Outfit

Saturdays were Akiva’s favorite day of the week.  She got to sleep in because generally no one had anything they wanted to do early in the morning and then she could meet up with whoever she planned to see in the evening after a day of walking the dog, preparing some snacks, and general chores and errands that didn’t take up too much time.  Today had been grocery day, of course, and after walking Lady and feeding Gordon, she had gone to the store and picked up some things for the girls night that she was to have with Moira. 

The days since she had seen her friend had gone by rather quickly, actually, and Akiva was so glad that they were going to be having this time to catch up.  She had been interested in healing when she had been in school, which made her and Moira fast friends from the start.  Akiva always had a penchant for picking up younger students and creating her own little siblings, and Moira also had that sort of privilege when it came to Akiva.  After she left the wizarding world for a while, they lost contact though, and the recent resurgence of her presence was quite welcome. 

She had just popped in the brownies she made (to put on the bottom of ice cream sundaes, of course) into the oven, and had put all of her other groceries away: including the other necessities for ice cream sundaes, like whipped cream, chocolate syrup, caramel, and sprinkles.  She was very excited, and somewhat hungry, she thought as she took one of the mini pizza bites she had made off the plate and popped it into her mouth.

Her cocker spaniel, Lady, was wiggling by her feet, looking up at her owner with the big, brown eyes that so characterized begging.  “Begging’s rude,” Akiva commented to the dog who just tilted her head to the side, big curly ears bouncing as she did.  Akiva laughed and opened the cabinet about the counter, taking out a box of dog treats.  Sticking her hand, in, she used a hand command (palm flat and facing down with a slow downward motion) to signal her to sit, and as the light brown, almost blonde dog, sat.  Akiva tossed the treat to the dog and leaned down to rub her head. 

Her attention was not so long on the treat, however, when she perked up, leaving the treat and darted toward the door, scaring Gordon in the process.  Barking and whining at the door, Akiva was fairly sure that meant Moira had arrived.  Smiling, Akiva pushed herself off the counter, making sure she had remembered to set the timer, and strode toward the door, her smile growing broader as she did.  Gently pushing Lady out of the way with her leg (she would never hurt the dog), she opened the door with a cheerful smile, “So glad you made it!  Come right in… don’t mind her,” she titled her head toward the dog that was trying to push her head in the space between Akiva’s leg and the door, “she’s harmless and incredibly friendly.” 

Outfit   

((OOC: I am offically totally addicted to the outfit maker thingy))

Moira had made her cautiously through the Muggle neighborhood in London towards the address Akiva had given her.  She had tried not to spend the entire walk looking over her shoulder, but it was impossible.  After everything that had happened, she knew she wouldn't truly relax until until she was inside her friend's flat.

In one hand she carried a paper bag containing the promised ice cream.  She had decided to get Rocky Road and Double Chocolate, both her favorites.  The excitment she had felt in the store over having a girl's night had been noticible to most around her.  Yet at the same time she had felt a bit of nerves over the whole thing.  She had been news recently and there was still the possibility of letting Akiva in about her experiences in Boston.

As she reached the door to the flat she heard barking inside.  It didn't sound like a particularly large dog, and she smiled a bit not really surprised to find her friend had a pet.  She thought once she was settled a bit more she might see about a dog or cat...The flat needed another life form to keep her company.

It seemed she wouldn't even have to knock.  The door opened, and she smiled as Akiva welcomed her in.  She made her way in quickly so the cocker spaniel who was anxious to see who was visiting would not try to escape. 

"She's adorable," Moira said, looking down at the little dog for a minute.  "Quite a good alarm system too!  Chocolate, as promised."

She smiled as she held up the bag a little, feeling a bit like a school girl again.  Sometimes she wished for the more innocent days at Hogwarts, when nights like this were more the standard.  Yet, life would continue to roll on, and at least she could still have a few moments of fun.

After the rest of the festivities from Remembering Day were still looming above, the escape was absolutely perfect.  Making sure that Moira was in, Akiva shut the door behind her and laughed at her examination of Lady.  “Her name’s Lady and she’s one to beg, so be aware,” she laughed and smiled, leaning down to rub the bouncy spaniel on the head.  Lady licked her hand as she did, and Akiva stepped out of the way.

