Antigone popped into being in the middle of her kitchen sending her kneazle running. She set her things down and quickly made her way into her bedroom to change into something... hehe... something more comfortable.

After doing so she heard a knock at the door. AH! Dinner! *Sigh* Ethan. Rawr! She quickly set the lovely table for two, mood lighting would be lit of course, and set out the fantastic cheese and mushroom ravioli, breadsticks, and opened a bottle of elf made red wine to breathe. Now she had to wait....

Casting a warming charm over the dinner she sat down on the plush couch and waited for him to arrive.

Ethan straightened his tie. Never before was he so fidgety to the point that his palms were sweaty. HE was sweaty. Nervous. NOT nervous, he wouldn't admit to that. He cleared his throat, made sure his hair was in the same spot as when he apparated from the house and...

KNOCK! KNOCK!

With a little smirk on her face Antigone hopped up from the couch, smoothed out the front of her dress and casually walked to the door in her Manolo Blahnik pumps. Oh how they elongated her legs! Smiling crookedly she opened the door and said, "Hel... erm... hello. Welcome! Dinner is waiting, sir." SHe gave him a girlish little giggle which was not within her character most of the time, but this one had some sort of hold on her.

Turning to lead them into the flat she made sure to strut a little and maybe sway her hips more than usual. Teehee. Truth be told she had to turn away before she pounced on him then and there. "Would you like a drink first or go ahead with dinner?" she called over her shoulder, being sure to bat her eyes a few times.

"Drink," Ethan spoke up almost instantly...maybe a little too fast for the time being. No one had ever made him feel this way. NO.ONE.EVER. And here he was allowing someone to effect him to the point that...there was no way he was holding her hand. Not until he had a drink of his own then he could blame it on the moisture. YUP!

"Excuse me," he straightened his tie, took a deep breath and answered like a calm and cool gentleman. "Drinks would be very good.

"What a lovely place you have, Antigone." Boss lady. HEAD of the department. The one who hired him and...kissed him in her office.

Rawr.

Antigone led them into the sitting area and perched herself on the arm of a chintz chair as she unholstered her wand and summoned forward the wine and two goblets. It was chilled to perfection and the goblets floated right to each of them as the bottle set itself down on an end table.

"Please, sit. Make yourself comfortable," she said as she stood and grabbed the wine bottle and waited for him to be seated so she could pour his glass.

She was torn between staring at those eyes and those lips... those lips he had used to kiss her with in her office. *sigh*

Ethan sat comfortably, extending his arm out along the back of the chair while the other extended down the arm. "Now that we're alone," he said as he reached up to loose his tie a bit. "Do tell me as to why I was called to your office this morning." He just wanted to know, did she really have a reason to bring him in or was it simply to see just what he would do.

Antigone poured Ethan a glass of wine and sat herself in the chair beside his own, the electricity in the air was insane! *Clears throat* She poured her glas and levitated the bottle back to the coffee table and then reholstered her wand.

Taking a deep drink from her goblet she never took her eyes off of him... "Well, I called you into the office with the intention of giving you a heftier workload, but I uh got sidetracked, so to speak," she said in a sultry voice as she set the goblet down, kicked off her shoes and pulled her feet up into her chair, turning her back to face the arm of the chair so she was now looking directly at him.

"What happened after that was, well... I guess it was just a natural progression of things," she said playfully as she lay one of her hands atop his arm.

Ethan raised his brows, his dark eyes scanning her ever move, including when she rested her hand on his arm. "A hefty workload? Tsk. Tsk. What a naughty thing to do, Ms. McArdle. Although I must say that what happened afterward was...ratherrr...very natural." His eyes finally glanced down to look at nothing more than his lap for a moment, remembering their kiss. And it was time for a drink of wine.

"I would have worked that hefty workload too, you know." he sipped from his glass, his eyes locked on her face. "Just to spite you." Another sip but this time he winked at her. Shame on him for telling secrets but..they were both players, right? They shared some of the same things.

"Well, you didn't react the way I wanted you to the other night, so I thought I might do something spiteful. But, it seems I am not capable of doing so," she admitted reluctantly. By this time she had begun to run her fingers on his arm in little circles and swirly patterns without even realizing.

Her every thought was that she would rather not be talking... there were other things that their lips could be occupied with, but she had been too forward as it were.... it was his turn to make a move.

Gulping her wine she realized just how much Ethan scared her... he did something to her that she couldn't explain. "Yes, that kiss was very natural... seems you were a bit scared though... is that true?" she teased.

