Thread originally written June 08 - June 17 2013

"I'm going on a date," Elixa informed her housemate, though she was pretty sure he wasn't listening. Rain pounded on the windows, whatever anyone said about Spring coming, clearly didn't also mention squalls of water falling from skies. She would ask the divination shop beneath them when she saw the next, if they saw this coming, just to be a pain.

She checked her appearance in the mirror hanging on the wall beside the coats at the top of the flight of stairs that led down to the front door and the street beyond, her wand tip lighting as she did for better light in the evening dimness.

"Don't wait up, might not be back until tomorrow." Her jewellery jangled gently as she flicked her wand over her head and down herself, casting waterproofing charms. Having heard no answer from her housemate who was in his favourite place reading a book in their open plan living room,

"Did I mention I'm in a relationship with a hippogriff?" Just a test to see if he was listening, and laughed. "I'll see you tomorrow probably, have a good night in." She gave him a wave of one hand, adjusted her cloak over her outfit and pattered down the stairs to the front door, the same jingle following her down before the familiar sound of their front door opened and closed, letting the roar of rain rush up the stairs for a moment along with her exclamation of dismay at the weather.

The rain continued to fall, pooling in the cobbles of Diagon Alley, streaking down the mismatched slate roofs and rattling down guttering as steadily pages of the healer's book continued to turn in the living room up above street level.

Then, suddenly the thud of the front door being opened in a hurry and then shut heavily, the windows above jolting with the vibration through the brickwork. Rustle, who had been quite content until then, was instantly alert.

Unsteady, irregular footsteps ascended the stairs accompanied by heavy breathing of someone who had just run a stretch for the first time in months, and had realised despite their moderated food intake, was still as unfit as ever.

There was a familiar thud of a bag on the floor as Johann reached the top of the stairs, turning to the left, but his ascent hadn't included his usual cheery greeting along the lines of querying anyone being home, or being back. Instead he surveyed the living room to see Arcturus with a look of guilt.

"Sorry, sorry I'm late…" He apologised in a mumble, and winced, gritting his teeth. His hair was plastered to his head from the heavy rain, and a deep red smear was running down the side of his pale face and had stained his coat collar above a budding black eye.

"I ran into a bit of bother." His hand went to the side of his face, long fingers gingerly touching where the strikes had landed. He turned to the mirror Elixa had examined her own appearance in only fifteen minutes before and sucked air through his teeth at his face before limping over towards the kitchen table, not taking his coat off but sitting down and making a face. He wasn't going to kiss Arcturus with a face like this.

"Turns out not everyone appreciates me being able to understand other languages when they're using them to try and prevent aurors arresting them. Apparently you don't want them to know where you've hidden the rest of the proceeds of your crimes." Johann complained.

He placed his hand gingerly on the top of his head which had taken the brunt of the blow and was making him see stars.
"Turns out they generally have a good memory for faces, and hexes." He took a deeper breath, "And that those cobbles are not only slippy, but really hurt when you go arse over tit on them." He'd have a cracking set of bruises on his knees and hip, and his knuckles were grazed from trying to defend himself. Drawing his wand hadn't been his first thought.

Looking up from where he sat, shoulders still rising and falling visibly as he caught his breath properly from running away, Johann looked apologetic. All he'd wanted to do was floo into the Leaky Cauldron, pick up a nice bottle of wine, drink most of it himself, persuade Arc to join him a little and eat together. He wasn't even sure the wine had survived in his bag.

"Think I might need a healer. Know any?"

Arcturus would probably make a bad husband, considering how much his mind was totally engrossed with his book to the point he only heard Elixa rushing about and talking, but not listening to what she was saying. Not even when she told him she was dating a hippogriff. It would take much more than that to budge him from a book.

He continued reading, the rain providing a a constant, but soothing, level of background sound that unconsciously fed his mind the information that the world around him was safe and still existed. That, and it was the perfect soundtrack. The world's own music, natural, undamaging, peaceful...

