Seven PM.
Kensington Gardens, London, UK

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So, maybe it had been a lie when she asked for a day off to recuperate from the hustle and bustle of the recent weeks, but after enjoying the excursion with Johann at
Alohomocha last month, she was very keen to keep a promise for a night filled with nothing but Daleks, Cybermen, Oods, and Jack Harkness. The takeaway would be delivered around seven thirty, but the butterbeer bottles were already chilling in the fridge while the  young witch ensured twice over again that the flat looked presentable. Mind you, it was spotless (after all, bedroom, bath and kitchen was used more than the telly and couch) but Addie didn't really want to afford a bad first impression.

Marmy, the wonderful pup companion on the other hand, was scampering about, playing with the chew rope even as she recognised the pep in her owner step. The pet was glad to have her owner back in higher spirits and for that, soon bounded over with the toy. Letting out a playful bark, Addie looked down, grinning and soon tugging on the rope back. "Avast, ye Racnoss, be gone wiv ye!" she teased while Marmy continued the escapade of growling playfully back. A knock stopped them both back from the game; Marmy dropped the rope and rushed to the door, barking at it.

"Easy, Marm!" is what the individual would hear from Adelia as she opened the door slowly, foot pushing Marmy back for safety measures. A squeak escaped the girl's lips upon seeing Johann. "You made it!"

"Of course I did," Johann replied from the other side of the doorway with his usual broad smile. He stepped forward to give Adelia a hug but was interrupted by a wriggly bundle of hound scampering over his long feet.

A funny dance ensued to hush the dog inside before it escaped, and close the door before the hug attempt was repeated, this time allowing the two friends to embrace while Adelia's dog scampered round them, its paws tapping out on the floor.

"Thanks for the invitation," Johann spoke as the hug broke. He unbuttoned his coat and undid his scarf, hanging it up to reveal the rather unusual sight of a shirt, jumper and jeans. Not trousers, but jeans, admittedly in black. Realising he'd forgotten something, he reached into his coat pocket again and rifled through them past the familiar shapes of apothecary sleeping potion bottles (still there), and pulled out a nail varnish which he handed to Adelia.

"From my friend, who I shall introduce to you soon, I promise. I was explaining Doctor Who to her, and she gave me this for you. Said it looked like it matched the blue box you like too much." He placed the nail varnish in Addie's hand and folded her fingers over the little glass bottle, keeping her attention,
"And, if I don't do this she'll only trick you into confessing when you meet, but the other part from her was..." He leant forward and down as if to whisper in her ear but instead landed a quick peck on her cheek.
"There, now, that's apparently for you being sweet, but is also five galleons to me from Elixa who bet I wouldn't do it. Ha!"

He grinned, arrogantly more pleased with himself for managing to prove his old friend wrong than in any way noticing how the gesture was providing some curious messages to his 'sister', as he and Adelia had joked they were.

"And are you a Doctor Who fan too?" Johann asked, distracting the funny little moment in the hallway by the front door by reaching down to scratch the head of the hound by their feet. Since living with Colin, who had Moxie, Johann had become far more accustomed to canine habits, but was still not particularly an animal person by any stretch.   

The hugs and nail varnish were nice little gestures, but that kiss and mentioning that she was sweet caused Addie to blush a rosy hue. "You're telling people about me now? When did this happen? You didn't even get my consent! Maybe I don't even want others to know I'm sweet because if some time I have to be mean, they'll all be 'why, you're harmless! Johann Storm said so himself!' in a delicate air~" she teased openly while taking note that there were black skinny jeans on his body and furthermore, the interaction between Marm and Joh.

Marmy wagged her tail, barking in some form of an affirmative as she licked and sniffed and nibbled at his nimble fingers.

"Her name's Marmalade, but we call her Marmy or Marm. Marmalade's when she's being a little terror, isn't that right, Marm?" Addie joked, leaning down to scratch the chocolate coloured fur before getting back up and leading them out of the hallway and into showing off the flat. "Just got the telly and what have you a week ago or thereabout." There was a hint of hesitation as it was clear that Éloi was spoiling the young witch and she didn't want to really admit it.

