The day had arrived. They had been exchanging owls since the set-up dinner that Mai had planned, and had decided on a day to get together again. Without Mai breathing down their necks, full of the best intentions and smug satisfaction that her plans seemed to be coming together.

Cal found himself standing in front of the bathroom mirror for the seventh time that hour, making sure that he hadn't messed up his dark hair when he changed into his fourth outfit. He was unsure why he had nerves, as he and Akiva were simply meeting to get to know each other more. The word "date" had never even been mentioned by either of them. He checked his watch and realized that it was almost time for them to meet up. Being late would not give the best second impression.

Taking the steps two at a time, he hurried out of Mai's house shouting a hasty "good bye" to his 'siblings' and exited the home. Once outside (and looking both ways to make sure that no one was watching) he Apparated to Akiva's house, and took a deep breath before knocking on the door. You've got this, Cal. The sun peaked out of the clouds, and he hoped that the rain would hold off a bit longer as it otherwise was a perfect almost-summer day. A dimpled grin was slapped across his face to hide away any trace of nerves, and he quickly ran his fingers through his hair to make sure that it hadn't gotten mussed during the Apparition.

Dropping off Gabriel with her parents had been a simple task.  They enjoyed taking him for the day and her father had mentioned something about the London Zoo.  She knew he would like that - of course, she had to remind them to put sun cream and make sure he was wearing a hat... to which her mother informed her she had raised one child perfectly well.  Akiva couldn't help it though - Gabriel was the best of her life - she'd die if something happened to him.  One could only tolerate so much!  But, she had plans and she'd had to speed off, leaving a lipstick grease stain on her son's cheek before she returned to her home in order to prepare.   

Adding another layer to her already complicated life, however, was not something Akiva  had anticipated up until Mai got ideas in her head and it didn’t necessarily work… but it did.  It wasn’t like it was a date that word had not been uttered in their conversations.  Akiva felt weird about it in that respect and when she got dressed into what she and Mai had agreed upon the previous day, she twisted her wedding band set around her finger several times as she looked in the mirror.

She had never taken them off.  There was no question or ambiguity about her status as a person who was married.  Is married?  She didn’t really know how she felt about it, considering she’d been told time and time again that all likelihood was that her husband was dead.  Seven months in, that seemed to be far more true and likely than anything else.  She relented with her anxious habit, throwing her hands down by her side, examining herself once more (for the thousandth time). 

There was nothing to be nervous about, she reminded herself, and Akiva fixed her hair individual strands of hair once more before she finally moved away from the mirror and trotted downstairs – hoping to feed the animals before Callum arrived.  Gordon trotted around her feet, purring as he mewed for kibble and Lady waited patiently by her bowl, as if there was another option for a dog with that namesake.  Akiva made quick with that task before heading into the living room and sitting on the couch, taking a very deep breath. 

There was nothing to be nervous about. But, even knowing that, it didn’t mean she didn’t pull a compact out of her clutch to make sure her lipstick hadn’t smudged on her upper teeth. Once inspection passed, it was as though a seer had orchestrated the knock on the door and Akiva felt a nervous pang shoot through her.  Nothing to be nervous about! she repeated again and stood, smoothing her skirt out, tapping her wand to the many locks and latches that had been installed by her husband and brother-in-law.  Once she finally got the door open, she smiled with a very smooth and charming greeting of: "Hey."

Cal stopped breathing momentarily when he heard the sounds of locks and latches moving, but still managed his most winning smile to Akiva while rocking slightly on the balls of his feet. He noticed the ring on her finger, but didn't comment on it. Everyone was entitled to moving on in their own time. Which was a big reason why he didn't want to call their outing a "date" because he didn't want to pressure her. Or put pressure on himself, if he was being perfectly honest. Breathe!

"Hey," he returned with a grin, and with a small flourish of his wand, he murmured, "Orchideous." His mums didn't raise their boy to not bring a girl flowers. Even on a not-date. "These are for you."

He handed the flowers to Akiva, and motioned grandly towards the street. "Shall we? I've been checking up on the weather reports all week, and they've been saying that it shouldn't rain until tonight. Sooooo, fingers crossed! How are you doing?"

Even though she had told herself more than a dozen times that this wasn’t anything serious, she couldn’t help but get that sort of giggly girl smile when he produced flowers.  That was very sweet.  “Thank you so much!” she beamed, taking them and pushing her nose into the fragrant bouquet, sighing happily at the smell.  “Step in for a second, I’m going to put these in a vase.” 

Akiva was lucky enough that she kept an empty one by the hallway (usually she’d pick some flowers up, but she hadn’t had time), and she deposited the flowers very carefully into the glass and used her wand to gently fill it up with water.  “Perfect,” she smiled and arranged them a little so each blossom could be seen, mixed well with greens and turned back toward him, listening to what he was saying.