Taking the bag from Moira, Akiva pretended to give it a cuddle.  “My favorite,” she affirmed with a smile.  “Come on the kitchen though,” she motioned her forward with a toss of her head toward the opening from the living room into the small kitchen – flats were not all that big and they could see into the kitchen from the door.  “I’ll put these away and we can pick on the snacks I made,” Akiva informed her, basically bouncing her way toward the kitchen.

She always enjoyed preparing for things, and most definitely after some stress.  Sometimes, she just wanted to cook and relax and today that had been one of those days.  It was a distraction, and she forgot how draining certain things could be, particularly celebrating when she was doing just what the day suggested: remembering.  It was sad though, and generally, Akiva didn’t like being sad, even if it did give her time to reflect and be happy about what she had now, still.  It was tough. 

Putting the two cartons of ice cream away, Akiva sighed, feeling the rush of cool air and then quickly shut it back in.  When she was a child, she had thought some kind of strange beast lived in the refrigerator and breathed freezing cold air to keep things fresh.  The explanation of electricity and how a fridge works was disappointing, though far more plausible when she was a young girl.  She turned around after the nostalgic moment of thought, and grinned.

“Okay, so!” she clapped her hands together with that kind of tour guide smile that was either very forced or exceptionally sincere, at this moment, it was the latter.  “I have brownies in the oven for the base of the sundaes…” she explained, “and then motioned to the platter on top of the counter next to the oven, “Before that, I have pizza bites and nachos… Which we can also take to the couch,” she smiled and picked up the platter, seeing Gordon, the big orange tabby, prowling around his half-filled food bowl, “That’s Gordon,” she informed her, “Just leave him alone and he’ll come up to you at some point,” she added with a laugh – he wasn’t the most friendly cat in the world.

Lady continued to follow them around though, her stub of a tail and her bum wagging around with excitement, sniffing at the stranger in the flat.  “How have you been since I saw you?” she asked, placing the platter on the coffee table, flopping down onto the couch, curling her legs underneath her, a typical way for her to sit.  “Are you feeling alright?"

Once free of the bag of ice cream, Moira bent over slightly, extending her hand to Lady.  Receiving a lick on her hand, she scratched the little dogs head before following Akiva to the kitchen.  The flat smelled wonderful, like comfort food of some sort.  It was just what Moira needed at the moment.

"Sound perfect," she said, following Akiva back to the living room.  She would certainly take the advice on Gordon, he parents had a cat that looked a bit like him, and apparently had the same sort of personality.  She had learned early on just to ignore felines and let them decide when the timing was right.

“How have you been since I saw you?  Are you feeling alright?"

Moira couldn't help smirking slightly.  The bruises from her encounter had finally healed, thanks to a healing balm from work.  She wondered if her friend had read about the whole dreadful event in the paper.  The could explain the reason for her question.  She didn't want to talk about it just yet though.  No reason to start the night on a down note.

"I've been good, busy, but good," she told her.  "I managed to squeek in dinner with a neighbor the other night, which is always interesting.  Sort of a weekly tradtion...well I guess it's more of a tradition for any Wednesday night we're both at home, really.  He made the mistake of telling me he doesn't cook for just himself, so of course I insisted we have some sort of home-cooked meal together...I always seem to be the mothering type, I guess."

She laughed a bit, reaching out for a pizza bite and then said, "What about you?"

“That’s good!” Akiva noted before taking a chip with cheese off the platter, crunching it as she nodded.  She didn’t want to bring up what she had read in the paper, but she figured if it wasn’t brought up, she shouldn’t press it.  After all, Moira didn’t seem to be suffering too badly from it – at least not yet.  Maybe it didn’t sink in quite yet.  Whatever the case, she just hoped that things would be alright for the rest of the night.

Her smile widened as the mention of a dinner with a neighbor seemed to be a tradition.  Well, Akiva suspected things before she got the full story, of course, and like any female, when her friend was having a regular home cooked dinner with a male who wasn’t a relative or.. well, there were a few other types, she couldn’t help but think that maybe her friend was skirting around an issue.  “Oh really?” she asked with one eyebrow quirked, leaning up a little more to examine her friend’s face for any sign betraying anything.

