dorcas meadowes is with john dawlish (warrioress) wrote in find_horcruxes, @ 2009-10-15 23:03:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | dorcas meadowes, john dawlish |
Who: Dorcas Meadowes and NPC-by-Kate!John Dawlish
When: BACKDATED Friday evening, 9 October, 1979
Where: John Dawlish's flat
What: Continuing from this log, John and Dorcas have their dinner planned for that night that goes and will go fantastically!
Rating: PG-13
By the time the day's work was finished, John Dawlish had already come up with twenty-seven individual reasons why getting involved with Dorcas Meadowes was a terrible idea. He had three more by the time he'd finished acquiring pasta for two from an Italian joint around the corner, bringing the total to thirty, and got one more by the time he was done showering. That put him at thirty-one, the same number that was shortly to be his age. The fact that it was ten years past Dorcas's was Reason #4, while the fact that he was nonetheless nervous as a 5th year going to Hogsmeade with a girl for the first time was Reason #26. Nevertheless, none of these many reasons was enough to outweigh the apparently more pressing fact that he loved her. John was very sure of that. If he weren't, he never would have thought it worth the risk. This was his career he was putting on the line, everything that he had ever worked for over the course of his entire life. He wouldn't take any chances with it for something like lust or even ordinary fancying. But for love...for love, he'd risk it - and of course be very, extremely careful that the risk never resulted in loss. As he set up the dining table for something approaching romance (candles and everything!) John realized that he hadn't actually been on a date in over a year. Maybe closer to two years, now that he thought of it. A long bloody time, anyway, and it wasn't as if he was the master of romance then, either. He was too much the introvert to manage dating well, especially the early stages. Thank Merlin he was at least skipping the "getting to know you" bits this time; those were always the worst. Then the doorbell rang, and he was out of time for anxiety. He took a deep breath, went to the door, glanced through it to see that it was her (since after all, no one would even know to impersonate her) and opened it. Dorcas was pretty sure Angus would have had an idea of what was going on, especially after their conversation on love earlier this month and when she had walked through the castle to get to the kitchen after getting dressed. A drink of water before leaving, so her throat wouldn't close up. She'd already been dressed in a black dress and high heel sandals. And dear Merlin, she was nervous. This wasn't just a crush. She told him she fancied him a lot and fancy a lot she did, but the butterflies in her stomach told her it was more than that. She had liked many but their reactions hadn't been this strong. Maybe it was the fact that it had to stay extremely hushed up that gave her the thrill. Nonetheless, she worried that her palms might get too sweaty as she stood outside of Dawlish's door. Occasionally, she threw a glance behind her shoulder at her surroundings. She had apparated so it's not she'd have been followed but she especially had to be careful. When the door opened, Dorcas turned back to the door and gave John a smile. A nervous one but a genuine smile. "Hullo." He stepped back to let her in, but already he couldn't take his eyes off her. Dorcas was always a beautiful woman, but most of the time he saw her in training gear or in trainee Aurors' robes. The little black dress and the high heels were...well, stunning, to put it simply. John found himself smiling back before he really had time to consider if it was a good idea or not. "Hello." His voice was rather quiet, the edges a little softer than normal. "You look beautiful." Dorcas blushed slightly at his compliment as she walked in. "Thanks, and you look mighty dashing." She pulled off the light peacoat she wore as she turned toward him. "Like always, of course." This was definitely the first time she'd been at his flat. A part of her wanted to explore the entire place, because she was just a sucker for new places. And another part would have preferred to just see the bedroom. There would be plenty of time for that. He snorted lightly, but smiled again as he took her coat from her. "Obviously I'll be needing to remind you frequently that you're mad," John dryly remarked. He turned to hang her coat the the small closet by the door, and used the time it took to try to decide if he could finally just grab her and kiss her now. Merlin knew he'd wanted to do that for long enough. Dorcas might have been thinking along the same lines, but she waited for John to put away her coat and lead her wherever he wanted. It was taking most of her will not to grab him and shove him against the wall, and well, just snog him. "You're just as mad, you know. We're made for each other, clearly." John was willing to admit to being mad, simply based on the fact that he had a trainee Auror in his flat whom he fully intended to shag senseless before the night was out. That was obviously mad in and of itself. By the time he turned around, though, he'd decided that kissing her was absolutely the thing to do; she looked even better with the coat off, and he'd been thinking about the prospect of kissing her for months. Now she was here, and he'd already taken the plunge, so why not simply step forward and set his hand at her waist, sliding around her back to draw her closer? There wasn't any reason not to, not now, so that was exactly what he did. "You just might be right about that," he murmured, and he was even mad enough to hope so. Her heart raced slightly when he pulled her closer, and her smile grew into a bigger one. They seemed to think on the same lines too? They really could be made for one another. She placed her arms around his neck as she looked up at him. "Might? I am." And to prove it to him, she closed the few centimeters of a distance that was between