Onto the Next -- Sage

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Aurora had been caught a bit off guard when her parents had asked her to be home Friday night for dinner. What was she, five? She wasn't used to being told what to do anymore, and she'd clearly told them that. Expecting her to be around on a Friday night could only be a joke. Still, they'd held their ground and had even brought her allowance into the picture before she agreed to show up. Being eighteen, and spending her time as an actress wasn't exactly pleasing to them, but they put up with it for now since she wasn't serious about it.

When it came to be Friday, Aurora woke up in one of her costars apartments, draped across a futon with a funky taste in her mouth. She sat up, rubbing her eyes and checked the clock. She wasn't surprised to see it was already four in the evening. She'd been up until about five-thirty the night before, partying with some of her costars, agents, and other people who were either famous or about to be. 

By the time she casually strolled into the Tchaikovsky estate, it was about thirty minutes past when she had promised she'd be there. She heard voices to her left, and walked over to find her parents and three other people she didn't really recognize sipping drinks in the sitting room. 

"Ah, Aurora. You've finally decided to grace us with your presence," Aurora's father joked, but she could hear the edge in his voice. The iciness rolled right off her, and she merely looked bored, leaning against the doorway. Her mother quickly chimed in with, "Aurora, this is David and Lena Devenpeck. You'll remember them from previous social events we've attended. And of course, you'll know their son, Sage, from school."

Aurora shrugged, but pushed herself off the doorway and entered the room, reaching towards the coffee table where some hors d'oeuvres were laid out. She popped a bruschetta laden piece of baguette in her mouth, and plopped down in one of the chairs. She was sporting a monster of a hangover, and wasn't much into the idea of talking at the moment. Even more, she was a bit suspicious about her parents' choice of company, and didn't want to run her mouth until she had an idea about what was going on. 

She eyed the youngest of their guests suspiciously. She had to admit, he did look familiar. So she probably had gone to school with him, like her mother had mentioned. Still, he certainly hadn't been in her year. She was familiar with all the Slytherin males she'd graduated with, and even a few from Ravenclaw. The ones that really mattered, anyway. 

COSTAR(S): SAGE LENKA DEVENPECK 
MUSE: push the button - sugababes
DESIGNER: wearing

[SAGE LENKA DEVENPECK]

Sage's parents while not the strictest of purebloods were very adamant about their son carrying on the Devenpeck bloodline properly. Sage hadn't really dated a whole lot in his years at Hogwarts and this was a fact that his parents knew of. They were a close family and Sage was an only child so he was one of those rare children who spoke to his parents about the on goings in his life. Unfortunately his parents didn't tell him everything that went through their minds.

His father had up and moved them without even asking Sage's opinion when he was a child. Moved them across the world. Sage wasn't sure if there was a father distance that his father could send him off to. This was something that he knew very well of his parents. He wasn't consulted about anything that actually happened in his life unless he made the decision to change it.

David Devenpeck was a high ranking international cooperation official in the Australian Ministry of Magic and he'd been here in the United Kingdom to help his own Ministry work with the British ministry. David had worked hard to get where he was and one thing that would have helped put his mark would be his son being wedded off to a nice British girl. So the fact that Sage wasn't dating anyone kind of ruffled his father's feathers a bit. He heard it often that he should be dating, finding a nice girl to which he rolled his eyes and told them he would date when he pleased to.

It was a Friday night that his parents dragged him off to visit someone's house. He was just told a little run down. To be on his best behavior, that they were good friends of his father's and not to do anything that could damage their reputation. Sage rolled his eyes at his parents. He was always well behaved. A good little diplomat himself. He knew that the way he acted could mess up his father's job. He knew to behave and go along with whatever his parents suggested for him.

They pulled him along to the house and when whoever it was who owned the house opened the door he looked inside. ”Sage, you know Erik and Brenda Tchaikovsky as well as some of their children,” David said reintroducing his son to the Tchaikovsky family. A faux smile came to his face and he shook Erik's hand and gave Brenda a gentle hug. It was what any good boy would do. Carefully he tried to figure out what was going on. They were led into a room where they sat down on a couch and were given a couple things to eat. Sage loved food, like any sixteen year old boy would do naturally. There was casual chat about a bunch of on goings in the wizarding world. Sage knew his father's official stance on all the dark things going on. They needed to get better. Australia worked very differently than the UK did. While there were the odd few who couldn't stand muggles or muggleborns the country as a whole didn't mind intermingling. They didn't have darkness come by and attack people for no reason. The Australian Ministry and all their officials would always take that official stance. And David would always make sure that they all stood in that position. David would always accept muggles and muggleborns in his life but his son would never be with one if he could help it.