"So. Wha'cha think, Mr. Storm? Acceptable?"

"Nothing bad, I promise." Johann defended himself, though his tone was relaxed. "It's more that I can warn you off her." He chuckled, and followed Addie up the hallway.

Knowing very little about televisions other than the brief shopping trip Colin had taken Johann with him on to help select a replacement for the flat, he nodded in uninformed approval at the living room.

Marm followed them obediently and curiously around as Addie gestured this way and that to their surroundings.

"You've got a rather lovely place indeed!" He agreed, feeling he'd underestimated either the amount of money Addie had to date, or her new job.

"The rent must be pretty steep though? Not exactly the cheapest part of London." He gestured towards the front door and any nearby window with a quizzical look. He'd walked a good proportion of the distance from a safe place to apparate.

"Not lonely living on your own?"

"The rent must be pretty steep though? Not exactly the cheapest part of London."

It wasn't, to be completely honest, but when your employer hands you the keys to his flat and says it's yours to maintain, you really ought not to say 'no,' Addie had supposed at one point. "Aye, it's nice enough and aye, a bit more steep than living in Monks. However, this is close to work and well, it's .... different. Living at the Radford place with Fauna, Brett and the twins wasn't so bad, but it was still a little lonely considering they were at work being trainees while I stayed about doing housework." She smiled sadly for a moment, still lamenting more of the real reasons it felt lonely, but soon shook it off with Marmy nudging her leg soon enough.

"Marm's been a nice flatmate, there's no doubt. But. Not the same as having someone to talk to physically and can likewise talk to you in return." A whine from the furball caused Addie to pick her up and ruffle the chocolate fur. "Oh hush. You know I love you and I'm certain Uncle Joh does too, y'brat."

"I bet," Johann agreed to her thoughts of it being quiet while the others had been out at the Ministry each day. He'd go spare in such a situation, he had to be busy, whether it was reading something or exploring, or better still, working.

"Having a job makes life a little easier, routine, colleagues, purpose…" Adelia was fussing the dog however by their feet in the neat and tidy flat.

"Er.." He uttered, from above as Addie assured the canine that he loved it. He'd just become the dog's uncle…

When Adelia looked round at him again, he gave his usual boyish grin, but didn't feel the same need to fuss the dog as its owner did. He was accustomed to dogs with living one, but still had no particular affectionate feelings towards interacting with dogs outside of his own household.

"So, dog rather than roommate then. I see, well, I suppose it doesn't answer back." He shrugged, and stepped away, landing his backside on the sofa and folded one long leg over the other.

"Never quite had the interest in pets. I prefer things to answer back." He mused, sitting forward a little and adjusting the cushions on the sofa before leaning back again and looking up to Adelia and the dog.

"We going to have a break between episodes to let him out for a walk then? Probably for the best." Johann had learned the hard way that being distracted and forgetting to take the dog out resulted in a silent footstep, worst to be experienced in socks.

"Where do you want to start in the series, anyhow?"

Addie grinned as Marmy's gender was incorrectly guessed. Shaking her head, she smirked upwards to Johann. "Just so you know, Marm is a girl, y'nit. That said, I'm willing to forgive you and as for the series, where are you so far with Colin?" Addie soon moved away, grabbing for a bottle of butterbeer for both herself and Joh. Handing it over, she grinned once again. "Slainte." Taking a gulp down, Addie waited for a reply while looking over to the clock. Hm. Takeaway was taking a bit, which could mean a dock in tip.

Bark! Bark! Bark!

Jerking her head over to the door as four feet scampered to the door, Addie took back the thought as she followed after Marmy with the money. "Be right back, aye?"

Arriving moments after the pup, Addie was handing over the payment with the tip still intact. Smiling and ushering a quick 'thank you,' Addie shut the door with the side of her hip, trying her best to not trip over Marmy who was clearly in the mood to sniff at the food in her owner's arms. "Mooooooove, Marmalade!" was the quickly given command before putting the brown paper bag onto the island counterspace. "Are you hungry? Got us dumplings, hot and sour soup?"