...only to be interrupted by the door downstairs thudding again. Rustle, curled up and resting on his owner's stomach, sat up with his overly large ears angled towards the source of the sound, his yellow eyes staring unblinkingly at the stairs. Arcturus mumbled a soft complaint and resumed reading - or tried to, as the heavy footsteps progressively got louder. He looked up irritably at the noisy intruder, and his expression changed to that of shock when he saw Johann.

He watched the man look at himself in the mirror, and then limp over to sit down at the kitchen table, talking all the while. Arcturus' mouth was slightly open but he hadn't realised. He just sat and stared at Johann as Rustle looked up inquisitively at his owner.

It took a few minutes for Arcturus to say something after Johann had finished. "I swear, one of these days your little side ventures is going to get you killed." He lifted Rustle off his stomach and put him down on the carpet; the kneazle sat down and watched his owner mark his page with a bookmark before setting it down on the chair and heading over to Johann. "Get your coat off, you're soaked and I don't want you catching a cold or fever. Now."

He didn't wait for Johann to say anything; his wand was out of his pocket and already at work. "Arefax."[1] This was aimed at his sodden hair, which sprang back up from the sudden lack of water. "Tergeo."[2] The blood vanished from his face. "Sano."[3] The cut began to close. "Don't move. Frendo subvenio."[4] The bruise around his eye began to fade. Arcturus pointed his wand steadily at each spot, unhesitating and calm as if he was back at St Mungo's doing his job.

Arcturus caught sight of Johann's grazed knuckles. He gently took the man's hands into his and waved his wand, muttering the incantations under his breath with a studied, focused concentration. The blood slowly vanished as the skin closed over, steady and firm.

"Anywhere else?" he said curtly. Questions later, he'd been trained to deal with injuries at once and this was what he was doing. "If you need to drop your trousers, do it. I'm sure our neighbours won't mind seeing your arse in the window since you've already run back here in the rain without much of your dignity." He looked amused while saying this, despite his dry tone.

1.	Lexicon link.
2.	Siphon charm.
3.	Lexicon link.
4.	Relieves bruises.

Johann gingerly obliged as Arcturus took charge of him. Had he been returning to an empty residence he'd have more likely caught his breath and then gone and sat under a warm shower for a while, seething at the sting of cuts before he'd even attempt investigating the damage. It paid dividends to be on the way to spend your evening curled up with a healer.

His familiar coat flopped heavily over one of he other kitchen chairs, pulling at the back of it so it almost unbalanced with the weight. As he was doing it, he felt a warm breeze of air about his ears and the prickle of magic. Obediently, he stood still and closed his eyes, holding his breath too as Arcturus attended to the red bruise that had been forming in the eye socket.

Off came his deep grey jacket, the pale cream shirt beneath was only a little damp from his own perspiration, the other two layers keeping it dry from the rain.
"Thank you," He uttered, the syllables just forming spoken words out of whisper, head dipped, watching his hands heal before him with marvel and a calmness for the physical contact. He felt safe to be stood in the kitchen with he other man, he always did.

"Probably," He replied, and blushed with the embarrassment of how he had always been rather awful at wandwork and defending himself. The only recent success had been Cythia Bombay's pig snout when she'd threatened to obliviate him.

"You won't either." He quipped in response to the comment about his backside. But, never being too bothered about a state of undress, he slid one foot and then he other from his shoes, unbuttoning his shirt.
"I hadn't meant to start the evening like this, honestly," He appealed, though that was probably obvious, "But stripping off in the kitchen for you was probably more than I'd anticipated at this time."

The corner of his mouth curled and the shirt slid from his shoulders before the same for his belt and suit trousers until he was stood in a pair of dark socks and boxers, clothes strewn over the backs of chairs.

While the other man was preoccupied with the grazes, Johann caught sight of Rustle observing the scene and the signs of Arcturus having been indulging in his favourite evening pastime of reading. He felt a burden for once again being the one getting into pickles. He admired his Badger's way of routine, and had learned to fit round them - and interrupt them at opportune moments.

"I owe you one, I've also interrupted your reading." Johann winced gingerly as he flexed one leg and then the other, turning on the spot until they were satisfied the visible damage was healed. Not much could be done for Johann's dignity.

