InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "I DIDN'T FIGHT BEARS!!!!"

Once she was sure she was suitably attired, Chuck took one last look at the map Lennox had drawn for her to make sure she knew where she was going. She didn't want to forget and end up somewhere else because she'd forgotten in the excitement. It seemed a little silly and presumptive to be excited as she was about a walk that could honestly just turn out to be just a walk and nothing else, but she couldn't help it. Taking a calming breath, because nobody wanted to end up splinched on Christmas Eve because they weren't focusing, Chuck apparated to the spot in Tobermory that Lennox had told her about.

Chuck shivered slightly at the sudden change in temperature from the warmth of her flat to the slightly snowy surrounds she was now in. Rubbing her gloved hands together she looked around to see if she could spy Lennox, and her smile brightened when she spotted him waiting nearby with who she assumed was Toby.

"Hi," she greeted happily, almost sounding surprisingly shy for her. "I hope you haven't been waiting long?" Then while listening for his response she turned her attention towards Toby. "And this must be Toby... Hi boy," she said, greeting the dog as cheerfully as she had his owner, as she gave him a quick scratch behind the ears.

Lennox had apparated to the spot mere moments before, choosing the spot carefully. While there was a wizarding population of decent size on Mull, most were either Campbells or assorted relatives, so no official point had been designated. Instead, he had directed Charlotte to meet him in a very quiet back street, where a few small terraced houses’ gardens backed into an alleyway, bordered on the other side by the sloping hill that led up to the clifftops. It was not snowing - yet - but evidence of last night’s snowfall was still relatively pure on the ground underneath them. Lennox had his own reasons for being concerned about actual ice.

“Hi,” he began with equal shyness, tensing his grip on Toby’s lead as the pup became visibly more excitable. “Not long, no. This one would be out of control if I kept him waiting too long - he’s still learning the art of restraint.” At which point, of course, Toby chose to jump up and lick the other human’s face, apparently not giving a damn today. Lennox facepalmed.

Though nearly stumbling in surprise, Chuck still laughed as Toby jumped and licked at her face. She was happy and relieved to hear that Lennox hadn't been waiting long, as she certainly would've felt guilty if she had kept him waiting - even if it would've been entirely unintentional. Chuck gave Toby one finally scratch before standing and turning her attention back to his owner. "I'm sure he'll get the hang of it one day," she commented. "And don't worry too much, I really don't mind at all if he's a little, or a lot, excitable."

"So shall we?" she asked, hinting at starting their walk. "I have to admit I'm a little curious and excited at seeing this part of Scotland. Aside from the Quidditch stadiums I've been to, I don't think I've really seen much of Scotland at all in the four years I've lived over here."

Lennox slowly turned, giving her a chance to catch up with him before moving on, and gave Toby an encouraging whistle and gentle tug on the lead before starting to walk. He couldn’t help but smile a bit today, watching the pup sniff everything he came across and wagging his little tail as though his life depended on it, feeling more relaxed in himself than he had done in weeks. Clearly, the dog could sense it too.

“I feel like in the islands we get a wee bit lost in all the talk about the future of Scotland,” Lennox shrugged a little, heading out of the back alley now and towards the path that led up into the hills. “The highlands not quite so much, because obviously you’ve got the school up there and everything, but even so… the more rural wizarding communities get the odd tourist phase, and that’s about it, in many cases,” he added, hopping over a small fence and encouraging Toby to jump over too. “With the exception of the Portree lot over on Skye, I think a lot of wizards forget the islands exist when it comes to Quidditch. Or much else.”

Chuck couldn't help but think how nice it was seeing Lennox smile, if only a little. Though given his reaction when she'd told him she liked him and all... well, she thought she'd hold off on telling him how well he looked when he smiled - at least for now.

"Oh... that's a shame and... well, kind of unfair," she commented, as she followed beside him. That there was more focus on the highlands because of Hogwarts made some sense, but otherwise it ought to be somewhat more equal than that. Though Chuck would be the first to admit she had as much idea about the politics of Scotland as she did its geography. "Well, this particular witch is more than happy to hear and learn a little about Tobermory, or the rest of the island for that matter," she told him, after having carefully hopped the fence. It wasn't just because this was his home, though it had a lot to do with it, she really was interested in learning more about any area of the place that she'd been calling home. "Or um whatever you feel like talking about really."

“No, you daft dog, she’s not talking about you,” Lennox solemnly told Toby, chastising the pup as he turned around and barked excitedly at Charlotte. “His pedigree name is actually Tobermory, but I just couldn’t take myself seriously, calling him that around here,” he quipped, in more than a little exasperation.

They walked quietly for the next quarter of an hour or so, heading up to the brow of the hill before the land flattened out, leading to a plateau that gave a lovely view over the bay. The air was crisp, the landscape before the dusted lightly with snow, and the ground under their feet crunched. On the way up he’d pointed out some of the local landmarks, but from here you could see much more.

“It’s the biggest township on the island,” he concluded, looking around, “but not many of us Campbells actually live here. “Ma and Angus are a couple of miles out of town, but most of the clan’s back in Salen, over that way,” he pointed, gesturing in the right direction with his gloved hand. “Or, you know, in little dots round and about, if not in the village itself.” He paused for a moment, kneeling down in the snow to let Toby off the lead for a while.

Chuck grinned and didn't bother smothering her giggles at Lennox telling Toby off. "I don't think anyone would be able to pull that off seriously enough, here of all places," she giggled. She was amused that Toby didn't seem to take on the chastisement for very long at all. "Besides Toby doesn't seem quite serious enough yet to really pull off being called by his full name."

