Who: Felix Weissman, Njall Strand, and an adorably nosey NPC What: A weekend away, because one of them really needs it When: Friday, June 14, 2019 | early evening (backdated) Where: Magical lodge in Banff, Alberta, Canada Warnings: Fluff, feelings, and Pride
The heart has its reasons of which reason knows nothing.
A couple of mugs floated over, followed by a ceramic pitcher, and Felix leaned forward to snatch the former out of the air, handing one over to the man next to him. "Finally. I'm pretty sure I've been craving this since the minute we decided to come." He held out his mug, and the pitcher tipped the steaming hot chocolate into it, stopping just short enough of the top that the marshmallows that came along just after popped in without making a mess. "I never thought I'd say this, but I'm glad we chose somewhere cold. Does this mean I'm becoming a native?"
He faked a shudder and flashed Njall a little smile as he settled back on the couch, tugging the blanket that was around them up to his elbows again. He sipped his drink and groaned softly. "Perfect. Merlin." He turned and brushed a kiss over Njall's cheek. They were in the common room, where the best couch with the best fireplace was, but that didn't keep him from sitting close and a little more whenever he could. They were far from the only couple to be getting cozy in the cold weather—even if it was at least partially magically simulated. "You look relaxed."
Following suit, Njall snagged one for himself, although he filled his with far less of the heated beverage than his counterpart, but only because his ratio of marshmallows to hot chocolate was distinctly disproportionate. He cupped his hands around the base of the warmed stoneware and shut his eyes with a happy little sigh after getting that sweet little kiss. He didn't drink yet; he was waiting for the layers of 'mallow to start melting down. What he did do, however, was smile over at Felix. "It's nice to be away from the kúka for a while. I know this is just a stop-gap, but it's better than being mired in it 24-7."
Felix raised an amused eyebrow at the sheer quantity of marshmallow in Njall's cup, leaning in to blow on it just to see if he could get one of them to go flying off of the top. He laughed when all he got was a bit of a wobble as the already-sticky sweets stayed in their pile. "Oooh, I know that word." His smile turned to the grin of the brown-nosing student, even as his free hand drifted to rest on the other's leg under the blanket. He gave a little squeeze; they weren't ignoring the bad, but deflecting it for a little while. "I looked up all of the good words, you know. And by good words, I mean the bad ones, of course. Though I'm sure my pronunciation leaves something to be desired. I'd really like to be able to call someone the flugnahöfðingi, but Merlin, that's a mouthful."
"Sabotage!" Njall gave him an appropriately affronted look at the attack on his marshmallow pile, but it was completely undercut by the laughter in his eyes and the grin he couldn't hold back. "I feel like this requires some kind of payback, but I'm too cozy to think of anything appropriate. Well, no, I can think of plenty, but, y'know, common room. Although" —he gave the blanket and the place where Felix's hand was, invisible to the room, a thoughtful look and then Felix a mildly lascivious one— "what no one else can see can be such delicious revenge."
He took a small sip of his mostly 'mallow hot chocolate, every bit the innocent, but nearly snorted it almost immediately at the other man's choice of words. Holding a hand to his mouth, it took him a moment to keep a growing fit of giggles from overwhelming it. Maybe it was still with just a tiny bit of vengeance in mind, but, leaning in and with his lips brushing over Felix's ear, Njall whispered, "Flugnahöfðingi." He didn't move away immediately, because he found he had just a little more revenge to dish out, "Þú ert myndarlegur djöfullinn minn."
Felix hummed a pleased little sound at both the man's words and closeness. It was only with effort that he could reason out the meaning of the words, but he used that time of not speaking to turn and catch Njall's lips with his. His hand started running a short path up and down the other's thigh, more caress than tease, despite the near-challenge that had been thrown down. "Nei, þú ert djöfullinn. Ég er hetjan þín. Remember? Or I guess you could just call me konungur þinn." Felix gave him a little eyebrow waggle at that, matched by his softening smile.
"Oh, aren't you two just the cutest," came a voice, which a quick glance assigned to a tiny older lady clutching a large bag in front of the brightest, sparkliest, most rainbow-encrusted t-shirt he had ever seen in his life. She was grinning at the two of them. "I just love seeing people in love. Reminds me of my Harold, bless his soul. This was our place, you know. Haven't been up here since he passed, but it feels nicer than I thought it would. Peaceful. Glad to know someone else understands the goodness of this place." She sat down on the perpendicular couch and pulled a bundle of knitting from her bag, the picture of the stereotypical grandmother except for the shirt. "This is your first time, isn't it? You always know the first-timers." She pointed at their mugs. "Bet you didn't order the chocolate chips, did you?"
