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Post by Claire Weiss on Jul 7, 2008 7:36:22 GMT -5
Claire took her glass. "Thank you." A grin spread across her face in response to his comment. "A toast," she said raising her glass. She thought for a second. "A toast to your willing to help me in the kitchen without a big fuss, and to good luck." Claire gave him a wink from behind her glass.
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Post by Edmund Fairfax on Jul 11, 2008 15:47:03 GMT -5
Edmund clinked his glass with hers. "You are a crafty one, darling Claire. You actually managed to convince me to do... work..." he shuddered exaggeratedly. "Very few people have ever been able to convince me to do that. Why, if this keeps up, I may end up working like a regular house elf!" He grinned, then took a sip from his glass.
"Hmmm... that's a fine brandy," he commented. "I feel rather privileged to think that you've shared it with me... does your friend Tristan get to sample your brandy as well?"
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Post by Claire Weiss on Jul 11, 2008 19:14:14 GMT -5
Claire gave him a playful wink. "You, working like a regular house elf? Nah. I wouldn't work you that hard. Just helping me in the kitchen when it gets to where I need more hands than what I have." She gave a laugh.
"Thank you. And no, Tristan does not. He hasn't been in my apartment yet. He stopped by at the door to pick me up for a date, but that's it. You're the first guy to ever come in here actually. Speaking of which, how did your 'spending time together' go?"
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Post by Edmund Fairfax on Jul 13, 2008 21:27:09 GMT -5
Edmund frowned as the true reason for his visit tonight came back to him. "Yes... well, that was actually the reason I was here," he replied. "I met up with your little friend at the Three Broomsticks this evening and we had a bit of a chat. I suppose the experience could have been worse..."
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Post by Claire Weiss on Jul 13, 2008 21:35:04 GMT -5
Claire arched her eyebrow as she took a sip from her glass. "Of course, you would say something like that. You didn't like him to begin with, which is what I can't understand. You never seem to like any guy, as in friends." She gave a shake of her head before taking a bite of food off her plate. "What happened to make you say that, other than you having to sit there and talk to him?"
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Post by Edmund Fairfax on Jul 13, 2008 21:44:41 GMT -5
"Now, Claire, you know me well enough to know that I always prefer to spend my time with women, instead of men. I have enough female friends; why would I want to have male friends?" He sighed heavily. "Well, since I know now that he works for the Dark Lord, he's been elevated a bit in my opinion. Still, he's a bit.... unrefined, don't you think? I don't quite see the appeal... although, if I did, I would be a very different type of man, I think..." He raised his eyebrows meaningfully.
"At any rate, he is more intelligent than I previously gave him credit for. The trouble is, he knows it."
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Post by Claire Weiss on Jul 13, 2008 21:50:51 GMT -5
"Hm. You're the same way," replied Claire. "You know that you're smart and cunning, hence why you can get just about any woman you want." She was going to add handsome into the mix, but decided against it. The thought hit Claire. Tristan and Edmund had that in common. Was she using Tristan as a substitute for not being with Edmund? She hoped that he didn't call her out on something like that.
"So? You think he's competition then, right? So therefor you don't like him, other than the fact that he's a deatheater?"
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Post by Edmund Fairfax on Jul 13, 2008 22:04:07 GMT -5
Now she was getting it. But she was hitting a little too close to the mark. Did she realize that he didn't like Tristan because he was competition for Claire herself? Or did she just mean in general? He decided to take the latter meaning, hoping he could deflect any possible implications that he might be jealous of the cad. "Well, of course... all other men are competition in some way, aren't they?" he said in an airy tone.
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Post by Claire Weiss on Jul 14, 2008 7:37:16 GMT -5
"If you mean in the sense of getting any woman they want, not really, at least in my opinion. Some men have enough charm to get any woman, and some, that's what they lack. I've seen both ends of the ladder, and so have you." Claire studied him for a moment. Something wasn't setting right with him, she could tell, but she didn't know what it was. "Anyway, what did you to talk about? I'm sure you didn't talk about how pretty flowers and sunsets are."
