WHO: Rodolphus Lestrange & Bellatrix Black
WHAT: Rodolphus is sooper sneaky---LOL not.
WHEN: Daytime
WHERE: His office
NOTE: Rodolphus → Sean
Rodolphus stared out the window of the small office he'd been sitting in for nearly an hour. He'd been staning in that same place for ten minutes, thinking about a lot of things in general, but mainly about how one went about being stealthy. Rodolphus could be just that when he absolutely needed to be, but for some reason, he was unable to think of anyway he could go about asking one Bellatrix Lestrange BLACKMOTHERFUCK what ring size she wore. No matter how hard he tried, it just was not working.
Leaning forward, he rubbed his head and let out a sigh. Deciding the best way he could, he finally headed out of the office, going for the bedroom where he'd left Bellatrix earlier that morning. He bit his lip, standing outside the door for a moment, before opening it and pearing inside to be sure she was still there. He smiled lightly when he saw her still curled up under the feather down blankets, and walked over to the bed, flopping a bit beside her, and shaking her a little.
"Bella, darling," he said quietly once she'd begun to stir, "I need to know what size ring you wear."
Oh yes, Rodolphus. You are the Stealth Master.
Under any normal circumstances, Bellatrix Black never, by rule, let her guard down. Around the severely complex woman were a number of very formidable, steel-strength walls that had been built up through nearly twenty-seven years of living and learning and perfecting herself. Bella didn't let her real self, anything outside that cold, fake, unaffected exterior, show through to anyone--not even her dearest sister, Narcissa. No one in the history of the world had ever been able to break through that fortress.
Except one man.
It had been years now, but she would always remember the way that one sinfully handsome 'co-worker' of hers had caught her off guard, and then the horrible shock of nearly being forced to recognize someone as her equal. She had been livid, muderously angry for a long time at this Rodolphus Lestrange that had forced his threatening wedge into her perfect, clean existence... but then, it really hadn't been that long after meeting him that she had become completely enamored in the man. She just didn't realize how much loving to hate had meant hating to love.
Long ago, the way that he was able to slip past her defenses had bothered her more than anything. It still bothered her now, very much so, but she had learned to let him. It was the highest sign of acceptance to him--she was telling him that he was the one thing in the world she loved just as much as herself.
So when she allowed him come in and witness her in her slumber rather than waking up and dressing before he could reenter the room, in her most (but not completely) vulnerable and gentle state, it was just another sign of that acceptence. At least it came easier now, even though her mask of perfect serenity slipped away to a narrow glare the moment she opened her eyes. "Who in the hell decided that justifies waking me up?" she shot, sounding still very half-asleep.
Rodolphus arched a brow lightly at the attitude delivered in an ever so groggy tone. It failed at making her seem very intimidating. Or perhaps he was just never intimidated by her. That could very well have been it. He watched her for a moment, before shrugging. "... Fine, then I won't get you a ring," he said quietly, going to get up and head out of the room so she could go back to whatever dream she might have been having.
Not like he knew why he was wanting to propose all of a sudden anyway. Though, by ring, he could've meant any sort of ring. Either way, he had every intentions of asking her to marry him before the year was out, he just had to figure out why. Were you to ask what he told his friends, it would be a very gruff response of him just wanting her off his back.
Which was a lie.
If you were to ask anyone else, they'd probably assume it was just to keep her, or because he wasn't quite sure where their relationship was headed at this point, and it just seemed like the next logical step.
Which was also a lie.
No, sadly, Rodolphus was very much so in love with Bellatrix, and he figured people who were in love were supposed to get married. He found he didn't quite like it when she went home, and he wanted her to stay put as long as he could, and well... Where would she go if they were living together? He wanted her to be Bellatrix Lestrange if only because it had a hell of a nice ring to it.
And this is where the ramble ends.
Now just a little--just a little--more awake than she had been a few moments earlier (especially by the word ring being used; he hadn't said that the first time, had he? Merlin, had he?), sat up relatively straight in the bed, relatively quickly. The fact that the soft sheets slid off her body with the motion didn't seem to faze her at all.. after all, nonchalant showing off was one of the things she was most apt at in life.