"I'm sorry." He repeated, meeting the other man's gaze, reaching out to touch his lover's cheek gently, not caring he was still undressed and he neighbours opposite might see.
"Thank you," He added softly, closing the gap to allow for his lips to find the healer's. "Not sure what I'd do without you these days."

Arcturus did not immediately reply Johann, but a corner of his mouth curled upwards as he stood back to give the man some space to undress. The lopsided smile of amusement didn't fade as he set to work on the bruises on his legs, although it did lose some of its amusement in exchange for concentration. He had to kneel, and was thankful Johann turned on the spot without being asked to.

"Interrupting my reading's nothing," he said. "Books will be there. Your injuries have greater priority. If I cared for my paperwork more than I cared for the people I needed to look after, I'd never get anything done." He got to his feet. "There."

Johann's apology caught him off-guard, and so did his touch. But when the man leaned forward and he felt lips brushing his, he silently responded by kissing him back. Ever since they had started doing that, Arcturus had somehow felt the urge to keep doing it, no matter what it led to. It was interesting, it piqued his curiosity at how many sensations there were in such a small area, and by Zeus did it give him a deep-seated thrill of the sheer intimacy. It was like a sweet treat to him - and goodness, did he have a massive sweet tooth.

He broke the kiss after a minute or so. "Now get those clothes back on. Sorry to disappoint, but I'm not having a make-out with you in front of the windows." Johann knew why. Arcturus loved his privacy; anything in such a public area, even if it was in his own kitchen, made him nervous and panicky. Not even drawing the curtains would make him any less nervous. "Go and take a shower, you still smell of blood. I'm only glad I've already eaten." He eyed Johann. "Have you?"

Kissing really didn't get old, which surprised Johann, because he'd always observed it to be repetitive, potentially sloppy and wet. But once the two of them had got past the initial stages of working out what they enjoyed and go a little more used to the mutual rhythm of such an encounter, it became far more dignified.

His heart still skipped and the hairs on the back of his neck prickled even when it was just a peck, just as much as his whole body sang with anticipation when it happened behind closed doors.

Johann didn't really care he was cold, stood in his underpants and socks in the kitchen, but ever the sensible one of the two Arcturus broke the moment softly.

"Have I ever?" He replied with a grin to the other man. Arcturus knew him well. He bent over slightly and pulled one sock and then the other off, pairing them and gathering his clothes.
"Have you showered?" He asked, grin cheeky, but knew that it would be the right moment for them both to settle again and headed for the stairs to the upper floor.

"I've got a liquid dinner we can share. Let me borrow the bathroom and I'll be back." As ever, his dreadful habits received a poor audience, so he took that moment to make his way gingerly up the stairs, hoping the hot water would finish the job that the healer had so expertly begun.

Upstairs there was a lingering note of Elixa's perfume, which suggested the witch had gone out to meet someone on a potential romantic evening, given it wasn't her usual scent. If all went well she'd not be back until tomorrow.

By the time his feet pattered back down the stairs, barefoot again, but everything a little cleaner, he felt a great deal better. He rifled through his bag which had an expandable inner, placing it on the kitchen table to do so, and placed the bottle of wine down beside it, glad it had survived.

He'd brought a hunk of cheese from a place not far from the Ministry during a dash out at lunchtime that day, which also appeared. The run had given him some appetite, but never quite enough as he'd spent all of his Friday running from place to place to meet deadlines. He was tutoring others in his department with languages, and desperately needed to recruit another linguist with complimentary skills. Only trouble was that his standards were high.

It took a little more time to slice some bread and pour the wine, and he left his bag on the table, two newspapers sticking out he opening, rolled tightly, one went under his arm. He balanced the plate on top of one wine glass and carried them both through, dropping one on the table beside Arcturus before settling cross-legged at his feet on the carpet. He was at a ninety degree angle to the chair his head height roughly level with Rustle who had resumed his favourite place which he occasionally competed for with Johann, on his owner's lap.

He squeezed Arc's knee as he sat down as more of a gesture of companionship, and bit into the bread and cheese while turning his head slightly to read the spine of the book, curious. Rustle had opened an eye, so Johann offered the cat a piece of cheese no bigger than a fingertip as a peace offering.