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Post by Edmund Fairfax on Jul 20, 2008 1:04:10 GMT -5
He frowned. The trouble with Tristan was that he was a little too much like himself. Perhaps Claire just liked that type... his type... but if that was it, why settle for a pale imitation of him? Unless of course, she felt she couldn't have him... and, he had to admit, he had hardly done anything to disprove such an idea. He was already dallying with Angelique and now poor clueless Diane. But he certainly wasn't going to put himself on the line and make a commitment to any woman, even Claire. He was hardly the domestic, settling down type.
But what really scared him was that the idea, preposterous as it was, had popped into his head at all. He had to be losing his mind. Over a woman. Oh, the irony!
Feigning nonchalance, he took a long sip of his brandy, enjoying the warmth as it slid down his throat. It helped him to think more clearly. "Oh, we had a long discussion about the Dark Lord, and his philosophies about him, and he talked about his job at the hospital, and then... we talked about you." He cocked his eyebrow at her mischievously.
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Post by Claire Weiss on Jul 20, 2008 9:01:20 GMT -5
Claire raised an eyebrow. She knew that look. There were endless possibilities of what Edmund could have said about her. In a way, she knew that he could make her or break her with Tristan, or with any man. It was scary to think about that. Although, she didn't really think that he would say anything bad about her because he wouldn't be getting anything out of it, would he? Claire took a another sip from her glass.
"What's with that look? What did you say?"
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Post by Edmund Fairfax on Jul 20, 2008 17:19:38 GMT -5
Edmund gave her an innocent smile. "Who, me? Why would I say anything about you? I let him do all the talking. It seems that he's really quite smitten with you. He's trying to fight it, of course, because he's not used to developing such strong feelings for one woman in particular, but you... he thinks you are different from the others. He finds you exciting and enthralling."
It was true. He'd been forced to listen to Tristan wax poetic about Claire for nearly an hour. It was almost enough to induce vomiting. The worst part was that Tristan had described many of the feelings that Edmund himself had for Claire, the feelings that he only allowed himself to acknowledge in the dark of night, while he was lying in bed. He'd also admired many of the same qualities about Claire that Edmund had always admired as well. All in all, it was like listening to the heart he often denied having now speaking back to him in humiliating detail. So of course, Edmund had done the only thing he could do under those circumstances--he'd planted a harsh seed of doubt in Tristan's mind. He'd told him that Claire was not quite all she seemed to be, and that perhaps Tristan was blinded by her beauty and had failed to see the flaws in her personality. He'd even indicated that she might perhaps be unstable. But he was not about to tell Claire that.
"All in all," Edmund continued, a wicked smile playing about his lips, "it was really rather nauseating."
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Post by Claire Weiss on Jul 20, 2008 19:39:58 GMT -5
She did everything she could to hide the smile that threatened to spread across her face. So, Tristan did like her. Her mind felt a little more at ease about that. However, it was disturbing how that bit of information could set her mind a little bit at ease. Claire wasn't really the sticking to one man type. She had her share of one nighters, but Tristan was different.
Claire knew that her mind would never be at ease with questions, until she knew that Edmund was the slightest bit jealous. However, why would he be, and why did she care if he was? Okay, so maybe she did like him. She always had, and that was something she never liked to admit, even to herself.
Looking at Edmund over her glass, she wondered what the look he had on his face was about. "I'm sure you enjoyed it," she said teasingly. A smile started to play its way across her face. "I guess I should say sorry you had to sit there and hear all that nauseating stuff." Claire gave him a wink.
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Post by Edmund Fairfax on Aug 1, 2008 16:01:42 GMT -5
Edmund saw the smile on her face, and immediately it chased away his own. Was she really that excited about this guy? Why? What could she see in him? Could she not see that Tristan was but a pale imitation of himself--though, of course, not nearly as good-looking. Scowling deeply, he took a long drink from the brandy, and looked up at her.