Soon a girl who he recognized as Jared's older sister came into the house. A bite in Erik's voice was clear that he was not happy. Anyone who grew up in this situation knew those words clearly. Now Sage was even more suspicious as she came in. Erik introduced his family to Aurora and he gave a gentle wave after they mentioned him. Sage wasn't sure if he wanted to say anything now. He was sure this was exactly what his father had been threatening to him. But an older girl? Really, he was trying to set him up with an older girl? Little did he know his father wasn't only playing matchmaker with Erik Tchaikovsky but he was arranging a marriage where both families would get something out of it. Sage knew what his father was getting out of it but he was now attempting to figure out what the Tchaikovsky family would get out of it. Immunity from the Ministry, that was probably the best thing, maybe something even bigger, immunity from the Australian Ministry, build a business there and have no problems.

Words: 775
Tagged: @aurora
Notes:

[Deleted]

Aurora sat comfortably in her chair, even slumping a bit,

pretending to be oblivious to her mother’s pointed glares. She accepted the

drink that their house elf brought over to her, and took a small sip of it. She

pulled a face – no alcohol - but she wasn’t surprised. She suspected their

house elf had been given special orders from her father not to serve her any

alcohol tonight. It was exactly a secret that Aurora was more than friendly

with alcohol, and it wasn’t the first time her parents had gone to lengths to

cover this fact up to the public. Instead of wasting the calories, Aurora set

the virgin drink down and crossed her arms. Her crossed leg was bouncing

impatiently, as she waited for the chitter chatter to die down. She was

beginning to get the idea of why her parents had invited the Devenpecks here,

as they kept asking her and the boy questions that were obviously attempts to

get them to talk to one another. Aurora deflected the questions effortlessly,

more interested in her nail beds. She was much overdue for a manicure.

Finally, finally, it was announced that dinner was

ready, and Aurora was one of the first to stand up. She was hoping she might be

allowed a little bit of alcohol at the dinner table – it would at least help

the night go by a little easier. Once they got to the dining room, it became

quickly obvious who was to sit by whom. Aurora’s parents had their usual spots

as heads of the table. But there was a pair of chairs on each of the other

sides. Aurora sighed quietly to herself as she sat down in one of the chairs,

waiting for – what was it, Sage? – to take the seat next to her. She still

couldn’t believe her parents were trying to set her up with a younger guy. They

must not be trying very hard – but then again, she was probably their least

favorite daughter, so she wasn’t entirely surprised. She wondered how wealthy

the Devenpecks were. She eyed Sage up and down, trying to get a feel for how

well he carried himself. Most of the time that would inflect the manner of a person’s

upbringing, Aurora being the exception to this rule. He came across pretty

confident and collected, and Aurora could respect that. Although, he didn’t have

much reason to be set off at the moment… This was all rather dull. She wondered

what he would be like if she could get him alone. 

As he took the seat next to her, she winked at him, before

turning to beckon her house elf. “Bring me something with alcohol in it. Now.

And lots of it.” She glared at the elf, as if expecting it to argue with her.

Her parents were busying themselves making small talk about the dinner menu to

notice, but finally everyone was seated. Erik Tchaikovsky was in the middle of

telling his favorite knock knock joke when Aurora had had enough. “Dad, just

cut to the chase,” she snapped, interrupting impatiently.

“I was just about to, honey,” he said to her with a smile

that didn’t reach his eyes. “If you’d let me finish…” The warning tone in his voice went unnoticed by no one. It was clear that was making an effort to keep his temper with her.

“I was talking about the arranged marriage. I mean, that’s

why we’re here, isn’t it?” she interrupted again, crossing her arms, and raising an eyebrow at him challengingly.

COSTAR(S): SAGE LENKA DEVENPECK 
MUSE: uncharted - sara bareilles
NOTE(S): feel free to god mod with the tchaikovsky parents, if you want. recently learned this is your third tchaikovsky arranged marriage? phew!

[SAGE LENKA DEVENPECK]

The girl was not pleased with the situation, she must have been caught onto the same thing that he was. Then again the Tchaikovsky family wasn't exactly known for not arranging their daughters into marriages. It only made sense that Sage was here for exactly one reason. Their parents weren't just playing catch up, no that was just the mask for them to attempt to hide the fuss it would cause as soon as it was mentioned.

Finally dinner was announced. This was something that Sage was happy with. More food to stuff in his mouth to prevent himself from having to answer the silly questions for them to talk together. There was one thing that he'd much rather be off doing at the moment and that thing was being out on the ocean with a surfboard. He stood up and went to the dinner table where his parents took a seat next to each other and her parents sat at the head of each side of the table. There were two seats remaining, Sage and Aurora were to sit next to each other.