The foreign newspaper rolled out flat over the floor before Arc's feet and between the rhythmic drumming of the rain on the roof and windows, Johann's munching and the occasional turn of book and newspaper pages, everything had returned back to normal until Johann sneezed and nearly knocked over his wine, apologising out of habit in German.

"Is that a long book?" He asked, politely, though ever a leading question. Much as he appreciated the mutual need for space and time to think, he was ever the one who got bored first. A newspaper filled with politics and economics would never compete with conversation, but he knew there was time for that, even if it was sleepily murmured later that night.

"Or does it have a lot of diagrams?" He asked, sitting a little straighter and peering over the top of the book in the other wizard's hands.

Arcturus gave him a look for his shower remark, but he nodded to acknowledge Johann's statement about his...dinner. He was too used to Johann coming back late and only taking drink for his food; a few times he had actually saved some of his own dinner for the man. He was considering doing it almost constantly these days, just to stop Johann from starving himself.

He went back to his chair and book as Johann disappeared up the stairs. Rustle patiently waited for his owner to settle in before leaping up softly to join him, stepping gently into his lap and lying down, a small rug of orange and white fur. He stretched and yawned before curling up into a ball, wrapping his tufted tail around himself.

Arcturus didn't hear Johann come down. Neither did he look up from his book as the man padded around preparing his food. Rustle opened lazy yellow eyes to watch Johann sit down on the carpet, with the occasional twitch of his tail. Arcturus still didn't look up at the newspaper landing on the table next to him, although he did smile a little when he felt Johann's brief touch on his knee. Johann probably didn't see it owing to the fact that the book was right in front of his face.

Johann's peace offering did not go amiss by the cat. When the fingertip was extended, Rustle raised his head to give the crumb of cheese a cautious sniff before gently taking it off his finger and gulping it down. The kind of cheese Arcturus used he disliked - it was soft, smelled weird and tasted funny[1]. So at the moment Johann was the source of the occasional treat of milky, normal cheese.

Arcturus still didn't hear much of Johann's sneeze and apology; he was lost in the various studies and history of charm-making and spell formation. He did hear Johann's questions, though, mostly because when Johann started leaning over his book like that it was hard to ignore him.

"Of course it's long," he replied distractedly. "Have you ever seen me read a book that doesn't take me a week to finish? I've been putting this one off for too long due to work. And not that many diagrams, I doubt you'd take this to your fancy, Johann."

He turned a page, gently scraping Johann's nose in the process. "I might want to stop soon, my eyes are getting tired. But for now I'm completely contented to continue scraping your nose with the edge of the pages until you move your head." And with that, and without thinking, he leaned forward and gently gave the head of curls before him a brief kiss.

Then he went back to reading as if nothing had happened.

1.	Feta cheese.

“I just thought I was proving enough of a distraction to delay your progression.” Johann retorted mildly, wriggling his nose as the page slid over the tip of his nose. His nose was just large enough to cause an obstruction and catch adequate attention from the reader staring at the pages.
 
A smile grew on the linguist’s features from the affection placed upon his hair (now clean, back to its usual appearance). He half closed his eyes and sniffed the text. Each book had a slightly different scent according to paper, acid, binding and glue, and he held fond memories of reading books when he smelled the familiar scents.
 
“I do read about spell theory occasionally,” He explained, lifting his nose out of the book and rolling a shoulder, “for private clients,” he elaborated. Most notably the translation work with Landis Morgan for Vedir Prideaux, not that he could breathe a word to Arcturus about it. It had been fascinating and frightening to work on[1].

“But you’re right, people, places, reason and language is more my thing than wandwork.” Friends would even poke fun at Johann’s favouritism over bookwork than to raise his wand. It wasn’t quite a reflex action for him as it was to others, which came in handy while he was living with Colin who banned wand use in the flat for the sake of a Muggle lifestyle. However, it would have proved more useful to wield his wand at his attackers earlier that evening, but then his Badger wouldn't have had half as much to take care of and touch.
 
