Adult Discussions Over a Child's Treat

Katrina-Carlotta had a craving. Not a craving to kill, or to maim, or to plot the downfall of the Romanian government. No, this was a much more innocent craving. Katrina-Carlotta wanted ice-cream. The witch had been walking down Diagon Ally when she'd spotted a small ice-cream parlor. This sight automatically caused her to think of the last time she'd enjoyed the cold treat. Upon realizing that she couldn't remember the last time she'd consumed the dessert, the woman just had to get some.

Strutting into the store, the dark witch felt the sudden urge to laugh. The situation almost sounded like the beginning of a bad joke. A wanted dark witch walks into an ice-cream parlor... Shaking away the stupid thought, the European swiftly ordered two scoops of vanilla. Swirling her hair up into a bun as she waited, the woman scanned the other patrons.

As always, she catalogued whom would be of most danger to her, who was oblivious, and whom had placed themselves in the strategically-smart seats. Registering all the doors, and single exit, the assassin's search was complete. So perhaps she was a bit paranoid. But it was for a good reason, and her hyper-awareness had saved her life many a time. All in all, Katrina-Carlotta was hardly complaining.

Yet another scorching day on the planet earth. Matthew did not envy those little martians on mars. However, the heat gave him a perfectly fine excuse to go and get another ice cream from one of the new shops. It was like there was a whole new ice cream parlour every time he walked down the cobblestone street of Diagon Alley. But he wasn't going to complain; it just meant plenty of new flavours to try. Ice cream appeared to be a running theme for Matthew this summer. He picked out the smallest little shop out of the litter and waltzed toward it.

The bell jingled above the door and he suddenly felt as though every eye in the room was on him. He blushed slightly but when he realized how foolish he was thinking he stopped. A few trains had crossed tracks inside his head for a few moments and he just stood there. Sure he could think quick but it could also be his downfall. He began to slowly make his way to the ice cream counter and peer into the glass case that contained the sugary delight that would soon parch him of his craving. He rolled up his sleeve as he ordered something with a very bright green colour. He rolled up the sleeves of his plaid shirt as he took the cone from the woman at the counter.

And now he had to decide where to sit. For some reason he had difficulty choosing a preferred place to enjoy his treat. There were couples sitting together, single people, families, and very few empty spots. He huffed silently as he chose a spot by the window. Why he chose it he really didn't know. Maybe it was the window, maybe it was the vibe, or maybe it was the rather attractive looking woman who had just sat at the table adjacent. He grabbed a copy of the Daily Prophet from an unoccupied table and proceeded to sit at the table facing the woman. He snapped his fingers and the cone floated by his hand and he was free to read his paper and take the cone when he pleased.

Licking a dollop of vanilla ice-cream off her spoon, Katrina-Carlotta found her eyes fixed upon the man who had just entered through the obnoxious door. She couldn't peg what it was for the life or her, but there was something about the male that had attracted her attention. She continued to watch him out of the corner of her eye as he ordered his own sugary treat in a cone. The dark witch found herself wondering exactly how she could innocently strike up conversation with the man, while still completely oblivious to why she'd want to speak with him in the first place.

Katrina-Carlotta found herself inordinately pleased when the stranger made matters easier for her by sitting down at the table neighboring hers. Focused on the man as she was, the woman almost recoiled upon noticing the shade of his own purchase. The woman was quickly distracted, however, by the man's blasé display of wandless magic. By her standards, anyone who used wandless magic so casually was someone she wanted to know. Oh how the dark witch loved it when she was right.

Standing silently and moving into the seat opposite the man with her bowl, she surveyed the figure hidden behind the Prophet. Moving her chair an inch or so in a way that made noise and would alert the wizard to her presence, if he wasn't already aware, she pasted on a charming smile. "Sorry to interrupt your reading, but I couldn't help but notice the rather unique colour of your ice-cream. I have to ask, what flavor is that exactly?" Katrina-Carlotta asked pleasantly, smile never slipping from her features.

The section of the newspaper that read

"Mr. Turk refused to give a statement to mediwizards who had arrived at the scene of his wife's sudden death last night..."

had suddenly become very interesting as he read it for the fifth time since he had noticed the witch sitting opposite him stand up and move over to his table. The chair movement was unnecessary but he played along with her. He was suddenly very self conscious and nervous. He didn't remove his paper right away, he thought about it for a moment. As several trains passed through the station in his mind he finally moved his paper slowly so his face peered around the side. There was an odd feeling about that smile that she was giving him. It almost seemed rehearsed, very much like his own did. He made a mental note.