His green eyes shot up at his parents and he told them everything he needed to in one glance. It said that he knew exactly what they were up to. He took his seat next to Aurora and looked around before making himself some food onto his plate. He took bites as he listened to the on goings at the table. Sage's parents didn't speak a lot but when they did they had good but short conversations. It was Sage that helped them talk a lot more than anything else. But they were a happy couple.

As his parents were listened to Erik telling a knock knock joke he looked over at Aurora before taking a bit of his food and eating a few bites and taking a rather large sip of his drink. She interrupted her father and with a quick bite he heard her tell him that he needed to cut to the chase. He growled saying that she needed to let him finish but she just continued to go on about the arranged marriage. This in return made Sage laugh which made some of his drink come out his nose. When he reached up and caught the drippings and wiped his face off with a napkin he looked around the table. His parents both gave a glare and he looked around the table. ”Sorry,” he said in the strong Australian accent. ”But I do have to agree, this is no secret that that's why we're here, so can we just get down to business?” he asked carefully. He knew Jared, the Tchaikovsky son and he'd heard stories of Erik. He was sure that this man wasn't nearly as gentle and kind as he made it seem. Well despite the times he wasn't pleased with Aurora. Sage's parents were a lot more easy going than what Erik appeared to be.

Words: 497
Tagged: @aurora
Notes: Yeah, I play Jerrik so it's more that he's involved from saying no and refusing Erik's offer to try and arrange him and then Brian and Merida ^.^

[Deleted]

Aurora looked over at Sage, a bit surprised. She didn't realize he had any sort of backbone in him, but it was a relief to learn that he in fact did. Her lips curled up into a satisfied smirk, and she turned to look back at her father, eager for his response. It wasn't often that things went awry from his set plans. He was indeed looking a bit flustered, and like he was debating whether he should ignore the interruption, or rip Aurora a new one. It was quiet around the table for a good moment before he finally responded, "Alright. If that's what you wish." He sounded forced, and Aurora knew he was trying to keep up appearances. "Sage's parents, your mother and I have all agreed that you both would be a good match for a marriage." He was looking anywhere but at Aurora when he said this, but when he did make eye contact with her, there was no guilt or uncertainty. He looked stern and authoritative.  

Aurora looked at Sage, eyeballing him up and down. "But he's younger than me," she said, still observing him as if he was goods on a shelf. She looked back towards her father, and crossed her arms. "What do you get out of this?" She was really wondering how much inheritance she could bugger out of him before she would agree.

In all reality, circumstances could be a lot worse. Sage could be ugly. But he wasn't, and so far, he didn't show any signs of being off his rocker, or overly annoying. All in all, she could settle for a guy like Sage, but she wasn't going to go down without a fight. Her father would have to buy her silence.

COSTAR(S): SAGE LENKA DEVENPECK 
MUSE: everytime we touch - cascada
DESIGNER: woof - i hope i don't wear you out!

[SAGE LENKA DEVENPECK]

Sage looked at Erik carefully and wanted to chuckle when he saw how frustrated he was. David looked at his son who spoke out of turn and gave him a warning glare not to be rude. This wasn't their house and therefore he needed to behave. Sage had always been good, despite the tantrum that he'd thrown when he was ten and right before he was due to go off to his magic school in Australia. ”Yes, we've agreed for the best for both our families this is a good options,” David nodded in agreement.

Sage caught Aurora looking at him before she spoke about him being younger than her and then she asked what her father got out of all this. That's where David took control of a bit of the conversation. ”Well I'm going to help your father with his business market in Australia and this guarantees Lena and myself a pureblooded grandchild,” he said. That was really everything that his parents wanted. David and Lena Devenpeck always wanted to make sure that they would continue the Devenpeck name. It was incredibly important to them. If this guaranteed it then they would take that chance. Sage's brows raised. ”Thanks for the vote of confidence,” he said with a sarcastic smile and a thumbs up.

His eyes went over Aurora. It was true circumstances could be a lot worse. Although she seemed as though she could kind of be a pain in the arse to deal with but they just had to produce one grandchild and live together the rest of their lives. No one said that they had to enjoy it. ”As for me being younger than you, who cares, what we're a two year difference?” he wasn't going to say how much he thought this was a terrible idea in front of his parents, that would just be stupid. But for now he could get a few things out of his parents for them making him do this.

Words: 332
Tagged: @auroa
Notes: Naw! These are plots that keep me going!

