WHO: Juliana Wilkes & Orpheus Travers.
WHAT: That dinner.
WHY: Because obvi it's what we've all been waiting for.
WHERE: Wilkes' dining room & library.
RATED: PG for language. (I know, so sad)
God damnit. God damnit, fucking hell, bloody--
Juliana's thoughts were nothing more than a string of wild vulgarities as she sat, stiffly, at her parents' dining room table, taking angry, deliberate bites of the Cornish game hen on her plate. On either side of her, her parents pretended not to notice her foul mood, and across from her it seemed that their guests were attempting to ignore it as well. Mr. and Mrs. Travers chatted happily with the Wilkses, although Orpheus--well, she couldn't really tell what he was doing or feeling, but... She wondered if he was possibly as perturbed as she was to be here.
Because really, it wasn't like he didn't know why he was there just as well as she did. These sorts of uncomfortable affairs only meant one thing in their part of society--god damnit. Juliana had known this was coming for months now, but it seemed so
soon for her parents to be inviting suitors over to dinner.
She stole a glance up at Orpheus and held back a sigh. For as much as she had prepared herself for dealing with this kind of thing, it really wasn't any easier. This was only the first suitor, though, so Juliana supposed she hadn't exactly played out her veto power yet. Thank Merlin. She was so not ready for this shit yet.
"
Natalya," Ives Wilkes' voice chimed out from Juliana's left side. She didn't turn to regard her mother. "You and Orpheus should speak! Come now, it's awfully rude of you to not attempt to engage him in conversation."
Orpheus sullenly ate in silence, glancing occasionally across the table without lifting his face, his eyes darting just up over the edge of his wine glass, trying to catch Juliana’s own. Here they sat, the six of them around this fucking table (although honestly it was a very well crafted table, set elegantly and the food was delicious but Orpheus was feeling rather foul) and no one had bothered to utter a word to anyone worth more than, “Dear would you please pass the salt?” or “This dinner is lovely, Ives,” (which of course was his father whom he loathed with every fiber of his being at this instant in time).
Being and adult who is told two hours before he is expected to appear for dinner that as a duty to the family name he must appear at this table was not the way to make Orpheus acquiesce to anything. Now having had only about an hour to mental (and aesthetically) prepare himself for whatever the hell this was, Orpheus was still quite sour. And why didn’t Klio have to come? Or any of Juliana’s assorted siblings whom Orpheus often found too numerous to remember in one sitting? Thinking in fragments was befuddling.
Resisting the overwhelming urge to curl his lip at his father once again in disgust as he had done just before they entered the Wilkes’ home, Orpheus took another bite of his hen, pretending it was his own father’s head he was biting off. This social obligation crap was getting awfully old, awfully fast. What were they up to?
And then it hit Orpheus like a ton of bricks and he momentarily choked on his wine before setting his goblet down and sputtering for a moment. Juliana’s mother looked concerned, as did his own, but Orpheus smiled weakly and coughed a bit for effect. “Just went down the wrong way,” he added, trying to laugh off his embarrassment.
They were setting him up, the scheming deviants! Now that Laura was married off, they could finally start, seeing as how he hadn’t been able to secure his own successful relationship (or any relationship for that matter actually). Oh the potential embarrassment this would bring about! The six of them flaunting about the town, like he was an infant on a play date with his mummy, just think of it! His friends would think this was a riot, of that Orpheus was quite sure. He could just hear Emmet about it now. Oh this whole idea was simply preposterous and he couldn’t imagine why anyone would ever agree to such-
Orpheus’ self-indulgent fantasies of woe were interrupted by some commotion across the table. Ives seemed to be trying to get Juliana to do something. “
….engage in conversation?”
“Miss Juliana, I regret that I didn’t tell you before how lovely you look this evening. Please don’t think me rude to not have mentioned it but I wouldn’t have wanted you to think I was simply flattering you to get in your good graces.” Orpheus smiled genuinely. She really did look nice and it’s not like she played any part in his parents sick and twisted social games.
