Rufus MacFusty doesnt like aliens reading his mind (eco_friendly) wrote in changedrpg, @ 2011-07-20 22:08:00 |
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Entry tags: | !date: 1997 - july, juliet rivers, rufus macfusty |
Characters: Rufus MacFusty and Juliet Rivers
Setting: Their home in Newquay, late afternoon
Summary: Summer shenanigans and swimming
Warning/Disclaimer: None really, some naked swimming at the end there.
“Where’d you go?” Rufus muttered as he laid down on the floor and stuck his head under the bed in an attempt to find his other shoe. Wiggling slightly, he managed to pull his wand from his pocket and slid his arm back under the bed, lighting the tip to make his search easier. With the space illuminated it only took a few glances to determine his shoe was still missing in action.
He huffed and scooted back out from under the bed and pushed himself up on his knees, shaking his head to dislodge the dust that had clung to him. “Well then,” he sighed and stood up, hopping in place on one foot as he tugged off the one shoe he did have and tossed it aside. Accepting his barefoot situation, Rufus headed out into the hall and bellowed as he hopped down the stairs and headed outside. “Jules!” He wasn’t sure if she was in her room or not, but he was sure if she was she’d follow along soon enough.
The heat hit him as soon as he stepped out the back door and crossed the garden for the shed. It was the thick, hazy sort of hot summer day that was only tolerable because it made you want to do little more than lie in the sun and soak it all up. Squinting up at the sky he told himself there would still be plenty of time left for surf and sun later and blinked the spots from his vision as he slid into the dim shed.
The space inside the shed was much more expansive than the tiny exterior hinted at and was filled with gardening supplies, crates and in the back corner a press and a couple large casks. He pushed his sleeves up and started rooting around the crates beside his desk for a siphon.
Tying the strap of her halter around her neck, Jules fumbled with the other end for a moment before giving up at the sound of Ruf’s bellow. “‘m coming!” she yelled back, hearing the back door slam shut as she slid her feet into sandals. Her bathing suit hanging loose, she hurried down the stairs, glancing around the cosy living room for her friend before pushing out into the back yard.
“Ruf?” she called, shading her eyes and looking around the yard. She didn’t see him and trudged across the hot grass towards the shed, pushing into the slightly cooler building. “Ruf, can you do up my suit?” she asked, wondering what he was doing in the shed when there were waves to be surfed upon.
“Hmm?” Ruf pulled out a few odds and ends before he found what he was looking for and turned toward Jules. “Yeah,” he set the siphon down on the table and gestured for her to turn around, deftly tying off the two fiddly strings. “I’m a little excited for this,” he said, tightening the knot before he turned to root through the shelves next to them for a couple of mismatched, dusty cups he knew where squirreled away in there somewhere.
“A little excited for what?” Jules furrowed her brows and peered across at Rufus for a moment before the penny dropped and she grinned widely. “Oh! The cider! I almost forgot about it!” Clearing off a dusty and wobbly stool, Jules hopped up on it, hooking her feet around the rungs. “That is well worth missing out on an afternoon’s worth of surfing.”
“I don’t know about missing it but it can wait a bit.” Rufus pulled a squat glass out from behind some bulbs and brushed at it lightly. He whipped out his wand and pointed it at the glass, deciding it would do a better job of cleaning it than his ineffectual swipes and summoned the second glass off the top shelf, treating it the same. “I figured it’s been long enough, worth at least tasting it.” He slid open the door on top of the cask and dipped in the siphon, filling each glass slightly and passed one over to Jules. “Cheers?” he said, holding his up towards her.
Leaning across the table, Jules took her glass, sniffing at the liquid before holding it up towards Rufus and tapping it lightly against his. “Cheers!” she echoed, with more enthusiasm, before taking a long swig. “Mmf!” she exclaimed, her mouth still full of the scrumpy. She swallowed and looked at the glass, then Rufus. “This isn’t bad!”
