Absit Omen RPG

Twice he had stopped himself from entering the place.  It was too crowded, the music was enough to set his teeth on edge, but he could use a drink. And then there was the actual reason he was standing outside the pub - - Addie was in there.  He had told he probably wouldn't come on purpose. His intent was to shock and surprise her, after all, he had dug out the clothes Addie had bought him a while back.

The clothes he had vehemently denied he would ever even think to wear out in public. Yet, here he was. And minus his usual long leather coat he felt decidedly uncomfortable. Lately though, Arrow was enjoying letting Addie pull him out of his comfort zones.  He actually left his home without his glamour on for the first time a couple weeks ago and even though the scar on his face was not a big deal, Arrow actually felt genuine relief when no one mentioned it or pointed it out.

He knew he was being a little silly standing in the doorway to the pub, but he opened the door anyway.  Taking a deep breath, Arrow walked into the pub and headed straight for the bar, he'd need a drink if he was going to survive being around a large crowd.  As he passed by most of the tables, he did spot Addie, and his heart gave a little flip seeing her in those shorts. But seeing as he was here to surprise her, he'd let her find him.

Finding a space at the bar, he waited his turn to order a drink and just hoped beyond hope they had some good Irish whiskey here.

He had almost fallen asleep when he heard the sound of apparition at his back door.  Arrow smiled as he remembered why he had made that a point after he first brought Addie here.  It was so much easier than apparating a mile away and walking the rest of the way to the front door. 

When he heard her call at him through the window, Arrow got up with a smirk and walked over to the window where she was looking in.  He leaned on the windowsill and said, "I'm sorry, you must have the wrong house, I'm waiting for my girlfriend and she would be most distressed to find another girl here." Arrow finished with a wink.

After the disaster of Valentine's Day and his glamour fading, Arrow honestly wasn't sure that Addie would ever stop being angry at him.  When she discovered him lying in bed, still sick with a completely different face, well it was safe to say he was glad that he was still sick.  The look on her face was something he would not soon forget.

He knew he would be in for it as soon as he was better and sure enough, the day she came by and he was up and about, well, he was still finding feathers in his room from when she magically threw pillows at his face.  There were other things tossed and/or broken, but he'd long since repaired or replaced those.  Arrow shook his head as he headed towards his living room, he knew he'd deserved it.  He'd kept a huge secret from the woman he was.... He shook his head, he didn't want to think about that right now. 

The gift he was going to give her on that Valentine's Day was hidden safely in his bedroom.  He was saving it for when he was sure he was completely out of the doghouse with Addie.  He had went and retrieved it from the store as soon as he could when he was better.  But Addie was still kind of upset with him at that point, so he didn't feel like it was the right time. She probably wouldn't of appreciated it at all.

So, here he was, lounging on his couch in front of the television he rarely used, in a t-shirt and shorts.  Addie was supposed to stop by later, he'd opened windows and let the summer breeze make it's way through the house.  He closed his eyes and relaxed with a smile, knowing Addie would just come in when she got here.

As the cough subsided finally, Arrow didn't make a move to sit up again like before, instead he propped some pillows against the headboard and leaned against them, his blanket falling to his waist.  And he ignored her question about going to the hospital, "But I had plans..." he said with a whine to his voice.  This was not going well at all.

He remembered the thing he had forgotten to pick up before he got sick, but there was something nagging at the back of his mind that he had forgotten to do something that he normally did every day.  Then he remembered Addie holding her wand on him, "Why did you have your wand out when you came in by the way?" he tried to say it in his usual joking manner, but all that accomplished was a rather spectacular sneeze that would of scored at least an 8 if someone were judging how far he managed to sneeze.

"Liathróidí![1]" he exclaimed before falling back into his propped up pillows.

1.	According to Google Translate, this means Balls!

When Addie said that it was Valentine's Day, Arrow was upset.  He remembered that he had a whole lot of plans for that day and now since he was sick, his plans were ruined.  He fell backwards on his bed with a hand over his eyes.  He still felt really bad.  Now that he was out of the warmth of his blankets he started to shiver. 

Sitting up he started coughing uncontrollably.  "I'm sorry love." he said to Addie as he laid back down and tried to cover himself up unsuccessfully.

The prone figure on the bed stirred once, then stilled, as if unsure if he had heard anything.  Then suddenly it registered with Arrow that someone was yelling in his bedroom.  He was almost over his sickness, but not quite, so his mind didn't jump directly to the only person he'd allowed into his home - Addie.  He sat up, but having been laying on his stomach for quite some time, he sat up with his back to the person in the room.

