A Lesson in Aesthetics (for asthedrivensnow )

[prettyawkward]

Maybe there was something to be said for less sleep in a twenty-four hour day.  Rabastan hadn't done much to the rest of the house, but his studio was, for the most part, much cleaner than it had been previously.  He had even purchased a new chaise, shoving the other in the far corner as a new storage place for scrap canvases and boards.  The lighting had been rearranged, and he had even managed to paint the walls in solid colours, relieving it of the splattered paint swatches, cracks, and tears that had developed over the last few months of his restless nights.  His room, of course, was still an absolute disaster area, but Narcissa hadn't mentioned needing to occupy that space.  

Currently, Rabastan was sitting in the hall that led to his bedroom, staring at the wall before him.  Several times, he had imagined Narcissa returning, to the point where he had almost convinced himself she had, only to realise it hadn't happened, after all.  His eyelids closed and opened in near slow-motion.  Everything felt delayed, and he wasn't really sure how long he had been sitting there.  There was a mutter, and he responded, but so quietly he could hardly make it out himself.

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[asthedrivensnow]

It was raining again, and the owl that arrived with his request was moody, preening soggy feathers as she removed its message. Opting to leave it in the care of a house elf rather than send it back out right away, Narcissa went upstairs to gather her coat. Her parents didn't mind what she did with her time that hadn't already been spoken for by their own plans for her, so she felt no need to tell them where she was going, provided she didn't stay too long, and she Apparates directly out of her room and into the corridor outside his apartment.

Her long hair is secured in a chignon, the collar on her coat turned up against the chill in the autumn air, and she knocks sharply on his door.