Orpheus glanced involuntarily at the clock for the second time in ten minutes before he felt the need to slap himself for his ridiculous behavior. Juliana was coming, to his house, to his house where they would probably end up living in three months time, and here he was being a simpering fool hoping that she would be late so he could finish dusting before she arrived. Glancing down at the little apron he had tied around his waist with disgust, Orpheus ripped it off with one quick motion and glared at the house elf who came around the corner. "Take this and put it with the laundry," he huffed, pushing past the small creature and stuffing the wadded up cloth into her outstretched hands. The elf just sort of tipped her head at Orpheus, wondering how he would ever survive the night.

Back in the kitchen, Orpheus checked on the meal, making sure the elf in there was preparing things as he had dictated. Already knowing that little had changed in the half hour since he'd last been in the kitchen, after tasting a bit of what was on the rear stove, Orpheus nodded in approval before deciding it was necessary to give the house a final thorough walkthrough before his fiancé arrived. This was what happened when you didn't have guests for long periods of time, Orpheus mused as he adjusted the frame above the mantle in one of the two living rooms. Things got into disarray because you let it slide for a few days until you forgot about it. He hadn't even noticed how cluttered the library had become until he'd gone in there this afternoon only to find papers everywhere, half the books askew and the oversized armchair still beside the window where Klio had dragged it her last visit. She thought the light was better for reading on that side of the room but Orpheus just didn't feel right about the chair that close to the right bookshelf.

Satisfied that he was finished (for the second time that afternoon), Orpheus finally took a seat at the bottom of the staircase. His reflection in the hall mirror suggested that his hair might need another going over, but he ignored glancing in that direction. The bell rang at just that minute to signify that (more than likely anyway) his guest had finally arrived. The anxiety Orpheus had been trying to avoid for the day’s entirety suddenly came bearing down upon him and it was a moment or two before he rose with a very heavy sigh. What on earth had he gotten himself into, inviting her over for dinner like this, completely spur of the moment? His conversation with Klio (if one could even call it a conversation) had gotten him thinking about how little he really knew about Juliana. At least this way, he was on his turf, this was his scene, he was going to call the shots. At least that’s what Orpheus was trying to convince himself as he opened his front door.