And Breathe || Lucian ||

Lucian had the great fortune of being a male who was essentially unneeded in most of this wedding planning process. There wasn’t much he needed to do, certainly not any substantial amount that would compare to what Clementine was dealing with. When he was included, or his opinion was requested, Lucian was not the sort of man who would whine and moan about having to decide between the cream and the eggshell tablecloths, or whether they should have junior ushers or simply stick with traditional adult ushers. He ran a business for Merlin’s sake, so he could easily manage to make a few decisions here and there if it made things easier on his bride-to-be. He was quite used to making decisions in the day to day of things and he had heard enough from the women of his family that planning a wedding was rather stressful on the bride. Although Lucian did not know Clementine as well as he would have hoped considering their impending nuptials, he knew that he didn’t want to start their relationship off on rocky ground. Lucian was happy to help in any way that made the women in his life happy.

It just so happened that today he was not needed, but he had heard from his mother that it was a big day in the planning process. They were to finalize the flowers, and exactly how that was such a big deal was a complete mystery to Lucian, but he respected it nonetheless. Clem had been working double time, planning the wedding while also maintaining her full-time position at the Ministry of Magic as the Junior Undersecretary to the Minister herself. If his mum expected it to be a long day, then he would respond accordingly, and hopefully his surprise appearance at Clementine’s flat would be viewed favorably.

He had no set plans for the evening, well, nothing that couldn’t be easily changed should Clem decide she wanted an evening alone after such a busy day. There was a reservation at a restaurant for them, and a table reserved at one of the nicer pubs in the city. If she did desire to spend time with him, but did not want to go out, he was also prepared to cook her a nice dinner at home. His knuckles rapped on the door as he stood in the hall just outside her apartment, a box of chocolates in hand. He was dressed for the evening in something that would work for whichever option Clementine chose; a nice button-down shirt and a pair of slacks. It was neither posh nor slovenly. It was utterly Lucian.

He wasn’t left waiting in the hallway very long. Soon after knocking he heard the gentle fall of footsteps on the other side of the door, then a pause. The light of the peephole turned dark as Clementine looked out into the hall from the safety of her flat. There was another moment of silent, then the sound of the locks being undone and the door opening. Clem smiled at him as she greeted him, and it made Lucian happy to know that his showing up on her doorstep unannounced was not met with annoyance. At least not outwardly. “I hope I’m not intruding,” Lucian replied as he crossed the threshold into her apartment, leaning forward to kiss her on the cheek as he did so.

“I thought you might be up for a bit of company that did not involve our parents and a tedious guest list.” Judging by her outfit, Clem was preparing for a quiet evening in, and in all honesty the sight of her in lounge trousers was really rather pleasing. Not in a perverted manner, mind you, though it wasn’t necessarily a turn-off, but more that it bode well for their home life after they were married and settled into a groove. His sisters, as much as he loved them, were rather high maintenance and even in her sleep Lilith insisted on being the most fashionable person in the building, wearing nightgowns as if she were about to walk the runway in Milan. If that had been Clementine’s personality, then he would be well used to it and he was sure they would settle into a comfortability with each other soon enough, but that she was a little more down to earth in her nightly attire was a sign that perhaps she was a little more down to earth in other ways as well. Or perhaps he was overthinking things.

He waited until she had shut the door properly and closed out any nosey neighbors, should she have a problem with that sort. He really didn’t know. He and Clementine had known each other for a while, their parents ran in the same circles which of course meant they too ran in similar social circles, but before the engagement there hadn’t been too much to their relationship. Everything between them was rather superficial, but of course superficial things were of some importance. Clementine was beautiful, she was well educated and a driven woman, considering her position in the Ministry. Her lineage was superb and family’s financial standing was respectable. On paper she was the perfect bride for him, but a marriage did not consist of just the superficial things and Lucian prayed that his duty as a son and the heir to his family’s name and fortune would not cost him his happiness.

Extending the box of chocolates he had brought with him, he offered them to her. “I figured you would be sick of flowers at this point.” And what woman didn’t love chocolate?

The continued appreciation of his presence was a good sign. They were still new to this, being a couple. Lucian had had girlfriends in the past, but never a fiancée. He had come close once before. He would have asked for Kathleen’s hand in marriage had he not found out that she was already betrothed and that he was the kept man. Kathleen was the reason Lucian had never bothered with seriously searching for a fiancée of his own, and the reason his parents had arranged with the Notts to marry off their daughter Clementine to him. He enjoyed the time spent with Clem, but he had not chosen her. She was not his true love, nor did he ever think she would be, but she was a fine woman and she would make a good wife and mother. He would be a dutiful son and continue the family name into the next generation. Until the time came, however, any relations he and Clementine had were protected. They were careful and with good reason. There would be no bastards to carry on the Burke name.

