InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Not lying if they make you lie"

hexes_n_hearts (hexes_n_hearts) wrote in snapthread,
@ 2020-02-24 11:43:00

Who: Dan and Bill
What: Another book another date
When:Today
Where: Dan's house

At least he had the garden to keep him busy, something to do with his hands so even though his head went round in circles there was something he could throw himself into. Sure it wasn't curse breaking, but encouraging peas to expand their little tendrils up and up or trimming asparagus at the perfect moment to get the best flavour was rewarding in its own way.

Thinking about Dan lead to him thinking about home more than he had in all the time he'd been there, what might be happening to the people he loved. Bill knew from the article from the paper he'd found that one of his brother's was dead at least and he felt that all the time like a stone in his stomach. But as he stood in the shower and scrubbed the dirt out from under his nails he decided that thinking was going to absolutely do his head in so doing had to be the way forward.

He plucked a book from his collection, one on ancient curses, with stories from various scholars along with practical instructions. This was his own copy and the pages were full of his neat handwriting in the margins and Bill carefully tucked a sunflower dried and pressed into the front cover before he left.

Dan's house wasn't far, nothing was far and he knocked twice, his fingers drumming softly against the hard cover of the book.

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doctoring
2020-02-24 01:25 pm UTC (link)

Dan was home, because of course he was - where else would he go? Through the doors, maybe, but he hadn't popped through there today. Sometimes he was at the medical facility too, because people got banged up and bruised or cut and he could handle basic first aid, after nearly ten years working in hospice - he decided he really would go through the doors, to get more supplies, and was planning that out when he heard the knock at the door.

By planning out that meant he was attempting to trigger something precognitive - he didn't have tarot cards, or anything to scry in, and mirrors freaked him out (REDRUM, scrawled in blood), but he thought if he meditated and focused, he could make it happen so a vision of the right door would come to him. Then bluejay eyes snapped open and he went to go see who could have come to pay him a visit.

He was surprised, a little, to see it was Bill - surprised in a good way. "Hey," he greeted, letting Bill step inside. "Come on in. Sorry in advance it's not as homey as your place." Dan didn't have a crackling fireplace, or plush furniture, but it was warm inside and he had some furniture - and books, lots of books. They were stacked on shelves and in corners and plants, he had some of those too - things he hoped he could keep alive long enough, because he'd never really tried, in his sad little apartment back home, everything too dark for anything to live.

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hexes_n_hearts
2020-02-24 06:24 pm UTC (link)

It wasn't quite as homey as Bill's but he hadn't been there nearly as long and while he seemed to be hoarding half the library with a few plants in there it was downright nice. "What's not to like, love," Bill said as he stepped inside. "I was in the neighborhood," he joked as he held out the book for Dan.

"I thought you might find this interesting, back home I was a Curse Breaker and this is the sorts of things I used to do." It was basic but Dan had an interest in magic, even if The Shining was different to Bill's wand magic, it was of the same vein. Magic was magic and seeing as he'd been able to teach Klaus some it was somewhat interchangeable.

"And hello," he added as he stepped in to kiss Dan's cheek. "Do you want to do some work in here?" Bill asked as he looked around the room, wand already in hand as he used a charm to fix a few loose boards near the door. Really anyone who had to live here without magic, he just didn't know how they did it. But he was always happy to help, even if Bill was careful not to intrude. In a place like this everyone deserved to have their own space.

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doctoring
2020-02-24 07:20 pm UTC (link)

"Oh - " His inflection was surprised and Dan took the book, curiosity overcoming his features. "This is - well, this is great," he carefully flipped the pages a little, then noticed the sunflower in the cover which made him grin fondly, a bit of sunshine injected there too. "Thank you." He'd be sticking his nose in that for sure, later on, curled up in bed under the blankets. He often read before going to sleep, since it seemed to be the thing that tired his brain out thoroughly - he'd read and read and read, and then his eyes would flag, sandbags attached to them. Out like a light.

The question about doing work in here was also something of a surprise. He set the book down on the coffee table and stepped closer, cradling Bill's face in his hands for a moment - just to look at him, before Dan leaned in and kissed him. "Sure - with your wand, right?"

He even managed to make the question sound cheeky. In a dry sort of way.

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hexes_n_hearts
2020-02-24 07:31 pm UTC (link)

Bill liked to read all kinds of things but generally preferred fiction unless he was researching something. So while the book he'd brought might not tell a groundbreaking story it was interesting enough to flick through if you were so inclined. Anything that made Dan smile like that had to be a good move though and Bill was glad to share a little knowledge and maybe a little more about himself both in his job and his notes.

