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flustered
Avery appeared suddenly beside his wife, and startled her though she was sure he could not have apparated inside the Borgin home.
“Vivica,” he said in a low voice, dropping his head down to whisper in her ear, as to not interrupt the story Kalista had been going on and on with for the past twenty minutes, “I wish to leave.”
“They haven’t served tea,” Vivica responded quickly, her eyes not losing focus on the blond woman in front of her, managing to keep equal attention on the hostess and her husband. “It would seem strange to leave now.”
“It would seem even stranger if they found Zachary Sloper and Bertram Aubrey strung up by their ankles in one of the giant oak trees out back,” Avery hissed back quickly, standing straight. Vivica sent a quick look up at him, surprised at his tone. She would have smirked in amusement at his barely strangled rage if she were not such a poised young woman. Seeing that her husband was in a snit, and would probably remain by her side silently fuming until she excused herself, Vivica waited for an appropriate break in Kalista’s story, which came along in just six minutes.
She used the excuse of a deep desire to see their son to bed. It was a truth, but it was a good one in particular for tonight because Kalista was a new mother and could absolutely understand the feeling. Vivica placed all the proper kisses on all the proper cheeks before she allowed Avery to slink her cloak over her shoulders; he’d somehow managed to swipe it from the guest closet without her realizing he’d even left the parlour.
They left through the front doors, the apparation point just outside the gate. The air of the late November night was crisp; the full moon illuminated the front mall of the Borgin Estate, creating an ethereal mood as they walked. Vivica’s thoughts wandered as she silently mused about the new homes she had been looking into, but was interrupted as Avery muttered at how it seemed like their long walk way seemed illogical.
“You usually last through tea,” she said, pulling her cloak tighter around her shoulders, frowning at his disapproval of the Borgin home’s layout. Avery had been kicking a stone down the path and sent it soaring a good few meters ahead of them. It skipped into the grass and he made another sound of frustration.
“They began challenging each other to a belching contest,” Avery responded dryly, as if that tone were better than displaying the disgust she knew he felt. “I don’t understand why they keep getting invited to these things, or why we keep going.”
“They are some of my best friends,” Vivica reminded. They were very much boys, but they were her boys, and it had been a hard time trying to get her husband, the most important man in her life, to be cordial with them. “You don’t have to go along with their games, you just have to...tolerate.”
“I shouldn’t have to,” he said, sounding like a child who had been forced to wear dress robes. They stopped, Avery abruptly and Vivica a few paces ahead of him. He looked honestly confused by all of this, and she couldn’t understand. The moonlight lit up his flustered face, a tinge of red growing on his cheeks. “They’re not my friends. I will never ask you to not spend time with them or to cut them out of your life but---I am an adult and no longer wish to be forced into these...settings that I have no desire to be in!”
His heavy breaths puffed into small clouds in the late fall air, and Vivica once again held back a look of amusement. She had never dated a Ravenclaw before being set up with Avery, and even after three years of marriage she seemed to be discovering new things about him daily. As much of a wild-child he was once rumored to have been, these anxieties often got the best of him. Vivica found it somewhat endearing, as it forced him voice his actual opinion to her and not just allow her to simply traipse on with what she was doing. As much as she knew how to be in control of things, it was good to have a bit of a challenge.
Vivica strode to him and put her hands up, taking his face and pulling him down to kiss her quickly. Avery made a funny noise in her mouth but kissed her back, his hands going to her waist to hold her to him. When they parted, she pushed her hands through his hair and let them rest on his neck.
“We’ll use the excuse that your business is expanding and you simply cannot take the night. You’ll only have to attend birthdays and holidays,” she declared with her chin raised. Avery’s eyes widened and he grinned, leaning forward to press his lips to her neck. Vivica hummed in approval, “...and the occasional engagement party...oh, and---”
“Vivica...” Avery murmured against her skin, his grip around her waist tightening. She shut her eyes in the moonlight and let out a breath; they’d negotiate terms later.
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