Rufus took a tentative sip at first, smiling broadly when he found the drink as crisp and tasty as he’d hoped. “Nah!” He took another longer swig and clinked hers again, “Not half bad at all.” He’d had scrumpy before but had never tried making it before this past winter. It had been a fun sort of trial and error getting it all right but the worst part had been waiting the past several months while he let it age. Going back to the cask he filled both their glasses with a real serving and hopped up onto the table to sit beside Jules. “I like it!”
Twisting on her stool, Jules leaned against his legs, making herself comfortable before taking another swig. “Me too!” She held the glass up and examined it, twisting it in her hands as she watched the dusty rays of sun shine through the glass and the cloudy liquid. “I bet this would sell really well in the winter, with pancakes or sommat.”
“Yeah, or just keep it all for...pancakes?” Rufus stopped with the glass halfway to his mouth and gave her a curious look. He liked pancakes, and he liked the scrumpy, but he didn’t think he would jumped to putting the two together.
Jules nodded and shrugged, taking another sip. “Just imagine, it’s autumn with that chill in the air, a glass of this and a plate of warm pancakes, doesn’t that just sound amazing?” she took another sip and rearranged herself, crossing her arms over his legs and resting her head against them.
Rufus stared at her for a few moments and then at his own glass, watching the liquid as he swirled it around the glass. “Yeah, that does sound rather good,” he laughed suddenly wishing he had a plate of pancakes. He downed the rest of his drink and patted her head lightly before he hopped off the table to ‘test’ some more of the scrumpy. “‘Cept now I want pancakes.”
Finishing the rest of her scrumpy, Jules held up her glass for a refill, taking a few moments to flash her most encouraging smile at him. “We have eggs,” she gestured towards the house before taking another sip of her newly filled glass. “And flour. And milk.”
“That’s true,” he nodded, filling up both their glasses. “And it has been a long time since I had them.” He settled back on the table and swung his feet lightly. “No lemons though.”
Jules blinked at Rufus, over the rim of her glass for a moment before taking a long swig. “I think I can manage, somehow,” she told him, seriously, then paused and shrugged. “‘s too hot for pancakes anyway.” She knocked back her scrumpy and set the empty glass down onto the table, reaching up and lifting her hair off the back of her neck. She grabbed it and twisted it deftly, grabbing a short wooden rod off the work bench and sliding it through her hair, holding it in place.
Rufus nodded and took another sip. She had a very good point, it was far too hot to be stuck in a kitchen baking. Especially if you didn’t even have lemon. “Too hot for a lot of things,” he pointed out, watching his feet swing in and out of sight.
Sure, they could cast a cooling charm on the kitchen, but the thick heat was heavy enough that even the thought of doing that seemed like too much work. “Not too hot for surfing,” Jules reminded him, eyeing the distance between the table and the cask and wondering if it was worth it to get up and get another glass. “Or swimming.”
“Swimming...” Rufus grinned down at her and nodded, thinking about how nice that sounded. He held his glass up high and studied the remaining liquid. “Alright,” he downed the rest and hopped off the table gesturing for her to follow as he headed out of the shed, tugging his shirt off as he went.
Hopping up and trailing obediently after him, Jules tugged the dowel out of her hair and dropped it, immediately regretting it as her thick hair fell heavily against her back. “I love this place,” she said, not for the first time, as she followed him down the little slope towards the back of their yard, pausing only momentarily to unbutton and shimmy out of her shorts.
“Love it more in a minute,” he called back, laughing as he hopped over a gooseberry bush and hurried off the the creek that ran behind their house. He paused near the edge long enough to pull off his shorts and took a running leap into the water, yelling aloud as he splashed into it.
It was just too hot and Jules twisted, grasping the fabric that Rufus had just tied for her and tugging, loosening it and yanking her top off, before kicking her sandals off and following him in, pulling her legs up to her chest as she splashed into the water. She surfaced, her hair tangled and soaked, grinning broadly. “Love it!” she laughed.