She moved her legs forward an inch or two, automatically leaning into the touch, not as surprised as she'd been when Tia had flirted with her over coffee at her office. A spy! It felt like that, especially lately, waiting for her mum to tell her muggle fiancee about Fauna's magical powers. Fauna kept bringing it up tentatively, dancing around it, worried about how he'd react to the truth.

Yes, Tia understood! Karaoke was evil. 'Nope, nope, nope' summed it up so well.

As Fauna took a big sip of wine, for a horrifying second she thought Tia might be hinting that she should leave. But that made no sense. She'd just refilled their glasses and was acting totally normal. Fauna was the shy one.

"I mean, exactly. We've had a sleepover," she paused to blush and laugh. Sort of! "And um, survived the pillow fight."

Her smile turned self-effacing. "I would go with you, actually. Singing or dancing. It might be more fun with you."

Fauna had officially lost it, but there was something about Tia that made her want to try new things. They could always hide in the corner of the pub and drink and laugh with each other.

Clearing her throat softly, she wondered, "So, what's the most interesting class you've taken?"

She looked around the flat, curious if she had a favorite hobby.

Reminded of the pillow fight at the Almasy/Reid sleepover, Adrestia snorted into her glass of wine and had to quickly dab her mouth. What a night! It was nice that some things didn't change. Teenagers were still a weird mix of innocent and corrupt - there had been enough innuendo to suffice her a week after that.

            "I would go with you, actually. Singing or dancing. It might be more fun with you."

Tia grinned, blushing unashamedly and nodding. "We should go dancing. But like, old fashioned dancing, not the Spellpunk sort if you know what I mean." Going out to the club was a pastime she enjoyed when she had first left Hogwarts and was more than happy to let the beat carry her hips.

Nowadays, she liked a little bit of coordination. A challenge.

"That's actually one of the more interesting classes I've taken. Ballroom dancing," Adrestia continue as she finished off her meal, twisting the last few strands of pasta around her fork. "I know it sounds like it's full of old people, which it totally is, but full of interesting old people. They always told me stories while we learned to foxtrot or whatever."

She liked listening to people tell her about their lives. Everyone had a story (or two, or three or more) inside of them. Fauna looked like the kind of person who had loads of funny stories.

"Do you know any dances?" Underneath the table, Tia rubbed her calf more deliberately against her date's and nudged her ankle. "I'm a quick learner. Or I could teach," she set down her fork on the empty plate. "If we can find my record player in this mess, we could give it a go!"

Fauna nodded, then straightened a little in her seat, trying to look more mature. She sipped at her wine oh so maturely. What she didn't say was that she went to Spellpunk all. the. damn. time. It was a good place to catch up with the newer trainees and her friends who were a year or so younger than her, and she could just drink and act like a dork and dance dorkily and hardly anyone remembered her dorkiness in the morning, or if they did, they didn't tell her.

"I believe you," she murmured, smiling playfully at Tia when she insisted that some of the old people in her ballroom dancing class were interesting. They had interesting stories, anyway, and she could believe that, having lived with her gran growing up.

"I don't know any, um, formal dances, but I'd be up for trying," she set down her fork, also having cleared her plate. Did the Yule Ball dance count? She'd pretty much just swayed and followed her partner.

Fauna giggled, then nudged Tia back, gently against her ankle. She tilted her head, sipped at her wine maturely, and played footsie under the table with her date. She worried about how cold her toes were, and if Tia could tell how cold underneath her leggings or stockings or - what was she even wearing? Did her tights match her outfit? Fauna wanted to check, but couldn't glance at her feet without looking weird.

"I'm probably terrible," Fauna acknowledged. "Well, who knows. If I can learn how to fall and roll correctly and how to dodge hexes, dancing is just another form of coordination. Right?"

She shrugged one shoulder and blushed.

"I mean - I'll help you clean up," she offered, taking her plate and then holding out a hand for Tia's plate and silverware as she stood from the table, slowly and with some reluctance moving her feet away to stand. She glanced at her feet. Dark gray tights. Sure, those went with her red skirt and blue sweater, didn't they? It was her favorite brown boots by the door that didn't - focus, Fauna!

