InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "BLUE PILL"

Rolf Scamander (outofthewild) wrote in finnigans_rpg,
@ 2014-09-07 20:32:00

Entry tags:

character: astoria greengrass, character: rolf scamander

RP: Tea time
Who: Rolf and Astoria

What: Tea and catching up

Where: Astoria's flat

When: Sunday, tea time

Rating: SFW

Rolf set three alarms just so he'd make sure to be on time to tea with Astoria. He knew he had a bad habit of getting caught up in things, and he also knew it got on people's nerves. Astoria had been raised with many of the same traditions he had, and his parents and grandparents, most especially his grandmother, would lecture him unto death if he heard he'd been late to tea.

(Not that it hadn't happened in the past. But he really did need to make it up to Astoria for not letting her know he was back sooner.)

He had with him a small bag with some of the better pictures he'd taken since he'd seen her last and a few souvenirs he'd acquired for her (he had the habit of doing that for his closest friends), as well as a small bouquet of frangipani flowers he thought she'd like. He'd been raised right, and aside from bringing something for tea he thought he had the bases covered. He still moved stiffly, some pain still in him from the week in his scars and muscles, but he'd dug up a mild Muggle painkiller a Muggleborn associate had introduced him to that left him feeling clearer than a lot of potions, so it wasn't too bad at the moment, even if he was tired.

Smiling and looking forward to catching up properly rather than by owl, he knocked on the door to her flat.

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sew_perfect
2014-09-08 02:11 am UTC (link)

Astoria, who was always quite neat and orderly, was in a bit of a buzz running around her small but sunny flat to prepare it for company. She didn't have it quite as often as she would like, and she spent a lot of time shooing her new cat away from where she was trying to clean. He was handsome and cuddly, and she loved him exceedingly, but he did like to shed. She put the finishing touches on the tea spread, and had just enough time to set the calming scent charms (always good for someone recovering from an injury) before she heard the knock on the door.

With a happy smile, she raced to the door and opened it breathlessly, a huge smile greeting Rolf and his thoughtful bouquet of flowers. "Rolf, oh you perfect dear!" she cried, a hand going to his arm and a quick step up to her tippy toes to kiss him once on each cheek in greeting. "You're so sweet, I have just the vase for them. Please, come in! I have tea all set and we can talk and catch up." She led him inside and shut the door, a smile still on her face. "It's so good to see you again."

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outofthewild
2014-09-08 02:38 am UTC (link)

Rolf put an arm partly around her, returning her cheek kisses naturally. He'd spent too much time on the continent to not be comfortable with that form of greeting. "I thought they'd go with your sunny self perfectly," he said. Astoria was such a cheery person, and he'd always associated yellow with her despite her Slytherin affiliation.

He stepped inside, moving carefully and trying to suppress any hint of his injury. "It's wonderful to see you too, Tori. I've missed you. You're looking even lovelier than I remember," he said with a warm smile.

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sew_perfect
2014-09-08 03:20 am UTC (link)

"Oh Rolf, you're such a gentleman! I don't understand how you haven't been snatched right up by a lady. If I hadn't Draco, and you hadn't been so far away, I'm sure I would have fallen hopelessly for you long ago." Astoria failed to mention that she HAD fallen for him, in Hogwarts. That information would probably have just been awkward for him anyway. Her cheeks were flushed pink with pleasure, and she put the flowers in a vase and set them on the table with their tea spread. The looked just perfect there.

She noted his careful movement and knit her brow. "Are you sure you're okay? I can get you a cushion for your chair if you need it. And thank you, Rolf! You're too kind. I look the same only more tired. YOU look dashing; just the kind of man who has seen the world. I missed you exceedingly! Come, have a sit and eat, and show me some of your adventures!"

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outofthewild
2014-09-08 03:39 am UTC (link)

"Possibly because supposedly I travel too much or I'm only good for helping a family out." The last still came out a tad brittlely even after over two years; he'd told her at least the generalities about Dian, the young woman he'd met in Indonesia, when he was investigating the sighting of a Keong Emas on a certain stretch of land. Finding the rare creature would mean that the land, under threat of destruction, would become protected - and that the family who owned it would be elevated to the charge of caring for it. The daughter of the family, Dian, befriended and then entered a relationship with Rolf -- and then dumped him after the land became protected.

And essentially told him she'd used him in the process. It had broken his heart.

The bitterness faded as he shook his head. "I couldn't possibly have ever earned the love of one so lovely as you," he told her with a smile, bowing slightly to her. He'd always thought her lovely, and at some point he'd crushed on her, though he'd also crushed on a few other of his friends. He'd always found it hard to open up about such things, though.

"Ah, a lovely setting, as always. You know how to make a good cuppa," he told her as he sat. "No, don't worry. I'm just stiff, that's all," he assured her. "I took a little something, but not enough to mess with me." She needn't know it was Muggle, though he knew she wouldn't care. "I don't think you look tired at all. I do hope you got some sleep last night, though."

He had missed her dearly as well. He had few close friends, and she and Rose were the top two. He expressed it as well. "You have been missed as well. Here, the pictures I promised." He pulled the pictures from the bag, some still and some magically moving, and handed them to her."

