"A hundred feet."
"I beg your pardon?"
"It was at least a hundred feet due west of Battle Abbey grounds."
"Are you questioning my integrity?"
"I am."
"I realize you have financial interest in this, Ian, but the cache was found on an English Heritage site."
"My client never set foot on any heritage sites."
"So the treasure would belong to the farmer with a deed to the property."
"They've expressed interest in sharing the profits."
"How much were you offered?"
"Client confidentiality, I'm afraid. There's quite a market for Anglo-Saxon metallurgy surprisingly, though."
"Norman."
"I beg your pardon?"
"The objects discovered date back to the twelfth century, late eleventh at the earliest. The style is nowhere near as distinctive as that of its predecessors."
"But the cloisonné on the silver brooch is clearly Anglo-Saxon."
"It's a fusion of the two. Someone was trying to copy earlier work, but they clearly didn't succeed."
"Have you… Have you already named a price?"
"Half a million sterling."
"Only?"
"They're not comparable to earlier pieces, and many of them are in tatters anyway. Why?"
"… The authorities… have they... have they already declared it a heritage find?"
"They're in the process."
"…"
"Ian, what did you do?"
"…"
"Ian?"
"Amy, look, I realize that as an archaeologist you feel inclined to give your fellow historians the upper hand-"
"I don't play favourites, Ian."
"-but I feel it necessary to remind you that the Granger family has owned the land adjacent to Hastings for over three centuries and have no intention of surrendering their claim to the money or land. They are quite confident all the items in the cache belong to them."
"They've been overstepping their boundaries. The fence doesn't mark the actual start of their property."
"And I believe the man who found the treasure has acquaintances that have a tendency to be quite influential in these kinds of matters. I'm afraid he might throw your spotless reputation under scrutiny."
"I'm not lying for you, Ian."
"I never asked you to. I'm simply stating that things might get very ugly."
"It's half a million, Ian!"
"..."
" … But you told them more, didn't you? You've been dealing for them and leading customers on and… Looks like the Grangers aren't the only ones who overstepped their boundaries."
"I don't have any, Amy; I never have. You know that."
"Whatever you say, Ian, but just remember, I'm not twisting the truth to get you out and no amount of bribery or blackmail can convince me otherwise. "
"That's quite fine, really. No hard feelings; it simply means you owe me $3.5 million."
"I don't owe you anything."
"You're right; a couple million isn't anything, which means you should have absolutely no qualms about paying me back."
"…"
"Or of course, there's always the option of relishing the pleasure of my company for an evening."
"So… what you're saying is that I either owe you three-point-five million for ruining your backhanded little scheme or I go out with you on a date?"
"Precisely. It's a repayment of pride."
"…"
"Amy, really, I'm not that awful."
"Who said you were?"
"You, the look on your face."
"… Let me get this straight. Taking me out on a date will soothe your wounded pride?"
"Because I know it's just as painful as paying me three and a half million."
"I still don't know how I owe you anything at all."
"I prefer you don't ask too many questions. I'm afraid I wouldn't have a feasible answer."
"I'm not sure how to respond to that."
"A simple 'Yes' would suffice."
"So... if I were to say yes - and that's a big if - what would you... Where would you take me?"
"Anywhere you like."
"… Really?"
A/N – So I finally wrote that backstory to my last oneshot, Imagine, which I posted so long ago I bet nobody really remembers it. For those who do, though, then this is for you. :)
Anyway, I just wanted to get this little dialogue out of my head and ended up finding major inspiration from this totally amazing first drabble of a story called How to Kiss, which is by the wonderful music4evah and I would highly recommend, and while I already had the situation and such already in my head, I did think it was absolutely brilliant to just tell the story in dialogue and make it the first of a series of romantic drabbles. So, yeah. I wanted to give credit where due and throw in an advertisement for another story that I think should really get updated. (Forgive me, Mona.)
Anyway. Ideas for other pairings are totally welcome because frankly, I'm not used to writing romance, except for the occasional Amian, so your ideas are welcome. :)
(Oh, and in case the irony was lost on those who have read Imagine, Stonehenge is an English Heritage site.)