When In Rome

Robin had come to have lunch with Fergus.

At least that had been his excuse for arriving unexpectedly at his wife's office in the middle of her Wednesday. By luck, Avery had no meetings scheduled for the immediate future, allowing Robin to loiter uselessly across her sofa. The piece of furniture was well worn in more ways than one but no matter how frequently the Russian threatened to replace it with a newer model he had never had the heart to go through with it. There were too many memories in this office and it felt almost bad luck to be going about changing it now. Of course that didn't stop Robin's neck from hurting.

It had been at least a half hour since Robin had eaten his lunch and, yes, said hello to Fergus but he was still showing no sign of leaving. He was not being particularly annoying at this moment - not doing much at all in fact - just laying back and staring up at the ceiling, absentmindedly stretching and snapping a rubber band. He had an unmistakeable air of a child waiting for a parent as he lazily watched Avery scribbling her way through paperwork. But Robin's innocent silence could not be contained forever and from his corner he turned to his wife with a more purposeful look.

"I need to go to Rome this weekend."

It wasn't particularly uncommon for Robin to disappear for a night or a weekend, most commonly chalking it up to 'family business'. And while this was in no means a lie he had never bothered to elaborate either. Of course, Avery had never bothered to ask or appeared too interested. It was no secret that she didn't exactly adore the older Ivanov men and as a result neither member of the couple talked about them more than was strictly necessary.

Robin knew how she loved the Mediterranean and he quietly hoped that the being slightly more specific about his travel plans would be enough to prompt her curiosity. Because Audriana Swan had reminded him of something that needed to be discussed and he wasn't quite sure how to discuss it.

Avery had been surreptitiously stealing glances in her husband's direction for the past half hour. He was patient - or had grown to be patient while lounging around in her office, but the blonde was starting to wonder why he hadn't taken up Quidditch again. Yes, it was helpful to have him at home to be with Ariadne when she was away from them, and Avery understood that. But today, their daughter was spending time with her godparents and the two children who were essentially best friends to their little one. Ariadne never complained about seeing "Uncle" Keiran and his family, though she was rather young to start griping, Avery supposed.

When he finally spoke, her head lifted and the pen in her hand stilled so that she could focus on what he had said. Usually he never gave any indication as to where his family business had to take place. Perhaps, she supposed, this wasn't family business at all. Did he want her to ask?

Avery nearly kept quiet, nearly let it pass with a simple nod in his direction. But they were doing better since New Year's, and there was no point in hiding from him anymore. Things only got worse if she tried to tuck herself away or hold herself back. Really, it only made sense to speak up. So she tilted her head to the side and brought her eyebrows together curiously.

"What's in Rome?" She asked finally, her tone filled with interest instead of worry. Indeed, the look she gave him was an open one instead of a guarded sort, as he was likely used to seeing. After all, she so frequently pushed his travels aside in her mind instead of asking after what sorts of things were happening in his family. For all Avery knew, Robin thought that she just didn't care. But he had opened up the chance for her to ask, for her to check, and she wasn't about to pass it up now that she had caught on.

"What's in Rome?" 

Every bone in Robin's body was now telling him to respond with "family business". He knew Avery wouldn't be upset with him, well maybe just a little bit for opening the door to her curiosity only to slam it in her face. But she wouldn't hold it over him. There would be no harm, no foul, no drama, and the couple would continue on with their lives. He glanced back at his desk-chained wife, lolling his head back so it rested on the top of the arm rest. 

Robin pulled his rubber band around his pointer finger like a gun, said "A painting.", and released it. The elastic hit the ceiling and fell onto the floor next to the sofa. Absentmindedly, Robin reached down to retrieve his toy and immediately began stretching it again. One look at Avery's face had been enough to bolster his resolve to speak about a subject that he was sure had the potential for detonation. But she looked so calm sitting there, entirely free of the tense paranoia that he had come to know all too well. Avery deserved to know what exactly her husband did in his spare him. 

"An old American friend of mine has always had a soft spot for it. Well, his fiancée does." Robin was loading and unloading the rubber band. Busy hands had always been a nervous tick of his and as his voice remained casual it was the one thing that gave him away. "He wants to put it up in the bedroom as a wedding present. Really prove he cares." At the last statement Robin rolled his eyes slightly, confident in the knowledge that Daniel cared far more about his fiancées sizable dowry than her love of fine art. 

While his elaboration certainly did no help explaining what he was trying to, it was far more than he had ever bothered to give before. A tricky combination of believing Avery wouldn't be interested and not really wanting to tell her had always kept Robin silent. While the few sentences hadn't been much they were still far more than she normally received. The rubber band flew again, this time across the entire office to hit the door. 

"He needs me to fetch it for him." 

Avery's eyebrow lifted when he was more straightforward with his answer, apparently deciding that it was time to give her either a bit more information or a bit more trust. She had actually expected him to say something sarcastic to throw her off the question entirely, perhaps about the landmarks in Rome or something. But when he explained that he was after a painting, she at first thought that perhaps his family had purchased one and that it was his job, now, to retrieve it and bring it back. She didn't really understand why Robin, of all people, was expected to do so, though. He would have to take a plane to get there, obviously, since he hated using portkeys, so why couldn't his parents just go do that?

