Putting the last of the containers on the counter, Akiva made sure she had everything.  There was a rather large container of chicken soup, a sizable portion of the dinner she had made for the evening at home, a hearty portion of the garlic bread, some salad (though she doubted he would actually eat that), and lastly some chocolate cake.  It would be a good dinner for him, especially since he got back from the field and she hadn’t seen him in a bit.  She wanted him to come over and see the house, but he had mentioned not feeling one hundred percent, so Akiva made the executive decision to go over there.

The entire meal was then put inside of a tote bag that she could leave over and then pick up with the containers at a later date, but it didn’t matter that much.  It had taken moving to show Akiva how many bowls and boxes and containers she really had – there was an entire cabinet and a half devoted to those things – it really wouldn’t matter if a few of them made their way to Frank’s house with her. 

She might have felt bad not spending the night at home, but with recent things going on, Dree was having some trouble with working and coming home at a reasonable hour – whenever he was upset, he seemed to throw himself into a project.  So, she took a piece of paper from the notepad she kept on the island counter, and wrote where she was and that she would be home before it got too late, and she hoped he enjoyed dinner, which was on the counter and waiting for him – hopefully she would be home before him and they could eat together (she had a little bit to taste everything, but not a full meal), and then tacked it right below his key hook. 

In a moment of silliness, she pressed her freshly lip-glossed lips to the left of her name on the bottom of the page and wrinkled her nose at it before once again pressing it to the space under the key hook.  He would surely notice it now, and Akiva was satisfied that she could leave.  Adjusting the strap of the tote, Kiv moved to the fireplace and leaned down, picking up a handful of floo powder and threw it in, announcing Frank’s flat in her clear voice before stepping into the swirl of green, harmless flames. 

Whisked through the fireplace much more comfortable about that than apparation, which made her completely uncomfortable and dizzy.  Stepping through the fireplace, sniffling a little at the smokiness from the transport, Akiva waited for her eyes to clear and looked around the messy living room, realizing this was far more Frank-like than the last time she had seen him.

“Frank?” she called out, “Frank? You here?” she took a few more steps into the flat, looking around for him,  hoping that he was alright… She bit her lip, hopefully he hadn’t contracted some crazy disease in the wilds of wherever he had been for the past few weeks.  “I brought food!” She added, compulsory to drawing Frank out of whatever spot he was hiding in… he was kind of like Gordon in that respect, and she peered around the corner to the hall where his room was, hoping he might stumble out.   

Frank had tried to deflect Akiva for a while more. He was feeling better physically and other than feeling nauseous every time he tried to eat… well, you could say he was recovered. Until he recalled what he’d done… Still, he had a job to do, bills to pay, things to keep up on. The pillow he wanted to stuff his head under was left rumpled on his bed, and he was sitting in a chair, staring out his window at the sun setting over the buildings.

His hand found its way to his neck, rubbing at it as his other arm kept him leaning on the windowsill, sighing as he noticed a family walk by below in tourist shirts. His chin found its way to his arm, his hand dropping to rest on his knees. At least it was a quiet day…

Well, until he heard a noise outside his room. Jumping slightly, hitting his head on the top of the window, he winced and rubbed at the back of his head. Standing up from his chair, he heard his name called out. Cursing under his breath, he glanced around quickly, making sure things were in order. And why wouldn’t they be? Did he think there was anything there to say ‘hey, I might be a murderer but I can’t find a werewolf bite anywhere?’

Picking up his forgotten book, he grasped it, flexing it once one way, then the other, finally throwing it aside. He didn’t need to look like he was doing something else. Hearing food, his head perked up—maybe she would bring steak? Licking his lips, though knowing on some level that was wishful thinking, he tugged at the end of the hoodie, walking out of his bedroom and towards the living room. “Hey…” His voice sounded odd, so he cleared his throat and shook his head, rubbing at the hair he had just shaved down. It was slowing down, at least, the random hair growth.

“You didn’t have to.” Giving her a grin, he stepped forward and gave her a hug before pulling back. “How’s ah… your new place? And Dree...?" He moved into the living room, seeing the bit of mess he'd made, and started to pick things up, shuffling his books together, trying to hide the titles on some of them. He was doing research on his new fear, checking for anything that might give him some clue.