“When you’re finished, let me know what you conclude. It’s keeping your interest.” A slight dig, but nothing worse than usual. He patted Arc’s foot beside him and turned back to the newspaper spread across the floor, lifting his wine glass to find it empty. Arcturus, however, hadn't seemed to touch his.
 
Co-ordinating his long legs beneath him, he returned to the kitchen barefoot. As he found the bottle, he turned back to face the other man and smiled to himself. It was nice to have company, but he did feel occasionally that he had to be quieter than he wanted to be. But, if he was bored he could always wander off, only he’d arranged his client commitments to ensure he could spend the Friday night concentrated on other things, or to be more exact, other people.

Still, it was good to know that arriving bloodied and bruised could bring Hollingbury out of a book with just enough speed that he still put the bookmark in. Johann chuckled to himself at the action earlier, but it didn't bring his lover out of his literature-induced trance.
 
He brought the other newspaper back with him and unrolled it over the first across the living room floor, tutting as he read the headlines about bank fraud.

Chrysopoeia[2] were investigating a fraud against them, framing a shot of one of the fat chief executives with an extraordinarily tall top hat speaking to press as the headline shot for the day. The other third of the page was taken up with a dashing headshot of a female celebrity who caught no interest in the reader of this copy.

Johann recognised his father scowling in the background, stood behind the shoulder of the rotund wizard with the ridiculous hat. The scars from Hannah’s attack were still visible on his face. Neither son nor father had spoken since it all in January, yet so much had changed in Johann's life, the most significant being the owner of the leg he accidentally nudged.

He lifted the paper from the floor and studied it more closely as the photo moved. It was a familiar backdrop of the bank's meeting room, a formal press call. Odd that the bank wanted to draw attention to the fraud, it looked very much as if someone had pushed their hand[3].
 
Dropping the paper to the floor with a dull flap, Johann rested his elbows on the knees of his crossed legs, and pressed his palms together as if in prayer before his thumbs came to rest on his lips in consideration as he read the article.

He couldn’t help but feel a little anxious at the content, despite the fact he was out of touch with his parents. He had compared them to being owned by the bank when he had visited between Christmas and New Year - paintings, furniture, even the house itself were down to it.

There had always been odd things going on at the bank, this was nothing new, he told himself, though the appearance of his father in the photograph suggested he was in some way responsible for the investigation.

Despite his thoughts of staying quiet while Arcturus tired his eyes out, Johann fidgeted on the living room floor. Out of sight had been very much out of mind with that aspect of his life. The arguments, his Father’s birthday, the threat of being interested in men - the dog's head in a box. Now that he was happy, with someone he trusted, he feared losing it, and he didn't want to consider it.

The new glass of wine lasted minutes and he was up again, rolling up the offending newspaper and shoving it back into his bag like it had mortally offended him. He poured the third glass and rounded the back of the armchair, peering over the back and resolutely reading the book, inching his face closer, until his breath disturbed the white hair, and then his lips the earlobe, before he started on the neck.

"Eyes tired yet?" He asked in a low voice, blue eyes glinting, knowing he was on the edge of having the book between his eyes and told to give over, or if he was lucky, those eyes would be suddenly feeling very tired indeed.

1.	Dec 23rd 2009, It is the Weight, Not Numbers
2.	wiki
3.	March 8th 2010, The Squat Little Man with the Tall Top Hat

Arcturus smiled as he listened to Johann, but as soon as the man said his concluding words he'd faded back into his book without so much as a blink. The words and diagrams began to weave their magic into the world and he soon sank back into the web of advanced spell theory.

The minutes passed and Rustle fidgeted about in his lap before jumping off to go and hunt imaginary mice in the kitchen, but the healer remained oblivious to both time and the absence of the hot-water bottle. He lifted his legs into the chair and curled up, so focused on his book he didn't notice Johann moving about. If Johann had commandeered a band of organ monkeys and tone-deaf sopranos into the room just then he probably wouldn't have heard until the draught in the room from the sopranos' breathing out tipped him off.

But when Johann's breath tickled his hair, and then the gentle touch of lips on his earlobe, he lifted his head and closed his eyes, breathing out at the sensations of Johann's lips on his neck. He'd always wondered why people did this, and Johann gave him the answer. The electric from their first time in his parents' house[1] danced its fingers along his spine, making him shudder slightly.