Smiling as she looked from her left to her right, Chuck quickly determined the view was already a favourite even though she'd only just seen it, and even though her list of favourite views in the world was considerably more extensive than it probably ought to be. Besides it would be pretty hard to not enjoy such a view.

Chuck nodded as Lennox explained where some of his family lived on the island, her eyes following as he gestured towards where most of the clan lived. "What about you? Do you live near here or elsewhere on the island?" she asked.

Lennox watched Toby carefully as he first came off the lead, then, satisfied that he wasn’t going to go completely bonkers, turned back to his guest a little, still keeping an eye on the pup. “Oh, me,” he blushed, thankful that his embarrassment at missing such a detail was easily covered, the pink in his cheeks attributable through the cold in the air. “I’m somewhere else altogether. Another wee town, opposite side of the island in here,” he said, not bothering to gesture, given the mountains and forests that would block even a view of the roads out towards Calgary.

“I’m out on the coast, so, walking on the beach with this one is nice sometimes. The harbour over here,” he added, nodding down towards the fences and walls that covered pretty much the entirety of the Tobermory waterfront, “is a bit more sheltered this time of year. It’s better on a day like today… you can get down to the lower levels if the weather turns quickly.”

Lucky for Lennox she hadn't noticed the blush at all; though if Chuck had noticed she would've at best only smiled rather than comment on its appearance. "It sounds nice. I bet it's fairly peaceful there as well?" she half-commented half-queried. To be honest, most of what she'd seen so far seemed fairly peaceful, and as loud as she might be at times even she could appreciate such a place. Looking down towards the harbour she noted even on crisp day like today the harbour seemed almost strangely calm.

Suddenly she let out a surprised 'oof', and looked down only to find herself looking at Toby who apparently decided she wasn't paying enough attention and had jumped on her legs. She reached down a little and gave the pup a scratch near his ears, and just as quickly he bounded off again. "Well, someone's very easily pleased when he wants attention," she chuckled.

Lennox couldn’t help but chuckle as Toby decided the time was right to interrupt his human’s conversation. “Stubborn, loves attention, easily pleased… sounds like Angus to me,” he quipped, happy to take the mickey out of his brother when he wasn’t here to show him up.

The two of them kept walking, chatting, and admiring the local scenery when Lennox looked down at his watch and nearly choked with surprise. “Heavens, we’ve been up here nearly two hours,” he replied in shock, looking up at Charlotte with widened eyes. “No wonder the cold’s getting up…” A pause. “We could go get a drink, maybe? There’s a couple of places down on the harbour…”

Chuck couldn't stop herself before the snort escaped her. In her defense it was hard not to be amused by the teasing when she did actually know Angus fairly well and all. "Though decidedly less hairy of late," she muses teasingly.

It was nice, pleasant even, and easy-going to the point that Chuck wasn't even really aware of how much time had passed until Lennox mentioned it. "Really?" she couldn't help asking, not that she doubted Lennox got the time wrong at all. It just honestly didn't seem as if much time had passed at all. "Sure, I wouldn't mind doing that," she replied happily. "Plus it'd be nice to warm up a little."

“Alright then,” Lennox started, whistling for Toby to come bag over, holding a treat in the air and waggling it between his fingers to encourage the Labrador back to his side. Not taking too long, he kneeled to clip the lead back to his collar and looked to Charlotte, the setting of the snow covered mountains behind him. “Shall we?”

It took another half hour or so to make their way back down the hill, chatting amiably and slowly winding their way down the path, past their original apparition point and out onto the Main Street where the harbour itself could be found. It wasn’t rammed now that Christmas Eve, and a Sunday to boot, was heading closer to its close - the two of them could even hear the bells of the local church calling people to the first of the evening services. Not everyone was heading that way, though, and as they continued to chat, Lennox guided Charlotte towards a quieter pub, at the end of the street, not far from the Tobermory ferry terminal.

“This one’s quieter, but they let dogs in too,” he explained as they approached.

"Um, yeah... yes," she answered, sound a little more sure or at least not quite so distracted as the initial part of her reply. At least she hadn't yet been caught staring at him.

Chuck looked around as they passed by the apparation point and towards the harbour. She made a mental point to ask Lennox about the colourful buildings along the waterfront later, and whether there was any significance or if it was a case of 'just because'. Chuck almost missed Lennox's explanation, as she was looking to see whether the buildings much further back were just as colourful as those nearby.

"Very fortunate then, for yourself and Toby," she commented, as she looked up to see where they were. Chuck blinked somewhat owlishly as she noticed the mistletoe hanging there above the entrance to the pub. "Uh... well... it's nice to know the pub is getting into the festive spirit?"

“Mmm, it’s good to have our options when we want to get away from the chaos of a Campbell get together,” he replied, not having noticed her distraction yet. It wasn’t until she came to an abrupt stop that he realised something was wrong. He looked at her first, then followed her glance upwards, seeing the offending plant hanging right above them. At this point, he definitely blushed.

“Oh… yes…”

"Well, we don't have to um... you know. We could just go in?" she suggested. As much as she might be interested in kissing him she didn't want to make things awkward, if he wasn't interested, or scare Lennox off.

Chuck glanced at the mistletoe and then at Lennox , and then again at the offending piece of botanical matter and Lennox, trying to decide whether to just walk into the pub or follow through with tradition if Lennox couldn't decide himself. She glanced again at Lennox, their eyes meeting under mistletoe...