Therefore Winged Cupid Painted Blind [Xantha]

[Deleted]

April, 2026

"Though she be but little, she is fierce”
- Midsummer night's Dream, Shakespear
(Helena, Act 3 Scene 2)

There had not been much time for Severus to think much on where he might take his newly found muggle friend for an evening celebration of her birthday. A week from their first meeting was her birthday and so it was that after their conversation about how little magic the theatre held for her any more, Severus felt that it was almost cosmic intervention when he found that The Globe in London, where Shakespeare had built his fame all those many centuries ago and more recently restored to its original splendour .... well, the old play house just so happened to be putting on a performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream on the weekend of Jane's birthday.

It was one play that Severus had always enjoyed for its fantastical setting and good humour. Whilst he was glad that he had no Puck as a student, he could not help but love the character for he never failed to make Severus laugh. It was a play about love, relationships and the troubles that they have but also full of magic. When Severus bought the tickets, he hadn't thought through whether Jane would attend or not - she was so stubborn that he wondered if she would see a lot of herself in Titania, obstinate Queen of the Fairies.

With a discreet pop, Severus had apparated to a previously agreed to spot and waited for Jane to join him. He'd organised a taxi to pick them up shortly after they met to take them to The Globe so everything muggle-wise was accounted for. Hopefully.

As he stood waiting, Severus tucked his wand into the secure, secret space in his dinner jacket. It was enchanted so that anything placed within the pocket would mimick the soft movements of fabric - no one would be the wiser that a hard wooden object was stored close to his chest. Then he began to adjust the black jacket and white collared shirt beneath. Why was he nervous? It was just going to the theatre with a friend.. right?

@xantha

[Deleted]

So it was her birthday and she was going on what was classified as a date with Rus, the guy that thought her name was Jane. As if that alone wasn't enough of a mess, she'd just come back from a weekend of camping with Emrys after he'd saved her life from getting stabbed with a blade. She was even with the superstar, yes, but now she still owed this date to the high school teacher. Why did life have to be this complicated? When had it gotten complicated? So she had to get through tonight in one piece and then take a long hard break to spend some last moments with her mother that happened to be declining at a very alarming pace now. She'd briefly considered cancelling but then she'd owe the teacher even more and well, that wasn't acceptable. Her mood wasn't much of sunshine though, but at least her mother had been thrilled and even gave her a fancy dress to wear. Xantha had pulled a face and resisted the urge to tell her mother that she really didn't want to look like she cared. Yet her mom had seemed so happy that she was finally 'getting on the right track' that Xantha hadn't had the heart to tell her otherwise. Not when she looked so sick.

So she went to meet up with him wearing a dress and a look that could very nearly kill. She'd behaved perfectly and only gave two people threats of violence along the way. All very innocent, just stabbing the first time and th second time plucking their eyes out. Very innocent. She had dressed as casual as she could manage outside of the dress her mom had put her in as she walked over to the place where she'd meet Mr. Teacher. Hot for teacher had never been her flavour in school but now? Well, he at least was attractive and not actually her teacher, which helped a lot. Luckily for both of them they were not aware that he did teach her younger sibling or she'd probably have lost her mind.

The moment she saw him she almost turned around and left. He was dressed in what looked suspiciously much like a suit, which was far too fancy. By now the dress felt more appropriate, even if she'd probably have opted for ripped jeans, a white tank top and a leather jacket herself. She approached him, a small smirk on her face. "I'm going to take a wild guess that all your casual shirts were in the laundry so you were forced to dress up." She said as she eyed him up and down. "Looks good, I'll give you that but where are you taking me that you're all dressed up and fancy? I thought we agreed to keep this... casual." She said with a raised eyebrow. Yes, her mother would be thrilled to see this. She wondered what kind of comments Brígh would give if she saw the man all dressed up. Mocking or appreciative? It was hard to predict sometimes. She then chuckled and shook her head slightly. "It's good to see you again Rus. And nice of you to actually show up. Not sure if I expected that." She admitted with a sly little smile.

@severus

[Deleted]

Each person that passed Severus along the street had the wizard's instant attention as he kept an eagle-eyed vigil in his wait for the birthday girl. Somehow it felt as if a hundred passers-by had been and gone by the time Severus' dark eyes fell upon those of the fair haired maiden. Merlin! she was a treat to behold, though her cherubic features did little to hide the rather murderous intent in her passionate eyes. Still, he flashed her an easy grin the moment their eyes met and he walked a little to close the gap between them faster.

"Ah! I see we have the same laundry, then, as your casual attire seems to be MIA also," he quipped with an appreciative look of his companion's pretty dress. "Nevermind, we can raise Hell looking for them another day, for this evening I have a surprise for the birthday girl," Severus continued with good cheer, offering a hug to Jane if she so wished.

