Who: Njall Strand, Felix Weissman, various members of the Weissman family What: Felix takes Njall home to meet his family, celebrate his sister's birthday, and find a very particular object When: Saturday, July 6, 2019 Where: Croydon, South London Warnings: Language, a bit of sexiness
It wasn't entirely a coincidence that Felix and Njall happened to be standing on his parents' doorstep holding a wrapped package on his youngest sister's eighteenth birthday. It had been a conversation about Eden growing up that had prompted this visit in the first place, and the timing had worked out. He couldn't say that he was excited that his whole family was definitely going to be present, but it at least saved having to make introductions multiple times—and meant that any disapproving looks could all be gotten out at once.
His fingers were threaded with his boyfriend's, and he lifted their clasped hands to kiss the back of Njall's hand and briefly hold it to his cheek. For that, for him, he could muster up the tiniest of smiles. When he faced the door again, it was all he could do to make himself hand the package over so that he could have a free hand to knock.
There were footsteps and voices inside for longer than was really necessary, and he shifted his weight from one side to the other. No one had looked out the front window, so at least he knew the delay wasn't because it was him. He was mostly sure. Then the door swung open to a cry of "Felix!" and he only got a quick glimpse of a rather bushy mane of hair before he was all-but tackled into a hug by his baby sister. Only then did he drop Njall's hand so that he could put his arms around her.
"There's my favorite 'puff." He squeezed a little harder, and refused to look up over her shoulder, where he could hear others starting to gather.
"Former 'puff," Eden corrected, squirming out of his arms. "What are you doing here? Why didn't you tell me you were coming?"
She smacked his arm, and Felix rubbed at the spot, feigning injury. "I didn't know I was coming until a few days ago. And besides, birthdays are supposed to be for surprises." He drew in a steadying breath and reached back for Njall's hand before following her over the threshold—and finally looking up to see who was behind his sister. "Hullo, Mum."
The older lady regarded him for a moment in silence before motioning him inside, as if he wasn't already doing just that. "Come in, then. Let's not let all of this heat in. And who's this?" Her eyes flicked down to their joined hands, and Felix tensed automatically. "Not a co-worker, I suppose. Though, if I actually knew anything about where you worked, if you ever called—"
"Mum." Maybe it was the solemnity of his tone, or just the surprise in being interrupted, but she stopped talking and looked at him in something near confusion. He might have laughed if he wasn't on the verge of turning on his heel and apparating straight to the nearest pub. "This is Njall. My boyfriend. Also my co-worker, it so happens, but that's a rather longer story than I'd like to tell standing in the foyer." He looked at Njall, and for the span of those few seconds, it was a little easier to breathe. "My mum and youngest sister, Eden. As I'm sure you've already figured out."
"Aw, here I was hoping Felix was going to let me spin a yarn about meeting each other at the escort service we both worked at." Sometimes, being his own worst enemy meant that Njall made super inappropriate jokes when he was incredibly nervous but trying to hide it. Rather than offering his hand to shake—he kept it firmly in Felix's, please and thanks—he gave the older woman a nod and a smile. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Weissman." His smile deepened a little as he turned his attention to Eden. "And happy birthday! I hope you don't mind us showing up out of the blue. Like the man said: that's what birthdays are for, right?"
Felix snorted a laugh in spite of his anxiety, tossing an amused smile sideways at his boyfriend. Eden, too, was snickering, but their mum's face had that look of trying to decide whether or not the man was serious. Of course she would assume he could have gotten into something like that. That thought was enough to sober him, but thankfully his sister saved him from needing to comment.
"Of course I don't mind! Now everyone is here." She bounced to Felix's side and wound her arms around the one of his that didn't have a death grip on Njall's hand. "Come on. Let's go introduce him. We'll see if he can handle the Weissman gauntlet, shall we?" She flashed a grin toward Njall, too, and then proceeded to drag the pair of them toward the sitting room.
