February 3rd, 1894 - Charity Event

Dean was always a sucker for a good charity event. He had plenty growing up, but had seen what poverty was like across the globe, what it did to orphans, so his attendance tonight, with a generous donation, wasn't anything out of the ordinary. As self-absorbed as he might appear, Dean thought of himself as anything but, so there was that.

Unfortunately, tonight wasn't anything special.

Truth be told, he was a little bored, but was sticking it out for the good cause. At least there was some quality beverages on offer. He was nursing a Scotch, halfway through it and feeling a delightful little buzz that was making things more bearable. A familiar face in the crowd was also about to make the night much more enjoyable. "Eva, my dear." Dean sidled up to her elbow, nudging her gently. "It's been too long." He lamented, rolling his head to the side to cast her a charming smile.

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Evangeline Rowle

  

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Charity events were a sure enough way to get Evangeline out of the house. She had a difficult time with society events sometimes, but something like this, with a purpose--or, rather, a purpose that wasn't just some hostess wanting to show off her party planning skills--was an easy thing for Eva to attend.

Mind you, that didn't make charity events any more interesting than the average society event. But at least Evangeline didn't feel quite so much like she was wasting her time when it was for a good cause.

She was about to make her way to the refreshment table when someone sidled up next to her, and she was pleased to see a friendly face when she turned towards him. "Dean! Lovely to see you." She peered at the drink he was holding. "What are you drinking? I was about to get something for myself."

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Set by Bee <3

"Bourbon," he supplied, offering his glass to her for a taste or to take if she wanted it. He could flag down a server easily enough. There was a handsome blonde waiter around somewhere he could easily weasel another double out of without much more than a flirtatious quip in French. Dean was careful with that one though; quite a few people, especially those of the upper class, were also pretty well-versed in the language. It was easier to get away with the flippant comments in the several other, less popular, languages he spoke.

"How are you, the children?" Dean had always been a quiet fan of Eva's rebellious streak back in school, had been rooting for her to get her happy ending back in the day, but despite all of the shit she'd gone through, she seemed to have bounced back.

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Evangeline took the offered glass and took an experimental sip. "Oh, that is nice." Certainly pleasantly stronger than whatever she'd seen in the hands of some of the ladies she'd passed. Eva wasn't really one to over-indulge, but a certain amount of good liquor was required to make any society event even a little bearable.

"We're well," Eva said. "No complaints from this quarter." Though, perhaps things could be more exciting, Eva allowed. Most of her excitement these days came from gossip, which meant the lulls were usually brief. "And you?"

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Set by Bee <3

Pleased Eva approved of his drink, Dean flagged down another server and with a quick whispered exchange of a request and money, another would be on its way in a few moments. "Glad to hear it," and he was truly. Though he had trouble envisioning himself settling down, Eva (though not how she would have wanted) made it look easy. Mothers had that sort of instinct to them though, the ability to make their children the center of their world without much effort.

"Busy, in a good way. Learning Arabic to add to my collection." Dean's proclivity for languages was no secret, but he often added to his repertoire in a strange order or by a fleeting fancy to travel to a certain corner of the world. "I'll be heading out to Egypt in a couple of weeks to do some translating for the bank." His Gobbledygook was a little rusty, but he could polish it up before he left. Most Goblins spoke English anyway, but sometimes they got a little stubborn when the ministry stepped in and Dean would mostly be around to make sure nothing untoward was happening on the sidelines.

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"That should be exciting," Evangeline said. She'd never been outside of Britain before herself. She supposed she could go somewhere if she liked. That was the wonderful thing about independence, after all. Perhaps she'd have to think about it.

"I insist you bring me back stories of your travels," Eva told Dean. She smiled. "It has to be more interesting than whatever society events are happening here at home." What was the fun of having friends with interesting lives if you couldn't live vicariously, after all?

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Set by Bee <3

Dean raised his glass to that. "Eva, my dear, I will bring you back whatever it is you want from Egypt, except cursed artifacts, that's never fun." Too much drama, too many problems. Who ever thought cursing things like that was a good idea? Certainly it worked to keep people from grave robbing, but eventually it all got messier and messier.

"Oh come now, nothing of interest in the rumor mill as of late?" What a bore. Dean's connections to the gossip well were strenuous at best; listening to a debutante go on about something, in his attempts to flirt and toe the line. Sometimes it was a wealthy socialite he knew he had a chance with. When he wasn't in the mood for such trivial pursuits, that was when he turned his eyes toward a gent, but they were often so hard to get a read on.

"We should spike the lemonade, then it'll get interesting." Never mind that this was a charity event; it could use a little energy.

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"I'll have to think about it," Eva said. "Though I'm sure I'd like anything you brought back if it was interesting." She could hardly be picky for a gift, after all.