"And after, we can look for those records?" She held her gaze for a moment, smiling again.

            "If I can learn how to fall and roll correctly and how to dodge hexes, dancing is just another form of coordination. Right?"

"Totally," Tia agreed as they both rose and began clearing up the table. Fauna seemed... distracted but not in a rude or weird way. More like in a nervous way, which she could understand because it was getting to that point of the date where they'd done all the necessary stuff - food, wine - and that left them with a lull of anticipation. What to do next?

Luckily, music made a good segue. "Records it is."



The record player had taken some finding but after two or three castings of accio, the charm finally brought back a dingy old portable. Barefoot in tights, Tia had cleared up a little space in the living room, by the window, and was kneeling at the coffee table to adjust a vinyl record.
The lights had been turned down a bit, the mess of the flat pushed into dark corners. She set the needle down and for a moment there was nothing but whirring silence.

Her expression smoothened out when the calming keys of Duke Ellington filled the space.

"Jazz?" she glanced over her shoulder as she got off the floor, dusting her knees off. "Let's share the joy."

Adrestia opened the window slightly so that the cool night air seeped in. Outside, their music trickled into Hiraeth's otherwise quiet courtyard. Evenings in London were made for good music in private places, she thought as she turned around to smile at Fauna. "Should we just freestyle this, hand on hips?" Dark eyebrows went up quizzically, laughter in the gaze beneath them.

Adrestia was so cute and pretty and all the lovely things at once. When she raised her eyebrows like that, her warm brown eyes twinkled. Fauna felt extra Fauna, clumsy but well meaning. Her average height felt tall, her feet narrow but long, and she really didn't want to step on her date's toes. She'd never cared so much about stepping on someone's toes!

Fauna nodded, the breeze from the window cooling her flushed skin. Her hands went automatically to Tia's shoulders, and then she laughed and glanced down. "My hands on your hips or...?"

Either way!

"I can show you the moves I know," Fauna tried to affect seriousness but couldn't stop smiling. "I mean, they're really special. Homegrown. It's a lot of dancing on stairs, and bumping into the coffee table in the living room, and slip sliding on the tiles in the kitchen. All while my flatmates doubt - well, laugh at me."

What else could she do but joke around when she was happily nervous? She could apparate home and find herself an outfit that matched. She could float away into the bookcases and become a book. Or she could stay right here, where she wanted to be.

She held her hands out to Tia, palms up, and hoped they weren't clammy, and realized they hadn't held hands before, and why not start now.

"This move is called, Oh Good It's Friday," she swung her hands lightly from side to side, doing a sashay with it. Her feet caught a little on the floor rug, but Fauna pretended they didn't.

"Um, this is... Hide Under the Covers It's Monday," she held their hands up over their heads and bent her knees, glancing from left to right anxiously.

"Uh..."

What were the other days of the week again? Why was she obsessed with the days of the week? Couldn't she think of something more clever? Merlin help her.

"Your turn," Fauna smiled at Tia, humor and warmth in her eyes.

             "I can show you the moves I know," Fauna offered.

Tia pressed her lips together in an amused smile, more than happy to be shown the other witch's 'moves' as their hands met. It was not hard to imagine Fauna dancing at home and enjoying herself; the best way to dance maybe, just for fun and without worry about coordination or whether it looked good. She threw her head back, finally letting herself laugh when she mirrored Hide Under the Covers Its Monday.

"This one is going to be a staple!" she arched her eyebrows up and down, grinning. "I'm not sure if my moves are creative as yours.... hm..." Adrestia stood there thinking - it should have been awkward but it felt nice just standing in the living room and holding hands while Duke Ellington continued to play in the background.

You couldn't exactly do a foxtrot or waltz to this kind of music, could you? She'd only put it on because it sounded nice; it demanded nothing from the listeners except to listen.

"Let's try your hand on my shoulder," Tia decided, guiding her date's hand and then casually settling her own on Fauna's hip. "This one doesn't have a name. I think we're just supposed to like..." she giggled applying a little pressure, "step from side to side? Sway?"

