Written collaboratively between Neon & Kit, mix of IM and PMs over a couple of weeks - edited together, hence posting each other's actions

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Rustle's nudge of the bedroom door brought it open. Across the hallway, the bathroom door was open, and the sound of rain battering down outside, rushing down onto the yard of the divination shop outside the back of the house, reached ears inside the bedroom. With the sound came a cool waft of air.

"Mmph." One occupant of the bed vocalised, still asleep, but stirred from a dream about trying to find a lost cat in the rain. Rain, ears reported. A nose twitched, rain. She inhaled suddenly on waking, lungs filling with cooler fresh air that was coming in from the hallway and meeting the warm air that had been trapped in the room.

She stretched both arms above her head, yawning, and as she did, became aware that she was sharing her bed with someone else. Sometimes she forgot, depending on the quality of the dreaming, though it wasn't unusual to share her bed with one or more others, she hadn't gone out on Friday night. Blinking and rubbing her eyes, she looked over to her bed companion and rubbed her eyes again with the back of her knuckles.



"Miranda Elliot's such a massive cow too. Arc agrees, don't you? Joh thinks she's alright. But he's unhinged... we know this." Elixa screwed the lid back on the jar in her hands, grinning between Arcturus and Johann as they stood nearby.

"What?" Her housemate asked, sounding lost.

"I'm still in the room, Lix." Johann protested dryly.

"Do I need to pardon myself so you two can have some old married couple argument time?" Arcturus asked, and Elixa's mouth curled into a grin, shaking her black curls in amusement.

"Nooooooo, mate." Johann replied lifting his hands and extending a hand out before himself, the other hand full of envelopes. ìYou can have that pleasure, I'm off." He retreated back a few paces, having not even stopped long enough to take off his coat.

"Where to?" Elixa heard Arcturus ask as she stowed the jar back into the kitchen cupboard.

"Er... y'know." She looked round to catch an awkward shrug of the shoulders from her distant cousin as he backed out of the kitchen, heading for the top of the stairs to leave.

"Joh..." Arc asked, an edge of warning, a 'don't do anything stupid' implication in his tone. Elixa interrupted.

"He's got a dragon to tame," she explained, and gave a meaningful cough, which did not save Johann's blushes. Her housemate didn't seem to understand.

"Is there something I'm not getting here...?" Arcturus asked, glancing from one friend to the other, "or am I thinking what you're thinking?" With a little sigh, Johann stopped walking backwards while he shoved his post into his familiar bag, and explained to Arc.

"She means I'm over at Balfour's tonight, which would be ... well... correct. Lovely as the sofa is." He gestured to his right at their sofa in the living room.

"It ain't as comfy as a hot wizard." Elixa explained, having moved closer to Arc, and applied her elbow gently to his ribs and winked.

"Elixa, don't...."

"Eugh...."

Neither wizard seemed too pleased to hear her say that, though it was Arcturus who asked her to stop.

"Oh come onnnn... perhaps you need to try it, Arc." She stuck her tongue out in jest, and saw Johann attempt an awkward exchange of glances with Arc from the other side of the room. Arcturus however avoided his friend's eyes, and blushed almost as much as Johann had a moment before.

"Aaaand on that note...." Johann told them both, turning on the spot. He began to head down the stairs. Elixa gave a shrug and called goodbye to the retreating form.

Alone in the kitchen together, Arcturus spoke first. "Don't do that again, Elixa."

"Why?" She asked as the front door closed below them. "You jealous?"

"No, just... that was uncomfortable."

"Oh." She looked dismayed, having meant it as a joke, not to make anyone uncomfortable. "Sorry. Was that a bit... not funny?"

"Uhm no, it's just... nah, forget it. Too long to explain." Arc replied, moving away. Elixa's mouth turned downwards, feeling bad that she might have insulted her two closest friends.

"Alright. Anything I can do to cheer you up?"

Arcturus hadn't seemed right all week. She had been making a conscious effort to be respectful, not too loud and keep things tidy. The pantry had been cleared the moment she'd got home from work on Monday, just as he'd asked. Apart from Johann sticking his head in during an evening to pick up a pile of post that had been directed to him at the address, he had not slept on their sofa since the night Arc had come home. Elixa hadn't pressed him as to why, but she had hoped he might stick around and help her cheer Arcturus up.

"Sorry, it's not you. I think of it as, uh, missed opportunities." Arcturus explained.

"Oh," she replied, thoughtful, not at all sure what was a missed opportunity... oblivious that Arc and Johann had ever been more than friends. "Missing a nice girl from your travels?"