All of those lovely words from Felix's mouth, delivered with valiant, if textbook pronunciation, curled deep inside him. He started to move in, to kiss him for that lovely little speech when they were interrupted. Feeling distinctly caught out, and also not entirely sure he wanted to dispute the phrase 'in love,' Njall could only blink at the older woman who had joined them. A bit stupidly, all he managed at first was a glib, "There are chocolate chips?" He then grinned and felt just a little flush as he laughed. "They definitely didn't put that on the website. Have you come to bestow your off-menu wisdom? Wait, sorry. First, introductions, because I try not to be a heathen if I can help it. I'm Njall and this is Felix. How long have you been coming here, Ms.—?"
Felix laughed and tossed Njall a look. "Where exactly are you planning to fit chocolate chips in that monstrosity?" Still, he managed a smile for the lady as the other man made the introductions. "It is our first time, yes."
"Oh, an Englishman and everything." She fanned herself as she glanced up at him with an expression part amazement and part amusement. "Nice to meet you. None of that Ms. business, though. It's just Elsie. Harold and I came here every year since the year we were married, starting with our honeymoon. Except the year our son was born, that is. Inconvenient little brat, being born during our vacation time." Despite the word usage, her tone was fond, as was her expression. "Suppose I shouldn't call him that anymore. He hasn't been little in fifty years." She was already well into knitting a row on what looked to be a blanket, even though she'd barely glanced down at it. "First trip away together? I can always tell these things. You have that look about you."
Cradling the hot chocolate a little closer like he might save it from further verbal abuse, Njall sent Felix a wounded look. Not even that would stick to his face for long again, and slid right off as he grumbled, "Where there's a will for chocolate chips, there's a way." He moved his attention back at Elsie, instantly charmed. "First official trip. He rescued me from a rather disastrous evening out after a colleague stood me up. We wound up at a hotel room after I had entirely too much to drink. Which, I realize we could have apparated, but the logic made sense at the time. Like these things do. I recall at least one of us being far more sober than the other, so clearly I had the superior mind in that matter." Pausing, Njall flushed a little. "I'm sorry, I'm just going on and on. What's that you're working on? The colors are gorgeous."
Felix couldn't decide if he was more fascinated by the charmingly nosey little old lady or the way Njall was rambling away at her inquiries. The latter probably had a slight edge simply because that little pout always made Felix want to kiss him until neither of them could breathe. It was probably a good thing they had someone there reminding them that they were in a common room. "You always have the superior mind," he said, the flirtation in his smile only barely tempered, despite the witness. "Mine's the superior wit."
Elsie's laugh was far closer to a giggle, and he could have imagined she was a teenager if she wasn't physically in front of him. "Love and logic. They don't always coexist. Pretty sure that's how I ended up with five children instead of the two we planned." Her smile at that was almost devilish, and she held up her knitting so that they could see it. Her eyes roamed it, too, but they were assessing, and she picked at a spot a few rows down until she nodded with satisfaction. "Blanket for my first great-grandchild. I'm long since over that pink and blue nonsense. I started out thinking I'd do some sort of sunset, but it's coming out rainbow again." She snickered a little at her own joke. "Coming out. My kids will never let me hear the end of it. 'Another rainbow, Mom?' I keep telling them that all supportive parents take things too far, but I think they just like a reason to tease."
"Congratulations," Felix said sincerely, even though the rest of the explanation and its speed made his head spin a bit. "I can't say I'd have guessed at your love of rainbows," he teased, nodding at her shirt.
"My love for my kids," she corrected with a rather pointed look. "You have to tell me how you two met. Rescue missions and impromptu weekends away. It's just the sort of slightly wild romance this old lady loves." She laughed again.
As curious as he was about more of Elsie's story, Njall was distracted from asking further by her sudden, but well-meaning demand for their story. He bought himself a couple of seconds to repackage the truth of their initial drunken hookup by sipping at his tooth-achingly sweet hot chocolate. When he finally settled on something suitable, he smiled at Felix once, cheeks flushing pink, and then looked back at Elsie, "Oh, you know how it goes. Boy meets boy at a bar after one of those boys got some bad news. The other boy is devastatingly handsome and possesses a superior wit. Boy A—bad news boy, if you will—is helpless in the face of all that charm. Boy B turns Boy A's night right around. Did I miss anything?"
He laughed and shook his head at himself. Njall knew his face was very truly red. "We work for the same organization, but in different departments. That might help with a few things. Oh, and congratulations on the great-new addition. And...thank you for being supportive. I know it's getting to be better, but sometimes it's not always. Just...I appreciate it, that's all."
