InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Aren't you the good man"

Tristan Ellis Dunstan (elmlikedust) wrote in wished,
@ 2010-09-11 21:35:00

Entry tags:

!2003: 09, !incomplete, lyra moon, tristan dunstan

Who: Tristan Dunstan & Lyra Moon
What: This time it's definitely a date. Right?
Where: Dunstan family home, outside Exeter
When: Tonight
Warnings/Rating: TBA

It had been a little foolish to invite someone over, Tristan had realized. Even if the bulk of cooking - of everything? - was meant to take place outside, that was no great consolation. The land seemed to him to be as unused, as open and empty as the house itself. Inside, at least, there were the remnants of the decor that his parents had left behind, imprinting the shadow of what had once been a warm and bustling home. Outside ... the garden was nice enough, a bit overgrown but rather pleasant, all overblown flowers and full hedges and great creeping tree roots. But past that, there was nothing but brown, empty fields, bare for years and years, reaching towards borders of spindly trees that he thought only made everything look a bit more lonely and desolate. ... Perhaps it would be dark enough when she arrived that it wouldn't matter.

He would make the best of it, though. He couldn't really dread seeing her again. Every time he started to worry, he recalled the warmth that had grown into him sitting on her couch in her charming, cluttered living room, and he found himself smiling, his shoulders slipping out of their tension. It was hard to worry about a disordered house in the face of that.

He was in the kitchen, the next room away from the fireplace, when the appointed time came, struggling with a bottle of wine. The cork was determined to thwart him, but he'd have it out. He was going to have a couple glasses of wine ready by the time she got here. That ought to be enough to make the place at least tolerably warm.

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junebugh
2010-09-12 02:03 am UTC (link)

"Don't hurt yourself, there, love," she was sure he had to have heard the crackle and poof of her entrance from the fireplace, but perhaps not. "That is why we have magic, is it not?"

Lyra tried to play off being cool and collected but she could not quell that thrumming heart of hers and she half wondered if he came closer if he might be able to hear it. She barely noticed the home it's self as she was entirely focused on watching him from where she leaned against a doorway. A and nervously smoothed out the royal blue swing skirt she wore then lifted to finger the small silver chain of a necklace she wore.

"I brought blankets, for.. if we.. go outside," and she shifted her weight, a small canvas bag on her shoulder hefted up a bit more. Her eyes lowered shyly and a small smile spread.

"Also, hello, I suppose I forgot that part.."

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elmlikedust
2010-09-12 02:13 am UTC (link)

Tristan laughed; he lowered his eyes from her - after several seconds too long, probably - to the awkward corkscrew contraption he'd been fighting with. "Yes - it is, isn't it. This was just lying around, and I thought I'd give it a try ..." He was suddenly aware that he hadn't bought new clothes in about forever, and those in a second hand shop not far from a trail head in Poland. Jeans and an old, worn button-down weren't really the thing for a night out, were they, even when it was essentially a night in. "We can go outside as soon as I get this taken care of - I think -"

And the cork came out at last, his elbow jerking back with a pop. He grinned, setting it to the side on the counter. "I've got a fire going." Probably enough to cook by, but he wasn't foolish enough to leave all of that to chance. He'd stocked up on a spread that they could eat without cooking anything, cheese and fruit and crackers and all of that nonsense. He tipped out a couple of glasses of wine, and held one out to her with a smile that wasn't quite as shy as it might have been. "Hello. How have you been?"

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junebugh
2010-09-12 02:40 am UTC (link)

Her smile, coy at first, spread wider until it split and her teeth (brightened the smallest bit by a dental charm she was a bit weary of)were flashed. Then she took to chewing on her lower lip as she watched him work. She could appreciate that; him doing something the hard way simply because the results might be more worth the work placed in it?

His grin had her falling into a sense of ease and Lyra stepped forward as he held out the wine glass.

"Much better now that I'm here," she admitted, leaning up on her tip-toes to brush her lips across the rough bit of his cheek. Lyra rolled back onto her heels and adjusted that bag again.

"And you? Been busy?" She hardly noticed how worn his clothes might have looked simply because that wasn't something that Lyra cared about when it came to men. Some didn't have the funds to look fancy all the time, she certainly didn't.

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elmlikedust
2010-09-12 02:51 am UTC (link)

She looked wonderful; that was as he had expected. He'd been thinking about her quite a bit over the past few days, and he was pleased to see he hadn't exaggerated her in his mind's eye. That smile was as striking as he'd remembered, possibly moreso. Had he really just run into her in a bookshop? Did that sort of thing really happen?