"Eyes tired yet?"

Arcturus half-opened his eyes and gave him a sideways look, holding Johann's gaze in his own unimpressed poker face expression. He slipped the bookmark into his place and shut the book slowly. Then he very gently put the book on Johann's face and pushed him back, all the way back as he swung his legs off the chair, navigated himself around the chair and backed Johann against the wall. One hand took Johann's, to reassure him.

Once he'd backed Johann against the wall, he stood there, still gently pressing the book to the man's face, and then in one movement swept it away, put the book down on a nearby side table and kissed Johann. This time it was not the superficial, light, shallow kiss from before; this was closer, deeper, instinctive. He wrapped his arms around the man's waist and leaned his weight against Johann's chest.

Trust. Arcturus had never trusted someone this much before. But Johann's words, over the time period since they'd met, continued to sway him into submission. You're walking into a trap, if he's got one, his mind warned. You're opening your vulnerable side to him, and people can take advantage of it. He can. What does he do when he's out there? Selling secr--

He tuned the voice out of his head. No, he told himself. I want this. Shut up.

Arcturus finally broke the kiss and looked straight into Johann's eyes. "It's Friday. I know what you want." The healer kept his gaze focused and his voice calm, but he treated Johann to a smile. "For you, I'll be tired."

1.	Maybe That's Why You Came Along, Jan 30 2010

A book to the face. Well, that perhaps was't what he was hoping for, but the pull of the other man's earlobe between his lips and the gentle kisses down his neck had brought the chapter to an abrupt halt. The bookmark was back between the pages. A victory of sorts.

Rather than fight, he stepped away, adopting a bemused expression from behind the book's cover and put a hand behind his back to check for anything behind in his way as he was pushed away.

His other hand soon had fingers entwined with it, and his back met the wall. Hello there! Unless he was about to be adhered to the wallpaper with a sticking charm to be kept put, this was a victory indeed, if only the book would -

One might compare Arcturus Hollingbury to a tap: two states, on or off. Dry, or a torrent. However, Johann had taken efforts since things had begun to try and pay attention. Strangers were fascinating, friends and family, he tended to miss things out of arrogance that he knew it all. But this relationship had made him sit up straight and kept his mind wondering - there were subtle shades.

Where there had once been nerves and trembling hands, hurried whispers and apologies, and then, sometimes, laughter not at each other, but to release the tension and set the other at ease, a mutual understanding, there came a time when words were almost interruptions.

As Arc's hands found his waist over his shirt, Johann's left arm found the other man's back, hand sliding up from the small of it to between his shoulder blades, the other hand instinctively to pull the longer hair out of the way and draw them closer as his breath was taken away. What a beautiful, intense reaction to his interruption through boredom.

He chuckled at the words, meeting the other man's eyes, more on a level for Hollingbury's lean into him.
"You always know what I want," Johann replied, resting his forehead against the other man's for a moment, smiling, "you just make me play the game to get it. Though," he raised his head and peered towards the table, "that book did look rather interesting after all…" He made a fractional movement, lifting his fingers away from the nape of the other man's neck as if to reach for the book, but it was all in jest.

"No, you have your safe, intellectual routines, and I have mine… I just…" He reached up with his right hand and stroked away his lover's hair with his fingertips, studying every little detail of the other man's face with his keen eyes.
"… You just skip the queue." His voice was gentle, and his eyes half closed, accompanied by a contented smile before their lips found each other again.

"Never gets old." He admitted, still smiling. "Are we staying upstanding, or would you care to move to the sofa lie in my arms and explain theoretical charms to me?" The other option was to proceed straight to stairs, bypassing sofa, but there was a long night ahead of them, and wine to drink.

He didn't mean the explaining would be in complete sentences.

Johann's hand on the back of his neck just added more to the electric. He strengthened the intensity of kiss, just a little, before they broke apart.

"Oh, I don't play games with you," the healer said, smiling. "You know I prefer it when you make the first move. It just feels better." He smiled wider at Johann's comment, a knowing, understanding smile on the subject.