Well, that hadn't been a dream, she thought to herself as she ran her eyes sleepily over the peaceful, beautiful form beside her. He looked so at ease, face full of worries, lips gentle, hair draped gently on the pillow, still messy. What a wonderful, unexpected surprise. She had not ever expected it to have happened in such a way, but now it had. For all the nights she'd laid alone and considered it, the reality had been quite different.

Elixa slid gently as she could, and slid her hand around a slender waist, pressing her body against his, sharing in the heat beneath the sheets, and kissed him tenderly on the forehead, just above his nose, watching gently with dark eyes as he stirred.

Arc woke up like he usually would from a deep, restful sleep, usually with an arm holding onto the pillow his head rested so that his nose was buried into the crook of his elbow. Well, this time it was not his arm that his eyes saw, but the eyes of an olive-skinned, dark-haired woman whose appearance clicked within a minute.


"No, I haven't felt in any way attracted to any of the women I've met in Malaysia. but sometimes I feel like I'm just missing out." He shrugged. "What's it to a sexually active person like you anyway?" he asked. Elixa looked up, her face showing genuine concern.

"Because I know you are missing out!” She exclaimed. “Oh Arc, well, if you're not.. then I suppose that's alright too, but, well.... It's actually a lot of fun."

She reached out to take his hands in hers, brown eyes seeking out his from below. He let her take his hands.

"That's the vaguest descriptor you can come up with ever," he informed her.

"Why, did you want me to be specific... won't that make you feel worse about 'missing out'?" she asked, still looking most concerned.

"You're talking to the guy who finds reading about charms 'fun', you do realise that right?"

"Each to their own.” She replied, frowning for the briefest of moments. “I read about market prices, you just don't see me doing it at home."

"... true, different strokes for different folks,” he echoed.

"Quite! So ... did you want me to be specific, or were you just trying to distract with critique?" She looked perplexed by the line of conversation, but eager to continue.

"Even if I wanted specifics, how do you specify fun?” Arc asked, “I can't possibly get you to understand why I like reading about charms, as much as you would with market prices. I just wonder if I'm missing out because I'd rather feel like I can trust someone first? … How do you... not feel... committed to the person you just had an intimate time with? Genuine question."

"Hrm." Her gaze dropped from his face and off to one side, and he could see she was giving this some genuine thought, as her mouth twitched to one side before she looked back again.
"Well, perhaps the best way to understand is to try,” she explained, and then squeezed his hands tight for just a moment. “Oh don't look alarmed. I just... well, I once thought it was all about trust and I suppose it rather is, if you do it properly, but to me, the fun is the more in those early moments. Sometimes you just want to have that fun without the rest that comes with it." She laughed, "a bit like eating pudding without eating your main course and vegetables, I suppose."

"...I don't think that's an adequate comparison...” Arcturus remarked, “...okay wait, I might be getting it. It's basically the idea of letting go, isn't it? Doing whatever you want and all that."

"Precisely."

"...Repercussions?"

"Well, few and far between. If one is careful, of course."

"That's not reassuring."

"I mean," Elixa gestured generally to her stomach, letting go of his right hand a moment, "to be careful. Besides, I wouldn't go with anyone. Much as it seems that way, I am a bit picky." She raised her eyebrows and smiled at Arc gently, not at all in her usual rather persistent manner of pursuit.

"Then who do you go for?" Arcturus asked in all seriousness.

"Well.... wizards, about so tall..." She cunningly gestured at Arc's height, gaze on the ceiling, then chuckled, "I've not got a checklist of required attributes, Arc, more just who catches my eye and who gives me the time of day. Who I feel at ease with... though admittedly wine does help me feel at ease with a lot more people." She shrugged and looked to be reconsidering that approach.

"Hm." He mused a while at this. "Well, I'm curious - or at least you've made me curious. But, I've always felt that I've got a lot to learn, and girls can see that. People can see that."

"For some, Arc, that's part of the attraction," she admitted, "but really, I think you'd be absolutely fine. A lot of it is about disengaging this," she touched his temple lightly and brushed his hair away from it, "and allowing the rest of it to do what it feels is right. Any girl worth her salt is going to show you how she likes it, and find out how you like it." She smiled.

"You make it sound like you're worth yours." Arc replied.

"My salt? Well, as you seem aware, I've had a bit of practice." She shrugged and blushed slightly, "but do you more mean, am I implying you are? And I think you know you are, only you don't want to believe it."

"Compared to you?" He asked. He bent down a little and gave Elixa a gentle bonk on the forehead with his, her eyes closing as he did. "Heh."