HA! "Me? Scared?" Yeah! Out of my MIND! "Never!" Silly laughter never hurt a fly. "Now..." his eyes drifted towards her doodling fingers and grinned a crooked smile. He leaned forward, towards Antigone, moving his fingers to underneath her hair to the back of her neck, pulling her lips closer to his. "What would you have done if...I told you I was scared." His eyes wandered from her lips back up just to see the expression on her face.

Antigone's pulse picked up as Ethan slid his hand through her hair and to the back of her neck... Oh my! But she was not going to let him see her shake, no sir! HA! She would SOOOO win this game.

Her face straight, eyes locked on his, breathing... well it was a bit uneven... she whispered, "I would have known it was the truth and maybe admitted I was too." No change in her facial expression aside from the crooked smile that began to grow across her lips to match his own. GAME ON, YOUR MOVE!

Now this was a different kind of game. No one ever played so well against himself and frankly, Ethan was stumped as to his next move. Silly thing, it was the truth, but she nor any other female would know that, even he didn't know. "Maybe? I think not."

He leaned in to slowly kiss her, making sure to savor the moment before pulling away and sitting with his back against the chair once again. He could tease just as much and from his past audience, well, he never had a complaint. Not one. He knew he was a good kisser and now to let her dreaminess fade away. Yeah. He wanted to see that look.

"More wine please?"

He was right... she would never have admitted it in a million years. NEVER. Oh... he was good. Almost as good as her, but not quite. When he leaned in to kiss her slowly she made sure to give him a little something to think about as well.

Oh that smug look on his face... he was waiting for that dreamy little "Oh my knees are weak" look to pop up on her face. HA! She had trained her face to show no emotion unless she wanted it to.

Upon his request for more wine she simply smiled and said, "Why don't we have dinner now, I have a lovely film collection to choose from for afterward... If you last that long." She rose from her chair and began to walk barefoot to the nook where their candlelit meal was waiting for them. She flicked her wand at lights as she went along, being sure to wiggle a little when she walked in the barely there dress she was wearing.

Oh, Ethan... silly, silly man. Antigone is going to eat you alive deary. All in due time.

It seemed as though Ethan would be waiting forever for a dreamy look that never came. Shocking. Absolutely shocking. That was a slight blow to the ego boost but there was more to come throughout the evening. Hopefully he would capture her attention, but then again, she was playing a good game of hard to get.

And then she mentioned the word food. OH! He could use a little nourishment at the moment and he wanted to see just how good of a cook she was, if she even cooked the meal. He stood up as instantly his eyes took to watching her swaying a little more as she walked to the table. Never before had he seen her hips move in such a way.

"So..umm..." concentrate please on words not swaying. "...just exactly how long have you been in your" *clears throat* "current position?"

Antigone stifled a chuckle and said, "The Department Head position? I started the day before you did, actually. I am brand new to the Ministry. I did however work in Ollivander's for a brief period before going to travel. Wandlore is a love of mine and I went to look into it a bit in Romania." She conveniently left out the part where she had not intended to EVER return here thanks to that man... that lying man.

Shaking that thought from her head she unholstered her wand and lit the two taper candles in the center of the table and poured two glasses of the red wine on the table. Being sure to bend over just enough... teehee...

Standing back up straight she looked at him in the candlelight and said, "Shall we?" while she waited for him to pull out her chair.

Ethan cleared his throat once more. If this woman did NOT stop teasing him, he was going to have to excuse himself for a while to straighten his act. He ran his hands through his hair, allowing a piece to fall into his face, not a bad thing on his part. As soon as they approached the table, instantly Ethan pulled out her chair to allow her to sit.

"You know, I have a friend that I just found out he is a shopkeeper in Diagon Alley." He didn't know how long Milo had been there but at this moment, it didn't matter. "Well, we are going to have to take a walk through the Ministry together sometime." Nothing like innocent strolls around the place.

"So you know a few things about wands? I'm sure that DA was more than busy enough during the summer time?" Small talk, that's what he was up too but this wasn't just any kind of small talk, it was about her. he wanted to know more and usually by this time with other females, he was getting ready to leave. Obviously something was different about this one but he pushed it to the side as she was more like him in all play and no work.

Antigone smiled as he pulled out he chair and took his own. "To be honest the only people I know from DA are Ariel and the other assistant shopkeeper... whose name slips my mind at the moment. I met a few people from the Ministry in my time here working, but that is it," she said with a little smile. She really didn't want to talk about the fact that she was rather wrapped up in someone else to notice much of anyone...

"Oh a walk through the Ministry sounds lovely. I have a map! The lovely older gentleman that Heads Transportation gave it to me. I really need to get the lay of the place though," she agreed.

"Yeah it was rather busy during the summer and filled with children... oh so many children" she said with a small shudder.