"A girl? A hundred apologies to the hound!" Johann grandly gestured from the sofa in apology, the sarcasm laced with the over the top gesture was comedic rather than anything nasty.

"Up to scratch, Colin wouldn't let me be anything else. We caught up on the Christmas special on Boxing Day as I wasn't home on the day," he'd been having Christmas lunch with Hannah's parents and Hannah, and getting down on one knee and proposing to her in an elaborate and confusing afternoon.

"Then the new year's special while I was nursing a hangover from the St Mungo's do, and Colin his 'moon hangover' or whatever you can call it." He quoted with his fingers in the air. "Tennant bloke metamorphed into this shorter, dark haired young chap, who looked a bit like someone I'm sure I've met recently."

Addie was returning with the butterbeer for them both and he received it with a grateful nod, clinking the necks before toasting her and raising it to his lips.

In an instant the hound, gender now correctly ascertained, launched itself towards the front door, followed by owner. Both returned moments later, bringing Johann's inquisitive eye roaming from the comfort of the sofa to a halt.

"Have you ever known me to be hungry?" Johann asked without thinking it through before he opened his mouth. He apologetically hopped up from the sofa, features and tone softening as he looked to see her,
"Sorry, that was stupid of me, I meant, of course I'm hungry, and sounds delicious."

He did his best to help sort things out so the two of them had portions, though he did rather ensure Adelia had a bit more than he did. Not because he feared dislike, but only because he feared his appetite would not be up to expectation and might cause offence.

"Do you often spend time eating foreign food and discussing flying blue boxes with boys?" He asked gently "or is this rather unique?"

Addie watched the looks that Johann was giving off and on during the exchanges between Whovian episodes, Marmy smarmy times, food distributions, and the general snarkies (playful this time, Addie noted). Hm. This was nice, to be honest; to have someone who she could enjoy a show with other than her immediate family and to discuss with the series and theories.

"Ah, yes. Eleven. He's a bit interesting. No doubts about that. Poor Donna, tho, eh? Also. Not ginger again. Heh." Addie snickered on the ginger bit, stuffing a dumpling into her mouth, munching. Marmy barked briefly, only for Addie to look/grunt a mouthful 'no' before swallowing and looking to Johann once more. "Sorry about that. Now. About the end of Ten, what's your thoughts, theories? I'm quite interested t'know, Mister Ministry Multilingual."

"Oh yes," Johann remembered, Adelia prompting his memories. "To have to forget everything, frightening. So much lost. But it worked out in the end, in a strange sort of way. Colin tells me it does that these days."

Smiling broadly at her coughed confession, he tried to put her at ease,
"Aha, I see," before listening to her question with a thoughtful expression.

"Theories?" He queried, "I have to admit, and perhaps I'm in the minority, but I don't tend to theorise on Muggle fiction." The lanky figure gave a shrug, "perhaps it is because I don't frequent internet forums or fan logs."

He meant, blogs, but had forgotten the differentiation. "They seem to explode at regular intervals, for instance to discuss the choice of Muggle who is to represent the character of the Doctor, and which attractive young woman should be the companion." He picked at the food thoughtfully, and chewed for a good few seconds on the same mouthful.

"Somehow, too many endings seemed to get wrapped up, in my opinion. What about you?"

Fan...logs? Surely he meant blogs. Right? Blinking and shaking her head to dismiss and avoid being rude, Addie simply took a drink of the butterbeer and swallowed everything down, down, down. Now, then. Theories of Johann were quick, brief and to the point (not very surprising, but by now, well used to it), whereas Addie had swarms of them waiting to be applied. However, the young witch knew she didn't want to drown one of her best friend's in them.

That said.

"The girls in the fandom are always going want a good looking Doctor and the lads an equally gorgeous companion. As for me, truthfully? I liked this Doctor, Rose, really liked Jack (which was quite said in a dreamy, 'do want' manner, and Donna. Martha grew on me, but Donna and Jack were amazing to say the least."

Addie paused. "...I've rambled a bit, hm? Must be pretty clear that I've missed you....especially to have someone to talk to, with even, that was here before all the things..."