For a moment he lay there and stared at her. Then he said, "Well, I didn't expect you to be still here. Among other things, like 'did I just dream all of that?'"

She snickered softly in sleepy amusement. "You didn't expect me to be in my own bed?" She asked, figuring Arc had slept so heavily from exhaustion that he'd forgotten where he was. "Morning sleepyhead, and no," she closed in, kissing his lips gently, "you didn't dream any of it."

This morning she felt his lips had become familiar enough to no longer feel clumsy to kiss, that he pre-empted her approach to kiss in return. The touch still gave her much pleasure, but they now felt quite natural in response.  "Think we wore each other out," she explained, stretching her legs and pointing her toes, grazing his ankles with them as she did.



He slipped his hands out of hers and headed back to the sofa. She turned to watch him go, a little sad the moment was broken. It wasn't right to let the conversation end there, she decided, so trailed him across the room a moment later to sink down on the sofa beside him.

"Oh don't compare to me," she told Arc softly. "You'll always come out looking better." She winked at him.

"What makes you think that?" he asked from the other side of the sofa.

"Because I admire and respect you. I mean," she held up both of her hands to inspect them with eyebrows raised, "I just touched hands that have handled deathpods. Who have saved countless lives... but mine... well, they've held more than a few drinks and mixed enough pepperup potion to cure colds for the British population." At this admission, Arcturus looked troubled.

"I don't want to come out looking 'better'. I just want to...be the same."

"Same as me?" She asked in amusement.

"I guess." He replied, and her lips curled into a smile.

"What, you want perky tits, shorter legs and hips?" She gestured generally to her bosom, catching him glancing before he realised what she was doing.

"Wait, no, what--"

Elixa chuckled and waved a hand at her housemate. She drew her legs up onto the sofa behind her.

"I'm being silly, Arc, don't look so worried." She settled on the sofa cushion a little closer, studying the wizard a little closer, but with a soft look on her face. "Why do you want to be ordinary?

Arc pondered her question. "Hmm...I just like it. I stand out enough already with my hair, the rest of me can be just fine."

"Ever the modest wizard.” Elixa remarked, “I get what you mean. It's not fun being the centre of attention. But it's not fun to be ignored entirely either. I can't ignore my lovely housemate."

"Yes...I'm familiar with that."

She flopped down with cheek against his shoulder, without asking. "I missed you lots, you know."

"Thank you."

"You look happier since you got back. Well, you did last weekend. This week you've had the Ice Maiden of St Mungo's getting up your nose." She lifted her cheek and made a face before putting it back. Elixa wrapped her hands gently around Arc's arm above the elbow, meaning to comfort, and enjoying being close. In return he raised his arm a little.

"I...yeah. Let's not talk about that? I just don't want to lose this really nice atmosphere we've got going." He chuckled.

"Oops. Sorry." She cuddled his arm a bit, apologetic.

"Have you got a checklist?" She asked suddenly, as if there hadn't been a meander in the conversation between, "About what you like? Or ... do you mean it's pretty short?"

"...Um, what do you mean?" Arc asked, having appeared to have lost the context..

"Of who or what you like in another. You asked me, I'm curious what you think." Elixa explained without hesitation, and listened intently.

"I kind of like someone who's a bit energetic, bright, optimistic...I mean, gotta find someone who balances out my borderline pessimism." He laughed a bit and she grinned, understanding exactly what he meant. "One of my friends in Malaysia was very much like that. Apart from the usual respecting boundaries and things, I also like it if she appreciates the small things, and can enjoy slowing down in life." He mused for a bit. "I think that's it. Also, it doesn't have to be a she."

There was a pause between them on this news. That's not meant to be news to me, is it? she thought to herself and cursed inwardly. I bet Johann knew this ages ago and just didn't tell me.
 
"You're not as pessimistic as you make out you know? You brought a bit of Malay sunshine home with you." She smiled, the tone creeping into her voice. "Does life slow down?" she asked, sitting up a little and looking round, "Is that another skill with your poker face?"

He shrugged. "I'm used to taking a breather after a week of work, I'm not the kind of person who goes out to socialise when I'm already a little exhausted from having to deal with others. You know that. That's when I'd like life to slow down a bit more, and it'd be nice to have someone who enjoys that as well."

Elixa nodded. "Aw, yeah. Nights out aren't the big end all, you're right. They're fun, but they're not for everyone. I mean, it's quite nice to spend some time just the two of us, like the other night. If that doesn't sound weird...." She doubted herself a moment.