The house had never been a huge one, and Felix had definitely felt the way those walls pressed in on him growing up. He'd shared his bedroom with his younger brother, David, when Sarah had come along, and by the time Jacob had been there, too, he'd been ready to request living in the garden. Reaching Hogwarts age had been a welcome respite from the large family that had already been starting to see his differences more than his similarities. So it was strange that, upon entering the room where the family was gathered, he didn't immediately have that overwhelming sense of being suffocated. They were just...people. People who happened to be related to him, all of whom he hadn't seen in two years or longer.
He started to make the introductions, but Eden was already on it, and he found himself overwhelmed with the urge to hug her. He couldn't help mentally comparing her to JJ, wondering if that innate energy was one of the things that had drawn him to the young woman. He had energy, too, but it tended to be restless, aimless, and there was only a subset of people who could be comfortable with him. Eden was the type that everyone liked, and she liked everyone, and sometimes he could hardly believe they'd come from the same parents. She made short work of naming every person present, which happened to include not only his other three siblings, but several uncles, aunts, and cousins, too. There were curious looks and a couple of sets of wide eyes pointed Njall's direction, but no one commented.
Merlin bless his baby sister's birthday for saving him from that inquisition.
The party might have gone on without him being questioned at all—and most of them were already paying him no attention at all—if Eden herself hadn't gotten him and Njall settled on a pair of chairs and then plastered herself on the floor at his feet, gazing up at him and smiling. "If no one's going to ask, I will. Where the fu—" She stopped, rolled her eyes at the necessary censoring, and started again. "Where have you been? You're not still running around in the jungles, are you?" It was the sort of question his mum would have asked, but Eden's tone showed her excitement at the idea rather than any judgement of that choice. "Your boyfriend doesn't exactly make me think native guide." She rested her chin on Felix's knee and dropped her voice. "How did you meet? Was it romantic?"
"No, I'm not still in the jungles. I'm in a proper office and everything now." Felix said this last part for his mum's benefit, because he could tell she was listening, but he gave Eden the tiniest eye roll to show just how much he cared for that part of his job. "I work for the Brightstar Animal Reserve in America. We both do."
Being used to healing conferences and the rigors of being associated with quodpot teams meant that Njall was no stranger to being introduced to large numbers of people at one go. It wasn't precisely his comfort zone, but he was an old hand at it. Probably even older than some of the more well aged guests in this room. He'd taken in the house as they moved through it, but, try as he might, he simply couldn't envision Felix in a place like this. More than once during this myriad of new faces and new names he looked over at his boyfriend, judging his reactions and keeping his grip tight around his hand.
Even as they were seated, he could see the interrogation coming a mile away. He grinned over at Felix and then down at Eden. "Don't let him downplay it. He's the head of his department—which is not my department, by the way. I'm over in medical. A healer. I've been with the Reserve for about three years now. It's a great place, if you like creatures and very small towns with only one bar and one diner. That's where we met, at the bar. Well, in person. First Felix was very charming on my first Wizgram post when I came back to the States." Njall leaned into his side, and turned to brush a kiss against his shoulder, not caring in the slightest who may have been watching. He looked back at Eden, adopting a teasing tone. "I guess you could call it a little bit of a slow burn. There weren't any actual professions of any sort until, what? Six weeks in? Practically a lifetime."
Felix was used to being the one who made Njall blush, so it was odd to find himself the one whose cheeks had gone all warm. "Interim head," he corrected and cleared his throat to try to push back some of the timidity there. He hated how his family brought that out in him. Deliberately, he looked up at his mum and said, "I'm the Deputy Head Herbologist, interim Head Herbologist. The Reserve is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the research and preservation of, well, a whole lot of creatures that I can't possibly name." He knew he sounded almost like he was reading from a brochure, but it was the sort of speech the woman would appreciate.
"Healer Strand here is one of the wizards who makes sure we all stay healthy while we're doing our respective tasks for the benefit of those creatures." His lips automatically turned into a soft smile as he connected eyes with the other man, and it didn't matter who was watching. When he spoke again, it was directly to Njall. "I was rather charming, wasn't I?" He brushed a kiss on the man's cheek and whispered, "Twelve days. You told me that you loved me twelve days ago."