“And who is this neighbor?  Does he happen to be cute?  Is that why you suggested feeding him?” she teased in a friendly, light manner, laughing a bit as she fell back into the corner of the couch like she preferred to sit, giggling softly to herself.  She really did want to know now!  It just seemed like something that was an obligation between friends to know about!  After all, she might mention the man who had come into the library the other day, if she felt like it was appropriate later. 

Shrugging, Akiva let her hand fall over the side of the couch; Lady ran up under it and licked the tips of her fingers, causing her to laugh again.  Scooping up the dog, she put Lady on her lap and snuggled her for a moment before putting her down again, shrugging her shoulders.  “Nothing too exciting, just doing my job.  Yesterday was a little tough,” she mentioned, “but nothing I haven’t really dealt with before, I guess.  But, don’t skirt the issue by changing the subject – let me know what’s going on with this neighbor!”

She nodded her head slightly, agreeing with her about Remembering Day.  It had been tough.  It was a reminder that when the final battle happened, and many of her friends stood in harms way, she had been shipped off elsewhere.  She had not been able to stand beside her extended family at Hogwarts.

Almost unexpectedly a slight laughter spilled from Moira's lips at Akiva's sudden interest in her neighbor.  She would have asked the same think if the rolls were reversed.  It was natural to assume the dinners meant something more.  Especially if it was a reoccuring event.

"It's completely innocent!" she insisted, still laughing a bit.  "You may know him, actually he works for the Ministry, his name is Dreaogan Eleor.  He lives in the flat below me and, like I said, on Wednesday when we're both free we get together to cook a meal...Well, I cook, he tries to help with the prep.  It's very endearing."

The truth was she enjoyed the easy friendship with her neighbor.  There were no pretenses, no hidden agendas.  It was simply a chance for two adults to have adult conversation.  Most of the time she found herself needing that more then she knew.

"He's a very sweet individual, but believe me, there is nothing else going on other then eating and talking."

Akiva didn’t believe her – but before she got the chance to speak, Moira continued and Akiva’s mouth shut.  Instantly, she felt her stomach lurch a little, and her smile faltered for a second.  She didn’t want to seem too disappointed, but at the same time, she had been so excited about something possibly happening for her friend she had to resolve to push those feelings down and make sure to continue to encourage – what made Moira happy would, in the end, be better than thinking of herself.

“That sounds really nice,” Akiva nodded with a smile, continuing to smile despite herself.  She felt a little bad about it though, considering they really seemed to hit it off a few days before… but, she supposed she could be happy.  “I bet it’s a lot of fun!” she added, shifting in her seat with a renewed smile – she could still be cheerful – though, she reached for a pizza bite – it was going to require a little eating to do.  Making sure to chew fully, the blonde swallowed and took a moment – either Moira was in denial, or she was right.  Akiva didn’t know which was more likely.

Her thoughts were on denial, after all, she had to convince herself a thousand times that she didn't think he was cute or sweet or anything like that.  After all, she barely knew him!  She couldn't make judgments like that with so few meetings with him - some of them only a few minutes of talking.  She had seen him fall asleep once but didn't bother to disturb him - it was cute... and he probably needed it.  Biting on her index finger's nail she coughed awkwardly, she needed to remind herself this was not a big deal.

Nodding slowly, Akiva pushed herself a little.  “I actually just met him the other day, small world!” She laughed, though she had to force herself, “And I have to agree, he seemed like a complete sweetheart.  Cute too,” she giggled softly, and blushed for a moment, having thought she betrayed herself.  She shook her head and looked back up to her friend, “A little nervous though,” she recovered, at least she thought she did, and coughed into her hand and tucked her hair behind her ear.

She was going to continue to press though, after all, now it was interesting business. “But… are you sure?” she smirked, “I mean, normal dinners and talking sound pretty cozy to me.  I only do that with my parents…” she noted, looking to the side table where there was a small picture of her and her parents.  She was basically a carbon copy of her mother with her dad’s eyes.  Interest again swiveled back to Moira, picking up another few chips off the platter, inquisitively staring down her friend in hopes of getting some good answers: maybe some telling information!

Moira raised an eyebrow slightly as she watched Akiva's reaction, especially when she admitted meeting Dreaogan.  Clearly he had sparked her interest, that much she was sure of.  The words "cute, too" sealed her conclusion that her friend had a crush on her neighbor.  She made a little note in her mind to find a way to bring it up with him at their next dinner.  The poor dear was probably so nervous are her pretty, blond friend that he wouldn't have realized Akiva was interested.