"...Didn't you have plans for tonight? Just asking." He raised an eyebrow.

"Better offer came up." She replied without hesitation, and raised an eyebrow with a smile.

Arcturus mirrored the expression with surprise. "You're not...you mean me?"

"Yes I mean you, Arcturus Hollingbury." She blinked slowly, if only so as not to stare at him, willing him not to freak out. Their eyes met for a moment; he seemed to be trying to find some meaning beyond this in her eyes.

Oh Merlin, he's freaking out. Elixa thought to herself and willed her face not to reveal her anxiety. "I missed you," she began slowly, lifting one hand from hugging his arm to place it on his shoulder very gently. "I know I act like a complete idiot towards you sometimes, but it's only because I don't know how to tell you in a way that won't send you running a mile in the other direction."

The surprise changed to a warm smile on the wizard's express. "Just like that is enough for me, Elixa. You don't have to embellish it. And honestly I missed you two, I just didn't really focus on it a lot because it was either work or get spat acidic solution at by a plant."

She kissed his shoulder gently, more out of affection, gaze averting slightly. "I know. I know how it is when you're working, and you're focused. Going away was a good thing." The witch nodded in confirmation and made eye contact again. "Can I get a hug from my favourite wizard?" she asked, feeling cheeky, but not content with hugging just his arm gently. The request received an amused look.

"If you let go of my arm." She relinquished the arm without protest, feeling most honoured. Arc brought his arms around to slip them under hers, wrapping them around her with a firmness that was akin to the hug she'd given him when he'd first returned. He closed his eyes and he rested his chin on her shoulder lightly. She wrapped hers around his shoulders, in a way glad of that combination as she would hate to stick him somewhere sore in the ribs with all his scars - well, if they hurt. She didn't dare ask. She squeezed back and laughed happily.

"You are a most excellent hugger, did you know that?" At this she gave him another squeeze, a massive grin on her face. "You are precious, Arcturus. You can be ordinary if you want, but I know the truth." She teased gently and turned her head slightly to press a kiss to his neck. In response, the healer blushed slightly and half-opened his eyes.

"What truth?"

"That you're a most wonderful wizard, of course," she replied - meaning nothing sinister at all. She leaned back a little from the hug and caught his blush. "Oh you...!" she spoke in a low voice, amused he is flattered. "You are by far the most modest, intelligent, practical, calm in a crisis person I have ever met, and all of that with a devious sense of humour that you need to unleash more often for my pleasure."

She pressed her forehead gently against Arc's as he did before, her gaze falling to the lower half of his face. Arcturus did not seem quite sure what to say to that. "Umm...thank you. Really. It's not every day I...get told that, but it's nice to hear."

"Ahh the modesty." She replied in a low voice, lifting a hand to gently stroke his cheek with the back of her fingers. At this he smiled and chuckled before brushing his lips against her nose, closing his eyes and giving her a firm squeeze.

So close, closer than she'd perhaps ever been. Her heart raced as she tried to play it cool. His lips brushing her nose made her look up, and all at once their faces were close. Too close. Her dark eyes glanced suddenly to his, too late to stop her reflex action. Her soft lips found his and she placed a tender kiss, which lingered for more than a moment as her heart thumped in her chest. Please don't freak out...

She'd probably heard the brief intake of breath from him as his eyes fluttered open, but it was gone in the next exhale as he took in the moment of her lips on his. Her lips were really soft. For a moment he wasn't sure about anything he was supposed to be doing other than kissing her back. Maybe kissing her back would be the trick. He pushed back ever so slightly, taking in the sensations and the electric.

What was that she'd said again? Leave his head out of it? Well, the rising sensations were certainly making his head a bit lighter than usual, but for once he didn't mind. Disengaging after this entire week sounded like a good idea right now, and it felt relaxing.

Ok, ok, we're alright. Her eyes came open a little, just to check Arc wasn't wide eyed in fear. But he wasn't, his eyes had fallen shut, and they weren't screwed tight either. She felt him lean back ever so slightly and let it linger before she broke it, more to let him take a breath, as she'd taken him by surprise. Her hand had fallen to his shoulder, and she was suddenly more aware of her body against his.

"You alright?" She asked, barely audible, wondering if he was engaging that keen intelligence, or whether she'd managed to find how to put it in neutral. He looked at her, appearing to muse over her question, before nodding with a certain finality as if making a conclusion.

"Yeah. That was good, but then again I'm not even surprised."

"Aha, you." She laughed gently, surprised at how cheeky he was, but liking that new side of him. "Do you want to be surprised?"