Felix fished for Njall's free hand under the blanket and wound their fingers together, unable to look away from the increasing blush on the man's cheeks. "Technically speaking, we met online first, except without knowing who the other was. He was sharing a picture of his birth country, and we bonded over interns and technology." Finally, he relented in his perusal of Njall's profile and looked over at Elsie. "What he's neglected to mention is that Boy B was having a pretty shite night, too, so he did plenty of turning himself."
It was so strange to be escaping what they were to find a stranger like this, but he wasn't going to second guess good luck when it came his way. He'd have been a terrible poker player if he did. "But yes, we technically work together. I'm pretty sure I outrank him, but I don't hold it against him." He flashed a teasing smile toward the other man. "Besides, he's a healer, so he's far more useful than I'll ever be. My name plate's shinier, though."
Elsie had looked enraptured the whole time they spoke, opening her mouth a few times as if to interrupt and then thinking better of it. Her fingers seemed to fly with the knitting needles, churning out a few more rows in lieu of words. It was only at the end of one that she paused to wave off Njall's appreciation. "If I wanted thanks, I'd have been something other than an Auror. No romance at all in that job. Suppose that's why I've always liked it so much everywhere else. Harold always used to say I could talk enemies into thinking they were soulmates with one of my speeches about love. I did that after I retired from that mind-leeching AWC job, you see. Gave speeches, I mean. You wouldn't know it from the way I ramble on, but I've got an ear for what gets a crowd going. But it sounds like you two don't need me meddling and motivating over there." She waggled a finger between them before starting in on her blanket again. "Doing a fine enough job on your own."
Given that now probably wasn't the time to point out that medical tended to be able to supercede just about anything at the Reserve, including anti-apparating wards, regardless of titles and a shiny name plate. It really, really didn't matter in any run—long or short—especially not with Felix's fingers tangled with his. Njall began to idly rub his thumb against the heel of his palm as he went from exasperated fondness to just plain fondness as the other man expanded on his story. It was a bit of a wrench to tear his gaze away from looking at him in a way that he never thought was all that obvious until a complete stranger made the observation, but he managed to focus on Elsie again.
He laughed a little at the end and gave Felix's hand a squeeze. "I dunno. A little love pep talk probably wouldn't be entirely wasted on us." Njall's chest fluttered at just saying the word aloud. "I'm guessing that's not how you met your husband, though? Harold? Through work, I mean. Where in the AWC was that, anyway? Just out of curiosity. I swear I'm not, like, weirdly fishing or anything. Or maybe I am, but it's really just the idle chitchat of meeting a kind stranger in a vacation cabin in the middle of nowhere Canada." Cheeks going pink again, Njall turned very suddenly and ducked his head against Felix's shoulder. "See, this is where he usually comes in and saves me from myself by saying something witty or distracting."
Felix hadn't been at all fazed at the older lady's talk of love, but hearing Njall say the word was different, new, even if still phrased rather abstractly. They seemed to be adding a lot of new things to this unintentional relationship lately. "I can't say I'd mind hearing one of your pep talks," Felix agreed, though his eyes slid back over to Njall, despite where the words were being addressed. "Even if motivation is one of the few things I don't lack."
He automatically pressed a kiss to the side of Njall's head, laughing softly at the other's embarrassment. "I don't need to distract from anything," he teased. "I'm sure Elsie can see how utterly adorable you are when you're doing that flustered rambling thing. I quite like you when you're flustered." Felix worried for a moment whether the flirt in that last statement would be too much for friendly conversation, but the older lady was grinning like the cat who'd gotten the canary.
"I didn't meet Harold at work, no," Elsie said, though her gaze flicked between the two of them with great interest, as if she saw something there she wanted to explore. "Though, you can definitely say I met him through work. Harold was a criminal, you see." She tittered with laughter at this, enjoying some private joke, and dropped her knitting entirely to wave a hand at them. "He did always hate it when I put it that way, or he pretended that he did, anyway. He was an activist, my Harold. Always had some cause he was backing. I lost count of how many times I had to arrest him at this protest and that rally. Eventually, I started asking for those assignments in hopes that I'd see him there." Her smile went small and private at that, and there was something more serious in her eyes. "This was New England Territory in...well, a good many years ago. New York City. I grew up in Roanoke Territory, but I always knew I wanted to get to the big city." She laughed again, gesturing around them. "And then still ended up looking for small towns to find a way to relax. Funny how that works out."
It took a moment for Felix's comment about his level of motivation to really sink into his head, but, when he got it, Njall's breath caught. He tried to hide it behind another sip of still hot, but not scalding chocolate, but with very limited success. If nothing else, it seemed as though the twinkling in Elsie's eyes had turned dazzling. Shifting a little, he settled more into Felix's side, their joined hands warm on his leg. For just a second, he toyed with the idea of letting him go if only to get his fingers around the man's lean and muscled thigh as Felix had done to him, but something in the action—however appealing—felt disrespectful to the lovely lady seated with them. It would have been a very enjoyable spot of vengeance for his little tease about Njall getting flustered.