He shifted his eyes from her to his ice cream before speaking. "You know it's on the tip of my tongue but I just can't quite put my finger on it." he told her and he folded his paper. This woman seemed interesting. The vibe he got from her could not be explained in his own mind. Perhaps if he explored further into her personality he would find out. Or perhaps she had a mask of her own on and was as good as hiding as he was. There was only one way to find out. "My name is Seamus." he told her and put some more strength into his Scottish accent.

Of course the woman was pretty but he wasn't easily swayed by looks. He decided at that moment that nothing would happen. But he said the same thing about Amelia and look what happened there. He really couldn't trust his emotions anymore. As hard as he tried to crush his emotions he simply couldn't.

Katrina-Carlotta was, for lack of a better word, confused. It wasn't a very common occurrence, but the feeling had occurred none the less. The wizard had answered her question on his ice-cream easily enough, he'd even put down his reading material. But right after that, he'd lied to her. The move was so subtle and well-practiced, that the dark witch almost didn't notice it. The male sitting across from her was good. But the European woman did this for a living, and had always found it easier to read people after delving into Mind Arts.

The man had introduced himself as Seamus. She truly had almost fallen for it, the accent fit perfectly. It was only the slightest hesitation before the name, and the momentary flicker of his eyes that gave him away. Katrina-Carlotta has long ago learned that accents were one of the best protection a person could have. Good accents weren't easy to fake, causing people to practically always assume that how you spoke dictated where you came from. The woman herself spoke ever language she knew with their native accent, except for English. The witch had always spoken English with an undertone of the interesting combination of German and Russian accents. She'd been taught the language from her parents, who themselves were not of England. Without meaning to, she'd picked up their way of speaking regarding the tongue. Considering that her permanent residence had been in Italy up until recently, the way she spoke had been somewhat of a failsafe.

Now, she was stuck with the oddly-accented words. The female still wouldn't wish to change it even if it was possible, Katrina-Carlotta had always enjoyed throwing people off-kilter, if she could. "Carlotta, it's a pleasure to meet you Seamus," the woman uttered, words pleasant. With that, she took another spoonful of ice-cream. After all, it just didn't taste the same if one let it melt.

Oh, this woman was good. Yes, she was very very good. He several moments after he spoke she knew he was lying. This was going to be a challenge and he really did enjoy a good challenge. He couldn't help but let a little smirk escape his mask. It was a slight tease to her. But her name nearly slipped right through his mind. Unfortunately for her, he read the newspaper. He made no notion as to acknowledge that he recognized the name. Not that it mattered, a part of him wanted her to know. But he kept it hidden as best he could. Which was pretty good considering he gave up on keeping the name thing going.

He kept his eyes on her as she ate her ice cream. Her body language was like reading an open book. A woman comfortable with her body and knew she looked good. Someone not entirely open about herself but willing to do anything to get what she wants. Definitely someone comfortable with killing. But he didn't dwell on it, if he did he would give himself away. He pushed the thought to the very back of his brain and would retrieve it later. He took the moment to push his ice cream towards his mouth and have a nice taste of it. He closed his eyes and made a humming noise.

"Cucumbers!" he said suddenly and opened his eyes. "Yes, cucumbers and...I think that's lemon." he said absentmindedly. "Rather odd combination of tastes wouldn't you say?" he smiled at her. Unfortunately, once he put some strength into his natural accent it was nearly impossible for him to get out of for several hours. But it meant he wouldn't have to try very hard to keep it up. This way he could focus on what was going on inside Carlotta's head.

It was her name. There was a hidden meaning behind it but it was definitely her name. The way she spoke it, as if she was used to saying it. He tightened his mental gates with his occlumency without showing any sign that he did. Maybe he spent too much time working on it. Or perhaps it was about to save his life. "And might I ask what flavour you appear to be enjoying?" he asked her moving the conversation along.

He knew that she knew, but the man continued to play along anyway. That just continued to confuse her. Did he not care? Was there no real reason for him to protect his identity in the first place? Or perhaps, perhaps he was playing with her. Well, if the wizard wanted to play a game, who was she to deny him?

Cucumbers and lemon. Honestly, who would order that? Not that it was the most ridiculous of combinations, but it was hardly something the witch herself would willingly enjoy. She couldn't quite tell if the male across from her was continuing to play, or just rather odd. If she had to guess, the woman would probably say that it was a combination of the two options. But she couldn't be sure, and she didn't like being unsure.