"It's nice to be." He shrugged, clearing his fringe out of his face as he considered. Then he leaned in and gently pressed his lips on hers again, this time exerting more firmness and pulling gently at her lower lip, his hand sliding up her neck a little hesitantly.


Kissing her back no longer felt awkward or tentative, but more as if he'd done it every day for a year. Other parts of his body stirred rather sleepily as their lips met, but apart from his head the rest of him was still rather loathe to even move.

"Feels like it," he said in response to her, wrapping an arm around her waist and resting it against her hips. "How many times did we-- aah. Do I want to know? I'm not quite sure what led to all this now, it seems like it's all a blur." He smiled apologetically, his hair falling past his face. "Sorry."

"I have to admit I lost count ..." She replied, "about three in the morning? I'm pretty sure we both nodded off... that one was a bit sleepy," she smiled, eyes closing slightly as she recalled, the two of them entirely sober, "that was sweet, I had my arms around your neck when you--" She stopped herself, and put a finger to her lips. "Well, I'm sure you remember." She dropped her hand around his waist again and caressed his skin gently.

He had to lie there for a while and think. It was slowly coming back to him. While he was aware he'd been sober, the high he'd accumulated was probably enough to rival any drunken haze.

"I do remember that one, but I forgot what we were up to before then." He chuckled, his voice still slightly slow from sleep. "That moment was memorable enough, at least."

"No regrets?" She asked tentatively.

He looked down at her. "Regrets? Um...I guess..." There was one, but it was less to do with her and more to do with someone else. "...no. I think you were quite something last night. I don't know how it would have went if it had been anyone else, but I'm glad it was you and somehow you made me go along with it. That's impressive." He chuckled deeply.

When he paused on answering the regrets, her brow furrowed in worry. The last thing she wanted was to have upset Arcturus by being together like this. She'd pursued him (somewhat comically) for months and while he had been away, she had begun to recognise where she might have gone wrong. As the months wore on, she had resigned herself that he might not come home, but his letters had brought back fond memories.

The night she and Johann had ended up literally legless after drinking her homebrew had been a helpful insight into where she'd gone wrong. Although Johann had never admitted to what had happened between him and Arcturus, the drink had loosened his tongue enough to tell her quite bluntly that she couldn't keep going after him in such a blatant way. At the time she'd though it just an observation and silly, but more recent development for her old friend had made her think that he might have more of an insight than she'd ever credited him for.

Well, she agreed with that for sure. Her heart skipped as he leaned in to return the kiss on his own terms. She let his hand trace up her neck, the corners of her mouth smiling automatically, though she tried not to let it interrupt. Their kisses fell into uneven, but gentle exchanges as they found a happy medium. There was no point being forceful or too forward as she might. Slow, his pace, she thought to herself, enjoying the feeling as she curled a little more closely. For someone worried a girl might see his inexperience, it didn't show. She squeezed his shoulder, pausing a moment, a little breathless.

"I'm a little surprised," she admitted, "but I very much like this surprise." She leaned in again, just a little more assured as the exchange excited her. He had to smile at her words even though he hadn't been sure about how she would have taken this.

"That's good."

Something was telling him to keep going, and he wanted to. He just wasn't sure if he was supposed to stick to this, or if he was supposed to do anything else. But if he was to be honest...
"I really like your lips," he blurted out, a little softer than his normal tone as he blushed on saying it, as if a little scared by what would follow. He reached up to touch the corner of her mouth with his fingertips, tracing the outline of her lips a little, before leaning in again to kiss her. He really just wanted more of that.

"That's good," she managed to say eventually, mirroring his words, not to mock him but to show solidarity. "Because I like yours, a lot." There was a certain urgency between them both, and talking just got in the way, so she indulged Arc with more of those lips he enjoyed, and let her hand wander to his waist. Slow... Her mind interrupted, so, instead, she found his hand, and took it gently in hers...

"I was quite something?" she echoed, eyebrows raising and a gentle flush to her cheeks. "You weren't bad yourself, Arc." She put her finger on the tip of his nose and pressed very gently before kissing him softly. "And I hope it was more than 'going along with me'. The old phrase, 'takes two to tango', hmm?" Elixa smiled kindly.

"Well, you are my first, I have nothing to compare you to." He smiled as she kissed him. "Though I don't want to anyway."

"So we're good?" She asked, clarifying

He looked down at her kind smile. "What do you mean by 'good'? If you're asking me if this is okay, sure."
Elixa smiled and blinked slowly. "Yes, that's what I mean, Arc. If you're happy, if things are still good between us?" She opened her dark eyes properly again and stroked his cheek. "Because from where I am, it's more than good, but I can never quite tell if you've got your poker face on."

