Paris, France

Donny..?

She detested the name, but it was a name nevertheless. She smiled at him. "I used to love quidditch when I was t Hogwarts. My teachers thought I'd become a professional player, but my family had other intentions for me." Her expression was tinged with genuine sadness.

"You seem so relaxed about me being here. Doesn't the fact that I'm associated with horrible people unnerve you?" Donia found it bizarre, but then remembered if he was close to Amaya he was probably used to it by now.

"Put it this way," He smirked boyishly, "my two best friends are a former assassin and a con man that would flirt with anything with a pulse. You tell me what kind of company I'm used to keeping..." He chuckled.

"But that's awesome! I haven't played quidditch in a long time! Maybe we should try a round or two, I'm a killer keeper!" It truly had been a long time since he had done anything truly recreational with anyone else. Joachim was busy with his inn, Amaya and Potion were never around anymore, and most of his friends just went off to do their own thing. 

The loneliness sort of reminded Topher of his street days when he wouldn't stay anywhere more than a week to stop himself from forming attachments. A lot had changed since then, his control over his powers for one thing. 

Maybe he needed this interaction as much as Donia did.

She grinned at the thought, wondering if her life not operating as a death eater could be as simple as playing quidditch and returning to her  studies.

"It's been a while since I could think about playing quidditch and just... Being myself." Donia pondered it. "I've always wanted to travel too, do something that I haven't been told to. It's wht I envy Amaya, she can come and go as she pleases now her father's passed." Although this was a grand assumption, she seemed to realise that Amaya possessed a lot more free will than she ever had.

"Yeah, I got many fond memories from travelling."

"Italy, America, Britain, all those places." The nostalgia hit him like a wave from the past. "Yeah I saw a lot of places way back when."

"Kinda makes me miss it..."

"what's stopping you now? You even told me there's no threat on your back. In fact, the only thing that's probably preventing you from leaving is me." She spoke with clear sadness. "You have so much at the palm of your hands, it's like your mind doesn't know what to do with it all."

Donia clasped her hands together, looking out across Paris. Although one for usually destroying beauty, she could appreciate it.

Wow, this one really knows how to kill a mood...


Guilt slowly crept up on him. Did he really have it so good compared to others? Was this something he just never stopped to notice? Granted most of his friends probably didn't land as good a fortunes as him but surely they were happy...

Right?

"Let's..' he tried to smile in spite of himself, uncertainties plaguing his mind. "let's get you settled into my house shall we?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sound moody." she offered as an apology, smiling. "I meant that you have so many opportunities, so why not pursue them? The world is  your oyster, as the muggle say." Donia hid the pang of disgust at mentioning non-magical beings, aiming to sound optimistic with her words.

"I'm ready when you are, but i do rather like it up here."

"Well, just kinda... haven't. I've been to quite a few places already, sometimes it's just nice to plant roots. you know?"

He gazed out at the horizon once again, admiring how the sun began to set, casting warm orange light to the buildings below, "Ever been here before?"

"Nothing wrong with wanting consistency. It's not something that's easily found in the world." She took a moment to gaze across the landscape again, feeling her anxiety drain from her body.

"And no, I haven't. Where I went as one of the bad guys.. They never would have been as beautiful as this." Donia appeared sad, possibly haunted by all the horrific sights she'd had to tolerate.

"But maybe I can see more of the world now, if people don't come after me."

"Well we'll have to see, but like I said, they got bigger problems to worry about now, like the T-1000 coming after them..." He joked lightly.

"Out of curiousity, are you good with magic?" she was pretty interested in knowing. "In case they do decide the a small-time villain like me is worth pursuing, and you get put in danger. Then I'll know if i should prioritise putting defensive wards on you." 

It was also for her own research, but that went unsaid.

"I'll be honest, Donny. I'm pretty terrible at magic." There was no sense hiding it. Not everyone could be a prodigy after all. "About my best trick is... I have luck on my side..." A coy smile crossed his face at his pun. No matter how many times he used it, it always gave him a short lived sense of happiness.

Having no context apart from snide remarks from Amaya and veiled comments from Lukas, she was unable to piece what he meant, even though it was clear it was some form of inside joke.

"At least it's better than nothing. I'll protect you, if you need it. I've learned enough spells for the both of us." She winked at him. "Us ex-evil people know how to put up a fight, since we've been fighting for what we thought was right for all our lives."

"I would like to know what you mean by having luck on your side, but you don't need to tell me. Guess I'll believe it when i see it."

Topher smirked at her, "I'll be honest, I hated going up against you guys as enemies. You're all pretty tough. If you were allies, it'd probably be pretty incredible." 

