Who: Gilderoy Lockhart and Elsie Branstone
What: First date, and...well, you'll see.
Where: Viva Lombardi's ---> Gilderoy's apartment
When: Last night, around 7
Rating: PG-13
It took Elsie a while to wrap her mind around what exactly was happening tonight.
She was going on a date.
Well, that wasn't a very rare occurrence for her! She did date.
She was going on a date with GILDEROY LOCKHART.
GILDEROY LOCKHART, author and adventurer extraordinaire.
He was
so... well, dreamy seemed to be the most appropriate word she could find to fit him, and even
then, it wasn't nearly good enough!
Of course, it wouldn't do to be this flustered in front of him at
all. What if she--what if she threw up on his foot or something? From all the nerves? Oh, god, that would be-- that would be
humiliating, she'd never be able to
look at one of his books again, let alone look him in the face.
Okay, you have
to calm down, she told herself sternly before pulling open the door to the restaurant.
If you picture yourself doing something idiotic, you significantly raise your chances of making it come true. Now stop it!Oh, hell, she was definitely going to throw up.
He was quite dreamy, wasn’t he?
Gilderoy would
never deny that! He knew he was good looking, and well…he took it like a man. He embraced the fact that he was probably one of, if not
the best looking wizards in the entire world. Oh, it was such a burden! Always being watched, and whispered about. Always being followed, and touched, and fawned over. It was
horrible.
.........
Okay, no it wasn’t! He loved every second of it! But there were rare occasions when being in the public eye did have some disadvantages! Like, for example, when he was having a bad hair day and someone snapped a photo of him. OH the humiliation. Those days were few and
very far between, and even then most people thought his hair looked
fantastic. That’s because a bad hair day for Gilderoy is the best hair day of some other
ordinary person’s life. Today, he was having a good one. His golden hair had the most gentle wave to it, and even as his fingers ran through it to push it back away from his stunning blue eyes, it remained full and shiny. God, he was perfect.
Currently, Gilderoy was holding up a spoon, looking at his reflection as he checked to make sure nothing was caught in those pearly whites of his. It wasn’t until he noticed movement out of the corner of his eye was he able to pull himself away from well…him, and look up to see his date standing there, looking quite beautiful! Just like he remembered her. Or, well, he knew she was blonde, and he knew she was pretty, but the details were a little fuzzy. But now everything was coming back to him! Yes! This was Elsie!
“Hello, darling.” He said as he rose to his feet, approaching her. He extended a hand out for her, and once she placed her own in his, he bowed down and kissed it, covering her hand with his other as he beamed up at her. “So good to see you, sweet pea.”
Sweet pea, reall-- okay, stop. A famous wizard just called you by a pet name. I think you can live with something cheesy, Elsie managed to coherently tell herself before her mind went completely blank.
For one crippling second, she just started at the man sitting in front of her whose teeth practically acted as mirror because of their shine. He was an
adventurer. She
read about adventures. What on earth could she possibly have to say to this man that would interest him in the slightest? For the first time in her life, Elise sincerely wished she was good-looking enough to not have whatever came spilling out of her mouth matter much.
And it looked like maybe, not to her beauty-credit neccessarily, that might just be what happened.
Shaking off the stupor mentally, Elsie smiled as brightly as she could bring herself to and sat down fluidly. "Mis--Gilderoy! It's lovely to see you as well! I hope you weren't waiting long?"
He rose his brows slightly when she stalled, but laughed shortly after she gave her response. He was rather used to women going quiet, and/or tripping over their words when they were around him. He did have that effect on people! People never knew what to say to someone like Gilderoy. Someone who was famous, brave, and unnaturally good looking.
“Oh not at all, darling, not at all!” He assured her as he moved around the table to take his seat at the other end of the table. “I do believe you’re right on time, actually! I just happened to get here early, since I was already in the area. I did get caught outside for a short while, though. People don’t seem to get that I have a schedule to keep! But, I can’t blame the poor dears. It’s not very often that they see their favorite celebrity roaming the streets, now is it?” He gave her a wink and another award-winning smile before he leaned forward, folding his arms on the table. “I must say Elsoe, you are looking quite
beautiful this evening. And your hair is absolutely fantastic!”
Unconsciously, her hand ran up to touch the ends of her blonde hair (and, after careful deliberation, worn curly this evening!) and laughed nervously. "Th-thank you, Gilderoy! Really, I-- you're so generous with your public!" Elsie changed the topic swiftly. There was no need to make herself even
more uncomfortable with this meeting than she already was. She was in two minds about the smile that seemed pasted on her face and didn't know if she was sitting up straight enough, or if her ankles were crossed in the right place.