He had to chuckle a little at her words. "I'm too used to having a poker face on, sorry. And yes, things are still good between us. I don't see why they shouldn't be?" Well...except that he hadn't expected to do this with her, but one thing had followed another and...

Somehow he also had this nagging feeling that he would have loved it if he'd been with Johann. But he couldn't sit there and muse about "what if" when he was already lying here with "it happened".

He kissed her on the forehead. It was just out of impulse and he just wanted to be close to her. It was such a contrast, mostly because he'd never have thought he was going to be this close to her, especially not how over-the-top she could be, but this time it seemed that they had just...clicked. And he was not ready to let this go just yet.

"Is there anything I should know before we move on?" he said teasingly. She laughed a little with him, though it was more a bright grin and a playful pat of his chest that showed her amusement. As he kissed her forehead, she closed her eyes and her grin closed to a smile.

"I'm content to lay here a while with you," Elixa told him softly, eyes heavy lidded. She slid her arm around his waist and gave him a squeeze. He didn't say, but he agreed with her words. He felt oddly drained, but in a good way and a way that suggested a rest would simply bring him back up to speed eventually.

Her ears caught the sound of something downstairs, but when she paused, she realised it was only Rustle at his water bowl, which was odd in a way, as he'd asked to go out only a little earlier and they hadn't let him back in. Her raise of her head ever so slightly and her gaze averting towards her bedroom doorway was only for a moment or two before she shrugged and looked back to Arc, settling her head down again.

"Just Rustle," she mumbled, returning her hand to rest on his chest, her elbow resting on his stomach.

"So, a repeat prescription, healer?" she asked, smile never far from her features, "I diagnose you enjoyed that far more than you perhaps anticipated, mm?"

His hand joined hers on his chest, touching her fingers and enjoying how small her hand was compared to his. His fingertips ran over her hand. He'd never been this close to a girl to savour the difference.

"A prescription suggests curing," he said, smiling. "I would say treatment. And yes, I desire a repeat treatment. It was, as you said, fun, and it was liberating..."

"I might...have to come back again, just thinking about that," he said, to stave off anything from her wondering about why he paused for a bit.

His laugh made her believe all was ok, and she pulled him a little closer, snuggling her head against his chest, contented. Much as she was one for waking up and going again, with Arcturus she felt like taking her time, not rushing into things. Something told her it wasn't about just the sex here, that if it had been, they'd have fallen into bed in January or February after moving in. Though perhaps he'd been with someone back then, but it obviously hadn't gone this far.

"You're welcome to come back, anytime," she told him. Even when there was someone else there already, she thought to herself. She would have to broach that subject later, when the dust settled, as to whether this was a casual thing, that some nights they'd fall into one bed rather than two, or whether Arcturus was looking for something more regular.

Did she want something more regular? The summer had been a lot of fun, and she'd met a lot of people and shared a number of beds. Not all of them were worth a repeat visit, but some had been. No, this was different, if Arcturus hadn't done this before, he might want to hold on, and she might have to restrain herself. But at least she knew he was worth it.
"Sooner the better." She added with a cheeky smile, lifting her lips to gently kiss his bare chest.

He smiled as he watched her nuzzle him, but no matter how hard he tried to focus on sharing a bed with her, he was now starting to wish he hadn't thought about Johann. There had been so many possibilities and opportunities, and...he'd...

...pushed them away because he felt he hadn't been ready.

So what was the difference between Elixa and Johann? If all it took for him to dive in with her was a kiss, why wasn't it the same with him?

You tried to commit before you were ready, a voice said in his head. And you ran away when you realised you weren't. Elixa's a bit different, isn't it? No strings. Just enjoyment. Just physical pleasure.

He still cared about them. As friends.

You wouldn't call Johann as just a friend.

He closed his eyes, pretending to be just enjoying Elixa's warmth, when really he was trying to come to terms with what he'd really felt. He hadn't had time to think about this so much in Malaysia, because he was so busy, but then again...had he made himself busy for that reason? It had to be.

"Hopefully soon, then," he said. The sound of rain was soothing, and maybe...just maybe he could practise disengaging again, because only Hera probably knew how much he needed to bloody learn that now he'd realised how useful it was.

"No hopefully about it," Elixa replied with a grin, lifting her head to regard him properly. "I'd have you again now if I didn't think you might want some breakfast." Her fingers slipped under the sheet and found Arc's thigh, where she traced her fingertips gently up his side, just enough to make his skin prickle. Her eyes didn't leave his expression, and she could have sworn she saw a little frown line form just between his eyebrows for a moment.