Hearing a thud from his room, this was either a very good sign – that he was alive and well and hadn’t been swallowed by whatever seemed to be keeping him so busy… and messy… or he had fallen out of bed in a last ditch attempt to get help.  Hoping that it was the first of the two options, Akiva walked into his kitchen and started to unpack what she had brought for him, hoping it would brighten him up a little.  When he came out, and she looked over, he really needed it. 

In a rumpled sweatshirt and looking only slightly scruffy, Akiva left the food on the counter for the moment and walked up, ready to ask him what he had been doing to put himself in such a state – and if he had bathed in the past few days, but he cut her off, telling her she didn’t have to bring him food, and then enveloped her in a hug, which she gladly reciprocated. 

He felt thinner and she frowned, not approving of the fact he seemed to be losing weight.  “I wanted to,” she smiled at him, taking his hand and giving it a squeeze with a smile, it seemed he was in desperate need of something filling to eat.  Good thing she had made sure to cut the piece of cake wider than she usually would, and she watched him pick up and tidy, “You don’t need to do that,” she assured him, “I’ve seen your flat in a state of far worse disarray.”  She laughed softly, trying to lighten what seemed to be a heavy mood on the entire flat – she wondered what was wrong.

As she started to remove the containers from the tote and he asked about the new place, about Dree, Akiva realized that she had big news to share!  It had completely slipped her mind while she was busy worrying and that trademark grin of someone who was supremely happy couldn’t help but crawl over her features.  “Everything is great,” she answered honestly, “we finished getting everything set up within a few days of moving in – magic, you know,” she giggled softly, turning to grab a real hefty bowl from the cabinet, so he didn’t have to eat out of a plastic bowl like some kind of dog. 

As she poured the soup into the bowl, she set the container with the rest of the soup to the side (there was a night or two worth left in there), and she motioned for him to sit, bringing the bowl to the table with her right hand, fidgeting with her left behind her back, waiting for the right moment.  “I do have a little bit of a confession to make that I probably should have told you sooner though…” she tried not to smile too much – wanting to be a little tricky. 

Frank tried to ignore the searching look she was giving him. No doubt that would be his mother’s reaction, though this was far less noisy than a trip home would be like. He didn’t need others to worry about him and his ability to keep things together, at least right then. He could only keep his family and friends at bay for so long before they started to get suspicious. At least it was cold weather out, and he was able to keep himself covered up; some of the bruises he had somehow attained were still in the process of fading.

Around his nose, at least, he was able to take a potion to help quicken the healing, the cartilage bouncing back rather well. The gash on his lower back, however, was taking its sweet time, and the various bruises and scratches over his body (from crashing into things and stumbling over all sorts of obstacles in his run to get away) were in various stages of healing. The hoodie was perfect, only leaving his hands in question. Scrapped knuckles were easily passed off as a bad trip or a fall down a short flight of stairs, after all. The remnants of burns on his feet weren't easily visible, hidden under the edges of his sweats.

The hand squeeze made him feel a bit worse for wear—was it obvious he needed sympathy? She hadn’t been over in a while, and a lot had gone on between then and now. “I know you have… but it is a bit of a mess.” And it’d keep him busy. Piling a couple books on top of one another, he shifted them aside and cleared off an area of the couch for her. Standing up and rubbing his back, he shrugged and gave her a soft smile. “There, you can actually sit down now.”

“Everything is great.”

At least something was positive. Leaning on the arm of the couch, feeling suddenly winded, Frank took a slow breath and focused on the wall, listening as she talked. The happiness even penetrated to her voice; that was a good sign. “Magic is an amazing thing.” And you learned quickly when you didn’t have a wand how hard it was to get around without one. He would have to go to the wand shop in the next couple of days and see if there was a decent replacement.

Focused once again on Akiva, he blinked and slowly pushed off the couch, walking over to the table. “Thank you.” He had to eat because she was there and had made it… maybe it would be good, and maybe he would be able to hold it down. Sitting down in the chair and leaning back, stretching with a groan, Frank motioned to the seat next to him. “Are you going to have a bowl?”

“I do have a little bit of a confession to make that I probably should have told you sooner though…”

Should have told him what sooner? Suddenly worried, he glanced up quickly to her face. “What?” Searching her eyes, he frowned and let the spoon rest against the side of the bowl again, feeling a heavy weight on his chest. She seemed happy… surely it wasn’t anything bad, right? “Is everything okay?”