Oh, well. It's not like she could really move, even if she tried.
"It's very warming, to see a public figure such as yourself so able to mingle with your fans. Such a positive message to be sending!"
Hearing so many wonderful things about himself caused Gilderoy to grin again, shrugging his shoulders as he leaned back in his seat. He didn’t have to worry about little things like how he was sitting, or what he said, because he naturally did all the right things and
said all the right things. And when he didn’t, he was clever enough to cover it up with something amazing! Gosh, sometimes he didn’t understand how people survived, not being
him. Life seemed so boring for everyone else.
“Well, you know what I always say…you have to give the public what they want! Besides, with me traveling all over, risking life and limb to protect people from all the evils of the world, it’s rare that I get a moment to just sit and spend some time with my fans.” He leaned forward again and extended his hand out on the table for her to take, giving her a smile. “And it’s even rarer for me to be able to focus in on one in particular.”
Okay, so that wasn’t a
complete lie. True, he had been with many women.
Many woman. But, he didn’t
date them. Not that he had a plan in his head for him and Elsie to have some sort of
relationship because good Lord, who had time for that when one was battling horrible monsters?! But, she was pretty,
gorgeous even, and had very nice teeth, flawless hair, and absolutely adored him.
In other words, she was just like him! And, he
loved him! So, how could this end badly?
Elsie stared at the table with slightly wide eyes, trying desperately hard to not blush, and really, horribly failing. The kind of smile that crept on to her face was the kind of smile you wished desperately would stop looking so ridiculous because the combination of tomato-colored cheeks and wide panicked smiles
never looked sensible or attractive.
But she really couldn't help it.
With a clear of her throat she awkwardly placed her hand in the vicinity of his, not entirely sure what to do with it. Or with hers.
Or, really, with anything. Else thought that dates probably worked much better if the two people on it were on the same footing and the same page.
"I-I read your latest book!" she blurted out, wishing she could slap her hand to her mouth as soon as the words left her mouth. "It--was utterly fascinating, as always! You're so tremendously brave for doing all those marvelous things!"
He couldn’t help but laugh a little bit. Maybe it wasn’t really
at her, but it was definitely because of her. He was always entertained by the inevitable awkward behavior that came from his dates. Well, not his
dates as mentioned before, but other girls he had been with. He honestly couldn’t think of one particular reason why he was drawn to this one, but it probably had something to do with the fact that she actually acted like a human being around him while still telling him how wonderful he was, instead of just squealing incessantly. There was only so much of that high pitched noise a man could take!
“I’m glad you enjoyed it, darling.” He said holding her hand in his own, his head canting to the side a bit as he observed her, continuing to smile at her. “So, what is it going to take for you to actually relax? I know I’m a bit intimidating, and the constant attention can be a bit much, but even though I’m a world famous celebrity, there’s no reason to be so scared.” He looked around, noticing that people were
totally watching them before turning back to her. “How about you and I go somewhere a bit more…private, yeah? Unless, of course, you enjoy being in the spotlight.” He grinned, knowing that he sure as hell did!
"Ha!" was the knee-jerk high pitched squeal Elsie emitted before slapping her hand to her mouth in another knee-jerk reaction before she tried in vain to move the hand as if it were a gesture she was employing to help her consider the situation.
She cleared her throat again.
Was GILDEROY LOCKHART asking her to go somewhere special? His timing was so unfortunate, because there was no place where she could jump and down and squeal or be violently dizzy or other such fanatic behavior without seeming, well, like a fanatic.
"I...think we could arrange to go elsewhere," she said slowly, thinking about what she was getting herself into.
Okay, she
really didn't know what she was getting herself into, but going someplace away from the stares had to be better than sitting here in the very unwanted limelight!
He waited expectantly, giving a nod of his head as she finally spit out the words. “Excellent.” Raising his free hand, he snapped his fingers, watching as a waiter came over to their table right away, standing off to the side.
”Are you ready to Order, Mister Lockhart?” “Actually Frankford, me and my guest here are heading out!” He didn’t even bother to look at the man’s name badge to see that his name was Jim and not Frankford. Maybe Frankford was the waiter the other night…or the night before.
”I see. Was anything wrong, Mister Lockhart?” “No, no, Frankford, everything was perfectly fine.” Jim looked confused, waiting for more of an explanation, but only got a grin from the man. He looked to Elsie and gave a bow of his head before turning back to Gilderoy.
