Nora Cadwallader (safekeep) wrote in disorderic, @ 2018-01-31 19:15:00 |
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Entry tags: | nora cadwallader, rhys cadwallader |
WHO: Rhys & Nora Cadwallader
WHAT: Job Talk
WHEN: 30 January, 2018, breakfast
WHERE: The Gentle Green
WARNINGS: Nah
"Pass me the brown sugar?" Nora's spoon stuck out of her thick oatmeal at a strange angle. She watched it slip slowly down toward the edge of the bowl until it finally hit with a gentle clink. Good. Nora didn't care for watery oatmeal. She'd been feeling restless since Quidditch was cancelled, on top of her normal anxieties and concerns. Nora didn't do well when she had nothing to do. The bed & breakfast didn't pull many weekday guests, and even then, there was a lot of waiting. She rested her chin on her hands and played with her spoon again. Rhys, equally fidgety these days, raised his wand and made the sugar bowl playfully bunny hop over to her. “If that oatmeal got any thicker, it’d be cement,” he joked, hoping to get her to crack a smile—even a small one. He was vaguely concerned, though not enough to cause her any concern by bringing it up. He paused for a moment before adding, “Would you like me to get you some orange juice?” Nora shook her head. She sprinkled some sugar and mixed everything together. "I happen to like cement," she said, not quite giving the smile Rhys hoped for. She felt guilty, really, moping about being stuck while he'd been in the same situation for over a year. Still, that didn't actually make her feel any better about it. She ate a few quiet spoonfuls of oatmeal. Rhys’ own smile faltered slightly, but he pretended to focus intently on his own oatmeal, stirring it, piling it on top of itself, making a misshapen oatmeal tower that quickly sunk back into the bowl and into obscurity. He half-heartedly played with his food until he couldn’t help but to break the silence again, “Do you want to pick out some more seeds for the greenhouse later?” "I don't know how much more we'll get to fit," she said. "A couple of those plants in there might start sabotaging the others if we get anything too close to them. They can get surprisingly vicious." “Alright,” he said, deferring to her judgment easily. He fidgeted with his spoon. “I can build you another one, if you like. If you think we need the space.” "We don't have to grow everything we need," Nora said. "I don't mind going out to get things. I like it, even." It beats being stuck here all day. She ate another spoonful of oatmeal before clearing her throat and deciding to broach a new subject. "Actually, I was thinking about talking to Maggie about … well, what do you think? About seeing if St. Mungo's would hire me back? Part time, maybe." Rhys raised his eyebrows, slightly surprised. “Yeah? That could be nice. I’m sure they’d hire you back,” he said, though he bit back the impulse to ask, Do you think it’d be safe? Nowhere, he supposed, was completely safe these days. Quidditch certainly hadn’t turned out to be as peaceful as he’d originally anticipated. Still, Nora had been happy there, and more than anything, he wanted her to be happy. “I think you should do it if you want to do it. You were—are—amazing at it. They’d be lucky to have you.” He smiled encouragingly. “I suppose I’d always thought maybe you’d go back eventually.” "I'm not sure if I want to," Nora admitted. The problem, sometimes, with talking things through with Rhys was that he always ended up taking the side he thought she wanted. Even when he felt differently. Sometimes, she just wanted the debate. "It could end up being weird hours and a lot of time away, again." Before this past year, weird hours and a lot of time away had never been much of a problem, as it had gone both ways. Now, he’d gotten used to spending time together more regularly, but that wasn’t a good reason to take issue with it. He hated the thought of keeping her away from anything she enjoyed, and that’s what he felt as though he’d been doing since they’d moved here. “Would it make you happy?” was all Rhys asked. To him, it was ultimately the only question that mattered. But to Nora, that was secondary. Would it be practical? Would it be safe? Would Rhys be okay? Happiness was far too elusive an idea right now to matter. Most of what would make her happy was well beyond her grasp. "We could use the money," she said, staring down into her oatmeal for another swirl. Rhys frowned, sympathetic. She wasn’t incorrect, especially with extra mouths to feed and a slow winter season. “We could, but there’s other ways to make money. I wouldn’t want you to do something you don’t want to do just because of that. We can make do,” he assured her. Nora reached over the table and slipped her hand into Rhys's to give it a squeeze. "I'm sorry. I don't know why I'm being like this. I know we'll be okay," she said, a reassurance she was still trying to convince herself of. Rhys squeezed her hand in return, letting it linger for a moment. “I’m sorry. I know it’s hard. We’ll be okay, but in the meantime, I know it’s a lot of… well, adjusting and re-adjusting. We’ve done alright so far, though. We’ll keep doing alright. You have nothing to apologise for.” He paused for