No Sanity, Just Vanity (Lucius)

[scabior]

It was Scabior's break from work. Well, he had decided right then that it was, and there was nothing anyone could do about it. The shop was empty. He wasn't expecting that to change, so he had indulged a habit of his that led him to just walk out. Not that he went far. In fact he never even left Knockturn Alley. Nightfall was approaching, but it was always dark and dangerous as night in here. The sinister street was quiet, but not in a good way. It was an eerie, dead kind of quiet, and because of everything this place had seen, something else was bound to happen soon. Best not to bat an eyelid when it did. You got used to never backing away from anything when it seemed like you would be stuck in here forever.

Time passed, and the bloody red light of sunset glowed at the distant entrance to Diagon Alley, but it did not penetrate the shadows, did not reach the one leaning against the filthy outside wall of Borgin and Burkes. Scabior's head was tilted back against the stone too, eyes half closed, smudges of dirt on his eccentric clothes and a whiskey bottle hanging from the loosening grip of one hand, a second smashed over the alley floor beneath his boots. So much nothing for someone who thought himself to be everything.

[Lucius Malfoy]

Lucius Malfoy enjoyed wandering through Knockturn Alley at night as much as the next Death Eater, but tonight he was here on business. Tonight he had no time for a visit to the Hanged Man, a grimy pub with a reputation for death, as the name suggested. Instead he was wanted to head to Borgin and Burke's, the dark little shop with a history that would disgust most Death Eaters. On the other hand it was very useful when the ministry started to snoop around his home, Borgin was normally pretty willing to but some stuff off him at a good price.
But today he wasn't looking to sell, he was looking to buy, an acquaintance of his had suggested that Borgin and Burke's was a good place to look for some concealing objects, things designed to hide the -uh- less legal things in ones home, needless to say Lucius had a fair few of those.

He had appareted into a dark alley just off the main street, dodged a crazy beggar, and was quickly rounding a slight corner that led to the shop. He stopped dead outside the dirty little shop however, faced with a young man wearing scruffy clothes and had long, messy hair. He was a direct contrast to the pristine Malfoy man who looked down at him. Lucius recognized him as the man who Borgin employed when he wanted a little break away from the shop. He had seen him working there before, but had never interacted with him, so didn't know anything about the man.
"Are you planning to spend the day leaning against a wall and drinking rather than working, or has it turned into serve yourself?"
The blonde man drawled, raising an eyebrow toward Scabior.

[scabior]

At first he didn't even notice the approaching footsteps, but when they got closer, Scabior at least had the sense to slowly turn his head to look. The man was coming this way, towards the shop, but he did not look like much of a threat. No, now that he thought about it, this was a customer. Scabior himself had never dealt with him and knew nothing about him, and at the moment couldn't be bothered to learn more.

Apparently he was some important rich somethingorother, his appearance proved that even if his reputation was uncertain. Ha. Borgin complained about him sometimes and shoved Scabior out of the way on the few occasions he had come when they were both in the shop, but as such Scabior never listened to what he grumbled about the customer and didn't even fully remember the man's name.

"I'm planning to do what I want. Right now I have no reason to want to serve you." He raised an eyebrow in return and leaned back against the wall again. Right now he wanted to be left alone.

[Lucius Malfoy]

Lucius didn't really like the man already, he was arrogant and clearly a fool who should not be employed in a shop where important and rich customers could be found.
However it wasn't until the man's words that Lucius felt his anger truly build and threaten to push down his already frail barriers. His steely eyes flashed dangerously and he took a step closer to the man, his wand appearing in his hand from the folds of his expensive, elegant robes.
When he spoke his voice came out as a hiss, an angry, yet also icy hiss. His voice cut through the shouts and heckling off the alley like a knife.
"Borgin may not be the brightest man in the world, but he knows who his superiors are and he knows how to treat the customers who matter. Your reason to serve me could be your continued employment."
He leaned closer to the scruffy man, years of Death Eater service had taught him to deal with these kinds of rough, dirty people.
"Or it could be me not...hurting you."

[scabior]

Anger and annoyance beyond ignoring rose up inside him at what the man said and the way he said it. It was true, Borgin was always bowing down for people like this, trying to keep the shop safe and quiet, but Scabior wasn't Borgin. He didn't care what happened as long as he got paid, and that would happen, because the important thing about this was that Borgin wasn't here. Jynx could do whatever he wanted in his absence, and he was about to tell this rude customer so when he said something else that angered him even further.

