Never by accident (Luxante)

Knockturn Alley was one place Ryan found himself in a lot. He had always traveled that way and was never bothered.  He always seemed to blend in with the shadows and it made him glad. The last thing he needed was a run in with the wrong person. This particular day was different. Everything felt strange. As he walked the air seemed stale, everything seemed to be hushed. All he heard were the sound of his shoes on the cobblestone. He pulled the black collar of his jacket around his neck and continued on making sure his wand was within reaching distance in his pocket.

Luxante emerged from a dark shop, dressed all in his blackest robes, with his hood up. He stepped in to the shadows, watching the dark alleyway, observing the people... His prey. Luxante had been missing for a while, quite a long time actually, and he had told nobody that he was back, choosing to live his past few days in shadows.

Coming to a stop in a particularly shadowy corner, Luxante lifted his head and scanned the faces of the people around him with gaunt eyes. One face that caught his attention was the one of a young man who seemed to be sticking to the shadows, just as he was.

There weren't that many people out on the streets like days before when he walked through and that wasn't a bad thing. He hated when it was crowded. Just one more thing to slow him down to his needed destination. After a day that he had went through he really didn't need to be bothered with anyone.

The breeze that went in down the street made the leaves swirl in and out of the shadows making silhouettes across the cobblestone. This is how most times when he walked down that path he usually got distracted by everything that was happening, while keeping to the shadows, that made him procrastinate. What felt like minutes could actually be an hour in retrospect.

Luxante stood stock still and watched the man.  He seemed peculiar... Different than the regular crowd that usually appeared down Knockturn Alley, less shady than the rest.  After a moment of watching the man, when the wind picked up and started carrying the leaves around.  The last of the people had cleared from the street into various shops and up in to Diagon Alley.

A few moments later, Luxante took one half step, creating a faint, but audible click on the scarred cobblestone.

A small click of contact on the cobblestone made Ryan's head shoot up. Everyone had cleared the street going into the surrounding shops. He slowed his pace looking only forward. He knew he had to be cautious. He wasn't in the mood and he surely didn't want to get on anyone's bad side down here.

The shadows that loomed in front of him looked the same as they did before, as he could tell. He wasn't very observant when he was distracted. He checked to see if his wand was still in his pocket but didn't dare retrieve. If he had learned anything it was that. Don't make a fight if there is nothing to fight about and he saw no threat at that moment.

"Jumpy, are we?" Luxante whispered from the shadows, stopping his movement again and watching Ryan, waiting to see his reaction.

Ryan looked in the direction that the voice came from. He couldn't see the man but he knew he was there. Ryan took one step forward and then stopped.

"Not jumpy just aware. You never can let your gaurd down."

"Smart boy" Luxante replied, staying as still as the non-existent wind in the dark, cold alley. "What brings such an upstanding gentleman like yourself down to this wretched excuse for an alley...?" He trailed, barring his teeth, even though Ryan could not see him

Ryan felt uneasy not being able to see the man he was conversing with, but then again maybe it wasn't such a bad then that he couldn't. He didn't know if he should be offended by what he said or not. He couldn't see himself as what people would see as an upstanding person but he just brushed it off.

"I walk through here often. I haven't come here for anything."

"Well this is such a terrible place to be.... Why would you CHOOSE to walk through here...?" Luxante asked, raising an eyebrow, still standing stock still in the shadows, watching Ryan through icy eyes

Ryan couldn't help but put on a smirk as he put his hands in his pockets, This mysterious shadowed man asked many questions.

"Terrible places greet me with open arms. I can't escape them so I might as well embrace it."

He didn't know what this man was all about but he could feel the vibe of him.

Luxante finally stepped out of the shadows, and in to the dim light of the alley. Still looking at Ryan, Luxante smiled again, showing yellowing teeth, his long black robes swishing behind him as he came to a stop.

"I'm sure you would not wish to embrace all the terrible things in this world" He said quietly, almost staring THROUGH Ryan

Now that the man had stepped out of the shadows he saw that he seemed superior to others down in Knockturn Alley. The way he spoke and looked at you would make anyone want to get away from his presence as fast as possible but Ryan knew better. He couldn't show fear. Fear makes you weak and he did not want to seem weak, not again.

"If by choice no, but these days it seems like there is no way to escape it." Ryan looked at the now fully visible man and tried to figure him out. There was something different about him that he couldn't figure out.

"Good to see that some people have already accepted the fate that awaits them...." Luxante trailed, raising his right eyebrow and giving a small smirk to Ryan. Luxante really had no reason to be toying with the man, he was really just doing it for sport, to assure that he still held some dominance in the wizarding world.

Ryan continued looking at the man with a straight face not breaking eye contact.

"Fate has yet to greet me and I have no intention of greeting it in my near future."

He got this feeling that this man was anything but normal and he was afraid that it would turn out bad but he chose to show no fear

"It would seem like you just have.." Luxante said quietly, and he slowly drew his wand from an inside pocket of his robes, still not breaking eye contact with Ryan.

"Are you ready?" He asked, still in the same quiet, threatening voice, his wand now held at the ready at his side.

(sorry for the looong wait of no reply but im back)

Ryan look a few small steps back and reached for his wand in his boot. He had no intention in using any magic but he would be ready if that time came. He never broke eye contact with the man that was far more than just a threat.

"When fate knocks, you have to answer back am I right?"  He said it in a joking manner but his voice was cold as ice.