their lips already. It had been a long, painfully long few months of waiting. That was a good enough reason for the kiss to deepen quickly, for his other hand to slide behind her neck as he drew her tightly to him. Now that he knew for certain what he had been missing, John didn't know how he had managed to hold out this long. This felt right, like nothing with any other woman ever had, and suddenly taking this chance didn't feel nearly so crazy. Well, he was certainly lucky she hadn't decided to do this earlier at the office, otherwise there would have been a chance of losing track of time. And then potentially getting caught. Here in this flat, however, they had all the time in the world. Her legs felt like they were shaking, almost from pure delight as he deepened the kiss. Another moment, and Dorcas pulled away slightly, but still had her arms around him. "The madness is worth it," she said before placing a peck on his lips. "I wouldn't have risked it if I didn't think it was," John quietly replied. He had barely taken his lips from hers, making it easy to brush them together again. Now that he had her, he didn't want to let her go. Dinner was waiting, but that would require taking his hands off her, and he really didn't care to yet. Their lips basically did a dance while they talked. She very much wanted to kiss him again but if this attraction between them went far so easily, it would be too short of a night. Dorcas' mind went to dinner, as he had mentioned in the journals. If he had supposedly taken care of everything, she couldn't help but wonder exactly what it was he had for her. "So... do I get a special course for the night or are you giving me the usual that you have?" "You get fettuccine from Maggio's," John replied, finally letting the kisses fade back into a smile. "Which isn't too far removed from the usual around here. I'm capable of cooking but usually too lazy for it, so I eat a lot of takeaway. I do at least try to eat takeaway that resembles actual meals, though. And my sister takes pity on me and feeds me now and then." Dorcas liked snogging. She also liked food. So she could feel her stomach close to growling right then. "Sounds delicious. Lead the way!" He led her to the table then, which gave her a brief tour of this one part of the flat. It was a rather large space, neatly kept, and obviously the home of a single man. No frills, simple and comfortable furniture, and of course a tall bookcase up against the living room wall. It was, in short, precisely what one would expect from John Dawlish. The kitchen area was not so much what one would expect from John Dawlish. In the dining area, a round table had been set with pasta and bread and a pair of lit and floating tapers (not so much to be impressive as because he didn't have any candle holders). The light was dim, and if one could discount the fact that it was actually in his kitchen, the table could pass for one in a nice restaurant. It even had a tablecloth! (He'd borrowed one from his sister.) "Dinner," John declared, and pulled her chair out for her - the Dawlishes had raised their boys to be gentlemen, and every now and then the habits were still handy. He took the seat across from her, and found himself momentarily caught up in the act of watching the warm candlelight on her face and wondering how in the hell he had ended up in this position. "I, ah...knew you liked Italian, so I thought this would be all right," he said, fending off the slight awkwardness that threatened to take hold. "Most anyone who likes alfredo can be counted on to like carbonara." It was strange, the realization that he knew her well enough to know that, and yet had kept up a determinedly professional relationship all this time. He wasn't entirely sure what to do with it. Dorcas wasn't surprised at how it looked. Simplistic, but homely. Her eyes went straight to the bookshelf when she walked in, and she wondered what sort of books he kept there. What she wasn't expecting was how romantic the dinner setting would look. Candles? Really? She never thought she'd get this sort of treatment for him, but she loved it. What she loved more was the mention of Italian food. If she managed to get to know him while being a trainee, it shouldn't have came as a surprise that he did the same. It flattered her, and she blushed once again, giving him a smile. It wasn't just all right. "It's perfect, John. Did you really do this for me?" "No, I light the candles every night," he replied, absolutely deadpan. John figured she should be used to his dry humor by now. "I think it adds a certain ambiance to the kitchen, don't you? On Fridays I pour a bubblebath afterward." "So that's what smells like jasmines and roses when you walk in," Dorcas nodded, with a similar expression, that she was struggling moreso to keep straight. The bubblebath seemed to bring ideas to her head, however. It felt like such a limited amount of time and so much she wanted to do... clearly she was going to have to take more frequent trips here. And if they were both keeping this between themselves, it might have been able to keep her safe from Death Eaters as well. "At last, you know my secret," John admitted with a show of reluctance, and then snorted his way into a half-smile. "It's for you," he said. "I thought if I were going to make a fool of myself over a woman ten years my junior, I might as well go all out." "Love is blind." It slipped out with such ease because Dorcas was completely comfortable, that she didn't realize what she said until she had said it. And how he was going to react, she had no idea. "I have to say, you did a great job in flattery by supposedly making a fool of yourself." "That was the idea," he conceded as he started serving pasta. "I'm glad I was successful." Her use of the word "love" didn't appear to affect him in either the positive or the negative; it seemed to be as much a given to him as it was to her. This was love, or they wouldn't be stupid enough to even try it. "And I'm glad as well that you confronted me this afternoon. I never would