It was such a short time, when he really thought about it, but it didn't matter anymore. He'd rarely been sure about anything in his life, but this? He was sure.
Eden was giggling, still leaned against his leg. "I didn't know you knew how to use Wizgram."
"That is what you find funny about all this?" Felix gave a chuckle of disbelief.
"Yeah, because now you have no excuse to not message me. Caught!" She was still laughing. "What did you bring me?"
He had almost forgotten about the package. He took it from Njall and held it out to his sister, snatching it back when she reached for it. "There are caveats. The first of which is no making changes to it without talking to me first. The second is that...well, if it's more than just you, you also need to talk to me first."
Eden looked entirely confused—which, really, was part of the fun—but she accepted the present when he finally handed it over. The box was far larger than was necessary for its contents, and he got to enjoy her playful annoyance as she dug through layer after layer of tissue paper before reaching her prize: a ratty, dog-eared paperback book. She scrunched up her face and looked at him in continued confusion.
"The third caveat is that you can't come until next year, because I'll be moving to a new house in the next couple of months and need time to settle in." Also, Njall needed time with his infant daughter before Eden—or the entire Weissman family—descended on Snowcap for a visit, but that was a subject for another discussion. Probably another day altogether. "It's a portkey, love."
This squeal nearly eclipsed the one he'd gotten at the door, and she was on her feet in a second and hugging them both. "I've never been to America! Or anywhere, really, except stupid Scotland for school, of course. Can we go, Mum?" she asked, turning to look at the older woman. "You're always talking about how you wish you knew where he was and what he was doing, and now we can see it!"
Felix sucked in a breath at that remark, however innocently his baby sister had dropped it. Any other time, he probably would have assumed it came from a desire to keep tabs on him, to find something to criticize, but apparently time away from this environment—and, he suspected, the influence of the man beside him—had given him some perspective with which to analyze it...and he could see the sheen of tears in his mum's eyes.
"Go retrieve your dad and Uncle Mike from the garden," she said. Then her tone softened, and she added, "You know we have to plan any travel around his work schedule."
Eden kissed Felix and Njall each on the cheek, followed by one for their mum, and then she dashed eagerly toward the back door.
"While you're here, you should go through the boxes from your old room. I do want some space in my guest room some day before I'm ancient."
Felix couldn't help smiling at that, because she always told him that. The difference was that, this time, getting into his old belongings was exactly what he wanted. "Yes, Mum." That answer got a surprised look from her. "I'm not moving around any more. Not for awhile, at least. I'll have a place to put things." He dropped a hand to Njall's leg. In a quieter tone, so that the others in the room couldn't overhear, he said, "You were right, Mum. I did get tired of having no roots. Just not for the reasons you thought I would."
She'd always wanted him to be near the rest of the family, to have a job more like his father's, to marry a good Jewish witch. She'd told him on so many occasions that life would never be satisfying without those things, and that all of his job hopping and insistence on seeing the world would lead to nothing but tired feet and a tireder heart. And yes, he was tired. He'd told Njall so on several occasions. But he could see things clearer now, through the lens of this future he now wanted to build, and he knew without a doubt that he would have never found that future without those miles he'd traversed in the last decade.
Her eyes narrowed at him. "Roots in America? Away from your family?"
"Yes, Mum."
"Sarah is getting married next year, you know. You need to be here." A pause. "She'll want you here."
"Okay, Mum."
She looked at him as if she didn't recognize him, and maybe that was true. He couldn't remember a time when he hadn't fought harder, and she hadn't pushed harder. He was on the verge of something, though he couldn't have said quite what, when his dad and uncle entered the room with a chattering Eden on their heels, and he and Njall were swallowed up in another round of introductions and conversation. His dad was a man of few words, but his uncle was distinctly not. Thankfully, Uncle Mike was a healer, too, and that left a good opening for chat that might not have been there with his accountant father.