Jules looked surprised by Orpheus speaking up. Not that he had been completely silent before now, but to actually having him form a full sentence at her with the expectation of her responding to it was a change of course for the dinner. She opened her mouth, only to find that she didn't know quite how to respond--an unusual thing for the girl that always had her next words on the tip of her tongue.
She paused a moment, made casual eye contact, and nodded slightly to acknowledge that she had heard him despite the previous silence. "No offence taken, Mister Travers," she answered. "Overwhelming flattery is charming to none." A total lie--Juliana liked to bask in the compliments of men. She was merely turning on her proper young lady act (to some degree) for the sake of her parents. It would be easier to get rid of this situation if she stayed within their good favor.
Which meant actually holding a conversation with him. Which meant effort. Ugh.
"So... How is your sister--Klio, is it?" Juliana sent a glance to her mother, who looked pleased. She imagined if she could have sent her a thumbs-up, she would have. Jules returned her attention to Orpheus, awaiting his answer.
Overwhelming flattery is what had gotten Orpheus into and out of many a mess and he was certainly going to use it to his advantage this time, whether or not Juliana chose to give it her approval.
“Klio is doing quite well,” Calliope, Orpheus’ mother, began before her husband poked her under the table. This wasn’t the time for her to prattle on with a mother’s bragging. “She really enjoyed our trip to the Alps this Christmas,” Orpheus finished. “I took her on a little vacation, she’s been working so hard in school, she’s in Ravenclaw you know. I actually can’t believe she will be leaving Hogwarts at the end of next year. Time goes by so quickly once you’re out of there and into the world.” Again Orpheus smiled, which was rather uncharacteristic of him, but this time it was nostalgic. Hogwarts really had been the good years.
“Thank you for asking after her, Juliana. And how are your sisters? I’ve seen a bit of your brother around these past few weeks.” At least he’d thought it was Avery. Perhaps not but it was so hard to tell sometimes with all the masks – then again, wasn’t that sort of the point?
"What a nice brother, to be so attentive to your sister," she answered. It was amazing how she managed to sound like she actually cared when she honestly couldn't give a shit and couldn't wait to get this dinner over with. At least it was nearly to dessert. "Daniella is doing well, her pregnancy is going nicely and she's settled into her life with Adrian just like she settled in with Sebastian, as far as I can tell."
Of course, Adrian was about twenty times less a pig than his older brother had been, but that simply wasn't in good grace to speak of. "And Louisa is... around. Working, mostly; I regret that I haven't seen much of her, but Mat'" --Juliana glanced at her mother-- "says she's not coming out of her greenhouses much lately. Caught up in some new discovery, I suppose."
As house elves came out to clean off the dinner plates, another set brought out dessert. It was kissel, a Russian dessert that Juliana loved but her parents always insisted was not formal enough to serve at family dinner--they must have really been trying to butter her up, all the while figuring that the Travers would have no idea what it was anyway.
Jules stirred around the berries in the sweet cream with her spoon idly. This was a bit troubling, that they'd go to the effort to make her happy just to see a suitor. There was something up, there had to--
Her thoughts were interrupted suddenly by the sound of Chester Wilkes clearing his throat. All eyes at the table went to him, and Juliana frowned in slight confusion at the wide grin that had just come over the faces of all the adults on the table. Like they all knew something that their children did not. "Before we start dessert, Mr. and Mrs. Travers, and Mrs. Wilkes and I have an announcement to make."
Perhaps asking after the sisters hadn’t been the way to go, but Orpheus really hadn’t meant to stick his foot in his mouth. Hoping not to have ruined the evening, he smiled at his parents, almost begging for their approval in his polite conversation. This was getting ridiculous. When was dessert?
And then it came out and Orpheus’ face lit up, but then it fell just a moment when he realized it was something he’d never seen before. Poking gently at a berry and attempting not to look stupid doing so, he wondered what the assorted fruit on custard was supposed to be. Alas, it seemed his only hope to stop the necessity of speech. He took a large spoonful directly into his mouth, where it happily met his taste buds. Pleased at the turn of cuisine, Orpheus’ smile did abruptly and without social mask disappear from his face when Chester spoke. Shit, there went social delicacies down the tubes. Orpheus smiled weakly, a little cream near the side of his bottom lip.