But rather than rise to that bait, he listened to Elsie's story and grinned, even snorting a laugh that quickly became self-conscious. "That sounds amazing, though! I have a feeling I would totally read a book about your life. You should think about doing that. Or maybe just one on love guidance. Something tells me it would be a bestseller." Pausing a moment, he thought about his own time in the New England territory and New York. It hadn't always been bad by any stretch of the imagination, but every time he thought about the East Coast he couldn't help but feel as though it had always been a transitional place for him. Njall smiled again, but there was something just the tiniest bit rueful to it. "I get what you mean about the dichotomy of the pull of small towns versus the allure of big city life. I miss the amenities and the pulse of the latter, but I know the former will always be more my speed." He shrugged a shoulder, but otherwise didn't display even a hint of irony. "It's in my blood."
And very suddenly he wondered if the same could be said of Felix. If Snowcap and small towns in general were his transitional space. Abruptly, Njall realized that he would absolutely leave the town and the Reserve in a heartbeat if Felix did—assuming he wanted him still. It made his heart pound. "I think I'm babbling again. Sorry."
"You say that as if I haven't already written a book or two," Elsie replied with yet another brand of smile, this one rather mischievous. She pointed that same finger at Njall, examining, and then let it drift over to Felix with a similar expression. "I can see it now, that push and pull there. Don't worry. You'll figure it out long before you get to my age. If I've learned anything, it's that trust and hope are two things often in short supply, but if you hoard them when you find them, you'll always figure things out when the pull seems to be going in the wrong direction."
She laughed. "There I go again with the speeches and advice, even when I said I wouldn't." She started putting her knitting away in its bag. "Probably for the best that I made plans for the evening already. But tomorrow, if you're still here, what do you say to dinner? Keep an old lady company while she reminisces?" She stood and held out—of all things—a business card. It, too, was brightly colored and yet somehow no-nonsense. ELSPETH LOWE DONOVAN, it read in bold print, with her appropriate contact information printed below.
"I think dinner sounds lovely." As reluctant as he was to pull away from Njall, Felix felt obligated to stand as he took the card from the woman. He gripped her hand and gave her a little wicked grin before kissing the back of it. She laughed and shooed him off, clearly enjoying herself all the same.
Only when the goodbyes were complete and she had disappeared around the corner did he sink back onto the couch. "Well. Wasn't she a character?" He laughed somewhat disbelievingly as he turned toward the other man. "I think you might still be blushing," he teased, swiping his fingertips over Njall's cheekbone.
It took Njall no more than a sweeping glance of the common room to assure himself that no one was about, which was all the permission of circumstance he needed in order to swiftly pluck Felix's mug out of his hand and to set both that and his own on the coffee table in front of them. Okay, so maybe he looked around one more time, because he didn't feel like having an audience when he gave a quiet laugh—cheeks deepening in color—and all but launched himself at Felix. He wrapped an arm around his neck and kissed him soundly while his other hand busied itself with retracing the map it already knew of the other man's face.
It took a handful of moments for some of that initial fire to cool, enough to lean away and study him thoughtfully. Soon enough, he was watching his fingers run along Felix's hairline and then back into the softness his dark brown curls, before he focussed on the man's eyes again and got easily lost. He cradled the back of his head gently and smiled. "She was, yes, but she had some very good points. I'm a little more interested in your abundance of motivation, however. Maybe I can entice you further toward it." That smile tipped into a grin, and the pink redoubled. "Felix Weissman, would you like to be my boyfriend?"
As much as Felix liked to take charge sometimes, he was equally as enthralled when Njall lead the way, and especially a day like today, when there was such a smile on his face. That expression—more even than that kiss or the hand in his hair—had him utterly transfixed, unable to do anything but grip the other's shirt and give himself over to it.
He laughed at the question, both because he couldn't remember the last time anyone had actually asked him that, and because he was too happy and his smile too wide to do anything else. It was almost stupid just how good it all felt, as if having some stranger recognize their situation better than they had or putting a title on this relationship really changed anything. He'd acknowledged that he wanted this, that he wasn't going to run away despite everything that had happened...and besides, he'd run away from Finn when things were official, so how much could it really mean to him?
Except. Felix searched Njall's face, and the next breath he took came out in a shudder. "I already am." He dropped his forehead against the other's. "Merlin help you, but I don't think I've ever wanted anything this much." He laughed again, but there was a roughness to it now that hadn't been there only a moment ago. "She was right, you know. About us." And then he kissed Njall again, because he wasn't sure he trusted himself to say more.