Shaking his head to rid it from the fogginess of sleep, he slowly turned around to see Addie standing there with her wand out.  "What do you mean love, it's me." he told her, completely forgetting that he'd been lying in bed for several days and had forgotten a very important part of his daily morning routine.  Unsure of how steady he was going to be after being in bed for so long, he lowered his legs on to the floor and grimaced at the food containers and wrappers that were still sitting there, he'd have to clean that up soon.

"It's me, Arrow." he told Addie as he unsuccessfully tried to stand up twice, and then gave up, staying in a seated position on the edge of his bed.  He noted rather late, that at some point during the days he was laying in bed, that his tank top had vanished, so he was sitting there in just a pair of thin green shorts that were currently riding up his legs, but he didn't care, he was too occupied with why Addie had her wand out and was looking at him like he was some kind of stranger.

He coughed and then summoned the glass of water from the opposite side of the bed and drained the glass, it seemed like he was almost over whatever sickness he'd had, but he didn't even know how long he'd been out of it.  "What day is it?" he asked Addie, still not registering that he was forgetting something.

Waking up on the morning before Valentine's Day, Arrow didn't feel right.  He went through all the motions he usually did. Taking a shower, brushing his teeth, casting the..., no, he shook his head, he wouldn't think about that now, he had to get things set up for when Addie came over the next day.  He wanted tomorrow's Valentine's Day to be perfect. 

Arrow had been travelling recently, claiming to Addie that he needed some time away from England.  So, he'd been to France, Spain, and had even hung out on a beach in the Bahamas before realizing that he hated travelling alone.  He had sat down hard on his hotel room bed when he realized that he missed Addie.  That woman and her dog had wormed their way into his heart and he found he was quite okay with that.

So, even though Arrow was beginning to feel that something was wrong, he continued with his preparations.  Of course, by the time he had gotten everything together, he was sweating and beginning to cough. 'No,' he thought to himself as he finished setting everything up on the piano in the sitting room, he'd light the candles later, 'I can't be getting sick now.'

As he was feeling poorly, he forgot to send an owl to Addie to remind her to come over the next night.  He also forgot that he had one more purchase to pick up and it was the special part of his gift to Addie.  He just hoped she would like it.  'I'll just go lay down for a bit.' he thought as he headed back up the stairs to his bedroom.  Kicking off his shoes, he fell back into bed, only to cough rather violently and pass out on his pillows.

Time stood still.  Arrow finally admitted that he was sick and quickly got out of bed what seemed like minutes later, but was actually several hours later, and changed his drenched clothes. Opting for shorts and a tank top, he spelled his bed and blankets dry as he had apparently been sweating for hours, and went back to bed, intending to only sleep for a little bit more.

Unfortunately for him, the cold had other plans.  Arrow didn't move from the bed except to go the bathroom, or get food from the kitchen.  On his second trip to the kitchen, he just brought an armful of food with him back to his room, along with several vials of Pepper-Up and just placed them on a table next to the bed.  Of course, all the activity of going downstairs and back up, made him feel even worse, so when he settled back under his blankets, he passed into dreamland rather quickly and  that was it.

The surprise for Addie was still set up in the sitting room, the box of macarons he'd bought in Paris sitting on a bed of rose petals next to a bottle of champagne and two glasses, two candlesticks were there too, but they looked like they were out of place, having not been lit yet. 

The whole house was silent, except for occasionally you could hear a faint cough coming from upstairs, it was like the house was just waiting for something to happen.

Arrow couldn't even remember that he'd forgotten something important.

As much as he liked to be right where he was, they had a schedule to keep if they wanted to be there on time.  "You ready love, we have a portkey going off in a few and if we miss it, well, our vacation is going to be off to a very rocky start."

He gave the pup a few more ear scratches and then got up off the couch.  "Where's your suitcase? I'll shrink it and put it with mine." he told her as he looked around the living room.

Then he stopped and just looked at her.  Before they started this relationship, Arrow could never have imagined he would of found a girl like Addie.  Sure, he'd been around and made quite a few blokes mad at him because their girls wanted him instead of themselves, but he never discouraged it.

Now, when he went around his usual places, he had to fight them off, (not literally).  They still hadn't received the message that he was, indeed, off the market, so they say.  And to Arrow it was a weird feeling not dating any pretty girl that crossed his path, he was genuinely happy with Addie and every day he hoped that he wouldn't do something to screw that up.

"I'm so glad I met you." he whispered and took her in his arms, he just held her for a moment before kissing her forehead and then letting her go, "Alright, enough with the mushy... let's get this show on the road love." And he summoned her luggage, shrunk it and put it in his pocket, along with his.

Arrow couldn't help the smile that graced his features as he heard the dog's excited yips and Addie's voice.  He had told her to pack for some place warm, but hadn't told her exactly where they were going.  At least he knew she would enjoy herself, heck, he was going to enjoy himself.   The place they were going was practically made for kids and adults who didn't want to grow up just yet.