Hastily attempting to swallow the enormous amount of cream in his mouth (which he really needed to get the recipe for because it was completely fantastic and he really just wanted another bite) and without any real thought to Juliana’s frown, Orpheus tried to compose himself. He really hoped perhaps no one had noticed how anxious he was to continue eating and get this whole awful thing over with. Any more of this social necessity and he was going to have to excuse himself to the washroom and get the hell out of this place.
Noticing his parents were still beaming, Orpheus couldn’t help but realize perhaps they hadn’t noticed his little (big?) slip. There was something else in their eyes, something primal perhaps. Something very, very,
very bad.
Sol nodded, and raised his glass, which conveniently enough re-filled itself with champagne. “As tradition dictates, I would like to propose a toast in the celebration of a father’s greatest joy. Juliana, Orpheus,” Sol directed his gaze toward his son, who looked quite pale, “There is nothing more admirable than when two families who see eye to eye resolve that they must become united.” Glancing across the table at Juliana, Orpheus really thought he might become violently ill, and it wasn’t the kissel.
Juliana's face paled, going whiter than the cream in the dish that her spoon had just clanged into. Oh god.
Orpheus Travers wasn't a suitor. Orpheus Travers was her
fiancée.
She didn't have time to feel furious right now for the strict injustice that her parents had just done her, only shocked and ill. How long had they been planning this? How long had they been talking this over with the Travers'? They'd never even brought her men to see like tradition said, they just... you didn't just put your daughter in a white dress and throw her at a man anymore, you waited to see if there were any she
liked and
then if she didn't agree, you--no, but this.
This wasn't happening.
"Natalya, love!" Ives exclaimed with a smile, putting her arm around her daughter's shoulders and hugging her lightly. "Aren't you excited? Think how lovely this is for all of us! You and Orpheus obviously get along splendidly; you're perfect to be married!"
In any other time, Jules might have laughed at how backwards that sentence sounded, but right now all she could do was nod, a bit numbly. "Right. Perfect," she mumbled quietly, sounding as distressed as she was. "That's... great." Juliana didn't dare to look up at Orpheus' face during all of this--she couldn't bring herself to look at him right now.
They couldn’t be serious. Orpheus looked back and forth at his parents smiling faces and at those of the Wilkes and finally to Juliana’s. Well at least she had been as in the dark and was as excited about all this as he was. That word, oh that dreadful, blasphemous,
fucking word. Marriage. It was despicable.
It wasn’t even like he could get up and object to all of this, not when they were already having their engagement dinner. This bloody sucked. In an attempt to seem elated, Orpheus raised his glass to Juliana. “Cheers,” he said rather weakly. Oh this blew colder than the north winds.
Completely oblivious to her son’s utter defeat, Calliope took this opportunity to chime in. “Long engagements give people the opportunity of finding out each other's character before marriage, which is never advisable.” Mrs. Travers smiled translucently, her husband putting is hand on her shoulder, silently pleading that she just shut up.
“Dear, of course that’s for the Wilkes to decide. They have been so generous to invite us into their home to host this special occasion for our children.” Sol smiled at Chester but of course the two of them had already decided how things should fit together. It had been so nice that they had been in agreement about the pace of the engagement and other related matters.
Orpheus was too old to pout but he seriously considered it as he played with the berries in his little bowl, his parents completely ignorant of his doleful expression. His eyes met Juliana’s briefly, almost pleading with her to stop the insanity that surrounded the table. Then he remembered the ‘gift’ his father had made sure he’d taken from the end table at home. He’d had the bloody ring in his pocket all night – he’d been carrying the evidence around for hours, if only he’d stopped to look at whatever it was he was giving the Wilkes.
Sullenly, Orpheus took another bite of the creamy dessert, the sweet taste not even able to break the grim line his mouth was set into.
"Well, of
course it's never advisable to have a long engagement," Ives agreed with Calliope. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Juliana knew that her mother had to be thinking about Grayson--bloody hell, that'd been a short engagement, so what in the world were they planning for
her? Then again, the termination of that had been placed on the shoulders of the Llewellyns, and Juliana was not a Llewellyn.