But as Robin explained, Avery started to realize that this was not something that he had bought, or something even that his friend had bought. By the time he finished, she was sitting up straighter, any cares about her paperwork abandoned. She felt a bit bad, considering she had been trying to work out a deal with a dragon owner in regards to the Ministry taking on their pet for a time, but that would have to wait until she figured out what was happening.

"He's asked you to... steal it?" she asked finally, her eyebrows lifting in a sort of awe.

There was something intriguing about the idea of Robin sneaking around - or, equally, just barging in and demanding whatever it was that he wanted. It wasn't like Avery didn't see him do something vaguely similar to that when he let himself into her office, and it wasn't as though - at the beginning of their relationship - she hadn't come home and sought him out directly. So that aspect was not missing between the pair of them, per se. But it was far more interesting to know that Robin did this - what? When he got bored? When someone asked it of him? She didn't know what the confines of this habit were, but she was insanely curious now.

After a moment of picturing him 'in action,' Avery's surprised expression turned into more of a smirk, and she leaned forward over the desk to plant her forearms across her papers. "You know... That's actually pretty sexy." She paused to grin at him, lifting an eyebrow suggestively. "Do you do this often? Like, I feel like I should have noticed that by now."

Robin wasn't sure what it said about him, or his wife for that matter, that out of every possible reason for his retrieving a painting she jumped strait to theft. Of course she was right in her conclusion but it still surprised Robin and he lifted his head to look more directly at Avery, his eyebrows raising slightly from the shock of it all. 

She was not yelling at him. In fact, she didn't even look disappointed in him. Robin barely recognized the expression on her face after he had gone so long without seeing it. Avery was staring across her desk at him with a sort of awe-inspired curiosity, her eyes lit up softly as she surveyed her husband. The last time Robin had been the source of such a look had been back during their engagement and the honeymoon phase of their marriage. She used to look at him like he was almost magic when he had been able to surprise her with an unexpected trail of kisses or tell her a now-old joke for the first time. 

Avery was leaning forward now and for the first time in months Robin began to feel as if he still had a chance to impress his wife. When she spoke a moment later the startled man couldn't help but let out a shaky laugh in a mixture of relief and amusement. Had Avery Ivanov ever called anything 'sexy'? The adjective (and the smirk that danced across her lips) made Robin suddenly incredibly comfortable with his response. 

"Honestly I'm a bit surprised you never did." Robin's expression bordered on a smirk but the image was shattered by the intermediate boyish grin that he couldn't stop from appearing. "Did you really think I bought a guest room full of pointless antiques?" 

In the back of his head, Robin couldn't help but feel slightly concerned that he was walking in to some sort of trap. Could Avery, the same woman who had panicked so badly at his list of lovers, be perfectly okay with learning about her husband's criminal activities? And she was acting more than okay. Avery appeared interested, entertained, more engaged than he had seen in many months. Robin couldn't resist continuing. 

"It's.. a hobby." Robin flashed his wife a smile. "You have your dragons and I have my diamonds. Everyone needs something to keep them busy." 

"Well," she huffed a bit, trying not to laugh, "you don't have to say it like that! I figured they just came from your family! It isn't as though I see them often enough to know one way or the other, you know."

To be fair, it was partly her fault that she didn't see them very frequently, and Avery felt a moment of guilt about that, her cheeks turning pink. Figuring Robin would take it as embarrassment for being made fun of, she chose not to mention the slight worry she felt about potentially keeping him from them. But then, it wasn't as though she ever saw her family either. The dynamics were different, Avery supposed, so that argument might not have been fully valid. But she honestly just did not get on with his folks, if only because going to Russia made her absurdly cranky. Well, that and the fact that she was not at all from the world they were used to.

A genuine laugh escaped at his next comment, and Avery shook her head at him before pushing back her chair so she could stand. "So," she started, walking around the side of the desk. "Tell me how it works." The request came with a return to her lowered voice - the one that had great potential, along with the raised eyebrow that spoke directly to how curious she was. Avery nudged his side before sinking onto the edge of the couch next to his hips.

Her hand reached across his torso almost absentmindedly, to let her fingers wrap around his side, brushing back and forth over the fabric of his shirt. A slight moment of concern hit her when she realized that this had been happening almost certainly for the majority of her time with him. If he had expected her to notice, how long had he been involved with theft?

"Um," she added after giving him time to explain. Her eyebrows tugged together a bit, but she didn't want to turn the conversation sour. He was being open and she had essentially missed the chance to be upset about it. True, it was questionable, given that it was now out in the open that her husband had repeatedly broken the law. More importantly, they were sitting in the institution that made up their government, and she was admitting that she found him even more attractive for it.

"Just- Can I ask... I mean, how often do you do this? I think I understand why you haven't said anything until now, but... Do other people know you do this? I guess I'm just glad you haven't gotten hurt," she concluded, hugging him closer to her with the hand around his side.