With a smile still plastered on her face, Akiva grabbed her bag and tugged it over her shoulder.  “Perfect!” she replied easily and walked through the still open door, “it’s been so lovely out, I’m glad the rain is going to keep holding off.  If we’re especially lucky, maybe it’ll stay off altogether?” she suggested with a bouncy sort of optimism, closing the door behind her and locking it with precision and speed.

“So,” she looked at him, “What’s the no-rain plan, Callum?”

The smile on Akiva's face bolstered Cal's confidence, and he felt more at ease with what he had planned. Making plans had never been one of his strong suits, but he hadn't wanted to discuss the matter with Mai as he knew the looks that she'd give him. Akiva's optimistic suggestion caused him to knock on the door quickly to avoid jinxing the outing.

"Well, I haven't been to the Southbank since I've returned, and I remembered that it was always really nice on sunny days. I figured we could walk along the Thames and there are plenty of spots to eat if we get hungry at some point," Cal informed her. "If that sounds enjoyable for you. I have to confess that I haven't been back here for long and my memory of the area is spotty at best." A small chuckle as he rubbed the back of his head.

He looked around to judge whether or not Apparition would be feasible before offering an arm to Akiva. "It's a bit of a trek to there, so I figured we'd Apparate to save ourselves some blisters."

His suggestion about Southbank sounded spot on.  Akiva dug her wand out of her bag and locked the doors (the plethora of spells to keep intruders out were activated quite quickly by now) and Akiva seamlessly managed to do that, as well as put her wand back in her bag.  “That sounds fantastic, “she encouraged, “it’s the perfect sort of day for that,” she agreed, looking up at the only slightly overcast sky. 

She closed her eyes, letting the sun hit her for a second and she let her shoulders fall.  “Spotty memory or not, you made a good choice.”  She took up a spot next to him after stepping away from the door.  It was weird to be going anywhere without her son, but nice too – refreshing.  “I haven’t been to the Southbank since…” she paused, pursing her lips, “I can’t even remember!” 

Reaching up, Akiva pushed her hair behind her ear and took his arm.  With an open mind, she willed her self to be a little less nervous (if that even worked) and nodded: “Apparating also sounds smart,” she added with a little laugh. “But I’m terrible.  I’ve always been better with floo.  Would you care to do the honors?”

---

Feel free to GMod apparating!

Cal felt the slightest pang of nerves hit when Akiva took his arm, but grinned to hide his anxiety. Apparating was something Cal was quite skilled at, which was fortunate for him when he spent as much time traveling as he had these past several years. "Really? Floo always made me feel slightly claustrophobic. But of course! Here we go!"

With a tiny -pop!- Cal and Akiva were transported to the Westminster Bridge of the South Bank. He quickly surveyed the area to make sure that no Muggles witnessed two people just appear out of thin air, before turning to Akiva. "No splinching?"

After checking to make sure Akiva was whole, he went through a mental checklist of sights to check out. "Want to check out the gardens first? Though, I've never actually been on the London Eye, have you? Haku was saying that I should check it out someday."

The woozy feeling post-apparating was not Akiva’s favorite.  She stood very still for a moment, eyes closed, and let out a deep breath, waiting for the feeling to pass a little.  “Not splinched at all,” she finally confirmed with a small, her eyes fluttering opened when she was sure she wouldn’t be sick.  Despite being over thirty years old and having her own license, she was fairly sure she’d never get used to the feeling.   

Once she was back to her senses, Akiva refocused, still holding onto his arm and listened to his suggestions about what there was to do.  She considered the gardens for a moment, but there was some kind of brilliance in the idea of the London Eye.  She hadn’t been in ages and it just sort of… peaked her excitement about being in this area.  “The Eye!” she said enthusiastically, a wide mouthed grin on her face. 

“I haven’t been in ages – and if you’ve never done it, it’s a must – in the most stereotypical way possible, that is,” she added with a little laugh.  Sure, it was probably silly and touristy and they’d be some of the very few people actually from the area at the tourist attraction, but that was fine.  Akiva never cared for destination snobbery. Taking a moment, she looked around (up a little bit, over the tops of anything in the way) and around to see what direction to go in and Akiva instantly turned toward it, perhaps tugging him a little bit as she did.  “The view is spectacular from the top,” she explained as they walked, “if we look hard enough, we can probably see my house from the top,” she wrinkled her nose – mostly kidding. 

It was fast approaching and she hoped they wouldn’t be in for too much of a wait – though she supposed there were other things to do.  Now that she had it in her mind that she wanted this to happen, she’d be disappointed if it didn’t.  “You must have seen some amazing things while you’ve traveled though,” she led in, “probably much better than the London skyline, right?”