"Come on," she spoke more directly, lifting her hand from him at the same time. She pushed herself up, lifting her weight onto her arms, providing Arc with a pleasant view quite by accident in doing so, "I think there's a hot shower waiting for you across the hallway."

Elixa wriggled herself up a little to lean over and add into Arc's ear in a low voice, "And the way we were going at it last night, I imagine you ache in places you've only studied in anatomy lessons."

For once Arc didn't want to get up. It was Saturday morning! But he'd woken up because it was a habit, and right now his body didn't want to go back to sleep. Well, they still needed some feeding and cleaning up, he had to agree.

"You tease," he said as he watched her get off the bed before he pulled himself into a sitting position. "You'd be surprised to know where I ache, although quite frankly I'll leave that up to your imagination. Less is more."

As much as Arc prided himself on knowing his anatomy quite well, he had to admit she had a really nice backside as opposed to what he'd had to look at. But he told himself to keep that down. Food and shower first. He could decide what the hell he was going to do later, and really now was not the time to think about Johann.

You mean you don't want to.

Shush.

"Hah, pot kettle black." She laughed at his protest, but turned back to wink, her long black curls falling over her back. She turned back and stretched both arms above her, rising onto her toes a moment before exhaling and relaxing, turning back to her bed. "I'm sure I can ease your aches later."

Elixa paused to admire the sight of Arcturus naked in her bed. That was one she'd remember a long time. Those healer robes did not do his body any favours and rather hid it away. Arc had made it pretty clear he wasn't so keen on hiding it on returning from Malaysia, and even Johann had got an eyeful in the kitchen.

"Well, I was thinking about taking a shower," She told Arcturus, hands on her hips, "Whether you join me is up to you..." and with that, she went to step out of her bedroom door, but instead found Rustle making a dash for the bed, a streak of ginger fur making it up onto her sheets.
 
"Replaced already!" she joked, but paused in the doorway to watch Rustle sniff about.

"Actually, joining you sounds like a good idea-- Ah!" The last part was because Rustle had decided to jump onto him, paws, fur and all, as he was getting out of bed completely naked. While the kneazle knew when to keep his claws in, it didn't make him any lighter. "Remind me not to feed you so much, you fat cat," he told the feline as it purred loudly, sniffing him. Possibly whatever traces of Elixa too. Truthfully, Rustle was not fat - Arc was wiser than that - but he was such a small ball of compact muscle it was hard to tell the difference sometimes.

"I think he found the bag of treats I bought him the other day..." Elixa explained, casting a glance at the kneazle, "It was my own fault for not putting them on the top shelf of the pantry, so I didn't mention."

Arcturus set the kneazle on the floor. "If you want to sleep in this bed, you have until we come back," he told Rustle. "Then get out. You're not watching us." Like he'd watched Johann and him, although they never got far. He quickly shut that thought out.

The healer rose from the bed, stepping over the kneazle as Rustle began to pointedly wash himself as if he was showing that he wasn't going anywhere so soon. He ran his hands through his messy hair. "Yeah, I could do with a shower."


Arc got out of the shower first, eventually. As he tied his towel around his waist, he glanced at Elixa washing off the remaining soap. And again, he had to wonder - would it have been different if it was Johann? He was just as ready to let his eyes wander, so maybe it would have been the same.

He dried his hair as he waited for her, still wondering about the possibility. He knew he shouldn't but...it was just something interesting, supposedly. He couldn't disengage for the entire day, no, that was not possible for him.

The healer primly stepped away from the bath so she could get out. It was nice to just wait for someone to finish. Leaving her in the room alone just felt somewhat wrong, and since they'd shared something that intimate they might as well just continue to do so. Seriously, what else did they have to hide?

Your relationship with Johann, said the phantom voice in his head, and even he had to smile a little wryly. Yes, that was ironic.

"So...who's making breakfast?" he asked. "After you occupied the pantry with your experiments, did you actually have somewhere to store food away from the rats? Rustle's been working himself the entire week trying to keep that infestation down."

"And yet he still had space to eat all those treats..." Elixa replied, somewhere beneath a towel as she dried her hair a little with it first. Her wand wasn't to hand to do the job properly. "I'll get it, I've got rather good at battering the rats before I fry them."

She was joking, but she was practising her poker face at the same time, but it slipped as her lips twitched. Wrapping her purple towel around her torso, she pulled open the bathroom door and her bare feet pattered out.

