you were, but-" Pausing, she smirks and nudges Signe's chin with her left hand: "You look all right to me."
Stepping away smoothly, the redhead quirks an eyebrow and gives their surroundings an approving once-over in a glance. "I'd love the grand tour, as you say. Your benefactor has good taste… but then, I expected as much, since he picked you."
Wolfgang can see Signe tidying up the already tidy living are from the study with the door open. A light little shake of his head and a chuckle. "You missed a spot." He teases and then returns to his dangling pendulum over a large atlas tome that's spread open to the world map. Just as Beryl arrives the pendulum begins to circle indicatively. But he drops the crystal into the spine of the book, stands and smooths himself out and buttons up his jacket. When he comes out of the study he gives a dramatic halt and covers up his heart in that sort of struck dumb by beauty way. "Shocker! The Crabbe family is a pantheon of beauties!" He approaches Beryl with a big wolfish grin and opens his arms up to give her a chaste hug and show biz kiss to each cheek. "Beauty B! Long time no see. You look stunning!" Being housemates and yearmates after all it's not exactly a first meeting of strangers.
"I just saw you the other day," Signe says in amusement. "Of course I'm still fine." As Wolfgang makes his presence known, she allows the pair to greet, all smiles at the warmth he shows Beryl - not that she'd expected any less. "Wolfgang collects some of the most interesting art - it really brightens the place up. And we can spy on the club from up here, as well."
Beryl greets Wolfgang with a sly and knowing smirk when he approaches them. For a moment, she stands there with her hands on both hips, her head tilted to one side, and fixing those cool, cunning green eyes on him. Both have aged a bit since their last encounter; but, time has been awfully kind to them both.
"You haven't changed much," she remarks, languidly, briefly returning the hug. "The job kept me out of the country for a long time. Been at loose ends, since then - you might say." Yes, one might say that about the situation…
Glancing at Signe, Beryl, deftly brushes back some of her unruly curls (to little avail) and remarks: "I might've figured he'd think of an angle like that. Spying on the patrons. Tsk-tsk, don't you trust them?" She asks teasingly, obviously kidding.
Wolfgang answers the last bit first. "Not one bit." with a laugh and a wink. "I hope the rest of those ends are all tied up. If they aren't and you need help with them, you let me know." There is a bit of, 'you shoulda come to me in the first place silly' in his tone but it's with brotherly intentions. "Dollface, could you go get the presents on the bed for me?" Always generous with presents is Wolfgang. He leans over to give Signe's temple a kiss after his behest. "Meanwhile, can I get you a drink B? You still like firewhiskey with a twist of lemon?"
"I've tried telling him the paranoia's unwarranted," Signe remarks. At the request to fetch the gifts, Signe nods - taking a few steps backwards as she asks, "You'll fix me a Bees Knees?" She rarely deviates from her favorite drink, unless Wolfgang's passing around the prosecco. She turns then, making her way towards the bedroom with a skip to her step. Once she has the gifts in hand, though, she moves with a little more grace and decorum as she returns to the main seating area.
"Please, that would be lovely. And believe me, after nearly nine months of living high and dry, I would take anything - as long as it's a double." Beryl replies wryly, motioning her relief with her hand. "Couldn't stomach the stuff during the interim, but I seem to be coming back to myself, slowly."
"Well, if you've heard anything from the grapevine about my loose ends, you'll know that Hector Carrow unceremoniously gave me the sack for getting pregnant. Pardon me for being a woman and getting on in years." Beryl says, giving a little shrug of her shoulders. She's not vindictive or vengeful about it… much.
Drifting smoothly over to a nice chair, the elder Crabbe sister sits down, and glides one leg over the other to sit and relax. However, Wolfgang announces that there are more presents to be had, and she sits forward slightly: "Really, Wolfgang, this is too much," she scolds. "Emmy's already got a bandit's hoard of treasure and money set aside, thanks largely to Signe and you. You're spoiling her, and she's not even old enough to appreciate it, yet."
Wolfgang whips up everyone's drink of choice and is soon swaggering into the living room and bending over to put the drinks on the coffee table. He helps relieve his mistress of the boxes when she comes in and begins to pass them out. Small disc shape boxes are passed out, two for Beryl and one for Signe, "I'm glad to hear you got the basket, but I wanted to get something a bit more personal. A little something to spoil my girls. I don't do kids well. But I do presents well…" He grins and gestures for them to open up the smaller boxes first while he's setting down a rather large dress box and a half in size box on top of it to the arm of the chair besides Beryl. He cuddles down next to Signe, not afraid at all to be rather blatantly affectionate with her in front of her big sister. He even kisses her shoulder and watches them both open up their presents the additional disc box is labeled for Emerald as well as the half sized box. "Hector is worse with kids than I am. That's saying something. But what I said, stands, you need a job. Boom. You got one. You need a place. Boom. You know you've got one. You need anything. Boom. You're family now." Within the disc boxes are three matching silver charm bracelets. Though for the moment there are no charms on Emerald's bracelet since he's been informed that's not a good idea. But hers is more of an ID bracelet with 'Lil Emerald' engraved on the ID plate. Signe's has 'Aunt S.' and Beryl has 'Momma B.' on their ID plates. The grown women have two charms on their bracelets, little frames. On Signes there's a little frame surrounded in emeralds and the other is surrounded in beryl. On Beryl's it's Emeralds and then Diamonds. He teases, "I thought about putting on a frame with this ugly mug…" But of course he didn't.
"And I will keep spoiling her - every day of her life," Signe answers, as she settles in with Wolfgang, taking a drink from her glass, and smiling at the kiss. "That little darling will know that she is utterly adored - every hair on her head, every inch of her." She opens the little box, letting out a touched, "Ohhhh," as she studies the bracelet and the charms. "Wolfgang, this is so sweet of you." She kisses the man, before holding out her wrist so he can help put on the bracelet.
