I've Been on the Brink ||Ruby||

[Ephraim Eades R7]

The hooting of the owls was starting to peck holes in E's patience as he stood by the owlery window, watching the grounds for any sign of Ruby. She was supposed to have met him ten minutes ago. He didn't peg her as the type that would lack punctuality, but, given the nature of their agreement, he wasn't exactly in a place to vent his frustrations that were a result of her making him wait. Granted, he was normally a patient person, but when waiting to hand over a highly illegal drug, it could only be expected that he'd be a little more tense than normal. Two-thirty in the owlery, she had said. Not a minute later. For having stressed the importance of him arriving on time, he was beginning to think this was just another aspect of her little game of control. He may have been desperate when he made the deal with her, but Ephraim wasn't a fool. Ruby was enjoying this arrangement very much, and while she put on an act of civility, he had always sensed that there was a little more snake in the Slytherin that she didn't naturally show.

The soft sound of footsteps caused him to turn around, surprised that he had missed any vision of Ruby walking from the castle grounds. Apparently his lack of patience had gotten to him, causing him to daze off in thought. Either way, Ruby's unmistakable silhouette neared him from the shadow of the stairs before his eyes locked onto hers.

"Here," he said hastily, thrusting his hand forward. In it, he held a velvet pouch, filled with not just one millilitre, but two, twice the normal amount traded during a transaction of V. When she put her hand out, he dropped the bag into it, preparing to be on his way. As he stepped forward to move around her, Ruby stopped him by grabbing his wrist, the coldness of her hand sending a slight jolt up his arm. He turned, once again looking her in the face.

She wasn't smiling. Nor was she frowning. Ephraim wasn't sure what she was doing. But whatever it was, he was unable to look away. Talk about mind games.

"I gave you the V. What else do you want." He was growing more and more impatient by the second, but he knew he needed to maintain his composure. Any loss of temper or sign of his frustration might cause Ruby to attempt to back down on her side of the deal. "I mean..." he softened his voice a bit, aware that he needed to maintain clarity. "I got you double the normal amount. And I'm sure you know that there are limits. You have to realize that no source is going to be limitless." Surely she knew this. So what did she want?

[Ruby Lehane]

A gust of wind caused long dark hair to pull free of the hood that obscured the pale oval face of one Ruby Lehane. Form was tense, but comfortable as her legs lay crossed one over the other as she sat on a stone bench just outside of Hogwarts. Piercing cold blue orbs watched the path that led to the Owlery. She was keeping track of the time as she sat there, waiting patiently for the exact moment in which she would actually get up and continue on to her meeting. It had been Wynd’s idea to test his, Ephraim Eades, devotion. Ruby couldn’t have agreed more, that’s why she sat there, waiting to make a fashionable entrance. She had already seen Ephraim pass through the grounds and head up the stairs to the Owlery. It amused her to see that he was precisely on time. Now he would learn patience. It was better to test his loyalty now, then to wait when something more important came up.

Humming to herself, Ruby slowly stood. Ten minutes had passed and it was now a better time than any to get down to business. A lazy smirk slid across her features. Oh how she absolutely enjoyed controlling others. The cloak hid her form as she moved through the grounds at a slow speed. There was no hurry in her. She was patient and now that she knew Ephraim was conscious enough to show up at the exact time she told him to then there was little to fear from him. Her footsteps were soft and controlled as she moved into the Owlery, her eyes falling on Ephraim. His back was to her, not a very smart thing. As he turned to find her there, the smile faded quickly replaced by nothing more than a blank face. Eyes faded to a cold blue as if there was nothing but ice within her, which was more truthful than anything.

Ephraim was anxious, Ruby could tell it by the way he moved and the hastiness in which he gave her the bag of V. He just wanted out of there and it was easily to see…written all over his features. Perhaps that’s why she grabbed his wrist, not allowing him to leave quite so quickly. Her hand wrapped around his warm…smooth…wrist. She pushed aside the more interesting part of the thought and just stared up at him as he met her gaze. He was taller than her, but not by too awful much. Ruby was tall for a girl and that severely helped her to seem more commanding or intimidating, take your pick.

The corner of her lip pulled up in a soft smile at his growing impatience. He was amusing her, as most boys did. They were a weakness to her, but still she couldn’t help but find them amusing, even the annoying ones could bring a soft smile to her face, lightening her features and her personality for a millisecond before she closed up and returned to the same old Ruby. “You haven’t even allowed me to check the substance,” she said as she slowly released his wrist. “Now be a good little Ravenclaw and let me make sure that what you have brought me is the right stuff.” The insult was intended. She needed to test him and that meant she had to insult him, see how much he would take from her. It was all a game to her…a test and though he didn’t know it yet he was going to become an essential part to her plans. She opened the pouch and pulled out the two vials he had obtained for her. Opening one of the vials, she held it out to Ephraim. “I don’t do drugs so you’re just going to have to test it for me.”