Rustle was sitting in the doorway of Elixa's room with his tail curled around him when they came out. The kneazle looked at the two of them, his ears facing forwards as they talked about him.

"Oh he heard you say the b-word too." She chuckled, glancing behind herself at Arcturus, thumbing towards the kneazle. "Think my wand must be downstairs anyhow." She turned and started down the stairs, pausing at the turn halfway down to look back at Arcturus and Rustle again.
"I don't remember you letting him in last night, or him coming in when Joh left. Did you remember and get up in the night?"

"I was with you, Elixa," Arc reminded her. "The whole night. No, last night was tiring enough that if I got up, I probably was sleepwalking, and I don't do that. When did he come in, anyway? I didn't hear him...or I was probably too caught up with everything to hear anything other than you." He looked around. "Where are my-- oh. I left some of my clothes in the living room, didn't I. Well, they were due for laundry anyway."

"I think half of mine are down here too," Elixa replied, carrying on down the stairs and into the living room. The rain was just as loud down here, and Elixa gave a brief shiver due to her damp hair and wearing only a towel. She dug her hand down the side of the sofa cushions and was reunited with her wand, twirling it once in her fingers happily. It felt strange to be far from it. The fire in the grate flared up with a warm flame as she extended it, brightening the room from the grey light coming through the drawn curtains. She raised her wand to her hair and used a well-practiced, non verbal charm to dry it.

The pantry door was open. Elixa had closed it earlier on purpose to keep Rustle out. Weird.

"You sure Rustle can't open doors?" She asked, stooping to retrieve her top from the floor behind the sofa, folding it up roughly for the laundry. She glanced about herself as Arcturus joined her, for once observing the room around her, and stared at Arcturus for a moment, with a look of mild horror. "You don't think..."

She stopped herself, dismissed the thought and shook her head. No, they'd have heard Johann coming back. He had big feet, and he'd taken all his post with him earlier, leaving them to it as the conversation had strayed into tricky territory. He'd hardly spent any time in the flat since Arcturus had got back, though she understood he was devoting most of his time and energy into rekindling his private business, and Balfour of course... Still, she'd have thought he might have hung about a couple of evenings to make Arc feel welcome home.

"Breakfast," she spoke eventually, her features relaxing as she headed for the kitchen.

Arc looked back at her as he straightened up from picking up his own clothes, and at that moment quite possibly he knew what she was thinking. No, it couldn't have been either...oh goodness, what if it had been, though? He absently sent his own clothes into the laundry as well, but he was just as distracted as he summoned some fresh garments from his room.

If it had been Johann...ohh he was going to have to do some explaining. He wasn't sure if he was going to like it, although he did wish Johann had been around here for a while longer. The distance between them seemed quite large at the moment, and he didn't want that to happen. They were still friends, right?

No, he had had a horrible week and right now this wasn't the time. He'd just accidentally summoned two pairs of jeans as well in his absent-mindedness, and no shirt. He sent one pair back and pulled them on, somewhat grateful that he hadn't summoned two pairs of underwear as well.

Cooking without pants was uncomfortable enough for him, but being half-dressed was fine. His towel returned to the bathroom with a flap, hurtling over Rustle's head as the kneazle padded down the stairs, causing the feline to flatten his ears against his head and hiss at it as it disappeared into the bathroom.

"Do we have any food?" he asked. He'd been so busy that maybe  he'd even forgotten if he had gone to restock the shelves.

Elixa watched in silent approval of Arc's summoning and banishing skills between the living room and his bedroom upstairs and down the hall. If she'd tried it, she'd almost certainly have ended up wrapping Rustle in her towel and carting him up the stairs to the bathroom in it!

"Of course we have food!" The apothecary retorted, opening the ice box which was charmed to keep things cold, and rifling gingerly inside. "What you didn't know is that while the lanky idiot was not paying rent while camping out on our sofa, he was on a strict shopping timetable to get him out of the house." She produced greaseproof paper containing bacon and a box of eggs. "Don't worry, I never let him go without a list from me."

It had been one way of staving off his boredom from lack of work around the trial, and to get him to stop moping around the place afterwards. A routine, fresh air, two steps towards improving both his horrible mood and his health. He'd dropped these off the previous night when she'd hardly been expecting it, considering he'd not been there.

She looked down at herself and made a face.
"Tsk, I suppose I'll have to get dressed. Shame. Well, I suppose it gives you something to take off later. Have a rummage, see what else you want from what's still edible." She passed him by with a gentle hand to his shoulder, feet pattering on the floor as she retreated back upstairs a moment to attend to her attire.