An Invitation for Dinner

A familiar peregrine falcon swooped in through one of the open windows, circling the bedroom twice before resting on the dresser. Arcerbus's sharp tawny eyes scanned his surroundings before opening his beak and releasing a loud cry. He wasn't a bird used to being kept waiting.

The falcon strained his ears to hear the sound of footsteps as he impatiently spread his wings to circle the room as he waited, the tightly bound scroll dangling from his left foot.

Julian felt relieved, but sad, to be alone once more, savoring his return to his own abode. Dinner with Elise seemed a bit strange that night, although he was glad to see she was no longer sick. The door hummed a bit before unlocking itself and opening up for Julian, sensing not only Julian's presence but also his mood.

"Be quiet," he ordered, but his voice was tired; strained. But the door continued to hum, leaving Julian perplexed as to the reason why it was so. Only when a sharp birdcall invaded his eardrums did Julian turned to look around him. Alert, he had drawn his wand, finding himself facing a familiar peregrine falcon.

"Sheesh, Arcerbus, you startled me," he muttered before lowering his wand and relaxing, walking over to where the bird was perched and inspecting its leg. A scroll was securely tied to the leg, and the young man assumed that Maria had sent it to him.

Julian removed it and began reading.

Sheesh, Arcerbus, you startled me.

The falcon merely flapped his wings impatiently, choosing to ignore the comment as Julian reached down to untie the scroll attached to his leg.


Dear Julian,

I'd like to start off by apologising for the other day- I hope I wasn't the reason for your sudden departure. And if I am, I truly am sorry. I meant no harm by my words.

The next few lines were light commentary; amiable words and further introductions typical of Maria to fill up space before she actually mentioned the purpose of the letter.

Will you be in Paris any time soon? If you are, Jacob and I were hoping you'd be able to join us for dinner at my place...perhaps Thursday night, at 8 o'clock? Please let me know. Take care of yourself, now.

With love,

Maria

"Ah, Maria," Julian was obviously happy with the invitation. He had not meant to walk out on her; he was just too depressed to think about anything else. And he didn't want to share the burden with his best friend, especially since she had just told him of her engagement.

In fact, Julian had already ruined the mood that day, and he was more than glad to take the opportunity of making up for it.

Quickly summoning a piece of parchment and a quill, Julian wrote down a simple,

Yes, I'll be happy to come. See you on Thursday then.

Your Julian

He was about to fold the note when he paused, wondering if he could ask Maria if he could bring Faye with him since they're back in good terms anyway. But thinking twice, he ignored the notion, not really wishing for a chance where he might be unable to keep his true feelings a secret from her.

Julian quickly tied the note on Arcerbus' leg, saying, "There, you can go now, thank you."

Arcerbus rustled his wings with irritation before reaching down to give Julian a sharp nip at the fingers. The bird made a slightly jerking moving that indicated that the daft man should turn over the parchment.

P.S. If Faye is in France, she is most welcome to join as well. I miss her!

P.P.S. Aliyya might also be attending.

"Ouch!" Julian exclaimed, feeling the falcon's sharp beak peck at his skin. He turned his attention back to the parchment from Maria, glad to have an excuse to avoid strangling the bird for its gall.

P.S. If Faye is in France, she is most welcome to join as well. I miss her!

His heart skipped a beat. Again, he'll have to act all cool and brotherly in front of everyone. Julian wondered if his career path should've been acting and not music.

Snatching his note back, Julian himself added a post script which said:

P.S. I'll inform Faye. Have I told you we're neighbors?

"There." he said to the peregrine falcon after attaching his note for the second time.

Satisfied that he had managed to sucessfully complete his task, Arcerbus spread his wings and hopped onto the window sill. He paused as a mischeivous glint appeared in his tawny eyes.

The speckled bird suddenly swooped down to take another peck at Julian's hand before taking off into the afternoon sky, intent on getting back to his mistress by nightfall.

Julian thought the bird was going for good, but as he felt its beak took another nip at his hand, the young man let out a frustrated yell of pain.

"You're just like your mistress!" he called out as the falcon flew off, shaking his hand to remove the pain.

"Crazy bird," he muttered, and went off to the kitchen to clean up the pots and pans he used for the dinner he made.

Elise had been cleaning up as well in her flat, until she heard a distant yell. Wanting an excuse to go see Julian and torture herself, Elise went out of her unit and knocked on her neighbor's door.

"Gabriel?" she called out tentatively.

"Gabriel?"

Faye's familiar voice was muffled by the door. Julian's door alerted him, however, sending her call echoing in the kitchen where he was busily cleaning the counters, forgetting to do them by magic.

"Send her in," he called out to the door, which readily obeyed. "Faye, I'm in the kitchen," he then called out to Faye, bidding her to enter as she please.

Julian's magical door opened and let her in, and then she heard him call. Going straight for the kitchen, she was relieved to see Julian was alright.

"What happened? Were you the one who yelled?" she asked.

"Oh, yes," Julian replied with a light chuckle. "I was talking to Arcerbus."

He wiped his hands on a towel before getting Maria's letter from the small circular table by the window. He handed the parchment to Faye with an interested look.