It was an over an hour later when they managed to escape, after cake and birthday wishes, and the opening of other gifts. Felix dragged Njall back to the guest room and closed the door behind him. His intention was to pull out the boxes full of all of the childhood items his mum had saved, but for now all he could do was sink onto the bed and lean forward, face in his hands. "Elsie was right, wasn't she?" He looked sideways at his boyfriend, head still propped in the palm of his hand. "This has been my fault all along. Not only my fault, but I think I've had the last word in it. I haven't tried to be their son and brother."
In watching Felix interact with his family, Njall discovered something about himself that he found to be heartening. Felix had been on the quiet side, not quite as quick with a sarcastic or witty remark as he might be back home (home!). There was a wariness there that made Njall want to suggest they forget this entire venture and just hole up in the little hotel room they'd gotten for the weekend, but he knew this was something Felix had to do. And it was a new side to his boyfriend that he needed to see, because seeing it meant another facet to him, another piece of him to fall even more in love with. He settled a hand against his boyfriend's back and leaned into his side as he reflected a moment on his own conversations with the Weissmans.
There'd been a few polite words exchanged with Felix's dad, but he and Mike had gotten on like a house on fire when it came out that they shared the same profession. This devolved into a spirited discussion about sports related injuries that eventually drew the attention of Felix's brothers. While he kept names, dates, and graphic details out of it, he supposed he may have impressed a little as he relayed a few of the more memorable calamities he'd witnessed over the years. He could practically see Felix's dad trying to do the mental calculations of exactly how old he was, given his apparent breadth of experience.
Fortunately, they'd been distracted from his getting to the solution by the birthday commencements. It was shortly after that when Felix spirited him away, and they both sat in this narrow room with its cheery wallpaper on a bed that was just the wrong side of unyielding. At first, Njall was at a complete loss. This was his first hint of his boyfriend's home life, and it was probably a stilted view. This was a party and he was company, and there was a better than good chance that everyone was more or less behaving well for both his and Eden's sake. There was no telling how else this could have gone had it just been a regular day and the house hadn't been full. Taking in Felix's face now, there was a part of him that wanted to instantly leap to his boyfriend's defense, but he didn't think that was what Felix wanted or needed to hear right now.
Instead, he gently pulled Felix's hand away and urged him upright so he could lean in and kiss him. It was sweet and unhurried, but not designed to go any deeper than that. When it ended, he rubbed the side of the other man's nose with his own and tipped their foreheads together as he sighed and let out a quiet, wry laugh. "I swear, that woman should just write an advice column. But I don't think she's entirely right about this one. Sometimes we have to distance ourselves from family to find out who we are without them. Sometimes it's the only way we can find ourselves. To find out what makes us happy, and not be tied down by their expectations and their perceptions of who we are."
Felix was able to laugh now, largely because that closed door and Njall's touch were just the balms his agitated soul needed. "She said something along those lines, too." One of his hands had come to rest on Njall's knee, and now the other swept up the man's neck to brush fingers lightly over his hair, conscious of not mussing it too badly for now. "But I think in finding myself, I've forgotten to let them find me, too. It's just—" He sighed. "Eden, she's so much like me. Everyone's always said so, even though we barely grew up together. I was already at Hogwarts by then, so it was only summers, but.... The unspoken truth has always been that no one wanted her to be like me. Sarcastic, unruly, unsettled, sexually flexible" —he tipped his head for a brush of lips at that— "unhappy, argumentative, compulsive, impulsive...I could go on, really. For years, it's felt like that's all anyone cared about, and the worst part is that I cared about it, too. I don't want those things for her."
He pulled back and stood, running a hand through his hair as he paced the short distance to the wall and back again. "But the thing is...I'm not unhappy. Not anymore. I've got a job where, by some mad turn of the world, they think they need me. I have friends who aren't currently in the process of trying to get me killed. I went to bloody Vegas and didn't play a game of cards, albeit because of a technicality, but goddammit, it counts. And okay, yes, if it's possible to influence someone into sleeping with people of the same sex, well, they're obviously out of luck on that." He gave Njall a slow smile and a sweep of the eyes, lingering on his boyfriend's face before they dropped to the ground again. "I'm in love, and I absolutely want that for her. But now I've put up such a barrier that I'm not sure how to let them in. Or maybe I'm afraid they won't want in."