[Deleted]

c o s t a r (s) :
SAGE LENKA DEVENPECK

f a s h i o n : see previous
m u s e : stay young - we the kings
n o t e (s) :
1. template facelift!
2. aurora's version of marriage

[ speech | thought ]        template by isabella

love the way*

----YOU LINGER----
KEEP ME WRAPPED RIGHT ROUND YOUR FINGER

Aurora was pretty certain she hadn't been addressing David Devenpeck when she had spoke. Her eyes cut into a slitted glare as she whipped her head around to appraise him. She didn't speak a word, instead crossing her arms and falling back against the back of her chair. Merlin, did they really have to speak about baby-making so soon? She could go her whole life without ever having to talk to her parents and her to-be in-laws about what she did between the sheets, thank you very much. 

She was, however, interested to see that Sage had finally found somewhat of a voice in the situation. And he could talk back, too. That was interesting. She smirked at him, as she sipped her spiked drink. She swiveled it around in her hand, causing the ice to clink noisily together. "I suppose two years doesn't quite qualify as cougar material," she muttered under her breath. She supposed it wasn't the age difference that bothered her, but if she was supposed to married to this guy, she'd at least hoped he was experienced. Or okay with an open marriage. She flagged down the house elf again, holding out her now-empty glass. A few moments later, it was refilled, and Aurora was taking a large drink of it. She would be needing a lot more alcohol to make it through this.

It was clear that Erik Tchaikovsky was doing his best to keep everything on his own terms. He was making sure that the Devenpecks' wineglasses were always full, and was doing exceptionally well with keeping his temper in check, considering. Aurora was sure that this would be the best time to negotiate exactly what benefits she would be reaping from this business deal, since he wouldn't be able to lash out at her. "So what exactly do Sage and I get out of this?" She directed her question to both her parents, and Sage's.  One of her eyebrows were cocked in expectation. "A house, maybe? Inheritance, what?" she continued, impatiently. In all honesty, Aurora was okay with being in an arranged marriage. She had been groomed for it her entire life, and watched as all of her elder sisters were married off, one by one. She had no problem being sold to the highest bidder, because she really didn't have any sort of belief in "true love" or any of the mushy crap that came with it. She was perfectly happy becoming a house wife, spending her time day drinking and attending phony social events where she could gossip about who had gotten fat and who was getting a divorce. It all sounded like a good laugh to her, really.

[SAGE LENKA DEVENPECK]

Sage wasn't exactly pleased to be in this situation but he was kind of with Aurora. What was he going to get out of this? That was the only reason he was humouring his parents through all of this. He thought it strange that his parents were trying to pair him up with a older woman, but as he said before a two year difference was nothing. They were going to either have to find some way to completely break this off which would mean completely messing up their parents plans or they would have to go into this and figure out where each of them sat to continue. They would put on the faces of being happy when around family but rarely talk when at home. Luckily this was something that was two years out and they had all the time in the world to do whatever else they wanted.

He heard her mutter something under her breath, probably had something to do with his reply to the whole age thing. But it was clear that she wasn't going to back down. Her father was definitely not looking exactly happy and he saw how the house elves moved about the house making sure everything was perfect. Sage's home did not have house elves. There were things that were completely socially acceptable in his father's world of politics and house elves did not qualify. Sage lived in that world. He didn't live the normal pureblood lifestyle because his father had to appeal to everyone not just the purebloods. His job replied on all of society and that was incredibly important. So Sage learned to present himself in public. Rarely had he looked anything other than the prim and proper sixteen year old son of David and Lena Devenpeck.

So when Aurora finally asked both of their parents the question of what they were going to be getting out of the marriage he looked over at his father for answers as well. It was true they needed to get something out of this for them to be able to agree to such a thing. David looked over at Aurora after she asked her question. ”Things can be discussed but as Sage is our only son, he definitely has a large sum of money coming into his lap when he turns seventeen and once again when Lena and myself pass on, I do not believe a house is out of the questions, things will be discussed as time goes on though, what else are we wanting?” he said to them.

Sage frowned. ”You know if we're to have to go through with this I'd rather just talk to Aurora on my own, negotiations can happen later, but I see we've all finished our food so if you'll excuse us?” he asked and made to stand up from the table. Lena looked at her son. ”I have to agree, we can all enjoy a glass of wine and talk more of our own plans for this, I mean we have things to set in order ourselves,” she said. Sage wasn't sure what he wanted but he didn't want to be forced into marrying a girl that he didn't know.

Words: 531
Tagged: @aurora
Notes: I like it! And that version is a good version for something like this.