"It is good to see you again too Jane, I do hope youve had a good day so far," Severus replied as he waved at the taxi cab that was slowly making its way towards them. "It's nothing fancy, I promise. It's just a bit of theatre... at The Globe. A Shakespearean comedy, so it will be interesting to see how they produce the show - if they'll stay true to the Shakespearean production or if they somehow alter it to appeal more to the modern audience. If you're interested, I'll be taking wagers on if they use prepubescent men as the women like Shakespeare did or if women will be performing as well?"

He said all of this as he opened the door to the cab and motioned for Jane to step inside.

@xantha

[Deleted]

He suggested she had the same laundry problem and she chuckled and scrunched her nose up a bit. "No, my mother wouldn't let me go on a date in worn down jeans and I love the woman too much to deny her anything it seems. Plus she left me no time to get changed so you get this. Enjoy it while it lasts." She said with an undertone of danger, although mostly directed towards the dress. If it wasn't too dangerous she'd definitively burn it.... gloriously.

The problem with Xantha was that surprises were hardly a good thing in her book. She liked knowing what she was getting into, what the costs were and what was required to repay whatever it was that somebody did for her. So she felt an instant sense of suspicion at his words of a surprise. He probably considered gifts as part of the birthday celebration but she considered them.. well a burden really. Still she accepted his offer for a hug with only a small suspicious look to her face. It didn't have to be bad, it was just unexpected.

Except that he just had to show off, didn't he? The Globe. Not cheap. A Shakespeare play on top of that and no matter how much she loved the performing arts her wallet shrivelled in fear at the idea of how much drinks at the venue would cost. There was kind of point to her not having wanted something overly fancy and expensive like this and her smile grew a little strained for a moment. So maybe just revenge in stead. "Today has been as close to horrible as it could get before now." She mentioned, hoping that would cover the part about the location as part of a supposed reminder to just how bad her day had been. It was truthful though, considering the bad news she'd gotten. "Also, your idea of fancy is clearly ridiculous if this does not count." She reminded him loftily. She got in the taxi as he wondered about the classical or modern approach and how close it got to the olden times. She pulled a face at the idea of boys playing the woman. "I'm pretty sure that's closing in on illegal these days, since woman are luckily allowed to be more than breeding machines these days. Not that all of them seem aware of that." She said with a sarcastic little smile on her face. She was jolly good company, right? "I hope it's funny. I can use a laugh." She mentioned as she tugged on the dress in irritation. "Now it's a miracle if this thing survives past midnight, provided the play ends before that time. I swear I'll tear it to shreds and set it on fire at the first opportunity." She said with a wide angelic little smile on her face. Then she looked at him, a lot more closely than she really had before.

Suits and taxi's, plays and dresses... This was not her world and she was not that kind of girl. She had dreams of being on that stage of course, but that was very different. Of course she wanted to perform for an audience of people that dressed nicely because her work day was a fancy night out for them. She wanted to be the star of the night, but not sititng on a chair like a doll to watch other people shine. Appreciating their performance was something she liked, but it never felt real. She could not afford this, nor did she think of herself as the kind of girl to attract the attention of the people that could. No matter what her mom dreamt of or her father feared, she lived to dance and perform. She would let nothing get in the way of that. "Why did you decide to show up though?" She asked, genuinely curious, even if there was some suspicion in the quiet depths of her soul. What was his goal in this date of theirs?

@severus

[Deleted]

"Well your mother has wonderful taste," Severus replied after a moment of watching Jane appreciatively, "although, next time it's OK to come in what you feel most comfortable. In fact, it's preferable," Severus enjoyed dressing up as if royalty was coming to dinner - he had, in fact, had to endure stately dinners whilst growing up but he liked to think of himself of a social and cultural chameleon and he would not make the mistake twice to try and impress this girl with a finely tailored suite and trip to the theatre. Though she didn't decline the hug, Severus wasn't so blind to her considerable lack of enthusiasm about it. Or the night... Severus gave the girl a gentle, friendly squeeze in the hug before he let her go and smiled graciously.

As close to horrible as it could get... oh Merlin, the young man rubbed the stubble of his beard as he raised a brow at his new friend quizzically. "I'm very sorry to hear that your birthday has been so horrid," he replied, letting the hope that this moment was not included in her horrible day. "What can I do to make things better? We ... don't have to go to the 'fancy' night at the theatre if you don't want to? I know sometimes when I've had a particularly crappy day I don't always look forward to an evening of entertainment... I can ask the taxi to go wherever you'd like to go?"