Chest tight with emotion, Felix took that moment to cross to the corner where three large boxes sat with EZRA written in large letters on the outside. He brushed his thumb across it before ripping the tape from the first one and starting to dig through it.
As much as he wanted to, Njall didn't interrupt. Felix clearly needed to get all of this out. It didn't keep it from hurting, though, to see all of this self-doubt and internalized criticism pouring out of him. He got to his feet shortly after Felix did and crossed that short distance to him. Moulding himself to the other's taller frame, he buried his face in the back of his neck and just breathed him in for a moment as his arms came around his stomach. Tilting his head a little, he stared at the name for a beat, and then whispered it with a brush of lips against the side of his boyfriend's throat. It was almost more like a sigh. "Ezra…"
With a half-chuckle, he planted his chin on the slope between neck and shoulder, and surveyed the contents of the box. "What is it about parents that always remind us of our worst selves?" For a breath, Njall recalled the look of disappointment that his mom sometimes got when she thought he wasn't paying attention. The memory dropped like a leaden weight in his stomach, but he summarily dismissed it. This wasn't about him or his particular brand of hangups. "For what it's worth, I'm glad Eden is like you. Not that I'm biased. Okay, I am, but no one is going to fault me for it. And I'm glad your life went the way it did. That restlessness brought you to Brightstar, brought you to me. Maybe it's selfish, but I think that was worth a little distance. And you're here now. That has to count. They have to see this as an olive branch. And if they don't, then we can make our own family. Because forever means you're my family now."
Felix paused in his search to simply enjoy the feel of his boyfriend's lips on his skin, unconsciously leaning back into the strong body behind him. "It was my great-grandfather who started calling me by my middle name, because it was his name." He chuckled a little. "Everyone used to say that I was most like him, too, now that I think about it. Maybe that's the part that Eden will get. He was Muggleborn. Escaped Germany with his whole family during the war. A hero. Is it any wonder that I preferred the name he called me to the rest?"
His breath caught in his throat. You're my family now. It was so in line with his current thoughts that he didn't immediately have an answer. He was quiet for a moment, cheek resting against Njall's temple, and then he started digging in the box again. There were a few things that gave him pause, that brought back memories both good and bad, but for the most part they were just things. He'd take them, because his mum obviously wanted him to have them, but he thought it likely he'd donate most of them once he was back in Snowcap. He swapped that box out for the next, and breathed a sigh of relief when he found the item he wanted near the top of its contents. He pulled out a small wooden box and cupped it between his palms. "This was his. My great-granddad's. I was a little afraid someone else had taken it." He opened the box, still anticipating that it might not be there, but let out a short breath at the sight of a plain gold ring ensconced in one of the little dividers. He plucked it out and replaced the box with the rest of his old belongings. "He died when I was ten, and he left this to me, as the eldest great-grandson, because obviously my grandfather and father didn't need it by that point. I remember asking him about it one time, because he wore it on his right hand, but my dad wore one on his left, and he went into this long explanation about German traditions that I don't remember, probably because it was boring to me at the time."
Felix chuckled, but there was an anxious edge to it as he turned the ring around in his hands. The light caught on the interior, and he held it up to get a better view. "Wo man Liebe aussät, da wächst Freude empor," he read aloud, and it was as if his legs had gone all to jelly. He turned in Njall's arms, and when he sank to his knees in front of his boyfriend, it was partly out of tradition, and partly because he was no longer sure he could stay upright. "I'd forgotten about the inscription, but now it's—" He blew out a shaky breath. "It seems far more appropriate even than I realized. Þar sem ástin er sáð, þroskast gleði," he translated, after a long moment to sort out the right words in Icelandic. He hoped they were the right words, and more meaningful because they were words that so few would understand. He reached for the other man's hand. "That's what's happened here, isn't it? Not even on purpose, but it's the first thing I've ever grown accidentally that I was proud of, that I wanted to keep growing, even when it was confusing, or when other things were blowing up around me."
