It had not occurred to Emrys that they might get up and wander around, since that wasn't typical behavior at a dinner party, but he jumped at the chance (nearly literally; he was out of his chair in a moment). Anything to put some distance between himself at the dead or pretend-dead house elf, before he lost the contents of his stomach.

"Yes, let's," he said, throwing his napkin down on the empty dinner plate before him and turning to offer the young woman his hand. Of course, wandering about a stranger's house alone with a young woman wasn't exactly the sort of thing one commonly did. Well, Emrys did it fairly frequently, but usually he wasn't departing this blatantly. "Bring the box," he added, just to telegraph clearly to the rest of the party that their purpose in sneaking off together was related to the game and not to any mischief.

Well, his purpose was getting away from the house elf — but he didn't need to telegraph that either.

  

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wild oceans shake what's left of me loose

E. Selwyn

Minty was slightly startled when Mr. Selwyn stood up and she blinked when his napkin hit the plate.

So they were doing this - leaving the dinner table and hunting around the house for clues. Just the two of them.

Oh dear, how scandalous!

And yet, Minty slowly stood up from her seat and did as she was told. She carefully picked up the box, which was heavier than she expected.

(Mr. Selwyn should have offered to carry it, as the man of the pair, Minty thought.)

"Yes, Mr. Selwyn!" Minty said obediently, as though she was his trusted secretary. She let him lead the way out of the dining room. Before exiting, she looked over her shoulder.

"Where to, Mr. Selwyn?"

  

---

He hadn't actually thought about where to; his only thought had been away from the gruesome table and the ghastly decor.

"The hallway?" he suggested, because it was the only thing he could think of, really. It wasn't as though the hostess might have hidden clues in her personal bedroom — and if the two of them were discovered there, no one would believe they were just off looking for clues, anyway. "To see if she has family photographs?"

Not that this would help them much; the invitation didn't have pictures on it. Whatever. It was a reason to get out of the dining room.

  

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wild oceans shake what's left of me loose

E. Selwyn

"Good thought, Mr. Selwyn!" Minty replied. She followed him, box still in hand, into the hallway. It was a challenge to be holding a wooden box around, especially when you've never held a dumbbell in your life. Her dress and long gloves didn't help either. Still, Minty didn't complain in spite of the burning feeling to her biceps and triceps.

They reached a hallway, where there were indeed photographs and paintings. "Look, Mr. Selwyn!" She said and raised her chin towards a painting of three young and dark haired girls. "That one kind of looks like the one in the photograph!" She was sitting on the left and wore a blue robe, which didn't surprise Minty. This family seemed the sort to divorce anything Muggle unless they had to, for society's sake.

  

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The farther he got from the dining room, the less desire he had to return. The air felt fresher out here, away from all the grisly blood-themed decor. They may not have actually started eating yet, but he already had no appetite and he doubted that he'd gain one if forced to sit at that table once again. He turned his attention to the painting that Miss Scrimgeour pointed out, but wasn't sure he saw the resemblance. He'd have to take her word on it, he supposed — he'd already vaguely forgotten what the young woman in their clue even looked like, and he wasn't going to ask to see it again to verify the suspicion.

"So she killed the house elf," he postulated. "But she meant to kill the groom at her sister's wedding, for whatever reason. Is that it?" he asked, glancing at the box as though he expected it to react somehow. "How are we meant to know when we've solved it?"

  

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wild oceans shake what's left of me loose

E. Selwyn

"How does one mistake a person for a house elf?" Minty stated the, what it seemed to her, obvious. "Oh!" She mediately corrected herself. "Unless she had something poisoned and the house elf ate it by accident."

Suddenly, the box opened abruptly and broke into song - some popular love song of the times. Confetti also jumped out.

What also happened was that Minty was startled, dropping the box on her feet, which in turn had her cry in pain and losing her balance. She grabbed onto Mr. Selwyn in order not to fall.

  

---

She was clutching at his arm before Emrys had really realized what happened. He reached out and put a steadying hand on her waist instinctively, just to keep her from falling over — which shouldn't have been much of a challenge, since she was a little wisp of a thing, but the fact that he hadn't been expecting it meant he needed to use a slightly firmer hand than he would have preferred to keep her balanced and upright.

"Well, I guess that answers my question," he remarked dryly, looking down at the box on the floor. He considered a second, then continued, "Let's not go back to the table yet."

  

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wild oceans shake what's left of me loose

E. Selwyn

Her feet throbbed in pain, her arms hurt from the weight lifting and the embarrassment from holding onto Mr. Selwyn and him touching her waist could kill her. On the other hand, she couldn't help but note that this was the one chivarlous thing he'd done since they began their interactions. She wouldn't have been surprised if he'd pushed her away from him instead, for fear that she might have had his jacket crumpled.

His suggestion was a scandalous one, but Minty couldn't help but ask: "But where should we go, Mr. Selwyn?" This was very inappropriate. He was a man with no relation to her. She ought to have returned back to the table to her mother already. And yet, she wanted to see how this would unfold.