”We all hope to have you return soon, Mister Lockhart.” The blonde smiled and gave a nod before rising to his feet, keeping hold of her hand as he did so.
Walking through the tables, they exited out of a special door so that they were in the back ally of the restaurant. It was just a convenient place to apparate, and with no one else being around, no one could cling onto him as he popped out of sight. It was very inconvenient, getting to one of his many apartments only to realize someone had tagged along and was with him in his living room! Not that it
always ended badly. Actually, it usually ended up quite well, now that he thought about it. Aha…
But he was with Elsie! So. “Ready to go, sweets? Make sure you hold on tight!”
Just the idea of Apparating (WITH GILDEROY LOCKHART) was enough to make her feel rather queasy.
The likelihood her stomach would ever recover from this night was very, very doubtful.
Once they were in Gilderoy's place (at least, that's where she was assumed they were), Elsie took a second to steady herself and will away the feeling that both she and the room were spinning in opposite directions. After she was sure nothing bad would happen that would haunt her for the rest of her life, she took a look around.
Naturally, it was beautiful inside.
"Oh, my G--Gilderoy, you have a very lovely place here," she said her head turning around as she tried to look at everything. Modest, elegant, simple.
It almost sickened her that somebody was that perfect.
Modest! Ha! Well, maybe it did appear that way, since the many portraits of himself were not located in this particular apartment. There were a few here and there, but this was one of his smaller, more
basic apartments. He had to have a few of them, since if for some reason a woman or a photographer
did grab onto him, he didn’t want them knowing where he lived! They would go there allll the time! And, well…he needed his beauty sleep. He couldn’t be disturbed by fans at
all hours of the day. He drew a line somewhere!
“I decorated it myself!” He beamed as he took a few steps away from her, moving towards where he kept the wine. Pulling out a bottle of aged red, he grabbed two glasses and gestured over to the couch with a tilt of his head. “Come, have a seat.” He gave her a wink to let her know that she was going to be fine, and that she wasn’t going to die of a heart attack…even though some women did seem to faint when he winked at them. Then again some women fainted when he
looked at them. She had managed to survive the latter, so he was sure that she would be able to push through the power of his wink.
Taking a seat himself, he put the glasses down and poured a good amount into each of them, extending hers towards her. “Have a drink! Maybe it’ll calm your nerves.”
Oh, wonderful. He could
see how nervous she was. This was such a bad idea! This was beyond a bad idea, this was a
terrible idea and sh--and did Gilderoy Lockhart just gesture to her from a couch?
With alcohol?
Elsie almost flew over, she was so relieved. Now that she was an alcoholic, or really even condoned drinking more than a glass of wine, but this was serious, damn it! She was determined to have
one intelligent conversation with Gilderoy by the night's close, and if she had to be inebriated to do so, so be it! This was unacceptable behavior for a Ravenclaw.
"Yes, thank you!" She took a sip. "I do apologize for being so nervy tonight, I honestly can't think of
what it is."
Well, that was a lie.
"You know, Gilderoy, you're just so fascinating! Where did you learn all the clever tricks and spells you've used to deal with those terrible monsters you encounter?"
He laughed again, leaning into the couch as his arm rose to rest along the back of it behind her. His torso was turned towards her, his own glass of wine resting against his thigh. “No need to apologize, sweets.” He took a sip of the crimson liquid. “I’d be a little worried if you
weren’t so nervous.” He smiled at her, not even caring that the statement could have been received as cocky. Then again there wasn’t really any other way to take that, was there? Oh well, he could get away with it.
The question was answered with a smile before he took another sip of wine. “All over. For example, the spell I used to take down the 4 horned Grundytron was taught to me by an ancient Indian warlock, who lived with his 20 children and his 6 wives. Busy man! Haha! But, he was very helpful! Of course, it was
me who took down the horrid beast, but if I hadn’t mastered that
very difficult spell, I would be nowhere. I’d probably be dead in India right now. So…I suppose I would be somewhere, but what good would that do me?”
She sipped (glugged?) half the glass and nodded sagely. "Ah, yes, that would be very difficult. I'm not at all certain your corpse would be very fun to ogle at, nor would you be able to sign very many autographs."
On second thought, perhaps the liquor was such a wonderful idea.
Oh, well. There wasn't much she could do about that now.
"It would be
so fascinating to be able to see you doing all these brave things, Gilderoy! I mean, just hearing about them is titillating enough, but to actually see such a heroic man in action! Well--" she almost fanned herself because of the odd heat she felt rushing to her face. Okay, alcohol was definitely not the best idea. "That would be beyond words!"