Beryl doesn't react to Wolfgang being affectionate with Signe. It's only natural - and both he and her sister know quite well that she approves. Whatever their parents and family may think (especially daddy dearest) she's all for them, as long as Signe is happy.
If Wolfgang remembers anything about their time in school, he surely recalls that Beryl was always a cool customer, and one to never wear her heart on her sleeve if she could help it. That hasn't changed. His offers are duelly noted and answered with a faint smile and appreciative nod: "Well, we'll see. I'm too proud to go back to Gringotts and beg for my old job back - not that they'd give it to me. And I find myself in a bit of a quandary since my training was so specific." She pauses, sipping her whiskey. Oh, the delight of that first taste of liquid amber after a drought of months… absolute bliss.
When she has finished savoring the drink, Beryl opens her eyes once more and smiles at Signe. Setting the glass aside, she too opens the boxes. It's unusual to see her appear to be so moved; but, when she looks at the charm reading "Momma B." tears actually well in her eyes.
"I… thank you, Wolfgang," Beryl manages in a small, silvery voice after a moment's struggle. She does her best to hide the emotion showing through.
Wolfgang returns Signe's kiss and murmurs sweet nothings in Italian softly over her lips, notably as usually he's not a big 'I love you' spewing type. But he says it without saying it in the way he talks to her quietly. But then he leans away after one last kiss for Signe so that he can stretch over and give Beryl's cheek a kiss. More gently than before he says, "Boom." meaning 'you're welcome' and 'anything for you'. He sits back and lounges a little with one arm wrapped around Signe and his drink in the other hand. After taking a sip he offers, "Well I just so happen to be looking for a Property Assessor. Someone that's not shy about investigating properties I have an interest in. Need someone that can handle themselves, because the job can get a bit … choppy, sometimes an owner just doesn't want to let go. Or an old wizard has traps and locks galore on his place after he keels. You know, not too dissimilar from your old job. Just a little less exciting all the time. But now with Emmy, that might be a good thing. You know what I'm talking about?"
What with the murmuring the pair was doing, Signe almost entirely misses Beryl's emotional reaction - but when she looks towards her sister she can catch just a hint of the affect it had on her. She nudges Wolfgang in amusement at the 'Boom,' offering helpfully, "Do you want a hand with the clasp, Beryl?" She picks up her glass for another sip as Wolfgang offers a position to her sister. "Well. That would certainly keep you closer to home. And that would be good."
Beryl gradually recovers herself from the abrupt attack of emotion, and she does so as gracefully as possible. She doesn't dare look at Wolfgang at this moment in time - she can't. If she does, she'll risk tears again. That's the problem with ice… it always cracks or melts away at some point.
Instead, she looks toward Signe, offering a warm smile. Gladly, she allows her sister to help fasten the clasp of the bracelet around her wrist: "They really are truly lovely, all of them," she says quietly, admiring hers, Signe's and Emerald's in turn.
Now, having regained full control of her composure, Beryl turns again to Wolfgang, considering his words carefully: "It is tempting," she admits. "As you say, with Emmy to consider… I do like the sound of it. As it is, I can't leave her for very long right now, seeing as how I provide her meals." Here, she can't help smirking and face-palming slightly. Beryl Crabbe was not the kind of girl who got voted: "Most likely to become a mum" when she left school.
Wolfgang clasps the bracelet around Signe's wrist and then offers to do the same for Beryl. His glass of Desarrona put on the side table on the other side of Signe. "You have all the time in the world to consider B." A wolfish grin is then angled towards the other presents, the BIG presents he laid off to the side of her. "While you consider, I think those boxes are just begging to be opened."
"Wolfgang always gives the classiest little bangles," Signe remarks. She's generally not one for ostentatious jewelry - preferring a much subtler touch. She rather likes the idea of Beryl stopping here at Wolfgang's office from time to time on business - but she doesn't mention it. It shouldn't be the basis of Beryl's decision in her mind.
It isn't that Beryl doesn't care what Tiberius might think of her readily accepting employment from Wolfgang; in fact, she cares a great deal. But, she's been without a job for a long time, now. She needs to be making money - good money - once more. Especially now that there are three of them to consider. If she decides to say yes, she'll deal with his suspicions later.
"First Siggy, then Emmy, and now me," Beryl says with a devilish smirk: "You've got a habit of spoiling the Crabbe girls. Trying to make up for the fact that we're all essentially disowned?" She teases, playfully. Taking the first big box onto her lap, she quickly digs into it to find out what might be hidden inside…
…are matching mink coats. Infant size and Mother size! They also match the one that he gave to Signe in one of his bouts of pampering his mistress. So Tiberius can't get too too uppity. Well he can, but Wolfie will of course defend him treating the closest thing to a sister in law and niece he might ever get! "With winter in swing, thought you two should stay bundled up." There is a knocking on the door. "Boss?" it's Tony's voice and he's got a 'business needs your attention' tone. "Well I think I shall leave you spoiled ladies to each other. B, it was amazing catching up. You give that Emerald Bundle lots of love from Uncle Wolf, right? If you'll excuse me though." He turns to kiss Signe while standing up. "Think, consider, you know where to find me when you've got it. See you two soon."
Signe holds onto Wolfgang long enough for that kiss, murmuring to him quietly, then disentangles herself enough to allow him to rise. She turns to Beryl, stroking the tiny mink coat. "Oh, this is darling," she remarks, letting out a laugh. "And a little ridiculous. Whoever heard of a baby in mink? You are too much, Wolfgang."