"Well, other than the fact that he's given to extreme exaggeration, I rather suspect there is something off about the man," he said. "He started to speak in nonsensical superlatives and at one point, I do believe he began clucking like a chicken. I'm not quite sure he's all that stable. In fact, I'm not entirely sure he's really a healer. Perhaps he made it up to impress you, or it's a product of his delusions."
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Post by Claire Weiss on Aug 1, 2008 16:29:03 GMT -5
"Clucked like a chicken," said Claire questioningly. Whenever she was around, she found Tristan to be completely stable. He didn't seem off his rocker. "So, you're really saying that you think Tristan is just using me for personal gain?" She took another sip from her glass and looked over it at him, knowing her expression faltered a bit. This of course put a little doubt in her mind about him, but she wouldn't just stop seeing him all at once.
Claire started finished up what was on her plate. She had used a man for personal gain before. She used Tristan as a personal gain at first against Edmund. Looking down at her plate, which was empty, she picked it up and walked over to the sink, carefully placing it in there so it wouldn't chip.
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Post by Edmund Fairfax on Aug 10, 2008 17:57:00 GMT -5
Edmund sighed. "Oh, all right. He didn't cluck like a chicken," he confessed. "I just made that part up to see if you were paying attention. He was really just babbling, not quite making sense. It was probably because he drank so much alcohol... I think he might be an alcoholic...."
He finished what was on his plate, then looked up at her as she cleaned, as if he thought it such a strange novelty. "But I don't think he's using you for personal gain... I rather doubt he's that clever..."
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Post by Claire Weiss on Aug 10, 2008 18:12:57 GMT -5
Claire didn't know what to remark after Edmund said that he thought that Tristan was an alcoholic. She wasn't too keen on alcoholics. Sure she did drink from time to time, but she wasn't an alcoholic.
Noticing that he was done with his plate, Claire picked it up off the table and placed it in the sink as well. She said a spell to charm the dishes to clean themselves. She had to laugh as Edmund said he doubted Tristan wasn't that clever. "I wouldn't put too much doubt in him. If I didn't know you pretty well, I wouldn't think you were that clever either."
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Post by Edmund Fairfax on Aug 14, 2008 16:12:54 GMT -5
Edmund scowled at her. "Oh, very cute," he said. "Well, I suppose I deserve that for the clucking like a chicken remark. But really, love, what do you see in him. Aren't there more charming, talented, good looking men out there?" Like me, he almost blurted out. Holding his tongue between his teeth, he prevented that unfortunate remark from getting out.
"Also, I never really thought of you as the type to care what anyone thought of you. Nor are you the type to be tied down to one man. really, I don't think you ought to get too attached, Claire."
He finished the last swallow of his drink, then tilted his head and her and, with a cheeky grin, asked, "Now, then, precious, what's for dessert?"
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Post by Claire Weiss on Aug 15, 2008 6:25:30 GMT -5
"Well, maybe there are more charming and good looking men out there," said Claire choosing her words wisely. She couldn't afford a slip up and say his name. She could hint around, but she figured that he wouldn't understand it.
"I really don't care what other people think. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, so why try to satisfy them all? And trust me Edmund, I'm not getting too attached. Why are you so worried about that?" She spoke in soft like tones to show that she wasn't being sarcastic about any of it and that she meant it.
As he changed the subject, Claire smiled and shook her head slightly. "Well, I have a lemon meringue pie that I made earlier today, and then I also have a strawberry cake. So take your pick Mr. Fairfax."
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Post by Edmund Fairfax on Aug 15, 2008 14:59:55 GMT -5
Edmund almost laugthed at her offer of dessert. He'd half expected her to throw him out and call him a rude name. He would have deserved it. But of course, he wouldn't apologize.
"Hmmm..." he said, pretending to think very carefully. "The lemon meringue pie sounds quite delightful, my dear... it rather reminds me of you."
He leaned back in his hair and smiled smugly at her, waiting for her to ask him why.
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