a moment, contemplative, then added further assurances, “I’d be okay, though. If you decide to go do anything else. Dafydd’s always telling me to ask him for help more, and I’m sure he’d like having more to do, so I can ask him for stuff if anything comes up, and Albi’s here in case of emergencies, so. You know. Please don’t worry about me or anything. Just do whatever you think would be best for you. I love you, and will support whatever you decide.” He gave her a smile and a nod of encouragement. Nora nodded. When she'd left St. Mungo's over a year ago, it was because it didn't seem possible to stay. She wanted to be there for Rhys's care, and there was always a risk when she went out on calls, with Death Eaters attacking everything. If something happened to her while he was still recovering, she didn't know what they would do. (Of course, it turned out she was in more danger at Quidditch matches than she'd ever been with St. Mungo's, but how could either of them have predicted that?) "I do kind of miss it," she understated. “I know you do,” Rhys said, giving her hand another squeeze. He knew how much she’d loved her job, how much she’d sacrificed for him. While he’d never be a hundred percent again, the fact that he’d regained as much ability as he had was due to her. He would not be able to go back to the career he’d loved, but there was no reason why Nora couldn’t go back and pick up where she’d left off. “I’m grateful for everything you’ve done for me, but I think it’s time we focused on you. Who knows? Maybe it’ll be a bit like getting our lives back on track, getting back to normal. I think you should do it if you want to do it, but only if you want to. And if you change your mind, that’s cool, too. Everything will be okay.” “Okay,” she said quietly. Something still didn’t quite sit right inside her. Focusing on herself felt selfish; the fact that she could have a chance to go back to how things were when he couldn’t felt wrong, too. But mediwitchery was all she knew, and they couldn’t wait who knew how long until Quidditch came back for another source of income. “I can always just ask and see, I guess. They may not even have any openings right now.” “It can't hurt to ask,” Rhys agreed, though he knew that the demand for mediwitchery had likely only increased in the current climate. He doubted she'd be turned down, if she wanted it. “And in the meantime, I can pick up some more shifts at the shop. My parents will love it and it’ll be good to get out of the house more. It’ll all work out. You don’t have to worry about a thing.” There were, of course, plenty of other things to worry about, but at least this could be one less thing. "Do you want to pick up more shifts at the shop? Would that make you happy?" Nora asked. “I’ll be happy when I’m contributing and feeling useful,” Rhys said, skirting the question slightly. “Everything will be fine.” "You run an entire bed & breakfast," Nora said gently. "I would say that's more than just 'contributing.'" “We both run an entire bed and breakfast,” Rhys corrected, equally gentle. “It’s not exactly the most stimulating work. I can do more.” "More at the music shop? Or more in general? Because it hasn't got to be there, if you don't want to." Rhys looked slightly surprised. He thought about it for a moment, not really having considered that before. “Yeah, you’re right. A change might be good, though I don’t know what. I can think about it. I’m open to suggestions.” "I think there's a world of options out there," Nora said. "Let's spend some time with it and really think about it. We're not in such dire straits that you've got to pick up the first thing that comes along, you know? It should be something you really want to do." For a moment, the world—and the opportunities in it—seemed to open up, just a little bit. “Yeah, that’s true. You’re right. There might be something else after all,” Rhys said, feeling an uncommon twinge of hope. He gave Nora a small smile, not having expected to come away from this conversation feeling lighter than before. “Maybe we can figure it out together.” Nora smiled coyly. "I'm looking forward the colour-coded pros and cons list." “Just you wait,” Rhys said, waggling his spoon. “It’s going to have an organisational system spanning the whole colour spectrum. You’re going to have to dig out the paint swatches just to decipher it all.” "Wow, Rhys, you really know how to woo a girl," Nora laughed. "Paint swatches! Be still my beating heart." Nora’s laughter was contagious. Rhys grinned. “Just wait’ll you see what I have planned for Valentine’s Day. I’m going to take you to the hip new stationery store in town. They’ve got fancy sticky notes like you wouldn’t believe.” "Wait, that was my Valentine's plan for you! Plus a stop at the container store to get a new file box and really rekindle the romance." “Whoa now… the container store. You’re really stepping up the romance game! I’m going to have to get you some new file box dividers just so that you don’t think I’m slacking off,” Rhys teased, leaning over to give her a kiss. "Hmm," Nora murmured as she kissed him back. "Don't worry about that. I don't think you've ever slacked off for a Valentine's Day in your life." |