"Ha! I'd like to see you try." he countered with a sneer, but half drew out his own wand all the same. A voice of reason in the distance said that this was stupid, getting into a fight for nothing, but this man had got on his nerves and that was not a good thing. Scabior hadn't been doing anything when he had approached and talked rudely to him. Maybe it was the drink, or maybe he was just bored and wanting to fight, but in his self-centeredness he would never back down and do what someone wanted in a million years. He refused to acknowledge any superiors. An attitude that might get him killed someday, but who wanted to get old?

[Lucius Malfoy]

This boy was annoying, Lucius wouldn't deny it, but he was also a lot of fun right now. It had been a long time since he had actually got to threaten someone, his position at the ministry meant it was out of the question most days.
He laughed darkly, twirling his wand between his fingers, almost absentmindedly, as though the threat that this man posed was so small he didn't even have to think about it.
"Try..I don't need to try. I could beat you in a heartbeat, believe me, the Dark Lord didn't have incompetents in his inner circle...Can you tell me you are a high ranking Death Eater?"
His words were lazily spoken, as though the effort was boring him, and frankly it was, he just wanted to move on so he could curse the man, or punch him, either would suffice.

[scabior]

The boredom act served to be as equally distasteful as the threats. Scabior looked at the man with much skepticism. There was nothing to do but laugh in his face. He gripped his own wand ready to use it, but wasn't altogether scared by the speech. All he did was raise an eyebrow as he voiced his scornful thoughts on the matter.

"What, me, scrape and bow to your Dark Lord? Of course I'm not a Death Eater. You'd have to be really stupid to be a Death Eater, actually." he said the last part more slowly for effect.

While quite the sadistic fan of Dark magic, in Scabior's case that did not extend to the Death Eaters. Really, they were creepy, and he was free forever. Not somebody's cowering slave, which was all the Death Eaters really were. 'The Dark Lord didn't have incompetents in his inner circle', pff, they all were, and probably this Dark Lord included. Not to say that there was no appeal to it. If Scabior was forced to he would most definitely side with him. But there is nothing ruder nor unrestrictedly immature than one's private thoughts.

[Lucius Malfoy]

Lucius chuckled, a surprising move since the man had just insulted him, and Lucius hated to be insulted. But then again, this man was an idiot and Lucius knew he would hurt him enough to make him beg for mercy.
"Your opinions don't really matter, but fucking with someone who is both a Death Eater and a high ranking Ministry official tends to land people in trouble."
He took a small step back away from the man, glad to be out of range of the man's filth... Heaven knows what he might have caught.
Lucius was still fairly close to Scabior, but far away enough that he could easily raise his arm in a flash and cast a hex.
"Sectumsempra."
The word was whispered, more from habit than a need, he had long ago been able to cast non-verbal spells.

[scabior]

Scabior let out a harsh laugh. Trouble and him went way back, yes they did. However, in this case he never got to say so. The twenty-four-year old was not all jests and arrogance; his eyes did not miss the man's wand movement and instantly he had drawn his own wand to point in counterattack. It just so happened that he was a half second not quick enough, and pushed against a wall in this narrow alley, so close to his opponent, there wasn't space to avoid the path of the curse before it hit.

Before he could even fully register the change of pace, the entire situation was pushed into the distant background as pain suddenly ripped across his entire body. The corners of his vision were tinted crimson like the blood that had instantly soaked through his clothes. They were no longer mismatched now that nearly every fiber down his front was soaked dark red. Jynx didn't scream or anything. There was no point in that, when nobody around was going to help in a million years. Just perhaps a choking sound as he clenched his teeth. With all nerves on searing fire from the slashes of the curse, he hardly felt or registered the wall on his back as he slid down it or his knees hitting the ground.

For another infinite nanosecond it was just his lithe frame shaking, heart beating to push its fuel out onto the cobblestones. He looked vaguely down at the dark blood, then tilted his head up, and the image of the man wavered before him. No fair. That bastard.. he.. he was gonna get it.. Jynx reached for his wand where it had fallen to the ground and with his remaining strength rammed it as fast as he could into the Death Eater's toes, hissing out the spell, "S-stupefy." that could get him out of the way for the present.