“I don’t need to sit,” Akiva smiled softly, and passed by him to the kitchen.  “You should be the one sitting, actually,” she commented in a very maternal sort of tone, wishing he would take a seat and relax.  He looked so… different… something was wrong, she could tell, but he was not going to say anything, she knew that much.  She had been his friend for far too many years to not see that something was amiss, something that he clearly didn’t want to say anything about it.

Maybe with a little coaxing, she would be able to get him to say something later, but until then, she just smiled and waited, hoping he would be a little more willing to share after he got something in his stomach.  It seemed to be a good way to get people to open up.  She used it on Dree every once and a while, it appeared to work with him.  It seemed that where some magic failed, other succeeded extensively – “Amongst other amazing things,” she smiled happily and leaned against the counter. 

The magic of soup, she hoped would be overwhelming though.  She wasn’t going to push talking with him though, but she did want to make sure that he was at least getting something to eat. If he wanted to share, he would eventually.   Shrugging at the idea of eating, Akiva smiled.  “I had a bit earlier, don’t worry about me – eat!” she assured him and motioned at the bowl full of soup. 

Taking the seat next to him, Akiva tried not to grin.  She could not help but smile just a tiny bit – it was impossible to not when she was talking about such a subject, but she wanted to keep it somewhat of a surprise.  So, while Frank voiced his concern in a soft voice, concerned and looking at her like something might have been wrong, she rubbed her eye, trying to hide her face just a little bit. 

“Oh, it’s all good, Frank, really,” she blushed softly and looked down before lifting her left hand from under the counter.  Holding it out, she revealed the ring that glittered on her finger.  It was intricate and antique, she admired it every time she glimpsed at her hands, but she definitely wanted Frank to know.  “He asked when we moved in,” she giggled and blushed, trying not to look too positively ecstatic, but it was rather impossible. 

“I had to tell you, but you’ve been so hard to get a hold of.  I wanted to tell you sooner…” she drifted off and looked at him, hoping he was not going to be upset she hadn’t gotten a hold of him in a timelier manner.  She looked at him expectantly, hoping for a better reaction than she thought she would most likely get. 

He needed to sit? Scoffing at that quietly under his breath, he shook his head in disagreement. He was feeling a bit better than he had, physically, and was simply in recovery mode. He gazed off while she prepared whatever she was doing, finally shaking his head and pushing himself off of the sofa. It was nice that his friends were willing to be there for him when he wasn’t feeling great, but he kind of wished he didn’t need it. And that he could just deal with whatever this was without anyone realizing something was up.

If he wanted that, though, he guessed he should have been more anti-social when he was younger. If the situation was reversed (and it had been fairly recently), he would do the same thing. “Other amazing things?” He tried to keep his smile in his voice, but felt his tiredness seeping in to his voice, straining it slightly. He hoped she would elaborate without much more coaching.

He made his way to the table, sitting down in front of the steaming bowl. “Are you sure?” The motioning and reassuring was enough, though, and he picked up the spoon, stirring the mixture for a moment. Now that he was here with the smell in his nose, he found he was feeling hungrier than he had in a while. A spoonful hovered between his mouth and the bowl, and he blew on it to try and keep it from turning his mouth into a flame pit. Why not just drop a hot coal in your mouth? It was the same with fresh hot coffee or cocoa…

And he rather liked his taste buds. Or usually did. They were just acting up lately. His eyes darted from the spoon to her face, seeing her face. Raising an eyebrow, he finally took the bite, slurping quietly before sitting the spoon back in, leaning back in the chair with his shoulders slumped slightly. “Mmm… delicious.”

“Oh, it’s all good, Frank, really.”

A pressure that he hadn’t noticed on his chest seemed to lift slightly at that—Oh good. Taking a slow breath, he waited. Well, until he saw what she was flashing. Blinking in surprise, he leaned forward suddenly and took her hand, pulling it to him for a closer examination. “Oh wow…” Was that too fast? How long had they been an item? And did Akiva really feel that strongly about Dree? Not that Frank could think of a reason she wouldn’t get along with him… it was just that brotherly concern kicking in.

“I had to tell you, but you’ve been so hard to get a hold of.”