"Absolutely," Evangeline agreed, grinning conspiratorially. "And who knows," she said, "some might be more inclined toward charity with a little liquid encouragement." She smiled into her own drink. Well, she was at least sure it wouldn't hurt. And anyway, she would be the first to argue that her peers could stand to relax a bit. "Really, it would be for the greater good."

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Set by Bee <3

"Do let me know, or I could surprise you." Dean liked to think he was pretty good with presents. It had been a while since he'd gotten much of an update on Eva's life, but he still thought he could find something she would like. The children too. Dean had every intention of being the fun uncle, whenever his siblings got around to having children (or in Crawford's case, getting married).

Evangeline's immediate agreement to his joking proposal had him passing her a wicked grin in return. She hadn't lost that rebellious streak from her youth then, oh how he could appreciate that. "It'll be for the children," he nodded solemnly, already attempting to figure out where to acquire the right amount of something clear to spike that much lemonade.

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"For the children," Evangeline confirmed, nodding with mock seriousness. She wasn't sure where they would get their hands on something at the moment, but she started casually moving towards the edge of the room to more easily make a discrete circuit to look.

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Set by Bee <3

Grinning like the Cheshire cat, Dean followed Eva toward the side of the room. He was looking for his waiter friend to see just how big the bribe (or later reward) would need to be in order to pull this off, but to no avail; they were going to have to sneak something from the bar.

"Do you want to do the distracting or the stealing?" He whispered conspiratorially as he motioned toward where there was a small, separate bar for the adults this evening. It wasn't very well-stocked, but anything he could get his hands on could go in the punch. Dean downed the rest of the drink in his hand, the pleasant buzz humming in his veins, a willing accomplice in their plans.

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Evangeline considered for a moment before saying, "I'll do the stealing." That felt like the more exciting option, and like the job for the smaller of the duo.

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Set by Bee <3

Dean was growing more and more impressed with Evangeline with each passing moment. The stealing. Look at her go. "Alright then," he agreed with a wide grin. Leaving her for the moment, Dean made a wide sweep around the room, pausing briefly to chat with a ministry acquaintance. The idea was not to draw too much attention to himself, but to also approach the bar from the far, open end, where Eva would have a better chance or purloining their quarry.

The bartender was helping another couple near the middle of the bar and Dean waited patiently, using an impressive amount of self-control not to look at Eva and give her away. Gently Dean drummed his fingers against the bar's wooden surface and caught the gent's eye with a charming smile. "I'm having a bit of a conundrum," he began with, leaning more on the bar now, like he had a secret to tell. Dean launched into a hushed, somewhat long-winded drama of trying to impress a lady by guessing what her favorite drink might be that was not the punch this evening, but he had no idea what it was a sophisticated woman of taste would drink if it was not that or wine.

After a bit of back and forth, a few well-earned lengthy minutes, the barkeep clearly a little puzzled but eager to help solve the problem, given the generous sum slid across the bar to him, Dean was walking away from the bar with some sort of gin drink in his hand, weaving his way expertly around the room back toward the punch to await his accomplice.

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In the end, it was a very simple thing for Eva to sneak behind the bar once the man behind it was distracted. She quickly located a bottle of something clear that was small enough to easily hide in the folds of her skirts.

She didn't look at Dean as she walked back out from behind the bar, casual as you like, even as her heart was pounding in her chest. She was honestly impressed with herself for making it to the punch bowl without giving herself away. Or being stopped by someone on her way.

Eva made it to the refreshment table without incident, and thankfully only had to spend a minute pretending she was contemplating her choices before the other people near the punch got pulled into a conversation, turning their backs to the table just long enough for Evangeline to slip her contraband into the punch bowl and casually walk away.

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Set by Bee <3

Dean was further impressed with Eva's duplicity; quite the natural troublemaker. He supposed that it never truly left the blood, even if it did not get exercised for a long time. He effectively shielded the last step to their charade and the pair slipped away from the punch table to watch the rest of the evening unfold. He still had the gin in hand and casually offered it to Eva. "I needed a prop. It's gin." He chuckled. The story had been a good one, but Dean had always been at good at talking in circles and at bullshit too. Put the skills altogether and he was the ultimate schmooze.

"Do you think anyone will notice?" It was a large punch bowl and he assumed the clear liquor would be well-disguised by the fruity flavor, but he would enjoy watching people's reactions nevertheless. "I should have gotten a glass for myself." He laughed that time, thinking he should have tried their con himself.

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Eva laughed. She was a little giddy from having pulled it off, to be honest. Glancing over her shoulder at the punch bowl, she said, "There's still time to grab a glass if you like," she pointed out. "And I don't think so." At least not until a fair few number of people partook, anyway.

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Set by Bee <3