Comments | stoatshead_hill: RP: Cheese and Claret

shh_rita in stoatshead_hill

RP: Cheese and Claret

Mar 02, 2007 00:33

Date: March 1, 2005
Characters: Rita Skeeter, Ollivander
Location: Ollivander's shop
Status: Private
Summary: Like she said she would, Rita comes by with a bottle of claret. She hopes Ollivander remembered the cheese.
Completion: Complete

( she still wasn't sure what he wanted, but she was interested to find out )

ollivander, place: ollivander's wand shop, rita skeeter, march 2005

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shh_ollivander March 4 2007, 12:18:34 UTC

"Acting without forethought? Really now, Rita, you should know me better than that. I don't know if it's possible for me these days. Most of my decisions are thought out well and completely before I take any action, even if it's something as simple as "shall I have onions with dinner tonight." First I must consider the store of onions, how many I have left, whether I want to make stew later in the week..."

Ollivander cracked a half-smile and tilted his head to the side. "It isn't as easy for some of us to just drop everything and go off on a whim anymore. After you've seen a few lifetimes worth of consequences to rash and impulsive actions, the seduction of that kind of rebellious nature tends to wear off."

The plate was nearly empty, and so were their glasses. Ollivander looked up at the clock. "Would you care to go out for a short stroll?"

shh_rita March 4 2007, 13:16:46 UTC

Rita chuckled. She really could see him thinking that hard about onions which was rather amusing and just a little sad. "Surely that gets tiresome, though. Surely every now and then you must want to not think about the consequences, and just do something exciting. Surely." She smiled. She wasn't sure if that was a question, an offer or a challenge. Whatever he wanted it to be, perhaps.

She drained her glass and laid it down. "A walk would be lovely. But let's not commit ourselves to duration. A stroll in random directions, without any forethought. How does that sound?" She arched an eyebrow and smiled, extending her hand to him.

shh_ollivander March 5 2007, 02:05:39 UTC

Setting the dinner things aside, Ollivander got up and prepared for their walk. He brought his new cloak out of the closet and brought it 'round his shoulders, fastening the clasp in the front. "No promises about that. I tend to weigh out even the simplest decisions in my mind whether I like it or not," he said ( ... )

shh_rita March 5 2007, 08:59:31 UTC

"Then you'll have to let me make the decisions," she smiled, taking his hand, "And trust me not to lead you over a precipice." She chuckled, thinking there were probably many more meanings to that than she'd intended. "It's only a walk, after all. If we go too far, I can always apparate us back. You're in safe hands."

She was intrigued by that - hers and others wands would never work against him? "Isn't that a bit... of a worry, sometimes? What if someone needed to cast something on you that would hurt you, or restrain you, but it was for your own good? Do they know?"

The idea of there being so many birds in his backyard was faintly disconcerting. She had a healthy respect for the creatures, of course, but that didn't mean she had to like them. They were too fast, they had claws and pointed beaks that could pierce an insect's shell... she fought against a shudder, focusing on Ollivander's question instead ( ... )

shh_ollivander March 5 2007, 13:05:54 UTC

"Hurt or restrain me for my own good?" Ollivander was a little amused by the notion. "I don't see how a situation like that could ever arise. Not with the code by which I live. I'll explain that to you another day. No need to ask any more questions on that line tonight, Miss Skeeter." He patted her hand once more ( ... )

shh_rita March 5 2007, 13:58:27 UTC

"I mean if you were injured in some natural way, or taken ill, and Healers had to use spells on you. Sedation, cutting spells, and things like that. Would your wands know that they were permitted to incapacitate you or hurt you for the sake of your own well-being?" She was curious about the code he lived by, and doubted he would explain it 'another day', but she allowed him that small lie, and asked no questions ( ... )

shh_ollivander March 5 2007, 14:09:55 UTC

"My dear, I do not judge one way or another. I don't claim that one side is any more righteous than another side. I only state what is to be expected when one follows extremes. My purpose is simply to make wands. That is all that I do."

He took her hand and threaded it through his arm again. "There isn't a 'right' or 'wrong' way of doing things. There is only the way things are done and the way they are not done. And consequences follow either one. Extremes, whether they be on the side of Wizarding tradition or Muggle technology, always carry extreme consequences. Any time there is an imbalance, the community divides itself."

This time, Ollivander led Rita down the river nearly to the bridge, and then stopped. "Would you be willing to sacrifice yourself, your abililities, and your wand to live in the Muggle world? With no magic at all? And then the question extends, could you go there? Could you do without your magic? As for me, as you've seen, I have nothing to give up but wand making. Without wands, I become nothing. This is not a ( ... )

shh_rita March 5 2007, 14:54:55 UTC

Rita had felt passionate and drained for a moment with everything she'd said, but the way he dealt with it was calming. And there was a lot of wisdom in what he said ( ... )

shh_ollivander March 8 2007, 13:04:24 UTC

"We shall see what happens. Sometimes the extremes work themselves out quickly, and sometimes there's even more hurt and destruction before a balance is found. I suppose it's all up to the fates that guide us and how deeply involved they become in our lives ( ... )

shh_rita March 8 2007, 13:55:28 UTC

His talk of birds and nature made her chuckle. As if she was a woman who needed to be told about those things.

"Oh," she smiled, "I know exactly what you mean about nature. I'm very aware of... balance, and how power and life is enacted in non-human ways. Possibly from a perspective even you couldn't hope to understand." She chuckled again, pleased to be the one speaking in circles this time.

His hand around her waist was pleasant - Merlin, she couldn't help the enjoyment of that; the feeling of a man much larger than her drawing her close - but the kiss disconcerted her slightly. The playfullness of their last encounter - dancing and flirting and snogging - had been one thing, a thing she was comfortable with. This, she didn't know quite what to do with.

"Let's go on," she answered, shifting away then slipping her arm through his again, happy to be leading once more. She thought about what he'd said - confined and relieved - and about his actions. She led him randomly right at the other side of the bridge ( ... )

shh_ollivander March 8 2007, 14:03:45 UTC

They began walking along another road on the other side of the river. Back toward what looked like a warehouse district. There was one building in the distance that seemed to resonate with anotherworldly charm. He paused for a moment while a half-smile crept across his face. "Yes, being in tune with one's surroundings is definitely important in times like these," he said softly ( ... )

shh_rita March 8 2007, 14:30:31 UTC

She nodded as they walked. Of course, he would choose to let someone else lead? Didn't everybody make that choice, at least in some sense? The choice to be weak? The choice to be strong? The choice to follow blindly, or make one's own decisions? Maybe. Maybe not. Trust.

"Very few people have ever trusted me," she murmured. "And with reason, I suppose. I never much cared. But... I learned something about that in the war. It's hard to define. The importance of allies, I suppose I could say. I definitely don't want to spend my life using words like crucios."

Good god, girl, shut up.

A cat? What on earth was he talking about. She laughed, grateful for the distraction.

"I don't think you have. I'd love to hear it."

shh_ollivander March 9 2007, 12:46:48 UTC

"The creature's name was Pyrim. A female cat, as far as I knew. When... er... my friend... first brought her to me, she was the most cantankerous thing - bad-tempered, uncooperative, unsociable. She would tear up just about anything she could get her claws on ( ... )

shh_rita March 9 2007, 14:01:40 UTC

Rita listened with interest, glancing up at Ollivander a few times before he turned to face her, then alternately watching him and letting her eyes drift past him to observe the scenery as he spoke ( ... )

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