Guilt settled into his stomach and he squirmed slightly in his seat, finally glancing up to her face as he let her hand go. A small, sheepish smile found its way to his lips. “Wow.” Now he had to resist the desire to take another bite of soup, if only because he assumed he was expected to say something more than wow. “Congratulations, it’s a great ring.” Unique as well. His smile became a little more genuine, finally focusing on the soup bowl. “You sound happy at least.”

Picking up the spoon, he winced and shifted in the chair, taking another bite. “How… ah, soon is it going to be?” Scratching at his hairy arms, he grunted under his breath. At least it was chilly outside, and the cracked window was keeping the apartment from being too hot. The extra hair made it somewhat miserable with the heat on, he had found out.

She felt a bit hot about the face all of a sudden, as Frank took her hand and examined the ring with some level of intensity.  It was like he was trying to piece something together, get into her head or something.  She didn’t know what it was, but it certainly made her slightly uncomfortable.  She hadn’t second-guessed herself once, but the way he puzzled over her hand, appraising what exactly he was looking at made her think that perhaps something was wrong.  She hadn’t known him for this long to go without understanding some of his more subtle expressions.

He was, at least, impressed with the ring aspect of it.  She frowned though, as that was what he immediately jumped at – how nice the ring was, and yes, she agreed, it was a beautiful piece of jewelry, exceptionally unique and very meaningful to Dree, which, in turn, made it meaningful to her, but her feelings about Dree went far beyond the piece of metal around her finger, he could have given her something far less sentimental and stunning and she would have been just as pleased. 

She didn’t know how to verbalize that though, especially as she didn’t want to be flinging conclusions that were only drawn from his facial features and one vague sentence, it didn’t seem right to do that to him, but she couldn’t help but let the corners of her lips fold into a soft frown.  “Thank you, I am happy,” she concluded simply.  She had thought he would have more to say than that – something more to offer, and telling him suddenly didn’t seem as fun as it might have when she imagined the reaction.

It was obvious that he would not react in the way that some of her female friends did – in the way of squealing and chirping like budgies in a small cage, but he could have at least seemed happier for her.  He was her best male friend; after all, he should have shown some enthusiasm!  Leaning against the tabletop, Akiva balanced her head on her hand, looking at him with a slightly sullen expression, unsure of how to respond to his lack of… energy. 

She reminded herself that perhaps because he didn’t look particularly healthy and had been in the field, working very hard and possibly exposed to something, it was less than nice of her to assume he would be 100% ready to digest such big news.  She probably should have waited, which made her feel incredibly insensitive in the face of bringing him dinner and things.  It seemed almost self-serving and she ran her hand over her face, surprised by his question – the formation of it being especially confusing to her – how soon?  What was that supposed to mean?

Mulling her jaw, she furrowed her dark brows and waited a moment before answering, composing it very carefully.  “Dree and I have talked about something in the summer,” Akiva informed him, “but, we haven’t come to a definite conclusion yet.  Do you have a suggestion?” she raised her eyebrows at him, hoping maybe it would coax something out of him, and with how uncomfortable he looked-  scratching at his arms and sitting there with the soup, Akiva hoped he had something to say.

She hated discomfort between herself and those she loved, so the idea of having Frank wanting to say something without the opportunity to do so.  Hopefully it wouldn’t be anything too bad, she could just reassure him and it would be fine, naturally, this was the best case scenario.  She did not even want to picture a worst. 

One would think that after growing up with a strong female upbringing that Frank would be more in tuned with emotions and the way women perceived things. One would think he’d understand them better. If anything, it only made it more complicated for him, because he tried to fit every one he met into what he knew from his mum or his sisters. To be fair, Frank thought he gave an appropriate reaction. Wasn’t it an exclamation over the ring that women wanted anyway? Isn’t that what he’d seen in countless movies and read about in books and seen his mother or older younger sister do?

Maybe that was the problem—he was going off what he thought he should do and not just doing what felt right. He couldn’t be held accountable for his aloofness though. Not with everything that was going on, or had gone on, and everything that had yet to be explained. With no bite mark, though, he couldn’t tell this off-the-wall story to anyone. So he had to try and bury it and remind himself he was just stressing at work and overworking himself and that he’d needed a stress relief vacation from work. Or from life. Or both.

