| Details for A New Direction |
| Summary: | Lucian has decided he's been on the wrong path, and discusses his future with Morgana. |
| Date: | 20 September, 1940 |
| Location: | Lucian's flat |
| Related: | — |
| Characters |
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It was supposed to be a celebration after the tournament. Lucian should have been flying high after dominating his opponents and showing his true skill on the duelling stage. A new champion was to have been born.
But champions aren't made overnight. Lucian had a respectable showing, but failing to even place before he was defeated was a blow that left him stunned. He was distant after his loss, his mind elsewhere. By the time he and Morgana reached her home, he decided to see her in and then return to his own flat, promising to see her the next day.
Come evening, the owl came at last, bearing the invitation to come see him, promising dessert and a surprise.
While Morgana has been supportive, she knows that this path was not going to be easy for Lucian, and with the early defeat, she was disappointed for him. Not in him however, she knows he did his best but the people he was up against had several more years on him and there is little you can to combat experience. So when he bid her goodnight, she let him have his space, knowing that he probably had some wounds to lick, and he would need to space to do so. Besides, it gave her time to do research that she had been putting for for a few days, so when the Owl arrived inviting her over she returns the response and shows up at the time he specified. With the weather cooling, she has on a thicker cloak over her clothing and a hood over her hair, but either way she has a smile on her face when he knocks on her door.
Lucian footsteps pound to the door as Lucian hurries to open it. Gone is the sulking loser of the night before. Lucian is smiling, his hair combed neatly, dressed in a snappy silk shirt and slacks. "Come in!" He says excitedly getting out of her way to let her in and reaching to take her cloak for her.
"You seem to be in a far better mood." Morgana says, glad that he is at least feeling better after the previous night's defeat. She'll hand over her cloak and is wearing a simple skirt and sweater combination, knowing full well that wearing pants around Lucian is pointless. ""So, what's the surprise?" She asks, obviously impatient.
Lucian shuts the doors and hangs up her cloak. He gives her a wink and reaches for her hand. "So impatient. Dessert first. Come on, have a seat." He leads her to his tiny table, where he already has two plates set out with simple berry tarts upon them, accompanied by a small glass of wine. "You're my taste tester. I ruined three tarts before these ones."
"I'm always impatient for surprises." Morgana says with a smirk as she walks toward his table and takes a seat. Looking the tart over, she smirks as she picks up the fork and inspects the bite. "You ruined three? That's far better than I would do." She takes a bite and takes her time to give the verdict to see how well he's done at creating it.
Lucian smirks and nods. "Yeah. Three. One was basically putty. One was a Thing That Should Not Be, and that's all I'll say about that. The third was passable, but not exactly appetizing in appearance." He watches her curiously as she takes a bite, sampling his own. He tilts his head, pondering his creation. "Too sweet. Must have used too much sugar."
"I do hope you properly disposed of the Thing That Should Not Be, you never know when such things are going to grow legs and get minds of their own." Morgana says with a smirk, and as she finishes her bite she shakes her head. "Just a touch sweet, but I think if you put a little lemon juice in, it the tart will balance it out." She says washing the bite down with some wine. "What brought on your sudden baking urge."
The rueful look Lucian gives Morgana might just mean the tart did grow legs and get a mind of its own. But he lets that go to give way to a thoughtful nod. "Lemon juice…that might just be perfect. See? You've got a mind for cooking after all." He lifts his wine in toast to her. "So, I was baking last night because I was frustrated and needed to do something. But I've come to a decision. I'm not meant to be a duellist. It was fine at Hogwarts, but what I really got out of that was teaching the younger students in the club. I've decided to do it, Anya. I'm going to be a teacher. Look here." He reaches into a pocket and produces a card, sliding it across the table to her. Upon the card, next to a photograph of a smiling Lucian transforming into a lion and back again, are the words: Lucian Pride, Transfiguration Tutor, Animagus Consultation and Training Available.
"You would think that, only, you know I don't. Everything just burns, or has this horrible flavor. It's better that I stick to potions that don't need to have a flavor." Hearing that he was stress baking, she smirks and nods her head. "I know the feeling, I'm glad you found something to relieve that stress." However when he explains his plans and hands over the card and looks it over. "Lucian Pride? Is that a play on being the king over a harem of women?" She says with a smirk. "It fits though, and I think this is going to be a good fit for you. Also you probably don't need a shop to do tutoring, it can always be done at homes, or perhaps the farm is Camilla is alright with it." There is a bright smile on her face as she reaches over to touch his hand. "I'm happy with this outcome darling."
Lucian was beaming before, but now he is glowing with a halo of happiness. "I'm so glad to hear you say that. I was afraid you'd think I was quitting. I want you to know that I've been thinking hard about this for a while now. It feels so right. Plus, you don't have to worry so much about me getting hurt." He smirks wryly, adding, "Or my adoring female fans throwing themselves at me."
"Your heart wasn't in it Lucian, I could tell. You felt like it was something that you were supposed to do, instead of something you wanted to do. I can't fault you for quitting that. I also enjoy that you are less likely to be injured or killed while teaching transfiguration." When he speaks of his fans, she shakes her head. "I'd just kill them and hide the evidence." She says in a tone that is hard to tell if she's being serious or not. However she returns to her other question. "Have you actually changed your name, or is it a nom de plume?"
Lucian shakes his head. "I haven't changed it…yet. There's loads of paperwork at the Ministry to have it done. But I'm going to. I do have pride in who I am and what I've achieved. But I don't want to be associate with them any more. Except maybe Chastity. I hope she understands."
"The paperwork shouldn't take you too long, and I think the name suits you very well. And you don't have to change your monogram." Morgana says as she takes another bite of the tart. "I'm sure she will, perhaps when she is older. I think at this age she might have questions you're not comfortable answering yet. Either way this is a good move for you, and if you need help with filing the paper work you know I am good with filling out forms."