Apparently it did. He broke into a grin when she kissed him,and he caught her elbow gently when she took her glass. "Good," he murmured, touch his glass to hers and putting his outside arrangements temporarily out of his mind. "I've been - a little busier than usual, yes. Writing a little." That was new. He hadn't been able to put out more than a sentence or two at a time in ages, but he'd felt a little more confident recently. He knew it had to do with her, with this. That was just common sense. "But nothing like what you've been, I'm sure. Have you been swarmed by any terrified first-forms, yet?" He touched her lightly on the back, leading her into the main parlor that backed onto the garden doors. They could head outside from there, if she wanted. He wouldn't have minded just sitting.

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junebugh
2010-09-12 03:05 am UTC (link)

It was very difficult to focus on what he was saying when she was so very aware of what he was doing. A hand on the elbow might have been nothing to get worked up over but she had been pining for any sort of touch, from him in particular, during that gap of time between their little get rendezvous. She had to visibly settle her breathing or else she was going to look a little silly and awfully bashful, which she didn't want.

Lyra was truly like clay in his hands. Whatever he wanted she'd have done. When he moved a bit and guided her with him she moved in sync with him and tried desperately to carry on a normal conversation. After all, it wasn't that she liked him just for his appearance or anything like it. She also liked what he thought, had to say, and everything in between. He was really quite lovely on so many levels it was hard to believe this was happening.

"Writing, yes, I'm so glad you are, and I really can't wait to read the manuscript.. how did you decide on such a subject?" she stepped toward the garden doors and paused before them, back to him as she peered outside.

"S'why I'm so glad to be here. It's exhausting to have to work with so many age groups.. and honestly, the tensions between certain houses are still fairly evident. I had to break up a fight between two second year girls, one from Slytherin and the other from Gryffindor. Nearly got myself hexed in the process!"

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elmlikedust
2010-09-12 03:26 am UTC (link)

"Well, it'll be - I don't know how long before the whole thing's finished," he said, lingering back for a moment and admiring her as she went to the window. "I may have to go back out east again before I can wrap it up, I don't know. It's ... it's a bit much for one project, probably. A little stupid to be so ambitious." He took a sip of his wine and stepped up to her, opened the door and waved her out. There was a fire on a grate a few meters out into the yard. That, he was capable of without too much trouble. "I've always liked trees ... it came from growing up out here, I think. And then, wands are just the next step when you're studying that sort of thing. And in high demand, at that."

There was a bench by the fire; he'd set the food out on it, although it had felt a little silly and a little like something that he couldn't quite pull off. Men who had women out by the fireside with wine and light hors d'oeuvres were ... well, they weren't him, were they. Still, he was allowed to try. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised," he said, looking down into his glass. "They were fighting by second year when I was there ... I never quite understood it, really. But you can't, can you, unless you're in on the rivalry. Do try not to get yourself hexed." He smiled at her.

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junebugh
2010-09-12 03:43 am UTC (link)

Lyra gave a bit of a jump when he did come up behind her which made her feel stupid for a moment but she played it off by stepping out when he opened the doors. Lyra took note of the general landscape and while it wasn't quite as cozy as her small, wild garden it was still very nice in her opinion. She liked the care he took in starting the fire and even preparing things to eat and the fact that they could see the stars here made her happier than he might have known.

She took a sip of the wine, let it roll and settle over her tongue for a moment as she considered what he spoke of. The idea that he had to go away for a bit did have her feeling somewhat... well, not sad, but something in the pit of her stomach felt off at the thought. She nodded, kept quiet and handed him her glass for a moment so she could unpack her bag.

The blankets were actually smaller than they really were. She pulled her wand out and with a few graceful flicks she had them expand to their proper size. Four very tiny square bits were hovered out of the bag that was lowered to the ground and once enlarged were revealed to be pillows. Lyra took back her wine glass with a small, smug smirk and settled upon the blanket near the fire.

"Come, have a sit."

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elmlikedust
2010-09-12 07:06 pm UTC (link)

"... Thanks." He handed her glass back and watched as she took her place by the fire, wondering why he hadn't thought to set out blankets. ... Or pillows. It looked pretty perfect, much better than benches. But that sort of thing was definitely in the same column as al fresco dinners - things he still sincerely doubted he could really accomplish. He sat at her side, stretching his legs out toward the grate. "Nicest the garden's looked in a while," he said, with a mildly embarrassed look around. "Best decorated, anyway."