[Ephraim Eades R7]

She doubted him. Perhaps it was smart of her, not because of who he was but because they were dealing with an illegal drug. One couldn't take too many precautions. "It's V," he said, a bit irritated as he watched her pull the viles from the bag. "And I'm not your pet." He would have sounded a bit more annoyed if he wasn't trying so hard to control his emotion. E knew that it was never good to let your emotions get the best of you.

When Ruby told him to test the drug for her, that's when she had drawn the line. She might be able to tell him when and where to get her the drug, but she wasn't going to tell him when and where to take it. He was addicted enough, fighting off the demands of the V, and he didn't need her impulsive demands to make it even worse.

"Give me that," he said, taking the vile and glaring down at her. She was tall for a girl, but he was taller. Ephraim was actually one of the tallest in the school. Yet he wasn't just a stick. He had plenty of muscle to go along with his height, making him one of the biggest as well. Perhaps that was why he made such a good Beater, but needless to say, he never found himself on the losing end of a fist-fight. Granted, he never found himself in many fist-fights to begin with. There was that one time in his fourth year, but that had been almost three years ago.

Taking out his wand, he saw Ruby reach for hers as well. He smirked as she thought he was preparing to curse her or something. She must have known though that he wasn't when he saw the tension in her arm fade just slightly. With a clean cut, he made a small incision on his forearm, no longer than a centimetre in length. It wasn't a deep cut, but deep enough to draw blood. "When V touches human blood, it sizzles for a second and then vanishes," he explained, letting a few drops of his own blood fall to the ground before healing his wound with his wand.

Then, he uncorked the vile and knelt so that he was closer to the ground. Carefully, Ephraim tilted the vile until a drop of V fell onto the place where his own blood had fallen. Within seconds, a quite sizzling sound could be heard, moment later resulting in no blood at all on the ground. He put the cork back into the vile, standing again and giving the V back to Ruby.

[Ruby Lehane]

((I didn't give you a lot to work with, just because Ruby's reactions are so mild. Let me know if you need more to work with and I'll wait until I'm not nearly falling asleep.))

Ruby smirked to herself at the mention that he wasn’t her pet. That was clearly a statement he hadn’t really thought about, because he was. He had showed up here at the exact time he was supposed to, he had brought her double the amount of V that most people dealt in, and he was still standing there after she insulted him. He was her pet whether he wanted to admit it or not. At least he was an attractive pet. She wasn’t quite that found of pets, especially human pets, but sometimes they had their moments. Ephraim was definitely one of them and as he moved to take the vial from her she couldn’t help watching his muscles tense and ripple with each movement.

After a moment of watching him, Ruby realized that she was entirely too interested in the man that stood towering over her. There were just some things that never changed, no matter how hard she tried to deny them. Cold blue orbs were drawn to his movements, even the slightest of them, and she couldn’t help the stray thoughts that wandered into her mind as she watched him move to take out his wand. It was his movement that caught her off guard her hand immediately grabbing for her own. If she hadn’t been so distracted by his face she probably would have gotten to the draw much more quickly, but she was just jumpy. Ephraim had no intention of battling her, which was a good thing…for him. Ruby was quick…she would have beaten him…or so she kept telling herself as she slowly slid her wand back into its sheath.

A slow blush spread across her cheeks when she realized he had seen her jumpy movements. The smirk on his face was enough to confirm her fear and she tried to gain back some of her dignity as she crossed her arms over her chest watching him as he made a cut along his forearm. She was curious as to what he was doing, but remained silent as he waited for the crimson drop of blood to pool enough so that it would drip to the ground. Her eyes followed the blood before she quirked a brow up at him. When he explained what happened when V touched human blood Ruby nodded her head. She had forgotten about that…but still it was interesting as the V connected with Ephraim’s blood and began to sizzle. She was impressed. He had actually come through for her. That was a rare trait in men. Made him all that more intriguing to her.

Ruby extended her hand to take back the vial, her blue orbs locking with his eyes, as her thumb caressed his hand as she took the vial. Her eyes were watching his closely before the smile pulled at her lips. “Tell me Mr. Eades, when did you become so knowledgeable about drugs and how they should be tested?” her tone was light…the darkness was almost completely gone from her voice. She rarely ever took this tone of voice, finding it far more troublesome than it was worth, but she couldn’t help the soft flirt that escaped her lips as she slid the V back into the pouch along with the other vial and slid it into her own small pocket, hiding it from view. “I cannot imagine you dealing in drugs longer than a year…or are you just that good?”

[Ephraim Eades R7]

After Ephraim had stood from his crouching position, Ruby seemed somewhat impressed by his actions. He'd have been flattered, perhaps, had the situation been a bit different, but Ephraim was being too careful to allow himself to be flattered though as he was worried that Ruby might be trying to take advantage of him.

"I may be a drug dealer and a drug addict, but I'm not an idiot," he retorted. A steely glare

[[not finished...]]