He held up the ring. "I want to give this to you. Not just to—that is, it's—dammit, you know it's a wedding ring, right? Bugger me, I knew I should have planned this more." He laughed nervously, leaning forward to press his forehead to their clasped hands briefly. "I love you. It's as simple as that. I love you, and I want to show you, and myself, and the world that it's forever. Will you marry me?"
As Felix went on, as he found the box and the ring and gave that lovely explanation and went to his knees, Njall's entire universe narrowed down to this one specific instant. His thoughts went immediately to all of his failed marriages and broken engagements, and how he'd loved every single one of those women in vastly different ways. Getting married had felt inevitable, just the next logical step in the whole process. But this was different. Felix was different. His feelings for Felix were a world apart. A universe apart. Tears swam in his eyes, and his breath kept coming in helpless gasps. He blinked, and a few of them escaped, but he let them. A laugh rippled out of him, a wide grin on its heels as elation filled every single cell in his body. His free hand wound into Felix's hair, so soft and curling against his fingers, and he pulled his hand out of the other's grip.
"Oh, Felix," he murmured, almost too choked to get it out, "I really need you to put that ring on my finger right fucking now." He laughed again, more at himself than anything else. "Which is to say, yes! God, yes, I'll marry you." Njall went to his knees as well and pulled the other man to him, hand slipping to the back of his neck in order to kiss him within an inch of his life.
Felix laughed into that kiss, and when he pulled back for air he found that he was crying, too. It all seemed entirely ridiculous and yet so absolutely perfect that he could hardly breathe for wanting more of it. He grabbed Njall's right hand and wound his left fingers through it, holding it up between them, while he clutched the ring in his right. "The part about German traditions that I do know, because I looked it up" —he flashed a smile at that, teary, but absolutely joyful— "is that some people wear their rings on their left hands until they get married, and then flip them to their right hand. I thought, since the right hand thing is confusing for most everyone, we could do the opposite. Which, you know, is rather fitting for me anyway."
He released the man's fingers to slide the gold band onto the ring finger of Njall's right hand. It was a little loose, but nothing a good jeweller couldn't fix with a spell. Once it was in place, Felix bent to kiss it. "I didn't plan any farther than that," he said with a laugh as he straightened, swiping at his eyes with the hand that wasn't still clutched around Njall's, reverently stroking that ring. "I never thought I'd get married, if I'm honest. So the fact that I want this more than anything I've ever wanted...well, I'm not entirely sure what to do with it now." He brushed his lips over Njall's, tenderly, seeking that closeness.
With a trembling breath, Njall stared down at his hand and burned that image of the gold wrapped around his finger into his mind. He could still see it as he closed his eyes and kissed Felix again, the hand at his neck tracing tiny patterns with just his fingertips. "I know," he said when they'd separated for air again. Bringing his hand around, he brushed at the tears on his fiance's cheeks. "I know exactly what you mean. I suppose our next plan should include where and when and how we're going to tell everyone that we've evidently lost our damned minds and have zero intentions of finding them again."
Reluctantly, he got back to his feet and tugged Felix back to his. "And as much as I really want to drag you into that bed so I can have my wicked way with you, I think doing so might tarnish whatever bridge it is that you're trying to erect again between you and your family. Something tells me, however, that Eden wouldn't mind so much." His hands had found and squeezed both of Felix's, and he beamed at him. "And I would just like to point out that I just unironically used the word 'erect' and didn't giggle like a twelve year old. Maturity points to me, although I'm probably still in the red for that remark about an escort service earlier, aren't I."
"Well, now that you mention it, I've every intention of walking downstairs and telling my family right now. I had it in my head that I'd marry you first and then tell them, but I couldn't figure out a way to make that happen this morning," he teased, kissing the corner of Njall's mouth. Well, it was mostly teasing. "Even in England you need more than an hour for that sort of thing. Though it turns out that wizards are exempted from the bloody 28-day waiting period that the non-magical part of the country has. I suppose they realize we could just portkey to Las Vegas for less than the cost of the license, so what would be the point? Though, for my part, it's a pretty easy conversation." He'd specifically tell JJ and Stevie, though the latter would have to come after Njall had told Nat, he assumed. Otherwise, everyone else could find out in the natural course of conversation. Or through Wizgram. He smiled at that thought, thinking of Eden calling him out about having an account. "As far I'm concerned, we've already started our forever, yeah? The world around us is still catching up."