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sew_perfect
2014-09-08 03:57 am UTC (link)

Astoria's cheeks flushed, remembering, of course, the girl he had had a relationship with. "Oh Rolf, I didn't...sorry, I say such stupid things sometimes, please forgive me." She gave him a soft look, a hand going to his arm for a squeeze, hoping he forgave her stupid blunder. At calling himself unable to earn her love, she shook her head and laughed at his bow. "Nothing of the sort could possible be true, but thank you all the same. Come now, time to eat." It was much better to concentrate on things that didn't involve her dredging up his bad memories. She was foolish to say so, and she hoped he wasn't too offended by her careless remark.

She was pleased that he liked the setting, and it showed in the return of her natural wide smile and the crinkle of her eyes. "Thank you! I haven't had the pleasure of making a nice spread for anyone in so long. I'm glad you're all right though. Please let me know if you need anything at all, and I should be delighted to accommodate." At his question she waved her hand, trying to dismiss his concern. "It was fine, I read more of my book, which is very lovely. Jane Eyre, do you know it?" she asked, her head tilting. She had read many more muggle books lately, and she liked this one, though it wasn't as charming as the Anne of Green Gables one.

Astoria clapped her hands when Rolf produced the pictures and she poured over each one, asking questions and wanting descriptions. Her hands floated longingly over the scenes of beautiful flora and fauna and she signed wistfully. "I do love my job, but my one regret is that I've never been able to travel as you have. You're quite lucky to have, do you know? But even if I'm sad for the reason, I'm so very glad to have you back. I've so few friends, it's nice to have one of them with me again."

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outofthewild
2014-09-08 04:14 am UTC (link)

"Darling Tori, you know you needn't apologize. It's not your fault I'm still bitter. I wish I could find someone, but the cards don't seem to hold such things for me. You, however, have a lovely hand dealt to you," he said with a charming grin, squeezing her hand back. "And I am so exceedingly pleased that you're happy." And he was. If anyone deserved it, it was the happy, sweet Astoria. He was so much harder to offend than that, and he'd spoken true -- it wasn't her fault he had no luck in love. He had tried, though the last couple years since showed a pretty good dearth in that regard.

"You are, as always, a perfect hostess," he complimented her. He hadn't been to a proper tea except with his grandmother lately, and his grandmother could be ever so dour and strict. "I've heard of that one, though I've not read it," he confessed. "I read one called The Three Musketeers a while back, and it was a lot of fun."

Rolf described each of them and told her stories, hands waving as well as he described scenes or people or events to her. "You'll do it someday, I'm sure. You're still young, and I bet your beloved would be happy to show you the world." He'd be more than happy to give her recommendations that the two would likely enjoy. He envied her a little, for a moment - someone to travel with, that would be lovely. "I do know that I'm lucky, though, but it is sometimes lonely as well. Which is one big reason I'm so happy to be back with you, my friend."

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sew_perfect
2014-09-08 06:20 am UTC (link)

She shook her head firmly. "It was still careless of me to mention it. And don't say such things, Rolf darling. You're still very young, we have a lot of time so, who knows what said cards hold?" she asked, shrugging her shoulders. She blushed at his squeeze and at his happy tidings. "You're too kind. I'm a very lucky girl to be so happy."

She flushed with his praise and delicately ate sandwiches as they talked of books and things, drinking her tea which, she admitted, was quite excellent. "Oh? What's that one about?" she asked, eager for a new book to put on her bed stand. Jane Eyre was near finished and she needed another world to absorb herself in. "I'll have to look that one up, I'm almost ready for a new book."

She was rapt at his description and stories, her eyes never leaving him, often growing big as saucers. At his comment about her traveling, she shrugged, though not sadly. "I hope so. We'll both be so busy, and that's not a problem. I love fashion and design. I couldn't see myself doing anything else. Maybe soon it will involve some travel. I'd love to do Paris Fashion Week some day soon." She put her hand on his and patted it when he talked of not being lonely because he was back. "If there's one good outcome of you being injured is that it brought you back to me. I'm not as interesting as Kenya or Peru, but I'm a good audience and I'm always good for a cup of tea."

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outofthewild
2014-09-08 01:56 pm UTC (link)

"Pffft. It's a part of life." He didn't care that Astoria had brought up the memory; it was his problem that he still wasn't completely over the girl. "That is true, we'll see. It's not like there's not, perhaps, a century or two left, if I'm exceedingly lucky and stop doing stupid things."

Rolf managed to keep his manners and not stuff his face, though she set out some very tasty tea sandwiches and they were really oh so good. "It's an adventure, set in France, about the King's Musketeers," he told her. "Lots of sword fights and daring-do." He still loved books, and read when he could; especially these last two months, they'd helped him during sleepless hours.

"You would be a shining star at Fashion Week," he said. "And I'm sure you'd come back with tons of ideas. Speaking of fashion, I find myself in need of a lovely set of dress robes for the Rescue's fundraiser in a month or two. I haven't had a set since I lost the last ones in... I think that was the Caribbean," he said, thinking on it.

"You underestimate yourself," he told her seriously, patting her hand on his. "You are very interesting, and you put up with my ramblings stories, besides." He did love to tell a good story, even if some of them were at his own expense at times.

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