"A letter?" she muttered questioningly as Julian handed her a piece of parchment. Reading through, she wondered why he even wanted her to read it, seeing no mention of her in it at all.

Folding the Maria's letter, she asked, "Is it some sort of private dinner party you can't attend and you want me to go instead?"

Julian never really asked her to do such thing, of course.

"Is it some sort of private dinner party you can't attend and you want me to go instead?"

"Silly girl," Julian chuckled, sidling next to her and turning over the page for Elise to see the postscript at the back. Unlike Arcerbus, Julian doesn't peck at people's hands just to get their attention. Then again, Arcerbus can't really talk.

"You're coming with me," he said, "That is, if you want to."

"Oh!" Elise exclaimed, seeing the postscript. She gave a small laugh of pleasure. "I'd love to," she gushed, playfully batting her eyelashes at Julian, like in a game of pretending he was the one who had asked her out. Elise loves a bit of theatrics in her actions, and such is an example of the way a Monticelli loosens up.

"Why are they throwing a dinner party? And Aliyya is coming?" she asked excitedly, forgetting how close she was with Julian at the moment.

Julian laughed at Elise as she pretended to gush at 'his' invitation for a dinner party, knowing fully too well that she was just goofing off. He playfully rumpled her hair and pinched her nose, then putting an arm around her as she bombarded him with questions.

"I guess I haven't had the chance to tell you, but Jacob had proposed to Maria several days ago and she accepted," he explained, leading Elise to the living room.

"I guess I haven't had the chance to tell you, but Jacob had proposed to Maria several days ago and she accepted."

"No!" she exclaimed, wide-eyed. "They're getting married?!"

Elise plopped down on the couch, her hands still clutching Maria's letter. She grinned at Julian, pointing a porcelain finger at him.

"And you're still frolicking," she teased him, laughing delightedly. Even before she had realized that she's in-love with him, she had always been annoyed at the way Julian keeps women, and lets out her frustration at his playboy tendencies by teasing him to be old enough to consider marriage.

Julian sat down on the armchair next to the couch that Elise was occupying.

"And you're still frolicking."

Julian paused halfway from comfortably leaning back with a look of surprise on his face. It wasn't a new idea for Elise to tease him again about his "bachelor" status, but it had been a while since he became subject to the young woman's jokes. Pretending to be offended, Julian went for Elise.

"Why you cheeky little--," he trailed off, reaching for the young woman's waist in an attempt to tickle her.

Seeing the predatory look on Julian's face, Elise was slightly worried if she really had offended him. After all, maybe he no longer tolerates jabs about his philandering; a month might have been enough to change him. But realizing that his hands were reaching familiarly for her waist, Elise then knew that he was only putting up an act to trap her.

"No!" It was then her turn to yell, frantically jumping out of the couch like a frightened hare, and running to the kitchen for dear life. She took her wand out as a precautionary measure, even though she wasn't really intending to hex Julian for real. Or maybe she will, if Julian was going to push his luck.

Following Elise to the kitchen, Julian laughed upon seeing her take her wand out. Now that was another story altogether. Elise wasn't a very good witch, and even though she was able to finish her magical schooling, Julian was quite aware that she never really liked performing magic. All she lived for was music, and that was magic enough for her.

"Come along, I promise not to tickle you anymore," Julian said, chuckling. "Come on."

"Stay there, don't move," Elise warned him, although the corners of her mouth were already curving into a smile. She steadied her wand hand, still pointing it at Julian, before she finally collapsed into a giggling fit.

"I can't even unlock my door with this thing," she said in between laughs, making fun of her poor performance as a member of the wizarding community. Elise gave up, and stood next to Julian to take his hand, as if to accept his promise.

"So I get to come with you to the dinner party?" she asked him, weaving her arms with his and resting her head on his shoulder. I admit pretending can still be good, as long as I get to be close to you like this, she thought contentedly.

Julian laughed along, unable to resist Elise' infectious mirth. He gladly took her hand as she gave up threatening him with her wand. His heart couldn't help but skip a beat as he felt her twine her arms so innocently with his own, and even her resting her head on his shoulder was giving him such sweet pain. This girl will definitely kill him someday.

"So I get to come with you to the dinner party?"

"Of course," he replied as steadily as he could, distracting himself by leading her back into the living room. If she was any girl, Julian would have led her straight to his bed, what with her subtle seductiveness was doing to him. But this is Elise, the love of his life, and she doesn't even know it.

"Maria misses you, didn't she say so?"

"I can't wait until Thursday," she declared, feeling really excited for Maria, whom ever since she had met, she had always looked up to as an older sister or a role model. Getting married was one of Elise' dreams and to hear that one of her greatest friends will be wedded soon, she indeed felt happy.

Letting go of Julian, she said, "I know you're working tomorrow night, so I can't ask you to go shopping with me. But I'll buy you something for Thursday. Just don't forget to pay me back," she winked, then dismissed herself from his home.

The moment she was gone from his house, Julian's knees began to buckle. He weakly dragged himself to the kitchen to inspect his stack of wine. The need to invigorate himself with some strong liquor was pressing; time would run out before he'll be able to get a grip on himself.

Only Elise has this kind of effect on Julian, making him want to keep a stack of Invigorating Draught everytime they talk. But for now, a glass of vodka would be nice.