have had the nerve to attempt it myself." Saying it just felt, well, right. It didn't scare her or surprise her. She could only mull over the word in her head to herself before she decided it had to be love between them. "I scared myself out of my own wits, honestly, on the way there." She could have very easily asked something else, like an emergency leave to see to her father's wards, or fake sick. And she was about to when he had turned to look at her. But her determination was one of her more defining traits, so just couldn't back away. "Couldn't have proved it by looking at you," John replied, chuckling a little. "But, as I said...I'm glad you did. Even though I still think you're mad." Dorcas picked up a fork and picked up some pieces of her pasta. "Well," she started, holding up her fork, "then I guess I'll show you just how mad I must be later tonight." She gave him a sly smirk before placing the fork in her mouth. She had every intention of staying over for a while. If she happened to stay the whole night, it didn't seem like such a bad idea either. John's eyebrows arched, but he nonetheless began to break into a grin. "Now how am I supposed to concentrate on dinner?" he pointed out. He would have been imagining her out of her clothes the entire time anyway, though, so it wasn't too much of a loss. It was something of a relief to actually be able to admit to picturing her out of her clothes, though - and to know that this time he'd actually get to do something about it. "Well, the sooner you eat," Dorcas started, and left it at that. There wasn't more for her to add to that sentence, because she was pretty sure he understood. The food though was exceptional, so she couldn't skimp out on it. She was going to have to find out from where he had ordered this. "Can't wait a tiny bit longer, can you? Though that depends on how long you wanted this..." It wasn't a question, but she still raised her eyebrows inquisitively. She had been aware of the silent attraction between them for a while, but exactly when this all had turned from merely physical to more was something she was curious to know. "That would depend on how you define "this," I suppose," Dawlish replied thoughtfully. "I imagined you naked for the first time about a year and a half ago. The lust didn't become fantastically inconvenient for another few months after that, though. And then it was around nine months ago that I started to realize you were rather unfortunately likable. If you mean when did I notice that I was completely mad about you...after the battle at King's Cross," he quietly concluded. "You were nearly killed, and just the thought of it nearly ripped the heart out of me - and then I knew." "You came by to my room, didn't you?" Dorcas said with a smile. Not that she really knew, because for most of the day afterwards, she was knocked out and then drugged on potions that helped her sleep better but made her groggy when she awoke. "I actually noted that you're attractive in the first few months I started, and, well, I also thought you were a gigantic arse. But that didn't seem to get rid of the attraction. I suppose I was every bit justified this summer when we had our conversation in Diagon Alley. You are proud of what you do, you care about people and you care just as much about your trainees. You're only hard on us because you don't want to see us fail. I think falling for you from then on was gradual but eventual." "If my habit of being a gigantic arse keeps people alive in the future, I'm more than willing to take the title," John easily replied. "But, if we go any further than that we're breaking Rule Number Two. No talking shop at dinner - tell me something else instead. How you fared in your last quidditch game, or what kind of flowers you like, or," he added with a growing smile, "A more detailed version of your plans for what happens after dinner's finished. The pasta is disappearing quickly, you may have noticed." It was indeed, Dorcas was pleased to note that. She hadn't thought she was eating that quickly as they were talking, but one, the food was delicious and two, she was eager to get to the next plans. She had picked up a few remaining pieces but before she popped those into her mouth, she decided to answer his questions. "My make-shift team, unfortunately, lost in the last game. I absolutely adore tiger lilies. And I could probably go into details with the plans, but I don't tell story spoilers. If you'd fancy a premise, it involves less clothing - or none at all if lace bothers you - and a good chance that neither one of us would be getting out of your bedroom for anything till morning. Or afternoon, even, since its a Saturday tomorrow." She smiled as she chewed and watched for his reaction. Tiger lilies. Right. He got that filed away quickly, before she started mentioning lace. That was really what got to him - he'd been imagining her clothes off already, but having details made the mental image so much clearer. "I've always known there was a good reason that some restaurants delivered," John calmly replied. "I'm not actually on duty again until Monday, so unless you've plans on Sunday, I see no reason why we should have to leave the bedroom until well into the evening - unless, of course, we just feel like testing out the shower." She didn't really have plans for the weekend, or at least not anything set in stone. She only went running every other Sunday but of course that could have been easily substituted with another activity. "I suppose our only pit stops would be the bed and shower. Occasionally the kitchen as well." And now that she was thinking of it, it would be nice to get up a little earlier than him to serve themselves some breakfast in bed. He may have had some details, but she still left out some bits that he'd find out eventually. Like the fact that the lace was blue. "We should start heading toward our first destination, don't you think?" Dorcas stood up from her chair and circled around to grabbed John's hand to pull him up. "We'll figure out tomorrow when it comes." |