Bloody right she wasn't. She may not have liked what was going on, but
she wasn't getting up and running. She wasn't even protesting. She had her respect for tradition, no matter how much that tradition sucked.
Juliana raised her glass to Orpheus', still determined not to meet his eyes, and took a long drink of her champagne--much longer than was completely appropriate of a lady, but her parents were so euphoric that she doubted they'd notice. She brought down her glass just in time to tune in again on the parents at the table, all discussing (in a very acted manner, bloody hell like they didn't know they'd been planning this by now) the date of the impending wedding. Auuuuugh---
"What do you all say, early April?" Chester asked the whole of the table. All except the bride and groom of course; but then again, to think that they would be asked about anything would be a surprise after this announcement. Ives looked over to Calliope. "And Orpheus said something about the Alps earlier during dinner... wouldn't that be
beautiful for a wedding?" She turned to her daughter excitedly. "What do you think, darling?" --not an actual question, Jules noted, thus kept silent-- "Ohh, I can see it all in my head now!"
Right on cue, Calliope chimed in that of course the Alps would be perfect, why she hadn’t thought of that! At this point Orpheus was about ready to really be sick. Nodding mutely, knowing none of that conversation was intended to be commented upon and was simply being re-enacted for the pleasure of the happy couple, Orpheus had had enough.
“Mother, April sounds lovely,” he began standing up from the table. “However,” Orpheus paused and figured he should probably plan his next actions of escape carefully. He walked around the table while continuing and ended up beside Juliana’s chair. “I think it would be wise if Juliana and I retired to the library. The excitement is well,” he chuckled to himself in mock amusement, “the excitement seems to be exciting her.” He glanced down at Jules, urging her to play along with whatever he was attempting to do.
She was more than happy to oblige him. Being alone with him was the lesser of two evils right now when she compared it to staying here and listening to the play act her parents and his had planned out, and she nodded. "Yes. The Library would be nice," she said, rising up out of her chair. There would be no protests from her parents--all they saw this was as bonding time--and so she didn't bother to ask them to leave, merely followed Orpheus out of the dining room.
The walk across the manor was slow and awkward. Juliana couldn't even recall the last time she'd been awkward around a man... but she was much better at shagging them than marrying them. Marrying--well, she'd known for all her life that this day would come, but not that it would come
now. Not that she wouldn't have time to
prepare. And now all of a sudden she was walking away from dinner with her fiancée, a man she barely knew by more than name and reputation, her life turned completely upside down over one bowl of kissel.
When they finally reached the Library, she sat down on one of the couches, finally daring to look up at him. Well, at least he wasn't bad looking. If there was one upside to it all, it was that her parents could have picked someone downright disgusting, whereas Orpheus was actually handsome.
They were immersed in the silence for several long moments, tenseness hanging in the air over them like a thick blanket, before Juliana finally managed to find words. "So, I suppose if I'm supposed to marry you, I could at least find out who you are." That was good, right? Find out about him?
"Thank you for making this sound like it was all my idea," Orpheus said coldly without thought but did think better of his harsh words once they were out of his mouth. He flopped into a large chair behind a desk littered with books, mostly open with their almost dusty pages making it evident they were rarely if ever turned. It wasn't Juliana's fault about all this.
Shrugging, Orpheus didn't speak for a bit, picking up a book and pretending to scrutinize it when in fact he just had no idea what to do with himself. Being alone with women wasn't generally the issue. This was only the second time in his life he'd been alone with a woman he was to marry and look how that had turned out the first time.
"Orpheus Travers, Slytherin class of 77," what more was there really she might want to know? "I'm six foot three with good teeth, I enjoy music and my wand is made of cedar and griffin's mane?" Orpheus was getting rather upset about it actually.
Juliana didn't even attempt to hide the way she rolled her eyes at Orpheus. Lovely. Well, if this was how he was going to be away from the eyes of their parents, then they were in for a wonderful marriage, she could tell right now.
Well, it was his own funeral, snapping at her. Little did he know Juliana Wilkes was a different persona away from the eyes of her own mother and father as well.