Avery crossed the room to sit on the sofa. Her hand trailed sneakily over his torso and Robin unconsciously shifted slightly upward so his head lifted from the arm rest to stand level with hers. Everything from Avery's look to her touch was so familiar yet, in this moment, was entirely surprising. Robin could feel the weight of her hand as his stomach rose and fell, her heat radiating into the curve of his hip. Their gazes locked and Robin felt a smile playing at his lips. 

"Word gets around. People come to me, or write, explain what they need. Then I go get it." Robin's hand had moved down to where Avery sat and his fingers now stroked patterns on her outer thigh. "Sometimes they give me galleons and other times it's just a favor stocked away. But don't worry, darling, I'm too good to get hurt. Or caught." Robin's hand slipped to the top of her leg where it rested, his thumb softly moving back and forth. 

Robin sat up entirely, his hand sliding slightly up her thigh with the shift. The unexpectedness of the situation was not lost on him. This - whatever was happening - it was new, important, and very good. So good that he almost didn't want to continue speaking. 

"Thank you," Robin said, his tone suddenly more serious. "For understanding. I probably should have said something earlier. Before the wedding might have been a good time to let you know what you were getting into." The boyish grin popped out again and without thinking he leaned the rest of the way forward to give Avery a kiss. She was really going to put up with him? His wife was more incredible than he had given her credit for. 

At first, Avery didn't register the fingers that found her skin. Random touches weren't exceptionally unusual after their realization and reconciliation of sorts at New Year's. She was more focused on his words. She could relax when he promised her that he was safe about it, though. That certainly helped. And it definitely cleared up her mind enough to notice where his fingers were aiming.

He sat up, and Avery let out a quiet gasp. Something in her stomach clenched, deep and promising, and she couldn't help looking down at his hands where his fingers so easily snuck beneath her skirt. Never had she used the word 'sexy' before, but now it was coming to mind twice in not five minutes. Maybe not even two. Merlin.

"I-" she began, unable to complete her reply once he caught her lips with his own. The hand that wasn't resting at his side came up to curl around his neck. What he may have intended as an innocent or heartfelt gesture rapidly changed direction as far as Avery was concerned.

She pulled his shirt into her fist, but pulled back enough to look him in the eye. Even then, she could feel his breath on her lips. This man was everything, and Avery had a feeling he could see it in her face. Just in case, though, she murmured, "I love you. There's no scaring me off now. But... Can I go with you, someday?"

Her reasoning couldn't have been more obvious, could it? She was already quite clearly interested in jumping him in her office. She couldn't even begin to imagine how much more attractive he would be if she actually saw him getting up to such mischief. She could practically see it already. Avery's fingers released his shirt, but they tripped across his chest in a falsely absentminded manner, slowly aiming south.

"Please, Robin?"

The kiss was changing transforming into something stronger and more demanding. Avery's fingers were digging into his side and his neck, her breaths becoming shakier against his lips. And suddenly she was pulling away.. Why?.. A breath of air was drawn into Robin's lungs as he found himself staring eye-to-eye with Avery. Oh. After all this time he could still get caught off guard by those three little words; the ones that he so often forgot to say himself. 

"Sure," he answered, surprised at how quickly the word had slipped out of his mouth. 

Robin's free hand reached up to his neck, gently entwining his fingered with Avery's, and bringing both down to rest between them. Was this really a good idea? Robin flipped Avery's hand over, letting his fingers slip out of hers, stroking across the delicate nerves of her palm and tracing the perimeters of her fingers as he thought. Of course he wanted her to come with him. If she had asked him in this moment he probably would have taken her anywhere. But despite his arrogant reassurances of his safety, there were still risks. His sweet, delicate, beautiful wife wanted to commit a felony. 

Maybe she wasn't so sweet. 

The thought put a smirk on Robin's face as he spoke again. "Only if you can handle it." He raised his eyebrows slightly at her, a playful sparkle beginning to dance in his eyes. "What do you say?" 

Yes? He'd said yes? Then why was he pulling her hand away? It felt like she was getting mixed signals, and Avery's eyebrows pulled together until he flipped her hand over. She did her best to calm her breathing, knowing that it was entirely inappropriate for her to be so worked up in her office. Not that she hadn't fully considered something like this before. Her palm tingled, aching to reach for him again. But then he challenged her, and she looked up sharply, her lips parted in a bemused smile.

"Well," she said after a moment, her voice quiet but clearly amused. "So long as you don't distract me, I think I'll manage just fine."

Avery bit her lip, glancing down at their hands, but flicked her gaze back up to his. The fingers that had been trailing down Robin's chest returned to his side, as she tried to accept the fact that the conversation had changed direction again. "When do we need to leave? I can use some of my vacation days."

They were such an entwined mess, she realized slowly. Their hands, they way they were sat on her couch, the fact that she had just agreed to join him in breaking a law she really should have chided him for ignoring. They were oddly whole, somehow, the pair of them. Whole in a way they never had been. And not just because she was agreeing to commit a crime.

Because they were being open and honest and accepting. Clearly, those moments led to good things sometimes, even if his hand on her leg was the only visible indication of it.

"I'm so glad you told me."