Felix had long since gotten used to his boyfriend's—fiance's—randomly silly sense of humor, but that didn't stop him from dissolving into laughter at this particular example of it. "You are never in the red with me, and especially not when it's hilarious," he said, dipping for another kiss as one hand came up to frame Njall's face and the other wound once again with his ring hand. "I think we have a few minutes more alone, though. If I know my family, most of the secondary set will trickle away in the next little while, if they haven't already. I intend to enjoy you while we wait. Everyone else will stay for dinner."
He pivoted a little and slowly moved until he had Njall's back against the wall. Every inch of them was pressed together, right up to their foreheads. Felix's eyes were closed, but he didn't need them to see the man in front of him. He'd already memorized every angle. He was silent for a long, blissful minute, but the moment he tilted his head and brushed his lips over Njall's, it reawakened all of those senses that had been numbed by being in his childhood home and the nerves of his proposal. "I love you," he murmured, though the words were barely intelligible as he kissed his way down the other's jaw and to his neck, winding his fingers into that silky hair and asking for better access.
A low moan fell from his parted lips, and Njall was all too willing to let his head fall to one side to succumb to Felix's devilish wiles. Being backed into things was kind of their thing, and that thing was definitely a thing that he really, really liked. He hastily fished his wand out and put a silencing charm around the room, because he wasn't entirely sure how quiet he could be on his own. With that sorted, he wound his arms around his fiance one hand going into his hair while the other drifted south. "How much time, exactly? Need to know what kind of timeline I have to be able to take you apart?" There was a very brief pause. "And also, when, exactly, I get to be married to you."
Felix wrapped his hand around Njall's before he could put his wand away and murmured a locking spell, sending it in the direction of the door. "Mum's not good at knocking," he explained, lips still very much occupied with exploring the crook of the other man's neck. He tugged at the collar of Njall's shirt, exposing the collarbone just enough to drag his tongue along it. "I'd like to say half an hour, but even my current state of near-marital bliss can't override this particular brand of inborn pessimism...so I'll give it ten minutes before Mum comes looking for us."
He wasn't going to let that stop him and had started working at the top buttons of Njall's shirt when the last question gave him pause. He didn't need to think about it—not really—but he gave himself the space of another lengthy kiss before he answered. "Would right now be too soon? I could wait till tomorrow." Felix leaned back just enough to see the other's face, his smile utterly guileless...and for once not even pretending at it. "Or November-ish? Your in-between time is going to be rather busy. Besides, I don't think you want a lifetime of this competing with your daughter's birthday for the celebration spotlight. Best to give it a bit of cushion."
"Not too soon," he halfway mumbled, and then made an attempt to get his head back on straight enough to give a better and more coherent answer. Even then, he insinuated his thigh between the other man's legs and moved it with the same kind of wave that pushed through the rest of his body. Njall began to work on Felix's buttons, trembling, but still nimble enough to manage this. He made an opening wide enough to slip his hand inside and rested it over his heart, warm and secure. "Now isn't too soon, I mean. Today or tomorrow. I can't wait until November. I want to be yours now."
"Not wanting to wait is rather a theme of ours, isn't it?" Felix said with a laugh that was nothing but raw happiness turned into sound, even as his head lolled back under the exquisite press of Njall's body against his. He gave up on the shirt, deciding it wasn't worth the time they had, and instead worked at Njall's jeans, fumbling more than he liked with the button—admittedly because he was more interested in getting his hands on his fiance than actually doing a proper job of getting his trousers off. "Tonight," he said, letting his touch and he way he pressed into the other man's leg speak for just how eager he was to make things official. He braced them against the wall with his free hand. "There's a place in—" He cursed lowly, words broken for the moment into moans before he could continue. "Diagon. Fuck...just like that." And then he was done talking.