Even in her shock, she made an attempt to not sound too surprised by his choice of words, or too pleading in asking him to return to where she was to further discuss this interesting turn of events. Consciously, her stare at Rodolphus' back was scrutinizing, the same way that it would be if she were looking straight into his eyes, and she leaned forward slightly on the bed.
"... wait a moment," she said. It sounded slightly commanding, but then again, so did everything she said. "Would you care to repeat your question in the interest of misjudged responses due to a lack of... less than prudent timing choice?"
The feeling of her eyes digging into the back of his head, followed by her commanding voice had caused the slightest of smirks to come on his face, his hand on the knob of the door, ready to open it at any moment. He tilted his head a bit, biting his lip and letting out a mock thoughtful sigh. Turning around to face her, his eyebrow lifted ever-so-slightly, as though he didn't quite understand what she wanted him to do. Repeat himself? That didn't happen very often.
However, he did a lot of things for Bellatrix that he didn't do very often. Shrugging softly, he looked at the nails of his right hand, wrinkling his forhead at the slight bit of dirt found there. "I'd asked you for your ring size, but you seemed so bothered in being woken up, that I suppose it isn't as important to you as your beauty rest," he said casually, as though he weren't discussing purchasing her an expensive piece of jewelary. "Not that it should be; if a woman such as yourself gets anymore beautiful, Gods might start getting jealous, and I hear that has horrible consequences."
Ever the flatterer, he was. It had come from years of practice, and he'd learned charming people was certainly his forte. Luckily it wasn't hard to compliment Bella; she was filled with things to praise, her looks on the top of all of it. He looked to her for a moment, before shrugging. "Pity, I was thinking diamonds would look so stunning on your finger too."
Bella arched an eyebrow lightly at him. Okay, he was complimenting the hell out of her and randomly offering to buy her diamonds. Yes, Rodolphus was a very, very wealthy man and could flatter like a pro and afford any millions of diamonds that he ever wanted to buy, but there was still something very odd about the whole situation. This seemed to be completely out of nowhere, a total surprise and... well, Bella had never been taught to trust surprises.
"Wait a second--you're coming in here to wake me up to ask my ring size so you can buy me diamonds?" she asked, skeptically. This had to be some sort of trick, or--oh... or maybe... She had been laying it on heavily lately about the Anthony stuff, maybe her plan was working and--well, Bella hardly thought he was buying her a ring to propose (after all this time, she didn't exactly have a lot compelling her to hope anymore), but maybe it was a sort of apology present? Even if it wasn't what she had been aiming for, it would be a lie to say that she wasn't at least a little pleased with herself. Assuming that was what it was about, but she was relatively certain it was.
It didn't matter, anyway. She was getting diamonds. Bellatrix Black would never turn down diamonds.
"You know, never mind. I'm a seven." Her skepticism changed to a smile as she stood up and padded on the cold floor over to him, with seemingly no care in the world that she was completely naked. Cheerily, Bella kissed Rodolphus on the cheek. "I like pear cut, I hope you know. But brilliant cut will do as well."
Rodolphus had hesitated gently when he heard her tone, not wanting to have to explain, and hoping she wouldn't ask. He watched her work it out in her head, his lip between his teeth, nibbling gently at the skin and waiting for her reply. Diamond rings were a relatively common gift, weren't they? It didn't have to mean engagement. Anyone would buy their girlfriend one if they'd been negelectful. Or so Rodolphus assumed. Unless, of course, it was Weasley. He imagined half of their financial issues had come from the rings that Arthur had had to buy. He tried his best to not chuckle about the thought of the man scrounging up money just to propose, especially when they had been so young.
And they were already breeding like rabbits.
So disgusting.
"Seven," he repeated, nodding a bit, and storing the pear cut in the back of his mind. He smiled lightly, leaning forward to kiss her lips, and placing one arm around her, the other laying gently on her shoulder. Naked Bellatrix was definately his favorite. Pulling away after a moment, he rubbed her skin gently, giving her another smile. Without much else, he headed out of the bedroom, going back towards his office once more.