The following 1 user Likes Minty Scrimgeour [Sofia]'s post:1 user Likes Minty Scrimgeour [Sofia]'s post
   Emrys Selwyn

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Once again, Emrys hadn't really been thinking about going anywhere. He'd just meant to delay their return by a moment, so that he could put off having to stare at the dead house elf some more. He could have just stood there in the hallway doing nothing, and been quite content — or, at any rate, more at ease than he would have been in the dining room. She'd asked the question, though, so perhaps that meant she was unexpectedly open to the idea of going somewhere. She hadn't moved away from him, either. It might have meant nothing, because it had only been half a second and maybe she just didn't feel entirely stable on her feet yet, but it could have been something she wanted him to read in to.

Hm. He hadn't really thought her the type. He shot her an appraising look and kept his hand on her waist. "Where would you like to go, Miss Scrimgeour?"

  

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wild oceans shake what's left of me loose

E. Selwyn

Minty blinked. "I-I-uh- where does one usually go in those cases?" She said in an awkward voice. What even was their case?

She was perfectly aware that this was very inappropriate and she might have planted ideas in his head that she was implying they find a bedroom or something. She had to keep all suspicions away!

"We could go into the-uh- servant quarters?" Nobody would go looking for them there and it sounded adventurous enough, given they were rich people. Besides, a man like Emrys Selwyn wouldn't try to seduce her into a bed used by an elderly cook who washed herself with cheap soap.

  

---

Where did one go in such cases, indeed? Usually when Emrys seduced someone it had more forethought than this. With women, at any rate, he liked to select his targets carefully and lay the groundwork over the course of weeks, so by the time they were alone together he had already handled all of the details. With men he was more opportunistic, because that was just how one had to be in searching out male partners. He might have ended up in a servant's bedroom with a man, if the opportunity arose, but only if the bedroom belonged to the man he was fucking. The idea of possibly being overseen, overheard, or walked in on by someone of a lower station than him was... well, no, he had no intention of going to the servant's quarters, in short.

"You're here with someone, presumably," Emrys said coyly, with his hand still on her waist. "Your brother, maybe? What would your brother think of you exploring the servant's quarters?"

  

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wild oceans shake what's left of me loose

E. Selwyn

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. She didn't want this mental image. Julius would be so disappointed in her if he found out about this. If he saw her being so close to Mr. Selwyn. If he overheard her suggest they go to the servants' quarters.

"Y-you're right, Mr. Selwyn, it was foolish if me to suggest that," she said weakly. She looked down but didn't have the strength to release herself from his grip. (It was kind of thrilling to be held in such a way by a man, even if it was Mr. Selwyn.)

  

---

Emrys raised an eyebrow at her response. He glanced meaningfully down at her body, so that it might be impossible for her to mistake what was on his mind. Now that he was going out of his way to look, he noticed that she had a bit more in the way of curves than he had expected. She had the air of someone who could be knocked over with a strong breeze, but there was enough there that he might have a bit of fun, if he did manage to get her alone. The corset she was wearing accentuated things nicely, too, at least from this angle — which might have been the intention, since he was standing about where a gentleman might be if she was dancing. It had probably been designed with dancing in mind, not just standing too close in a hallway.

"Mm," he agreed, glancing back up at her face. "Foolish."

  

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wild oceans shake what's left of me loose

E. Selwyn

Minty swallowed on an empty mouth and looked up again awkwardly. Was he going to kiss her now? This was what happened in the novels, after women had fallen in the hands of sin. Was she going to join her twin in the realm of hussiness now? Oh, dear. Mother and Julius would be so disappointed. As for Minty, she felt terribly ashamed, but at the same time, she couldn't chase a feeling away that made her enjoy the situation she had found herself in.

The following 2 users Like Minty Scrimgeour [Sofia]'s post:2 users Like Minty Scrimgeour [Sofia]'s post
   Cassius Lestrange, Emrys Selwyn

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She didn't respond, and Emrys took a moment to weigh his options. She clearly wasn't in a position to put up much of a fight if he wanted to do something, but it wasn't clear whether she actually wanted to do something or whether she was just too frozen by the unfamiliarity of the situation to do anything to prevent his continuing it. He considered kissing her just to see what would happen. Would she return it? She certainly wouldn't be any good, because he did not expect that she had even the slightest bit of experience in this department, but if she was eager enough she might return it with some energy, at least. It might be interesting, to see how it went, and it might be entertaining. Was it worth the risk of doing something so provocative in a hallway where they might be happened upon by another guest at any moment? On the one hand, some rumors to that end might work in his favor — at the very least no one would think he was running around with men in his free time. On the other hand, he didn't know who would discover them and what they might do with the information. She did have a brother here, and he was hardly going to get himself killed in a duel for one lackluster kiss.

He moved his free hand up to her shoulder and lightly trailed his fingertips down her arm, watching closely to see how she reacted.

The following 2 users Like Emrys Selwyn's post:2 users Like Emrys Selwyn's post
   Cassius Lestrange, Minty Scrimgeour [Sofia]

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wild oceans shake what's left of me loose

E. Selwyn

Minty shuddered by his move. It was good that she wore such long gloves, for it made her body more protected against sin. On the other hand, there was something pleasing about being touched like that. She had felt similar pleasure when she had first danced at balls as a debutante, when this was the most she was allowed of male touch.

"What are you going to do with me, Mr. Selwyn?" Minty asked softly. "I-I don't want to have a baby!" She didn't know how babies came to be born, but it was through men and women being close to each other.

  

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