Hearing that tone and the simplicity of her words, however, made something in the back of his head click. He’d made a mistake. Frank wasn’t yet aware of it, though, as jumbled up as he was. Were guys supposed to jump around like a little girl at her first tea party when they saw their best girl friend was engaged? Really, Frank wasn’t aware of proper etiquette in these manners. It wasn’t as if he’d read a book on proper reactions.

When she didn’t answer straight away, Frank’s eyes glanced upwards, his head leaned forward slightly over the raised spoon, his eyebrows climbing his forehead. That face didn’t look too pleased with him. Frank paused and tried to think of what he had said—what had he done? Then he felt slight irritation at the fact that he wasn’t a mind reader! Putting the bite in without blowing on it first served him a quick spit back out—it was a little too hot. Wiping at the dribble into the stubble, he rubbed his hand across his lips and shook his head. His knuckles stung and he flexed his fingers out in an attempt to will pain away.

Soup, it was supposed to be the cure all.

The summer? His hand founds its way to his stomach to scratch. It would be hot and itchy then in a tux. But it wasn’t his wedding, and he could always shave the day of. Pre-wedding… grooming. And that was only if he wasn’t losing his mind. His fingers paused mid scratch as he raised an eyebrow at her. He wasn’t the one getting married—why would his opinion matter? Finally he shook his head, finished the scratch, and picked up his spoon again.

His eyes dropped to the soup once again, noticing how painful this conversation was becoming. Shifting in the seat, he took a bite and finally leaned back, wincing slightly before he found a comfortable spot where his lower back wasn’t pressing against the seat. “I like Dree. I’m glad it’s him. I mean…” He tried to meet her eyes, tried to pull out something to make her not seem so disappointed in his reaction. Because now he could tell. “He seems worthy of you.” Giving her a slight smile, his body felt like giving up and slumping right there for a nap.

He just had to finish this bowl. Focusing on the spoon once again, he fought with his muscles and picked it up to bring to his mouth, enjoying another bite. “Summer would be nice, depending on… where?” His tongue snaked out to catch loose soup before once again wiping his mouth off.

Frank was dribbling on himself, which caused Akiva to smile.  He was the little brother she never had, the sibling she always wanted, and that was perhaps what disappointed her most about his initial reaction.  She wanted her brother figure to be happy for her, to be as excited as she was, and not just focus on what was on her finger.  She cared about his opinion, wanted to know what he thought beyond just how pretty it was, and that he liked Dree – that he liked the entire idea of it.  But, without that reaction, she was feeling just a tad concerned. 

She reached across the table and grabbed a napkin, holding it out to him so he could use the paper instead of his tongue to clean himself up, very puppy-ish in every way.  She waited for him to grab it and leaned forward, resting her arms on the table and her head upon the butt of her palm.  Some things would never change, she noted as he wiped his mouth once again, sans napkin and she leaned back with a light sigh, amused at the differences between him and some of the other men in her life.

Notably, her father and Dree were basically meticulous.  They did not enjoy being messy, and when Dree went more than a day or so without shaving, he usually went about it as soon as he possibly could.  She could only imagine what was going with him to let himself get to this disheveled sort of state.  She felt like she had neglected him – like she hadn’t been there enough to ensure that he was taking care of himself as well as he should have been.  Hopefully she could remedy that problem now that he was home, hopefully for a bit longer than usual.

She got her reaction too, the one that she was most excited about – the one where he gave his approval.  She sat up straighter, brightened considerably, and even blushed.  ”He seems worthy of you,” her heart fluttered a bit – that was the brotherly reaction she longed for.  Of course, she knew Dree was completely worthy of her, he was so much better than she could have hoped for in the past, and more than she expected altogether, it was just nice to hear another person say it. 

Sure, her father had said the same thing – though he was much more comical about the comment than Frank was, he was being sincere.  It made her feel the tears well up a little in the corners of her eyes, slightly embarrassing as she lifted her hand to wipe at them a bit.  So emotional!  “Thank you, Frank,” she leaned over and kissed his fuzzy cheek, leaning her head against his shoulder for a second. 

Pulling back as he asked his question, Akiva shrugged her shoulders.  “We haven’t talked about it much.  The ceremony will be in Temple, of course,” the corner of her mouth pulled upward for a devious sort of smile, thinking of seeing Frank in a kippeh.  “The reception is a different matter entirely,” she shrugged, “I want you involved though,” she squeezed his hand a bit, grinning at him, “You can be something like my man of honor?”