The way Dan held his face like that, all his attention on him was intoxicating and a little nerve wracking. There was no shying away from those blue eyes, they seemed to look right into him and then keep on looking. Like you could tell just from that that he was seeing into you even without the feel of magic, which Bill was getting more used to. The first time he'd felt Dan feeling he'd locked himself down, kept him out. But that was a lot of work and Dan seemed to like him anyway.

Cheeky looked good on him and Bill chuckled as he turned his head to kiss Dan's palm. "My wand is at the ready whenever you require," Bill assured him.

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doctoring
2020-02-25 02:56 pm UTC (link)

"Good to know," Dan chuckled, backs of his fingers brushing along Bill's cheek before he let go, and put his hands back to himself for now. "But, um - I guess the place could use some work?"

He glanced around, noting the nooks and crannies, the odds and ends - there were probably drafts coming in by the windows, creaky floorboards, jiggly doorknobs, that sort of thing. Basically he'd just picked this house because it was empty, and he'd lived in worse places.

Homeless too, once upon a time. When the bus was the only warm place to sneak in a nap, and he'd been thrilled to find enough change to buy something at McDonald's, because only paying customers could use the bathroom. So yeah, an empty house was like a five-star hotel.

"It won't make you tired or anything, right?" He wasn't sure how that went.

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hexes_n_hearts
2020-02-25 07:43 pm UTC (link)

It wasn't like there was anything wrong with Dan's room, it's that Bill could make it better so easily he felt guilty he hadn't done it already. Although coming in wand flicking when you didn't really know someone yet wasn't exactly polite. Bill's eyelids fluttered as Dan stroked his cheek and a smile played in the corners of his mouth, it was new but it was sweet.

He pulled his wand out of where it had been tucked into his belt at the small of his back and spun it in his fingers as he glanced around.

"No more tired than a brisk walk, why, worried about my stamina?" Bill asked with a wiggle of his eyebrows. "Don't worry I'll have plenty of energy to make you dinner," he added.

Bill was incredibly familiar with household magic, he'd learned it from his parents after all because they'd been incredibly reliant on it to hold The Burrow together. Cooking magic too, he was better at that than most mid twenties wizards he knew, but it's what he'd learned growing up.

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doctoring
2020-02-25 08:59 pm UTC (link)

To be honest, Dan was actually kind of curious. He'd seen a little of Bill's magic with that rose, but he had a feeling that was just the tip of the iceberg. "I'm the old man out of the two of us," he reminded, with a grin that was sly, like he was laughing at some private joke, and it flashed those pearly gates.

Bill was a bit younger than him - maybe he was robbing the cradle a little. Maybe he didn't care. They were both adults - anything else was just numbers.

But oh, wait. "You're making me dinner?" His eyes widened a bit at that, and he was...touched. Charmed, that too - he didn't even have a preference about what they ate, the gesture itself was enough to be a little pick-me-up for the squashed banana that was his heart. "With magic too? How does that work?"

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hexes_n_hearts
2020-02-25 09:43 pm UTC (link)

Maybe Dan was a little older but wizards lived a long time, it threw age off into a strange thing that didn't matter so much. As long as you were adults, consenting and without some kind of power imbalance it all seemed good to Bill. "Careful of your hip there, sugar," Bill said as he gave said hip an affectionate squeeze.

Even if Dan was older, Bill was probably the more experienced of the two, he was the one making sure he was comfortable with him before he did something stupid like came on too strong.

He seemed so surprised and Bill turned back to take a look at him. How could someone so gorgeous be so clueless? "Of course I'm making you dinner, you want to date me, you get the full experience. Dinner, books, breakfast, anxiety, issues, I got it all," Bill teased. As for magic he nodded, finding it fun that Dan didn't really know much about his kind of wizard. "Quality of the food depends on the person making it, just like doing it the muggle way," Bill explained.

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doctoring
2020-02-26 01:13 pm UTC (link)

"Great, because I'm not exactly short on issues either. I imagine that's key when you're dating someone," Dan pointed out and, well, yes. He'd lived quite a life already, old man hips and all. From angry ghosts and large, looming hotels and their patterned wallpaper, to footprints in the snow, backtracking his steps so his father couldn't find him and kill him, to losing Dick and his mother and gaining Abra but dying to keep her safe - yeah, and that wasn't even the half of it. Maybe he should write a book one day.

He fidgeted slightly, but that was because he wasn't sure if he should be idle or not. It was difficult to fathom waving a wand and making things happen, it was so whimsical, but he was interested in seeing it in action. "Okay, well - let me know if you need me to help?" Because of course he had to put that out there.

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hexes_n_hearts
2020-02-26 07:28 pm UTC (link)

Ah yes, issues, that was the key to dating. Maybe making sure your baggage played well with someone else's. Bill wasn't sure, but despite that uncertainty he was here, feeling it out. Dan was going to know him and all of his shortcomings and although that terrified him when he smiled at him so trusting it nearly almost made it better. Bill's issues didn't seem to come close to the actual hell Dan had lived and he wasn't about to compare it, but neither was perfect and that's exactly what both of them needed.