"You think that's rambling?" Johann retorted, a long-fingered hand poised over the food as he stared in surprise at Adelia, "have you seen those logs? They're the length of Ministry research papers."

He glanced down and smiled a little to himself.
"Jack was alright, yes, bit of a charmer, liked his uniform…" He nodded, thinking back to the character on screen.

"And I'm glad you've missed me. Out of sight out of mind, they say, and certainly wasn't the case for me." He smiled at her genuinely, his bright eyes meeting hers.

"I am genuinely, really very sorry to hear about Amherst," Johann wasn't sure to use his first name, he had been dodging the subject for fear it would upset her, "whatever happened to the poor boy, I hope he's in peace." Despite not having eaten a mouthful for a few minutes, Johann swallowed at the thought.

"The two of you didn't deserve that to happen."

"Yes, silly man, I have. And may or may not have contributed to them once or thrice during the summers, waiting to go back to Hogwarts. It's not the same though physically discussing them," Addie reasoned, smiling at Johann with an amused grin. Hearing his interpretation of Jack was particularly interesting and made Addie begin plotting the idea to get someone in the family to make him the jacket.

After all, Johann looking military and spiffy? It could work!

"That said, I've missed going on adventures with you. Parliament, Tate Modern? I don't know if I want to be in the IMC much anymore, but I do know I don't want to stop travelling with someone who makes history exciting."

With that, she grabbed another dumpling, munching it up while hearing Johann express the loss of Matty. The young witch's smile stayed as it was more of gratitude and nostalgia than anything else. "....thank you. I, like you, hope he's at peace. That he's happy and not suffering. Er, if-if he did? There are days I still believe he'll walk through that door and I'll be able to hold him again. But, I know it probably won't happen, so I rely on the memories we did share." What she wasn't saying is she dreamt of him in the past, but when they even stopped, Addie had to move all reminders in an old military metal lockbox inside the closest.

Her eyes were now sad, misting. Not that it had been Johann or her fault for discussing him, but that the Ministry truly had never given her better closure, better understanding of what may have happened.

The change in Adelia's tone was noticeable, and the voices in Johann's head ticked him off for bringing up the subject. Trouble was, it was something he'd wanted to say to Adelia for a long time, really, sincerely and not amongst a coffee shop, but alone.

He reached his left hand across the surface and found her right hand, eyes seeking hers.
"For what it's worth, you seem to be doing well despite everything. I'd like nothing more than to go back to those little excursions with you." He confirmed.

Even if he was now committing some of his time to meeting Arcturus, to indulge in something closer than friendship that was new, and intriguing. If he was off with Adelia, people might presume they were more close, and not suspect anything else, the two wizards wanting to keep a lid on things while they navigated new territory. Besides, there was also that question of how they met hanging over the pair.

As he thought about it, how he met Adelia was barely any better - considering she was his responsibility to train and supervise as a minor while she had been at school.

"Would take two minutes to apparate over to some of those places they film Doctor Who, after all." He suggested, forgetting if Addie had her license or not yet. "Cardiff isn't it?"

"For what it's worth, you seem to be doing well despite everything. I'd like nothing more than to go back to those little excursions with you."

A sniffle and somewhat weak smile appeared. "Are you willing, able even? I mean, it's not going to be the Ministry excursions we took, is it? Miss Murray surely wouldn't be opposed to it. But. If you can't do it like that, maybe find once a month for us to go places? I'm sure my employer isn't going to be against me doing that - after all, I'm clearly proving to be an excellent employee for them." And then some, she added inside the confines of her brain.

"Would take two minutes to apparate over to some of those places they film Doctor Who, after all. Cardiff isn't it?"

"Mm, yes. Wales. I remember going once or twice on holiday to Wales, but don't think I was too interested with Who then like I am now. Of course Da being Da was absolutely enthralled with it all -- which, to explain Who to Mum and her family is a bit tricky. The dynamics, explanations of how a madman in a blue police box can pluck people up and go gallivanting through time without breaking secrecy laws gets pretty amusing. So. I suppose that's why Da, Alfie, myself, and his family only talks about it."