He rose his brows slightly at how quickly the wine was disappearing, but he wasn’t about to stop her! Even though she didn’t think it was a good idea, he thought otherwise. Well, unless she was a
complete lightweight and started throwing up everywhere. Because…ew, that was gross.
“Well, I’m afraid that’s not a possibility, sweets. Don’t want you getting hurt. But, I have to say, it is quite unbelievable. If I were watching myself, I’d definitely be in awe.” He grinned, thinking about all of the wonderful things he had done. Not…that he had actually done any of them, but hell. No one else needed to know that. No one else
would know that! And if they were to find out, than he would just do what he always did. He’d just erase their memory. Easy as pie!
He took a large sip of his wine, and then started to play with some of her of her silky hair with his fingers. “But…I’m sure there are plenty of other things that you can be a part of that involve yours truly.”
In all honesty, Elsie wasn't exactly a lightweight.
She'd never really tested it out to its limits before, but she was not drunk after one glass of wine, no matter how much/little she had eaten or how fast she drank it. Which didn't exactly make her feel comfortable with how easily she was willing to eschew the nervousness for--for
wantonness.
But Gilderoy Lockhart,
Gilderoy Lockhart, was sitting next to her on the couch and running his hand through her hair, and if her mouth was otherwise occupied, she really couldn't make a stuttering fool out of herself, right?
Right.
Which is how she came to find herself dragging Gilderoy towards her by the collar (delicately, of course! It wouldn't do to stretch out that marvelous material) and brazenly going in for the kill.
Or maybe "kiss" was the more appropriate word in this instance.
To be completely honest, he was rather shocked by the sudden turn of events. He had thought that he was going to be the one to initiate something more between them, seeing how he had been moving slowly in this direction all night long. But no, she was pulling him closer, causing him to smirk before his mouth was pressed against her own. The kiss was gentle, and he was able to appreciate how incredibly soft her lips were.
His eyes were shut closed before he pulled away, just momentarily, so he could put their glasses of wine down on the coffee table that was situated in front of the couch. This left both of his hands free so that when he turned towards her, he could take a hold of her face, his thumb moving to graze over her bottom lip as he smiled. “Now that we’re free of any distractions…” He moved towards her again, kissing her for the second time. It was a bit deeper this time, and he allowed his tongue to massage against hers. His left hand moved back so that it could tangle some of her hair between his fingers, as the right slid down, moving to her waist so he could pull her to him, continuing to kiss her like he had wanted to since he had seen her in the restaurant.
She leaned back slightly, moving to accommodate the two of them in the limited space more comfortably. She noted exactly how a)lucky she was that she was, at this moment in time, snogging Gilderoy Lockhart, b)stupid she was for doing this on the first date and like this c)ridiculous it was she was even
thinking right now and promptly shut off her busy head in order to fully concentrate what was going on right now.
Naturally, his kissing ability had her floored. Elsie had heard tell about him and his "ladyfriends," for lack of a better term, and she supposed that someone famous like that couldn't really resist all the feminine attention, so she wasn't very surprised he was a good kisser.
"Mmm," she said, pulling away. Yes, getting physical with Gilderoy Lockhart was
exactly what she needed in order to become a better conversationalist with him. Wasn't that hilarious. "If this is what you meant by being involved in other things you do... I have to say, it is
very fascinating."
He was curious as to why she had pulled away, raising his brows slightly as he anticipated whatever words would come out of her mouth, which had been occupied just a moment before doing
very important things. His lips turned upwards into a smile before he used them to kiss her cheek, planting kisses all the way to her neck with a few words in between. “You’ll come to realize…” Another kiss. “…that everything I do…” A few more kisses as his hand moved around her even more. “…is very fascinating…” He kissed the tender skin of her neck before moving up to whisper in her ear. “
Everything.” He smirked and nibbled gently at her earlobe, his other hand moving to the bottom of her dress, letting his fingers slowly guide their way beneath the fabric along the smooth skin of her leg, stopping once he got to a certain point. “So tell me…are you feeling adventurous?”
Elsie's already racing heart sped up a hell of a lot more. She definitely didn't think she'd be doing
that on the first date with Gilderoy Lockhart. And she had to stop repeating his full name.
Well. Why
not? She'd lived a long enough life without doing rash and impulsive, and definitely not anything half so rewarding as this was appearing to be.
"I--think," she managed to get out, her breathing still obnoxiously fast, "we might be able to arrange something." She turned to resume kissing Gilderoy as his hand slid further up her leg.
This was one type of adventure Elsie could definitely get by.