"Here, this will help," Bill said as he leaned down to place a long soft kiss against the tempting curve of his lips. When he pulled back he was smiling and he gave him a wink. "That could inspire plenty," he assured him. But he did need to focus and he shifted his attention first to the floor.

That was easy enough, repairing the boards where they needed it. Bill walked the room in a slow circle to make sure he'd got it all. He transfigured a leaf that had blown under the door into a rug, lifting the couch to place it. By the time he got to putting in the fireplace things were looking downright homey. "At home this is what we use instead of those silly phones," Bill explained to him as he dropped to his knees to stick his head in the fireplace to make sure the chimney went all the way up and wouldn't fill the small house with smoke.

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doctoring
2020-02-26 11:31 pm UTC (link)

Oh, yes, well. If that would help, then Dan would oblige - he tipped his chin up, meeting Bill more than halfway there. Cupped his face, stroked his cheek, down along his jaw. There it was, that kiss, slow and gentle and perfectly able to tumble into more - if Bill didn't have to concentrate, that is.

And holy fucking shit, the guy just turned a leaf into a rug. What the -

Dan was watching, obviously captivated, and the fireplace just appeared too and he had no idea how that worked, it mostly just felt like an acid trip. Had been too long since he'd dropped acid though, and surely it felt different for Bill. It was in his blood, right? Magic? It crackled and simmered there?

"You used your wand to...communicate?" he clarified, stepping toward the fireplace to also have a look because ooh.

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hexes_n_hearts
2020-02-27 12:06 am UTC (link)

That kiss. Bill was going to get back to that kiss later, preferably about a dozen of them in a row, with Dan's body warm and pliant, pulling him closer and arching and yeah okay going slow was new and strange but thrilling in a way. Maybe just because it was so foreign. Or maybe because Dan was utterly gorgeous.

He laughed as he shook his head, moving back on his knees so he could light a fire in the new grate. "No the fireplace," Bill said. "We throw a special powder in and you can either stick your head through into someone else's fireplace, or your entire body if you want to travel, although it's easier to just apparate." Bill explained to him. "For letters we use owl post, it's very reliable."

Fire going and rug plush and while not brand new looking pleasantly aged Bill grew the windows a touch to fill the gaps, repaired the shutters and fixed the peeling paint on the ceiling in his next lap of the room. "What else?" He asked as he reached Dan again, resting a hand on one of those old hips.

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doctoring
2020-02-27 01:26 pm UTC (link)

"Stick your head through someone else's fireplace?" Dan wasn't sure he heard that right, maybe his ears were going in addition to his hips (and knees some days, Jesus). "That does sound more interesting than a cell phone."

He was kind of intrigued by this fireplace, and not because it had literally appeared out of nowhere - but because he never really had one before, not in any of the places he'd lived. And yet had always wanted one. It was like a little sun, casting shadows on the rug, blazing cheerily.

Good to sit by, drinking coffee and reading a book, no doubt. He draped his arms around Bill's shoulders, anchoring in close. "I'm set for now. It looks good, like a wizard came in and did a makeover," he chuckled lightly. "Thank you."

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hexes_n_hearts
2020-02-27 06:34 pm UTC (link)

"It works just swell," Bill assured him although the look on his face was amusing. He often forgot he even had that phone thing, muggles seemed to like it but for Bill it still felt foreign in his hand. Not bad but just a strange device. But he'd tried to integrate himself with it a little.

He'd been ready to keep going, but Dan stopped him with both arms around his neck like that and that was a welcome distraction. Bill tucked his wand into the braid in his hair to get it out of the way as his hands settled on Dan's waist. It was a few tricks to get a place a little more homely, Bill could pull down walls or extend if he needed to be it wasn't like Dan needed the space.

"What about your bedroom?" Bill asked with a teasing smile. "Need any work done in there? I am after all extremely competent."

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doctoring
2020-02-27 11:30 pm UTC (link)

Competent, yes, Dan didn't doubt that. He huffed a laugh, giving Bill an eskimo kiss - well, it was him brushing his nose against the other man's; Dan wasn't entirely sure what it was officially called. "How about dinner, before my bedroom?" he asked saucily, fingers pressing up and down the back of Bill's neck.

Though he stole another kiss and this one was less sweet the way any sort of nuzzle would be, tongue sweeping over the temptation of that bottom lip, past teeth to twine with his tongue too. There was a certain skill to the roughness, from Dan - he wasn't inexperienced, really, just out of practice.

Well. He'd catch up now. Probably.

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