"Kinda makes me wish the whole light-dark thing was dead, that the sides could just exist as one..."

"But anywho, it'd make a lot more sense to see it rather than explain it..."

"As do I." Donia genuinely believed the unity of all wizards and witches was paramount to accelerating their power, but she still the unity in the darkness, rather than through order. For through the law, nobody was truly free.

"But you got me on side. I know all their dirty little secrets and tricks, and I'll use it against them if it means I help you guys." The lie escaped her teeth like music, as familiar to her as a rehearsed song. 
.
She then opened her arms, as if in challenge. "Try your powers on me. I dare you." Donia was not afraid, but curious.

"You sure?" Topher looked her over, and she didn't seem like someone with a glass jaw but she wasn't a juggernaut either. 

"If you're really sure, take as many punches as you want at me, I guarantee you don't hit once..."

"I just want to test out your cool powers, I'm sure you wouldn't hurt me more than i've been hurt before." She tried to brush it off lightly, preparing herself for a fist fight. She wasn't usually one for fighting up close anyway - especially with her knuckles - but it was worth a shot anyway to see what her apparent ally could do.

She lunged forward, aiming a punch for his stomach where it wouldn't wind him.

He kept his eyes wide open, looking at just her foot. As he gazed upon it, bad luck started to lace itself onto it like metal shavings to a magnet. After some tutoring by Camenzind as well as his own experiences he'd developed into quite an adept with controlling the forces of fortune. 

Bad luck was difficult to control but easier to tap into whereas good luck was the opposite. It's the reason why most people associated the evil eyes with... evil. Bad luck was usually just the first step most users were exposed to. And typically to grave consequences. 

Maybe she'd trip, maybe she'd miss him by centimeters, sometimes he didn't even know what it'd do.

Although she'd known she'd angled herself perfectly, her ankle twisted, causing her to stumble towards the floor. Resisting the urge to reach out to grab Topher's shirt, she bent her elbow so she would land without any injury to herself. In that moment she knew exactly what Topher had done, and he did not need to explain it to her.

"You..." she didn't finish, thoughts rapidly whizzing through her mind. "You really do have luck on your side, but has that always been enough to save you?" She acknowledged rapidly that she could've still made a counter-attack from her side, her trip enabling her to simply strike him from a different position. But then again, not many were as qualified to adapting to the situation in front of her as she was. And if Topher could not see the assailant, then how could he work his ability? did he need time? did they need to be in eyesight? she had so many questions..

"Admittedly no." Topher honestly answers, "I'm more like a support guy than a front line fighter I guess." That's usually what his role was when fighting was concerned; stay out of the line of fire and assist his allies by showering good luck to them while sabotaging the enemy.

"So it would be problematic if you were alone, or suddenly jumped by too many people to track, as an example." She rose to her feet, hands shifting as she dusted herself off. Donia appeared incredibly fascinated by Topher's power, but would not question him too much.

"Not to worry, I don't like being on the front lines either, but I'll do it if we get stuck." She seemed confident that they'd have no problems.

"In a nutshell..." Topher shrugged. He didn't show it but this kind of questioning was a bit worrying. Was she asking to know best how the two of them would work together? Or making an exit strategy in case her boss cracked the whip? 

'Remember Toph, never go into business with anyone without an exit strategy.' Joachim always advised him.

"Okay". She nodded, seeming to form a plan in her mind. " I do apologise for asking so intently. I haven't been exposed to much outside my little world until now, and I guess my curiosity got the better of me." A slight flush rose to her cheeks as she took a step backward.

"It's also nice knowing what someone can do if trouble arises." She admitted. "I dont want you to feel like I'll get overprotective if I defend you."

Donia honestly felt slightly embarrassed at her questioning, but hoped it hadnt made Topher too suspicious of her. After all, she knew she'd have to work hard to get anyone to like her, let alone trust her.

"Don't worry about it really..." He offered a light smile and tried to put his doubts to rest. Amaya wouldn't trust anyone with a suspicious agenda against her or her friends, he was sure of it.

She nodded, scanning the crowds below the tower as he spoke. Her eye caught a crop of hair she recognised, her vision honing in on it. It seems her excursions had not gone unnoticed, and one of her Death Eater friends had come to talk to her about the growing doubts of her loyalty.

shit.

"I don't mean to scare you, but I think I'm being followed." she stated very calmly and flatly, considering she could just apparate out. That wouldn't solve her problem, but it would for now.

"Word spreads faster than i thought... what would you like to do?"  she looked to him for guidance.