And then again another kiss. He closed his eyes again for this one; the sheer sensations were worth the lack of vision.

"I've just noticed the wine, actually." Arcturus smirked slightly. "I don't usually drink on Fridays, but I'm willing to do it just to ease up for later. Still a bit tense and stiff from having curled up in the chair for too long." He leaned more of his weight against Johann, breathing deeply and gently pressing his lips against Johann's neck.

Of all things, this was probably why he felt he could trust Johann. He'd never felt so safe in the presence of anyone apart from his family. And he trusted him enough to want Johann's touch, and know that he would be all right. He took Johann's hand from his hair and slipped it around his own neck; the other hand he let it rest around the small of his back. As he ran his hands up the back of Johann's neck, he whispered in the man's ear, breathing gently.

"Just...invite me." Arcturus closed his eyes. "Politeness earns more anticipation from me, I have to say." He brushed his lips up Johann's neck, closing his eyes completely. Waiting for Johann to take his cue.

Johann took that as a compliment, considering Arcturus had once described himself as being viewed as asexual by colleagues, that he enjoyed the linguist's approaches.

"There's more ways than wine to unwind stiff necks, you know…" He caressed the neck in question which his hand had been placed on, as Arcturus found Johann's with his lips, and he found he couldn't continue the sentence for an involuntary sigh of delight "… I actually read up…" He managed but his voice seemed far away and detatched

Later, he told himself.

"The sofa, Arcturus. Now." With the last word he pushed firmly back, taking that lead to instigate. "Otherwise we'll be going upstairs before I or the wine has had a chance to unwind you adequately…"

They fell into one of their usual positions, Johann propped up on his elbow, back to the sofa cushions, Arcturus lying on his back beside him. Their faces were close enough to read each other's expressions, talk without too much volume, lips within easy reach, and their hands were free. Their legs entwined, Johann's bare toes explored his lover's feet for a moment before settling, a hand on the other man's chest.

"Tell me why your keen, learned mind wants to read about charms when your presence drives me to distraction. I'm not going to go and get myself beaten up every evening to get your attention, though the healer and patient thing has taken a bit of a twist in recent weeks." He'd rambled off away from his intended question, fingers lifting to trace from temple, round an ear and then down that delicious neck he enjoyed.

"Truly intriguing, and the book too." He grinned, shifting his weight so that his body was pressed against Arcturus enough to feel the rise and fall of each other's breath.

Arcturus obliged Johann's request, retreating to the sofa with a small smile playing gently on his lips. He technically wouldn't have minded if Johann had immediately tugged him upstairs, but after the last few weeks he'd learned that it was just more enjoyable this way.

He loved having the man's presence nearby just as much as he enjoyed his books. On the sofa, at such close proximity, his warmth relaxed him. He felt Johann's feet touch his and reciprocated, gently encouraging Johann to do whatever he liked.

The trail Johann's fingertip made down the side of his head sprinkled little shivers down his spine; he half-closed his eyes to enjoy it as he listened to Johann. He savoured these moments, and when Johann moved closer he smiled.

"No, don't constantly get yourself thrashed, please." Arcturus looked at him, opening his eyes a little more. "I'd really prefer if bodily fluids stay in the hospital. I know you have your 'little' things to do, but at least have some self-preservation, maybe?" He was smiling when he said this, as a joke. "I like charms. It was one of my favourite subjects in school, still is now. Most healing spells are charms, after all."

His eyes drifted to the ceiling. "I just...entertain the idea of making spells. I'm a potioneer at heart, we experiment as much as possible so why not try it with magic? And, as of recent, trying this entire relationship out with you." The healer raised his eyebrows with a smirk at Johann. "All of it piques my curiosity, maybe in the same way you seem so intrigued with my body."

Johann shifted his head on his hand, his other one had come to rest across Arc’s torso, pausing as he concentrated on the explanation, eyes running over every little variation in skin tone and expression, and the way his lips formed words. People, and especially Arcturus Hollingbury were fascinating.

