Had she just snorted at him? Huh. Terribly funny, she said, like somehow she was the one mocking him. Kristoffer was momentarily nonplussed by it: he was more used to giving than receiving, so this was a strangely new sensation.
I’m so pleased I amuse you, Kristoffer nearly said, but he just narrowed his eyes at her slightly instead, and let her adorably stupid little snorting sound lie. They turned out into the hall and she shot him another question – though this one had a dash of sincere curiosity in it, he fancied. He didn’t even mind being called infamous. He had had a reputation in his Hogwarts days, after all; it was only a pity that the real world was less of a fishpond, and he hadn’t reached that notoriety outside. Still, there was time.
What had he been up to? “Oh, whatever I want, whenever I want,” Kris declared, the gleam in his eyes betraying his casual tone, as if the whole world was his oyster, as if she could let her imagination run wild and be right. To some extent, it was true – he had sat around doing fuck-all and then taking spontaneous trips across the world with friends or gone ambling down Knockturn Alley whenever it suited him before he’d turned his mind to anything as sedentary as a career, even if his routines had narrowed somewhat since taking up his Ministry post. “I took a few years off to travel.” He shrugged. “Saw some of the world, caused a little trouble,” he added, with a smirk expressly for her benefit. He didn’t mention the Portkey Office, because he couldn’t work out how to make one of the most mundane Ministry offices sound remotely sexy. Maybe given another minute or two, he’d come up with something, but – for now he looked her up and down instead, indulgently. “And what have you got planned, when you’re let loose on the world?” Merlin, he hoped she wouldn’t ruin things by saying something banal and boring like get married and have children with some pathetic little man. Poppy Dashwood, though he scarcely knew her, seemed very much like a debutante-to-be in desperate need of a little corrupting.
I’m so pleased I amuse you, Kristoffer nearly said, but he just narrowed his eyes at her slightly instead, and let her adorably stupid little snorting sound lie. They turned out into the hall and she shot him another question – though this one had a dash of sincere curiosity in it, he fancied. He didn’t even mind being called infamous. He had had a reputation in his Hogwarts days, after all; it was only a pity that the real world was less of a fishpond, and he hadn’t reached that notoriety outside. Still, there was time.
What had he been up to? “Oh, whatever I want, whenever I want,” Kris declared, the gleam in his eyes betraying his casual tone, as if the whole world was his oyster, as if she could let her imagination run wild and be right. To some extent, it was true – he had sat around doing fuck-all and then taking spontaneous trips across the world with friends or gone ambling down Knockturn Alley whenever it suited him before he’d turned his mind to anything as sedentary as a career, even if his routines had narrowed somewhat since taking up his Ministry post. “I took a few years off to travel.” He shrugged. “Saw some of the world, caused a little trouble,” he added, with a smirk expressly for her benefit. He didn’t mention the Portkey Office, because he couldn’t work out how to make one of the most mundane Ministry offices sound remotely sexy. Maybe given another minute or two, he’d come up with something, but – for now he looked her up and down instead, indulgently. “And what have you got planned, when you’re let loose on the world?” Merlin, he hoped she wouldn’t ruin things by saying something banal and boring like get married and have children with some pathetic little man. Poppy Dashwood, though he scarcely knew her, seemed very much like a debutante-to-be in desperate need of a little corrupting.
