Tybalt started visibly in his seat at the first sentence. Whether that was from imagining having that security of being able to pay the nanny, or at imagining subsequent children – was it delight or terror? – Tyb couldn’t say. But he exhaled, even at the cost of it, even at the thought of having to have lunch with Lucinda.
“Us? Lunch?” He echoed, eyebrows high. (What good could come of that, exactly? What could she possibly gain of that arrangement... except maybe a regular occasion at which to glare daggers at him if he ever screwed up? Although maybe that would work, Tyb thought fervently; he didn’t need a repeat of today or the quidditch party, not if he could help it.)
And if it meant Elsie could go back to the library eventually, it was worth agreeing to anything, wasn’t it? He felt bad enough at the thought of abandoning her to parenthood without him while he went to the Ministry every day. But even beyond that... she liked working at the library a great deal more than he cared about working at the Ministry – she loved it, he was sure she did – so if she could have that, it was worth any amount of uncomfortable lunches.
“Yeah. Yeah, that’s good. Thank you,” Tybalt said, and some knot of tension in his shoulders dissipated slightly. “Really, thank you.”
(And if Lucinda didn’t actually like him, then at least she would be suffering too. Or Tyb would make her like him, eventually. One of the two.)
“Us? Lunch?” He echoed, eyebrows high. (What good could come of that, exactly? What could she possibly gain of that arrangement... except maybe a regular occasion at which to glare daggers at him if he ever screwed up? Although maybe that would work, Tyb thought fervently; he didn’t need a repeat of today or the quidditch party, not if he could help it.)
And if it meant Elsie could go back to the library eventually, it was worth agreeing to anything, wasn’t it? He felt bad enough at the thought of abandoning her to parenthood without him while he went to the Ministry every day. But even beyond that... she liked working at the library a great deal more than he cared about working at the Ministry – she loved it, he was sure she did – so if she could have that, it was worth any amount of uncomfortable lunches.
“Yeah. Yeah, that’s good. Thank you,” Tybalt said, and some knot of tension in his shoulders dissipated slightly. “Really, thank you.”
(And if Lucinda didn’t actually like him, then at least she would be suffering too. Or Tyb would make her like him, eventually. One of the two.)