“I’m not only intrigued with your body, our bodies together and so on,” Johann replied in a relaxed tone, prodding Arcturus gently with his fingertip at the top of his stomach, “it was your mind that caught my attention, my dear.” He smiled softly and kissed his forehead. “Every little more you share with me excites me, and in turn the disclosure on my part in trust to you does the same.” He murmured, and kissed again.

“I could interpret what you said as implying I am one of your experiments, Healer Hollingbury. But I’ll gladly be it if you’ll let me stay.”

His fingertips found the other man’s hand and studied the fingers and knuckles with interest, as if he’d not done the same the last time they’d laid entwined. Those little changes, nicks and cuts, shadows of ink, the faint smell of potions – though as a healer his hands were rarely blemished – were a constant preoccupation.

Johann’s in comparison were forever collecting paper cuts and ink stains, though he kept them generally clean. Although his work was meticulous in its outcome, the process of getting there, his way of working, seemed chaotic, and he took no care of his hands, much like the rest of him. He had explained his methods of working one manic night to Arcturus, eyes alight, unsettled, when he had been forced to interrupt their evening together with an urgent private client demand for some customs paperwork to be filed. It had been one of those nights he had laid awake in bed, and would otherwise have been a relapse if he didn't dare lose his lover for it.

Thankfully the paperwork had been all above board, he was not in any hurry to disclose criminal matters to Hollingbury, the other man didn’t need to have that worry, even if he took things in his stride to date. The stress having that legitimate work interrupt their time had been enough.

“You should create some spells then. I could introduce you to a few unspeakables who think I don’t know what their role is. I’m sure the lot of you could have one of those confidential conversations that never happened.” As he spoke he wasn’t looking at Arcturus but down his body at their hands and then peered up to see the reaction.

"Experiment? Ha." Arcturus shifted a little at Johann's prodding, but said nothing about it. "More of observations, Johann. If I really wanted to experiment I'd try to analyse all this in the least attractive way possible." He closed his eyes. "But I share the sentiment that we have mutual trust. And I'm glad that my mere extrapolations on various plant and animal-based ingredients are enough to excite you, even the more boring parts of it."

He looked down to watch Johann touching his hand. For some reason the linguist enjoyed having a look at them, and Arcturus was not objecting. He would touch his skin, run his fingertips over his knuckles, his digits, his joints, every single detail, every single mark. H'd even noticed the odd scent, such as the one time Arcturus had returned after spending most of his work day experimenting with valerian root.

The healer had once wondered if Johann, by now, had guessed the colour of his favourite ink. Arcturus eschewed the typical ink most healers used for the ever-cheap copperas. Mordecai had once joked it was the signature Hollingbury ink, but in truth it was because the Hollingburys had never been the kind of people to splurge on ink. They'd always made it themselves, and it had become a part of the family over time. These days they were a little less poverty-ridden, but once in a while Lydia or he would make some for personal use. He was possibly the only healer who brought his own ink from home.

In turn, Johann's hands bore signs of paper cuts, both fresh and old. Like Arcturus he had the calluses on the joints of his fingers where the quill had rested, indicative of long periods of writing. The paper cuts were even bigger indicators; Arcturus came home with accidental knife nicks on occasion and knew the difference between the two. He was surprised Johann hadn't started complaining about the reek of goat's liver or augurey gizzards yet.

"I don't like dealing with Unspeakables," he said, lying his head back down and closing his eyes. "In fact, I don't like dealing with the Ministry as a whole. There's something about the place that I don't fancy, which is why you'll never catch me in the Ministry."

Johann's eyebrows raised a little at the firm reaction, not meaning to induce irritation at all.
"Sorry, I …" He gave a little sigh. "A slip of my mind."

He shuffled down a little, resting his head beside Arc's, and then snuck it onto his shoulder ever so slightly, an arm round the other man's waist.
"I try not to talk about the Ministry, but, does the fact I work there, dismay you?" He asked, sounding genuinely worried. His ear was pressed to the other man's shoulder, listening to the air pass in and out of his chest.

"Because I can stop, I used to just have private clients, I could make enough if I stopped working and took on more…" he lifted his head and landed it back beside Arcturus' head on the sofa cushions, restless.