psl; [a marriage of inconvenience]

[hedgemaze]

THE AUBEL ESTATE is located in Derbyshire, England, a stately old home reminiscent of centuries long past. Long ago, it had fallen into disrepair and abandoned until previous generations of the Aubel family purchased the land for themselves, having found their fortunes in matters of real estate. Since that time, the outside has been restored and the inside has been renovated at least three times. Four, if you ask the uncle who remembers the one summer where the chandelier fell from the dining hall, taking a large portion of the ceiling with it. How embarrassing, if such a thing is true.

In its present state, it straddles the line between the old and new. The large, prominent rooms are ostentatious as they are filled to the brim with austere English culture; the smaller quarters, traditionally used by the servants and staff, are far more modest, and over time have allowed the tendrils of modernity to creep in as a result. Regardless, the home is impressive no matter how you look at it, and there are few who do not cast an envious glance at the estate as they pass by Derbyshire on their way to town, or perhaps northwest to Manchester, if they've even farther to go.

PHILIP AND JAMES AUBEL, father and son respectively, are the owners of the home, though only the father remains for any extended period of time. And even then, he only stays perhaps one or two seasons at a time, until he returns to his home in London, spending one or two seasons there, before returning again, living out his life of retirement to the fullest. James visits nearly every week (driving in from Manchester, and back) in the Spring, until the first freeze of Winter, when nothing will grow. Though they have a staff of two dozen -- give or take, depending upon the time of year -- taking care of the estate and its grounds, James is more diligent about keeping up appearances of the house, showing a special interest in maintaining the complex hedge maze on the land directly behind them. Only he keeps access to its center, a literal walled garden of seasonal flora.

AS RECENT DEVELOPMENTS WOULD HAVE IT, James has been drawn into an arranged marriage by his father and an old business acquaintance. She is scheduled for an extended visit soon, and the staff have done a meticulous job of preparing the hall for her arrival -- and the rest of the rooms, as well, if she is expected to make her living here permanent, one day. Today, the weather is clear and the help is eager to aid her in unpacking. The grounds are green and the family dog, an old greyhound with cataracts in one eye, bounds up to her with a slow wagging tail. The father will greet her, of course, with all the usual formalities, and though he doesn't know her all that well at all, she at least seems nice enough. He disappears soon after, leaving her to her own devices as she sees fit. James himself is nowhere to be found.

Somewhere, sooner rather than later, a collision course of first impressions will take place.

----------

D I R E C T O R Y;

➤ shitpost.
➤ first impressions.
➤ diamonds.
➤ text her, texter.
➤ saviour.
➤ flirt.
➤ closer.
➤ cross-examine.
➤ PARTY CRASHERS.
✶ elle + devon
✶ elle + corvus
✶ ian + james + corvus
✶ devon + james
➤ alien abduction.
➤ sleep now.
➤ bathe.
➤ remember.
➤ drink.
➤ welcome home.

Comments

[winterheart]

[She's about one third down from her drink already and exhales when she sets her glass down.]

I feel like I'd be that friend that girls go to crying about how their hearts were broken by guys that were similar or worse than you.

Because surprise of all surprises, that was definitely me.

[hedgemaze]

[He raises a brow, over the lip of his mug as he takes another long drink. Seems like she was going to start fast, didn't it.

Then:]

You don't think you'd be the friend to have your heart broken over me? You could go and do the crying on someone else's shoulder, for once.

[He's so terrible.]

[winterheart]

Look, when you're the one person in a dorm who knows how to make cookies, you kind of end up being the unofficial therapist.

[And also she was down to earth enough to listen to other people's problems, but it had been pointed out that before she seemed to just keep to herself, never bothering to open her doors or her heart.

But here she is, with a wedding date that's a while away, but approaching, with a man whom she's shared quite a few firsts with, having fun and drinking until they can't stand...]

And as far as I can remember, never cried over a guy.

[hedgemaze]

[James, meanwhile, is finishing his mug while she talks. He waves at the bartender to send another one while he has the man's attention.]

Well. I can hardly say that's a bad thing. To not have your heart broken.

[winterheart]

You think so?

[She takes a long drink of her mug, still on her first, as if pacing herself before speaking thoughtfully.]

I've kind of wondered if it made me oblivious to important things though. Like, I know I can be oblivious in other ways, but if it's in the ways that are important enough to hurt someone else...

Like, what I'm saying is, is that if your heart doesn't hurt, how would you know that someone else is hurting if you haven't experienced it yourself?