Easy, maybe, but it brought them closer - she had an excuse to look at Fauna in the face without blushing or glancing away. Adrestia focused on her smattering of freckles in one moment, and her large blue eyes in the next. They were honest eyes! Like, eyes that couldn't hide a lot.

"You really would be a super spy," she suddenly blurted, the remark ballooning out absurdly into the space between them. "Going around and charming innocent museum curators like me," Tia added with cheekiness far from innocent.

Fauna happily followed Tia's lead, resting one hand on Tia's shoulder as they sway-stepped. Fauna held her gaze and blushed, cognizant of the closeness between them and the hand on her hip. She loved making her laugh but also enjoyed quieter moments like this.

Super spy? Fauna paused in mid-sway, eyes widening in flattered surprise. Put that on the Ministry report and send it to her bosses! But ew, bosses, she did not want to think about them right now.

"Me? What?" She pretended innocence, glancing to the side. "Um ok, you got me," she shrugged her shoulders. "I'm a spy."

She bit her lower lip, trying to hold back a grin.

"I was supposed to, you know, find out about those map thieves. I was told it would be a tough assignment because the museum curator is so clever, and cute." Fauna blinked. No! She meant pretty. Really pretty, even. "Uh, more than cute. Aurors are bad with words."

Ducking her head down, she let out a chuckle. "Um, so," Fauna glanced at her. "They said, Flora, find out about the underwater labyrinth and the burglary issue and report back. They warned me about grindylows and bobble - er, bubble-headed thieves and not to get attached or involved."

She did a little hip-sway at 'attached' or 'involved'. A smile flickered over her face.

"How do you think I'm doing? Am I attached?"

Still holding Tia's hand (well, the hand that wasn't on her hip), Fauna gave it a gentle squeeze. Totally attached, involved, and charmed.

            "I was supposed to, you know, find out about those map thieves."

Tia affected an expression of mock enlightenment - ah yes of course the map thieves, the thieves of the map, the thieves who stole the maps, the thieves who came to the museum and stole the maps. A tiny tiny part of her did wonder if level two had any ulterior interests in those maps but as soon as Fauna called her clever and cute, the older witch abandoned all thoughts of actual work related things.

"I didn't know the Aurors were so thorough in their warnings!" she mused out loud, scrunching up her countenance into a smirk. "Guess I'll have to watch out when I decide to become a cat burglar."

And what a burglar she'd be if she robbed the museum: prime suspect number one.

The music hadn't changed in pitch or volume but it did feel much further away as they continued to chat. Adrestia squeezed back at her date's question and dropped her gaze just a moment, observing her hand on Fauna's hip. "You're literally attached, for one," she pointed out before giving their hips a corresponding shimmy to match the rhythm on the gramophone.

This was going super well. They had a nice dinner, they flirted both over and under the table, and they were dancing now! And Fauna looked really really pretty, in the soft light and with the late autumn breeze sneaking in through the window. She looked like she was a part of all pretty things in the world.

"So I guess you're doing really badly," Adrestia continue and smiled, shaking her head at the other witch. "Getting involved with the enemy. But that's the fun part about being a spy," she leaned in without pausing in their lazy little dance, "you don't have to play by all the rules, right?"

Tia lightly kissed Fauna on the lips and pulled back, giving her a searching look to make sure that was alright.

Fauna laughed lightly, shaking her head and glancing over the pretty red dress that Tia was wearing. Tia would make the most charming cat burglar, sneaking about in the shadows dressed in black, her lovely brown eyes assessing the scene with that look of amused enlightenment she was giving Fauna now. Maybe Tia the cat burglar would scale the courtyard of Hiraeth Gardens and leap from balcony to balcony and steal adorable trinkets like a heart-shaped potted plant or a dog-eared book or a chipped coffee mug to add to her collection. Maybe she'd leave a little calling card, pieces of a map that only Fauna could put together, and when that happened, Fauna would find her at the museum sitting in her office surrounded by all the stolen items. And Fauna would pretend not to see them, obviously, or she'd say something clever like 'what coffee mug?' or pretend she said something cleverer than that because Aurors were bad with words.