It wasn't a place he usually had company, aside from the occasional visit from his sister or his cousin. But he liked it; it felt warmer, quite aside from the fire and the blankets. "Aside from the dueling Houses," he said, turning to her and nudging one of the cushions behind him, "everything's going smoothly? I'm not sure who would be worse - the NEWT students or the newcomers. ... Or the supervisor, really." He could absolutely understand needing a break, wanting to get out of the shadow of the castle for a little while.

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junebugh
2010-09-12 07:26 pm UTC (link)

"It is rather lovely out here, you can see the stars like I wanted..." she took another sip, a bit of a bigger one at that, before setting aside the glass. Lyra stretched her arms up until she felt her back pop the smallest bit and then she settled back until she was laying down completely and thus able to gaze up to the sky.

Her dark hair fanned out over the pillow and she took to twirling one long strand around her index finger. Her eyes darted over to his back and she smiled slowly.

"They're all pretty bad.. and there are so many young professors now so we're all a bit frazzled, I think. You know who I met, you know who our new flying instructor is? Viktor Krum. Very strange, I never knew he was so fond of books.."

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elmlikedust
2010-09-12 08:44 pm UTC (link)

"Oh, yes, we've got a lot of those." Tristan had always liked them, too; he'd spent more than his fair share of nights outside. They were better, he thought, out in the mountains, but ... here in the dark open land near the coast, they were nothing to sneeze at. "Stars, fields ... cows, actually ..." He lost of track of the rest. He twisted around a bit to look down at her, shadowed by the fire. He had, not for the first time, the distinct impression that she was better at this than he was. She was definitely improving his surroundings, that much was indisputable.

"Well, you'll all get the hang of it," he responded a little feebly. Right, conversation. "Is he? I hadn't heard that he was working there now. That's - awfully impressive, I guess. I mean, I hear he's quite good. I wouldn't really know." He thought that perhaps talking about Quidditch stars might not be quite the thing, though, and so he set his glass down and leaned carefully back to prop himself up on elbow, the better to be close to her and, incidentally, to do a little star-gazing. "I've left my Astronomy a little far behind ... the only one I can ever pick out with any consistency is Cygnus." And there it was, reliably recognizable, not so far from overhead.

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junebugh
2010-09-12 09:08 pm UTC (link)

She turned a bit onto her side and slid an arm up under her head. She felt a bit odd making most of the obvious and physical moves but she liked him and Lyra didn't think, at this point, that being shy and reserved was necessary. If she liked him and he liked her (after all, he didn't push her away when they kissed) then why not show affection?

So she let her free hand reach out and drift casually over his arm. She wasn't looking at the stars.

"The swan? Yeah, it's quite easy to recognize but.. you know, sometimes I like making up my constellations. Like connecting the dots. I think whoever made the stars wanted to inspire artists.. even ones who just make stick figures."

Lyra twisted again to settle onto her back but she was closer to him now, one hand on her stomach and the other warm against his side. "What's your star sign?"

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elmlikedust
2010-09-12 09:40 pm UTC (link)

Tristan was thoroughly grateful that she wasn't shy - he was enough of that for two people and probably more. The wine was helping, as it always did, of course. He glanced down at her hand with a fond smile, and - on his way back up to find some other constellation he could at least pretend to recognize - he stopped at her face. That was easily as interesting, and so much closer. "I don't think I'm anywhere near that creative," he said. "Mine would all just look like ... lopsided boxes." Especially now, when he was worse than distracted. He slid his arm under hers, resting his hand at the side of her waist, leaning a bit closer over her to do so. His patience for stars was waning.

"Sign? Um ... Sagittarius, I'm pretty sure." His smile was sheepish. "Like I said, I've never paid much attention to that sort of thing. No good reason, I guess. Maybe I ought to start." A little Divination reading wouldn't kill him, and might actually help; he sure as hell hadn't seen this coming, had he?

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junebugh
2010-09-12 10:02 pm UTC (link)

She was about to say something about how plenty of people made fantastic pieces of art out of lopsided geometric shapes when he moved just a bit closer, just enough to have her lose all her concentration on what she was going to say. Lyra opened her mouth then snapped it shut. Her bottom lip was getting quite the bad treatment as she kept chewing on it as he spoke.

"You're a fire sign," she managed, voice kept low. A hand lifted to settle on his hip. "I'm a Cancer. Water sign. Look at that, we're not even compatible."

Lyra bent a knee, spread her thighs enough that should he come to hover over her completely she'd have that knee pressed against his hip, her hand gliding up to his shoulder.

"But I suppose opposites do attract, it certainly doesn't stop me from..." she grinned now and turned her face away as a bright pink crept across her cheeks.