"Odd, certainly, but you seem to be enjoying it well enough," Katrina-Carlotta replied neutrally. He'd smirked at her, but a smirk could mean a great many things. Truthfully, she was starting to enjoy this seemingly casual conversation, filled with so many meaningful undertones. The words were casual, but conversing was always about far more than just words. This was a prime example.

"Vanilla," the woman responded casually. She wondered if he would comment on the boringness of the flavor. She knew that many would. Vanilla, simple, plain, casual. It wasn't though, not really. The flavor could be rich, or soft. It could be creamy, or bordering on bitter. Vanilla was over-looked, even while it remained the basis for so many other flavors. That's why vanilla was powerful, really. Besides, it tasted good.

Sometimes a disguise can really be a self portrayed if you look closely enough. Carlotta wasn't wearing a visible disguise but he knew it was there. The mask that he had ever so long ago perfected to the point of flawlessness. But somehow he had the feeling that she could see right through it. Normally it would have thrown his game off entirely but he was far too intrigued with Carlotta's mask. He had remained silent for a few seconds, simply looking her over. He couldn't shake the feeling that she was hiding something. Of course everyone's hiding something but she...she was different. If he were to read into her body language a bit more perhaps he could uncover a bit more truth. Unfortunately he didn't have the time for that and her eyes were already on him. There was no advantage in their silent battle but there was no disadvantage either.

"Vanilla." he repeated, absentmindedly. A very boring flavour often overlooked by ice cream consumers. However he believed it to be a very wonderful flavour. It was simply yet it had the ability to become delicious. Sure it needed some help but it could get there and then it wasn't so simple in the end. It was the underdog of ice cream flavours and I can't believe I'm actually analyzing vanilla ice cream so in depth.

"Wouldn't you like a bit more excitement in your life?" he asked her playing right into her mind. It was easier for him to distance himself this way. He hadn't realized it before but the fact that she was reading him as much as he was reading her meant that he was opening up against his will. But to close his doors would be to let go of the mystery that was Carlotta. He was going to risk it, she was far too interesting. "So, Carlotta, what do you do for work?" he asked he as his ice cream floated away from his face.

"Perhaps I already have an exciting life, and am using my preferred flavor of ice-cream to subtly announce to the world that all I want is a bit of normalcy," the witch teased, unable to stop the playful comment from flowing off her tongue. Not that she really wanted to. Of course, her comment of hypotheticals wasn't true. While she might lead a very eventful life, there were certainly times where it could be considered far from exciting. Beyond that, the woman hardly wished for normalcy.

Now came the complicated part. The man, she refused to think of him as Seamus, had asked for her occupation. Head of the Death Eaters and part-time assassin, was hardly an acceptable response, even if the man did know who she was. Her connection to the Death Eaters was all very hush-hush, and the dark witch was quite content to keep it that way.

"Well, I help a good friend of mine run a chain of businesses," Katrina-Carlotta responded with a real smile. She hadn't even lied in answering, not really. She did have a good friend, Marie, whom she helped out. But calling Marie's profession running a chain of business was a bit of a stretch. The Frenchwoman was basically queen of the illegal underground. The witch was in charge of chains of assassins, networks of illegal drugs, and traders of dangerous magical creatures. While Katrina-Carlotta wasn't quite as involved in it all as she had once been, she remained the person her friend went to for help. "So, what do you do?" the woman queried, still refusing to address the man by his faux-name.

To a normal person her first statement would have gone right on through the filter. But Matt's brain was working overtime with this specimen. He caught the truth behind her statement. It wasn't in the ice cream but in her life. The statement pointed closer to his assumption about the young witch who sat before him. Innocently eating away at her ice cream, she wasn't fooling him. "Perhaps that is the case." he trailed off and looked out the window. After a few moments he turned back and looked at her. "Then again, perhaps it is not." he winked at her and gave a silent whoop if triumph in his head.

The slight pause she had to take before responding to his question would have gone unnoticed had he not been looking for it. A wonderful curse is what some would call it. Matthew had a habit of picking tiny things up and over analyzing them to the point of death. A moment of weakness he let himself grin quickly but retracted the second he realized he let his guard down. He wondered which one of them would break character first. If either of them would forfeit the game and simply tell the truth. They were both so deep into the game anything could happen.

There was something about her tone that sparked his interest even more. She appeared to think she was playing him with the lie. Again behind every statement she spoke there was a hint of truth. Oh she was very good at the game, very very good. He hid back a smile as he mulled her voice over as she spoke.

"I'm a private business owner." he told her. "Dealing with businesswizards is messy messy stuff." of course he wasn't lying he was just not giving all the facts.