And so would begin Fauna's double life of crime!

Which she promptly forgot about the moment that Tia sashayed with her, her hand on her hip.

"You're literally attached, for one."

"Oh well, er, look at that," Fauna swayed just a little closer.

Her gaze drifted to Tia's mouth as Tia drifted closer and teased her about being a spy. The light breeze from the window did little to cool her skin as Fauna leaned in at the last moment, tilting her head to kiss her, unable to help it as her mouth curved up at the corners just before the kiss ended. When they pulled back, she continued to smile, looking into her eyes, her heart beating faster than the pace of the music and their slow dance. Her smile might be bashful but her gaze was steady.

"Oh you know, I guess I'm not a very good spy, and you're not a cat burglar. Yet," Fauna completely missed the line of logic about getting involved with the enemy. "But there are other, more important things. Like rule breaking. Is that what were you saying?"

She laughed a little at herself, distracted by the kiss. Aurors bad with words, Aurors bad with listening!

When the music felt right, she lifted Tia's hand in the air.

"This move is called a twirl," she offered with a twinkle in her eye. "Or a spin?"

If Tia twirled or spun, Fauna was there at the end to lean in and kiss her again.

            "But there are other, more important things. Like rule breaking. Is that what were you saying?"

Adrestia raised an eyebrow, just a little pleased by how distracted her date had been. So the kiss was a good idea! That was good. Fauna was younger and so she defaulted to letting her set the pace of things - this was just right. It felt right. "Rule-breakers do have all the fun, don't they?" Or at least when they broke the right kind of rules.

Fauna lifted their hands into the air and, on cue, Tia twirled out with a laugh and gracelessly rolled herself back in -- oh! They kissed again, but this time it was her turn to grin against the other witch's soft lips, surprised. Up close, Fauna smelled like orange blossoms and good wine.

In the background, Duke Ellington was slowly winding down the song so that it would fade into the next saxophone-riddled tune. Adrestia looked into the blue eyes that met her own gaze, and she felt her heart flutter. She was a confident witch on the outside and yet her insides were precarious.

"I'm happy we decided to do this," she said quietly, as if though their voices might carry out into the courtyard with the bars of music, and spill their secrets to the world. "It's a lot nicer than going out..." Tia rubbed her thumb against Fauna's hip as he hand found its way back there, meaningful. "Way more private anyway."

She stepped a little closer with each beat of their dance. "Did you want dessert, by the way?" Her mouth pulled into wolfish smile and she added after a beat: "The chocolate, I mean. Chocolate torte. I made one."

Fauna felt very glad that she'd made it to Adrestia's flat tonight without being waylaid by work or Ministry chocolates or something else much less fun. Here they were getting to know each other and talk to each other and kiss each other without the presence of other people and distractions. She preferred just one distraction.

"Um, me too. Same," she added. Agreed! Fauna was once again distracted by the closeness of Tia, her quiet voice and the hint of vulnerability behind it. Fauna's eyes reflected the same feeling. Her younger age didn't seem to matter much when Tia was so honest and considerate. They were both cheeky-dorky people. Fauna simply wanted to be around someone who would understand her and let her be herself. Someone who might encourage her to be cleverer, or stronger, or sillier by being all those things too.

Fauna reached out to rest her hands on Tia's upper arms and rub them gently against the chill of the air. Her hands paused, the bows on her sleeves suspended while Tia offered that teasing smile and touched her hip.

Dessert! Fauna blushed. If she'd ever had any doubt that she could play on both sides of the quidditch pitch (or dance on either side of the ballroom), this date made her certain. She blinked, recovering.

"If you made it, I have to try it," Fauna said with an earnest spike to her eyebrows, her gaze more meaningful. A soft smile crept up her face.

"You can tell the Ministry, you know, where they went wrong," she chuckled for a long moment, ducking her head.

Pulling her closer, they did a little dance towards the kitchen. Chocolate torte for two, coming up.