Completely different.
"My name is Juliana Natalya Wilkes," she said, speaking in a clipped tone (he asked for it) as she picked up where he'd left off. "I'm 23 years old, Slytherin class of 1974. I like to party, I like to drink, I don't like to be told what to do, and I don't intend to exercise faithfulness with you. If you've got a problem with any of that, go tell your Mummy now; I'd rather not be here either, in case you couldn't tell, but if you want to be rude, I can be too." She leaned back into the couch and crossed her arms over her chest, suddenly looking much more comfortable now that he'd given her a reason to not have to be awkwardly polite. Juliana raised her brow at Orpheus, almost as if daring him to say something.
Orpheus glanced over the pages of his book, raising his eyebrow in surprise as Jules replied to his statement. Juliana had admitted most of her faults while Orpheus kept his hand hidden. When she raised her eyebrow in return, Orpheus smirked back at her. “You think you’re quite the catch, don’t you, being all tiffy with me.” He dropped the book back on the desk with a small thud which raised a small cloud of dust into the air.
Leaning back in his chair, Orpheus too crossed his arms, daring her to argue with him. It had been a long time since he’d had this much fun with a woman. Let the staring contest begin, he wasn’t about to let her think she was going to get away with this all that easily.
Aha, so he wasn't going to take it easily. Rather unexpected (men rarely talked back to her), but surprisingly, not completely a horrible thing. It was fun to once in a while have a bit of a match.
"Oh darling," she said, the tone of her voice just brushing the surface of condescending. "You have no idea." Of course, it wasn't as if she were just saying that to be cocky--she had very wide grounds for thinking so highly of herself. "But you're so young; I wouldn't expect a boy to know any better."
Orpheus rolled his eyes are Juliana. “People have been telling me that I’m too young for years and it hasn’t hindered me yet. Somehow doubt it’s going to hinder me in this marriage.” Orpheus stretched his hands over his head, absently cracking his knuckles before settling into the chair again. Hands in his lap this time, Orpheus pondered his sudden desire for a cigar.
“My dearest fiancée, don’t you worry your pretty little head about me. I’ll do my job, you do yours.” Orpheus’ voice too scratched the surface of condescending although he was thoroughly enjoying himself. This was better than spending Valentine’s popping heart bubbles by far.
Juliana raised a brow, looking just barely interested in what he had to say. "And what are these jobs you speak of, my husband-to-be?" her voice dripped with sarcasm in the way she addressed him. But she, also, was having fun--or if not having fun, then she was at least amused. Intrigued was probably a better word--intrigued by the way that he didn't seem to be as easy to push over than many other men that she had met.
Well, at least their marriage wouldn't be uneventful.
Look at that, it was almost enough to make her forget for a moment the seriousness of the topic at hand. She had almost, for a second, let her mind wander off of the full impact of what had been announced to them moments before.
“My job is to appear successful, wealthy, and desirable.” Orpheus stood up from his chair and walked slowly over to where Jules was on the couch as he spoke. “Yours is to remain lovely, content and productive,” he leaned forward, standing over her, one of his hands on the arm of the couch, the other on the seat beside her.
Although his eyes were as hard as they had been before, his voice was more genuine as he stared intently at her. “You know, believe it or not, I’m not exactly thrilled about this whole affair either. But there isn’t much of an option for either of us out of this arrangement.” Orpheus paused for effect, again smirking at her and the voice that he continued with was again almost mocking as before. “Let me know if you come up with anything.”
Juliana rolled her eyes and gave him a glaring look, then batted his arm away from the couch with her hand, moving him so that she could rise up from her place. "I'll be sure to," she muttered, very suddenly not amused at him anymore. Actually, she rather wanted to go stab something with a kitchen knife now--a pity there would be consequences, or she might have decided to use him as her target.
She straightened out her dress and then turned her back to Orpheus. "I suppose our parents are wondering what we're up to," she spoke coldly, detached. To be honest, she believed her parents could care less if she didn't emerge for hours, but any reason to get away from him was good enough right now. "I had better go back and see them." Juliana gave one glance back to him, then exited through the double-doors.
Finale.