Lucian lets out a breath as if he'd been holding it. "Thank you. I was hoping you'd be willing to help. Deciphering Ministrish is not my strong suit. So, I need to drum up business, of course. To be honest, I'm not entirely sure how to go about it. I know there are many Hogwarts students that would love to learn to be Animagi, though I'll bet few of them have the talent for it. Still, how would I get word out without incurring the wrath of Dumbledore the Terrible?"
"I spend most of my days deciphering Ministrish, and writing it. I've almost become an expert at it." Morgana replies with a wink as she finishes the tart, and uses her finger to wip up a bit of the custard that remained. "You could always take out an ad in the prophet, and perhaps writing a kind letter to Dumbledore letting him know you have this service and should any of his older students wish for lessons to send them your way."
Lucian rubs his chin, nodding. "The Prophet is a good idea. Dumbledore…I don't know. I don't think he likes me. But yeah, I'll look into the newspaper. I wonder how much an advert costs." For all his talent for teaching, Lucian has little business sense. That's at least one thing he doesn't share with his father.
Morgana tilts her head thoughtfully before she gets up and finds a spare paper laying around, flipping quickly to the classifieds and holding the paper to show it to him. "There, there is all you need to know about putting in an ad in the prophet." She does occasionally read the paper after all. "IT shouldn't be all that hard and if you'd like I could help you with the wording. Though we'll have to figure out what you're going to charge. What does one pay for animagi lessons. Oh! You could also offer help with registration!" Since having it all above board is probably for the best.
Lucian nods, taking the paper to look over the advertising information. "Yeah, I'd definitely offer a registration service. The last thing I need is someone I trained going unregistered and getting me into hot water." His eyes widen at the paper. "These prices…Merlin, adverts don't come cheap."
"Well I could loan the cost to you, and you could repay me once you're making a profit." Morgana really isn't used to having the amount of money that she does, and most of it is just collecting in her vault. "You might want to make inquiries on what might need to be done for you to teach. You might have some sort of certification or something along those lines that give you some credibility."
Lucian pinches his lips uncomfortably at the suggestion that he borrow money from Morgana. "I did look into certification with the D.M.E. My NEWT levels will qualify me to teach Transfiguration. I just need to pay a fee for a license. I had hoped that winnings from the tournament would take care of all of these costs. But…that didn't happen. I know you want to help, but I just don't like the idea of being indebted to you. I've actually got a way to pay for everything, though. Maybe even the advert. So don't worry about that."
Morgana stands to join him at the side of the table, she reaches down to lightly run her fingers through her hair. "I'm not some debtor, going to hold coin over your head like it was something I was expecting back. I could be an investor Lucian. However if you've got it figured out, and it isn't you selling your body for research or crawling to family members that you despise than… I suppose I am fine with it."
Lucian smiles and rises to stand with her, curling his hands around her waist to draw her close. "It's nothing like that. Just selling something I should have gotten rid of a long time ago. I'm going to make something of myself, so I can be worthy of you."
Morgana furrows her brows at that last comment and tilts her head. "Worthy of me? Do you honestly feel as if you are not worthy of me Lucian?" Her tone is serious but her arms wrap around his neck and she is still softly running her fingers through his hair. She has a guess on what he is selling, but she doesn't feel like it is the time for her to really bring that up.
Lucian takes a slow breath. "I feel as if I haven't yet proven that I can provide and contribute. But that's going to change." He leans his forehead against hers, "And…I've been hoping that you've been considering that thing we talked about a while back. About…what I want for us."
Morgana sighs and shakes her head. "It wasn't that Lucian, that's not what is holding me back." She does put a bit of space between herself and him, like she always does when these hard conversations come up. "I'm afraid of it, of what come afterwards, of what happens when it fails, when I fail. What name do the children take? What happens when they get sorted into a house that neither of us like? What if I am as horrible of a mother as I am a girlfriend or a wife?" She runs her fingers through her hair.
Lucian lifts his hands to gently cup her face, gazing into her eyes. "Do you think I would want to spend my life with you if I didn't have faith in you? You could have thought of a thousand reasons not to join the Department of Mysteries. But you committed yourself to it and you worked hard. That's what we do, Anya. We work hard to achieve what we want. It's why we'll be better off than people who have had everything handed to them. It's why we'll be amazing together. When problems come, and they will come, we will work to overcome them."
"But what if this isn't meant to be Lucian? What if we're just riding on a high of sex and hormones that are tricking us to believe that this is love? What if we spend all these years together only to find out that it was a mistake, than we decide just to remain together because there are children to think of? What if you come to resent my career, and my commitment to it? Where my nights get longer and longer because of a project I am working on but can never tell you about?" She sighs and while she does hear what he says but shakes her head. "I'm worried that I'm too self absorbed to have another person in my life Lucian."
Lucian sighs, dropping his hands to her shoulders, rubbing them affectionately. "You'll never be able to answer all of those questions. There's really only one question you need to ask yourself. Do you want to look back on your life in thirty years and wonder what might have been if you'd taken the chance?"
Morgana sighs letting he head fall forward and her hair cover her face as he speaks. "You make it sound as if it were all or nothing right now." He can easily feel the turmoil in her emotions, as they flick and run through her mind over and over. "Very well. I'll put it back on the table, when we're both ready."
Lucian slides down her arms to take her hands in his, tugging her close again. "I have no doubts. We'll have trouble and strife, and we'll work hard to overcome. We are amazing together, and the good times far outweigh the bad." He leans in to steal a quick kiss. "You know I'm right. How could a tart that delicious be wrong?" He smiles, trying to lighten the mood with a bit of teasing. "Come on, let's go for a walk and clear our heads."