His hand releasing the chocolates into hers, Lucian looked around the flat. It was rather modest for a witch of her standing, but it wouldn’t be required for long. Their wedding was nearing and then they would have a house of their own. She could keep her little apartment for the time being. “No, I’m fine, thank you. I was actually curious as to whether you had had tea yet, but it looks like you’re ready to settle in for the night, so I doubt you’d want to get dressed up for a posh meal.” His words were not judging, but warm and he smiled as if they had long been friends. He didn’t want to bore her with wedding talk, and if she wished to continue her busy day with more chatter about their upcoming nuptials it would be on her to start the conversation. He much preferred using these moments to get to know her, not what her mother liked in the way of bridesmaid dresses and centerpieces.

There was an ease about spending time with Clementine that boded well for their future together. He was certain they could be friends. A friendly marriage was more than some were afforded and Clem seemed to truly be a lovely woman. She was well mannered, poised, and attentive but there was also a bit of humor to their interactions which made her more than just a Stepford Wife. Lucian wasn’t sure whether love would be in their future. He had already loved someone, madly and deeply, but the gods did not wish it to be. Clementine wouldn’t replace Kathleen in his heart but perhaps he would find her own space there.

Lucian chuckled lightly at his fiancee’s assertion that her lunch with their mothers had been ‘rabbit food’. He turned his back on her lounge, which he had been admiring – she had good taste, if not a little on the bland side, but it was certainly better than some apartments he had seen – and turned to face Clementine. “Please don’t tell me my mother was bullying you into watching your weight.” His mum meant well, of course, but Lucian had witnessed her far too often noting what his sisters could do better to keep their trim figures, reminding them that they would not always be blessed with the metabolism of a young women. It was done out of love but that hadn’t stopped his younger sister Lyra from sneaking out of bed in the dead of night to steal a cookie and then exercise while eating it, thinking no one had seen her. Lucian knew everything his siblings did while they had lived together. It was his duty to know, in order to keep them safe.

“Don’t be silly,” he said, his hand raising in a friendly gesture that wiped away any notion that she needed to prepare him some meal that he would be eating alone in her presence. “The whole point of my visit was to pamper you, not to force you into the kitchen. I’ll just have some crisps or something easy. I’d much rather spend the evening together, there will be plenty of time to watch you dance around the kitchen when we’re married.” He smiled but almost immediately wondered if his joke had not landed as he had expected it to. Yes, as his wife there was some level of expectation that she see to meals and the housekeeping, but they would have staff for most of that and Lucian actually enjoyed doing a bit of cooking himself. Clementine, however, didn’t yet know that about her fiancée. She may have made an educated guess, knowing his skill with potions making and how the skills transferred easily from potion to supper, or his mum might have mentioned it during one of their many wedding planning dates, but Lucian had yet to share this little hobby with his bride-to-be and he now wondered whether she thought he was insinuating that her role would be as a laboring housewife and nothing more. These were the joys of an arranged marriage.

It would appear that his playful teasing about having her in the kitchen had not struck the wrong cord. Clem made a face at him that put his mind at ease, and then she turned stepped into the kitchen and began putting together a little plate for him. As directed, Lucian fixed himself a drink, and a second one for his fiancée, and he levitated the glasses into the lounge as he stole his snack plate from Clementine so that she would not have to carry anything the short distance from the kitchen to the living room.

Time moved quickly as the pair chatted, discussing the more surface level bits of their past. Lucian skipped over any mention of Kathleen, his first and only love, and the heartbreak she had orchestrated against him with her deceit. At some point the subject would need to be broached, not because he thought Clementine would care that he had had any serious relationships before her, or even that he was quite possibly still in love with a married woman, but because the Gods had deemed it humorous to place Kathleen’s new family in the same circles as the Burkes. There were several affairs in which Lucian had the awkward pleasure of not only seeing his true love dance and lean on her husband in public, but he had also been in the position where he had had to speak with the man. Several times. It had been a nightmare for him and the tension was palpable.

Lucian wouldn’t allow Clem to be caught off-guard by their meeting at such a public event, and he certainly would have loathed having her discover his past from a third party and jumping to conclusions that any awkwardness with Ronan Foley, Kathleen’s husband, was due to an affair. Lucian wasn’t the sort to cheat on his girlfriends, or his fiancée as the case may be, but as their union was arranged, Clementine wouldn’t know this of her future husband yet. He would put her mind at ease, but not tonight. Tonight they would share stories of the good times, discuss their impending future, and with any luck, shed their clothes and explore each other’s bodies as they became further acquainted with each other.