[hedgemaze]

[He gazes thoughtfully at his glass as the bartender slides it over.]

That's an excellent question. I suppose, sometimes, you just have to be brave enough to get hurt. Then pick yourself up and move on.

[He pauses before offering an addendum.] I never had my heart broken, either, you know.

[That shouldn't surprise her.]

[winterheart]

[She rolls her eyes, but smiles. It really didn't surprise her.]

... Well, I better be careful with yours then shouldn't I?

[Devon finishes her first glass and calls for another.]

I am, however, going to beat you in our drinking contest here.

[hedgemaze]

Uh huh. Then you better start catching up. I'm already on my second.

[winterheart]

Oh, no you don't boy.

[CHUGGING HER SECOND ONE QUITE BRAVELY.]

[hedgemaze]

[LORD WHAT A WOMAN... James looks vaguely surprised (maybe a little alarmed!) and brings his mug back up to his lips.

NOT GONNA LET YOU CATCH UP....]

[winterheart]

[She gets to her third mug in no time. Cheeks are flushed, but she's still standing up straight. Devon gestures with her glass at James.]

Not keeling over yet?

[hedgemaze]

[Sure, he can feel the warmth when he's on his third mug, too. But he's far from his limit.]

Of course not. It's not a pub crawl if we only visit one pub.

[winterheart]

[The third mug is cleaned out and Devon triumphantly makes it clatter against the counter.]

Pun No. 2, here we come.

[hedgemaze]

[He finishes his own drink, putting his mug down.]

The journey continues.

[And off to pub #2 they go...]

~*~*~*~*~*~

[Their second stop is louder, more crowded, more energetic. The atmosphere makes James feel more excited about their little excursion, and he's quite eager to order drinks for the both of them. He speaks up over the din.]

Busy night!

[winterheart]

Is it cheating if we get something to snack on?

[Granted they ate before going out, but food and drink is a fun combo. It's probably cheating though.

She kind of has to push her way to the counter and save a spot for James.]

Guess everyone's crawling all over the place!

[hedgemaze]

It's a popular part of town, not to mention it's the weekend.

[He settles in next to her.] It's only a little bit cheating, by the way. But I won't stop you.

[winterheart]

I want nothing more than a big pile of crisp chips, lemme tell ya.

[And here's their drinks. RIP...]

But I also want my mom's voice to stop haunting me about dress fitting. So I'll just ruin my veins with the alcohol instead.

Cheers!

[hedgemaze]

[He laughs. He takes a drink, and once again a toast to them.]

Cheers.

[Down it goes. (He's starting to feel the slightest tinge of warmth spreading now, that light feeling of ease in his head.)]

Has your mother been onto you about the dress?

[winterheart]

[Devon's drinking like a fish on her end. She sighs when it comes to her mother.]

Yeah, a little. She's kind of got a high-strung personality so she's always got something of an all business type of personality when you compare her to Dad.

[Her cheeks had been reddened when they left he first pub, but it's weird, it's like they've lightened up again during their walk to their current stop. Down the drink goes...]

[hedgemaze]

[He's quietly eyeballing how easily she downs those drinks. And wasn't she a bit... redder before? Ah, maybe it's just his imagination.]

Making sure you don't slack off, and all. The job of mothers everywhere, isn't it?

[winterheart]

I mean, if Dad isn't gonna do the overprotective bit, she fits the bill pretty well!

[Maybe it will dawn upon them later once the night is done, but Devon's strength when it comes to drinking certainly is not normal by any means.]

And trust me, Mom's scary.

[hedgemaze]

[He scoffs when she says that much.]

Believe me, I can see that. Though I hope she has a slightly better opinion of me now, after the visit.

[winterheart]

[Devon grins as she takes a sip.]

Well, she can't argue if I'm happy with you.

You know, I make my mom sound really overbearing, but I do love her. She cares a ton, maybe too much. [So that's where Devon gets it from obviously, but toned down to be more low key.]

... Cause you know, I was her only child for the longest time before Ian. And she was so worried when she gave birth to me because I was kind of weak as a baby.

[hedgemaze]

[And there's an audible pause when she tells him that, though it's filled with the noise of the crowd around them. James looks down at his glass, and takes another long drink, before he responds.]

You were sickly?

[He asks, even though he knows the answer. He knows more than her at this point, doesn't he?]

[winterheart]

[Devon nods as she easily flushes down the rest of her current glass. Another one soon follows for her to start on.]

Mm hm. Really weak apparently, so it was kind of a miracle that I made it out of that at all.

[She really has no idea.]