She then picked up her fork and popped a raviolli into her mouth and nearly sighed it was so good. After she swallowed it down she said, "Eat up, Ethan."

Ethan laid his napkin to one leg then picked up his fork as Antigone began talking. She was a beautiful lady who's eyes captured his very attention. There were moments when he couldn't see anything else around her...which to him meant that he was staring far too long.

Blink!

Everything was spectacular in his mind. The food was wonderful, smelled delicious, she looked like an angel, well, her own type of angel, a great set up to a wonderful friendship. He picked up his glass and before taking a drink, he wanted to make a toast.

"To friends and lovers," he began and raised his brow towards her with a smirk. "May we always have fun and I do smell challenges ahead."

Antigone watched him watching her. Dear Merlin... he was cut right out of her fantasies. Perfect smile, oh goodness those eyes were perfect too... *Sigh*. She picked up her glass of wine and right as she made to take a sip he proposed a toast.

Her eyebrows raised a bit and she let a smile tug at the corners of her lips. "Well, Ethan.... Where is the fun in stuff if there is no challenge? And lovers... I think you'll make a fine lover," she said before drinking deeply from her glass, never taking her eyes off of him.

"Now can I know a bit more about you? Don't get me wrong... the mystery is quite intriguing," she said coyly and gave him a little giggle.

Ahhhh! A woman after his own heart...NO...No! She was capturing his attention more than any other woman but was it the simple fact that she knew how to play the game too? Two players in one room? Together?

"Just fine?" He couldn't help but smirk as he placed the glass to his lips and took a drink. She knew absolutely nothing about his ways and he just knew that she would change her words one day.

"Me? Hmmm." What was a safe haven about sharing information about himself. "I come from a wealthy family with the usual family situations that take hold." He took a deep breath and sighed, beginning to eat his food as he spoke. "Delicious." Not really meaning to change the subject but did.

"My father was upset that I didn't take over the family business so to speak but it wasn't in my taste to do so." He may have been evil in some situations but he was not the Slytherin man that his father nor his sister was. "So, instead I went on an adventure of my own, wondering what to do with myself, where to go, until I finally decided to come to the Ministry for a while."

Antigone winked at him and responded, "Well, that is yet to be determined isn't it? You still seem a bit... reluctant to me." Oh men hate to feel like wimps... and he was being a wimp right now. SHe wanted nothing more than to say the hell with the dinner and have his lips on hers again. But... she knew full well how to play the game, yes indeed. She crossed her legs seductively and smiled as he shared more about himself.

"Interesting. Our life stories parallel in certain places, you know. My parents wanted me to take over their business, but I wished to do other things. I traveled in search of myself, in search of something... meaningful. THey are Muggles, you know. I chose the Wizard world and so here I am. Don't get me wrong... I took the trust fund and had it converted... I'm no fool, but I had no desire to run their hotel chain. It was dreadfully boring," she said. Just then Pum-pun, her kneazle came prancing through the kitchen... once it spotted Tiggy and company she ran off in the opposite direction.

"Ethan, would you like to watch a film after dinner? Or..." she trailed off and gave him that LOOK.

Ethan sharply turned his head towards Antigone and raised a brow. "You think I'm scared?" What sort of challenge was this? Certainly it was one he liked. "You challenge me to a game, Ms. McArdle." The mentioning of their lives so parallel flew out the window, they could deal with that later.

"And this is one game where we are both winners." He stood up, placing his napkin on the table, then moved in to where Antigone was sitting. "I believe we are finished for now." He reached down, picked her up in his arms and moved towards the living room. His lips attached to hers but it was more in a keeping her occupied moment as he carefully pulled the wand from his pocket, casting a spell.

"I even have our own person spinner," he spoke gently as he placed her down on the floor. There at their feet was a game of Twister, something to bide their time and show that he was not scared of anything.

"I do challenge you, Mr. Matteo... I do indeed," she said to him in an even tone. Whatever game he played she would play along with. She watched him carefully as he stood and before she could react he had scooped her up in his arms and was caryying her, lips locked, toward the living room.

All she could think of was how perfectly their lips fit together and how safe she felt in his arms. *Sigh* When he set her down on the floor she didn't know what to expect...

OH!! MY!! MERLIN!! TWISTER!! WOOHOO!!

Antigone carefully took off her Manolo's and a smile spread her face. Looking up at Ethan she said, "Ohhhh... you are going down, Mr. Matteo!" Game on!

"Oh, I believe it is you that will be going down," Ethan purred as the spinner began spinning on it's own. His brown eyes watched as it landed. "Right hand on green."

He reached down with is right hand, picking the first green circle that was in front of him with a haughty grin on his face. He knew he had to win this game, not the Twister game but the game within himself, the game of falling in love with her.