Jane hadn't responded well to his musings about the classical reproduction of a Shaekespearan play and Severus almost choked on his own spit at the thought that he might condone such sexist behaviour. Perhaps he was, if he was supporting the arts in a production as it would've been five hundred years ago? As Severus sat in the taxi beside Jane, his mind brought up flashes of some of the most important people left in his world and... unsurprisingly, they were all women. His mother, his sister, his best friend... no, Severus decided he was not supportive of sexism and needn't worry. "It's considered to be one of Shakespeare's comedies, basically a couple of groups of lovers wander into a forest of fairies and wood spirits and they have a good bunch of fun at the lovers' expense," He smiled as he broke down the story to its extreme basics and laughed easily when she mentioned her distress at the fact she was in a dress. "You could always blame the damage on the pixies," he whispered loudly, conspiratorily. Of course, if she did come across a wild band of pixies they'd ruin more than her dress but the muggle didn't need to know that.

"I decided to 'show up' because you're a nice girl who I'd like to enjoy the company of this evening, Jane, and because I made a promise that I would," he said with a determined, confident smile on his face. He found it exceedingly strange that she was even asking him why he showed up... like it was strange? Was there something about him that made him look unreliable? "Why did you show up?" when you clearly didn't want to... the idea swirled into his mind as if the north wind blew into the taxi.

@xantha

[Deleted]

Despite her rather obvious foul temper the man did not seem to plan to cancel everything outright and he kept up a remarkably sportmanlike behaviour that Xantha wasn't used to. It made her jittery and nervous since it made her aware of just how little she understood the world of people that had ample money to spare. It was harder to consider his expectations when she couldn't possibly gauge them properly. He was a huge problem, but more so in how nice he was currently. She'd heard plenty of stories about seemingly decent rich guys that got a lot less decent when anybody told them no. They seemed to often be used to getting whatever they wanted, although he did offer her kindness since the beginning and didn't seem to impose. It was difficult. She nodded mutely for a moment as he commented on her mother. Surely she'd have loved him, good manners and well dressed. "Then I suppose a next time would include trainers, a tank top possibly a skirt. In general just clothes I can move in." The dress, no matter how cute it was, did not leave her with the amount of space to move that she wanted.

He offered her a less fancy evening and she looked at him for a moment, almost surprised. She couldn't possibly take him up on the offer, but he seemed kind and generous in giving her a pass nonetheless. She smiled, a small but a genuine smile, a mix of confusion and gratitude in her eyes. "It's fine. I can use the entertainment. A distraction will probably serve my mood far better than dwelling on bad news would." She sighed deeply and felt frustrated once again. It was the worst possible news to get on ones birthday and all she wanted to do was scream and violently unleash her rage towards the world at an abandoned building with paint and a baseball bat. Life wasn't fair, she'd always known that, it just got a little more unfair each year it seemed. She looked at him for a moment, wondering briefly if there was anything he could do to make her feel better. "If you truly want to make me feel better, manage my expectations in terms of balance. Your fancy little date isn't exactly cheap in my eyes so I need to know what you expect in return for your.... investment." She smiled a little wry smile. "I don't accept nothing as an answer, I'm a little too cynical to believe anything good is free. The few times the other person doesn't ask life usually balances the books for them." Her mother had never asked anything of her or had any particular expectations, and now life seemed to balance it out by taking her away.

He told her about the play and it actually did seem quite perfect and rather amusing. He even suggested that she blame pixies for damages done to the dress and she chuckled. "Nobody would believe that if I told them." She said with a smile and a chuckle. "I'm pretty sure nobody would even think for a moment I even believed that myself. I'm a bit too down to earth, they claim. I just don't see how believing in pixies and fairies and magic is going to help me. I can enjoy a good piece of fantasy, provided that magic makes the world worse, rather than better. Demons and monsters seem far more likely than unicorns and gentle fairies do." She said, shaking her head slightly in amused disbelief. No, there was no way such things might exist in a world as messed up as this one. If it did it had to cause more problems than it solved, or it would be freely used, hopefully to make the world a better place. If nothing else at least a lazier place, most likely.

For a change, he countered her question rather than throw one of his own that was unrelated like they'd done most of their previous encounter. She snorted slightly at his claim that she was nice. "I showed up for multiple reasons, although I'll share the most important one. You seem to be a genuinely kind and decent man and that intrigues me almost as much as it terrifies me. I feel almost like I have a point to prove to myself, although I guess I prefer to be proven wrong." She shrugged slightly and wrinkled up her nose. "I don't trust people, in a way. I guess I trust them to be deceptive and to have ill intentions. I trust them to betray or hurt me if they can, so I don't give an opportunity to let them. Showing up for a date is a lot easier when you don't expect the other person to be there, since it kind of proves the point." She shrugged. "I was hoping you'd show up though, since you're very interesting and don't seem to be like most other people." She mused for a moment. She looked at him then, a nearly regretful smile playing on her lips. "Though in terms of fair sport, Jane is my second name, not my first. I think it's a lot easier to assume people are like yourself and while I try not to be cruel lies and deception are such a normal part of life to me that I don't think I qualify as nice. Now it's your turn to get the option to change your mind and bow out." She said with a shrug. Surely he wouldn't want to stay now? So why was she hoping he would stick around against all odds?

@severus