He knocked again on the door, only to have it open and he was faced with Addie in a sundress.  All of a sudden, his mouth went dry. "Wow, you look..." he trailed off,  absentmindedly petting the pup who was currently rubbing against his legs, "ravishing." And as much as he tried to keep from doing it, he ended that with a smirk.

"You all packed?" he asked her as he gently pushed the dog back into the flat and closed the door behind him, "I hope you will like the surprise." Arrow sat down on the couch and was practically flattened by an excited dog.  "Oy pooch, get off." he said without any real heat behind it, as much as he hated to admit it, he missed the dog as much as he missed her owner.

After spending around a month making sure all the plans and extras were in place, Arrow was finally standing in front of Addie's door a little nervously.  All of the hard work to get everything set up and he knew that she was going to love it. He had his luggage shrunk down in his pocket and was ready to go as soon as she was packed.

Lucky for him, magic made everything easier, assuming she used it anyway.  He knocked on the door and waited for her to answer, mentally going over all the plans he had for her, hoping that she was going to enjoy his surprise.  To make it a little better, he hadn't shrunk the tickets with his luggage, he wanted to surprise her, something he hadn't done for a while.

While he waited for her to come to the door, he pulled the tickets and info out of his pocket to make sure he had it all down one more time. 

Disney Magic Cruise Line
Leaving from: Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy
Time: 4:00 p.m.

Arrow made sure to get to Addie's flat earlier than they would need to leave. Mostly to give her time to be surprised and pack what she would need.  The portkey was set to leave at 2:00 p.m.,   which would have them in Italy by  at least 3:20. This would give them time to look around Rome before it was time to board the ship.  He put the tickets back into his back pocket and smiled, this was going to be a fun trip.

Arrow was sitting in his flat wondering if Addie had gotten to his house yet.

He wasn't sure if what he had set up was what someone would do for a Christmas.  He'd never really had anyone to spend it with other than family. 

He smiled to himself as he thought of the first gift he'd left for Addie and the next clue.

On the piano he had set a bright red gift bag with green and white tissue paper in it.  Inside the bag was something that normally wouldn't be considered a Christmas gift but it would fit in with the big gift at the end of her little scavenger hunt.

It was simply a spoon.  A golden spoon.

Inside the bag was also her next clue.

Your next gift will be near the scent of a freshly baked pie.

Of course he hadn't baked a pie but he had bought one and heated it up enough so that it's scent would flow through the house.

Arrow was headed towards the front door of his house having just finished setting up something special for Addie when she got there.

He wasn't really sure if she would appreciate something like what he was doing because he had very little experience with getting someone else something for Christmas.  He'd never done it before so he just did what came into his head and hoped that Addie would like it.

Earlier that day he had been all through the place getting it all spruced up for Christmas.  Arrow wanted it decorated nicely but didn't want it to look overdone.  As he put the last piece in place for Addie on the outside of the door he whistled for his owl and upon attaching the note to his leg he promptly apparated back to his flat.

The note he sent with the owl said:

Dear Addie
I have a surprise for you at my house please come over soon.  I won't be there when you get there so just let yourself in.
Arrow.

The note he left on the door said:

For our first Christmas together I'll be quite honest.  I have no idea what I'm doing.

I have left you clues so you can find all your presents in the house.  You'll especially like the big one at the end.

Your first clue:  When you open the door find the sound of music.

I would like to participate.  Hopefully I will have internet long enough.

https://absitomen.com/index.php?topic=15483.0

Arrow sat at a table nursing a cappuccino while he waited for Addie to arrive.  He'd gotten bored sitting at home so he walked over to the coffee shop and ordered a drink.  He'd sent off a note to Addie before he'd left telling her where he was if she wanted to join him.  Truthfully, he was amazed that they had lasted this long.  He was definitely  in uncharted territory when it came to long-term relationships.  However, he was finding that being with Addie was as easy as breathing.

Before he only lasted a couple of weeks at the most before getting bored and ditching the girl for some kind of adventure.  But Addie kept him on his toes and he was finding that he was getting really close to her.  Not that he was ready to tell her that yet.  So for now he was just going to sit and wait for her.[1]

1.	Sorry it's short

"It's a bit large, but to be honest it was an impulse buy after I received my inheritance, and even then I barely made a dent in it." he said quietly. 

He looked around when she mentioned it was empty.  "Yes, it is empty, but I'm almost never here.  I have a flat in London and it's kind of perfect, but one day I might like that I have a place like this available."

He let her take his hands and then she kissed him, "I missed you as well, maybe I'll just pop by occasionally, just to keep you on your toes." he said with a smile and then kissed her back. He really hadn't seen her much lately, not since he'd given her the promise ring.  Maybe he should make some kind of effort to see her more often.