"I'm sure," she told her, giving her an honest smile.  "He's a wonderful man, and in what feels like another life time I might have been more inclined to attempt to make it more, but he and I are simply friends.  Cozy is not really what I'm looking for at the moment."

She wasn't, and she hoped Akiva believed that.  If she could find a way to fix her two friends up she would.  Just because she was more in the mood for casual then cozy and committed, didn't mean she couldn't try to live vicariously through friends.  She also hoped she had her own prospect in the casual department.  She didn't want to go into that though until she was sure.

"I could put in a good word for you, you know," she said with a wink, trying to get a real smile from her friend.

“Me thinks thou doth protest too much,” Akiva giggled softly, for the sake of teasing.  It was fun to make anyone as embarrassed as she was feeling over the whole thing, so she supposed that Moira would be as good of a target as any.  Amused as much as she was, she didn’t want to push too hard.  Obviously some tough things happened and she needed the night off too.  Akiva recovered from her crying and thinking, she wasn’t going to start thinking so much to start crying now.  She felt like it was enough of a problem to even think he was attractive. 

Of course, when she noticed that look on Moira’s face, Akiva’s eyes instantly widened.  “Oh no, no, no!”  She continued to shake her head emphatically, “None of that at all,” she continued, “It’s not like that.”  She needed something to distract herself with, “I won’t have you doing any silly matchmaking – as much as it’s not like that for you, it’s not like that for me either.”  She felt like she was rambling a bit and looked down toward the ground, instantly relieved when the buzzer for the brownies went off.  “One second!” she chirped, practically hopping off the couch.

As she did sojourn from the couch to the kitchen, Lady got underfoot and the blonde tripped over the dog, launching her forward from the living room toward the oven.  “Oh bloody hell!” she cursed, putting her hands out to stop herself over the counter, Lady barking at her ankles.  She wasn’t too torn up about it and grabbed her pink oven mitts off the counter – a little bit of the nineteen fifties sensibility about her.  “They smell fabulous!” she called from the kitchen toward the couch, leaning around the doorframe. 

Pulling down the oven door, Akiva took the tray of brownies out and placed them on the burners, sighing as she leaned over to take another sniff, “Definitely my favorite recipe,” she noted and closed the oven, shutting it off before slipping off the mitts.  It would be at least ten minutes before they were cool enough – and there were still some pizza bites and nachos for consumption, so it was all good.  Tossing another treat to Lady, Akiva exited the kitchen with a smile, “Sorry, couldn’t let them burn.  But, if you want, you can have half the tray to bring home when you leave,” she smiled, “They’re the best brownies you’ll ever have, I would put money on it."
 
She laughed and plopped back down on the couch, a little more relaxed this time, hoping that the wheels of Moira's devious mind had stopped turning and this wasn't going to turn into some crazy scheme or anything.  "But if cozy isn't what you're looking for... what is?" the blonde smirked, turn the conversation back to her friend and ignore all things that had to do with herself: the best way to go, and she suspected her friend had the same idea.  It was going to be a contest who could most easily change the subject this evening.

Moira watched her friend bound up at the sound of the buzzer, nearly tumbling over lady in the process.  She could smell the brownies in the kitchen, and she was glad for the distraction of the chocolate.  She would try to bring up the topic of her neighbor another time.  It seemed Akiva would need a bit more convincing, but she thought perhaps another time...

"They seem amazing!" she said as Akiva reappeared in the living room and plopped down next to her.

She couldn't help but smirk as it appeared they were playing at the same game in this conversation.  Lately it seemed Moira's defense was to deflect the attention away from herself and onto who ever she was speaking too.  Clearly that was not going to work for too long tonight.  So, conceding a bit, she decided it was time to do some opening up to her friend.

"Right now, I'm not particularly looking for anything," she said, picking up a nacho and taking a bite.  "It's been a bit of a whirlwind since the new year...I just got out of a pretty unhealthy relationship.   I'm not really ready for much."

The was a bit of an understatement.  It was an extremely unhealthy relationship and she technically wasn't completely out of it.  Reaching down she scratched the top of Lady's head, once again considering getting a dog.  Perhaps it would help her be more at easy in the flat...maybe she would sleep a bit better at night.

 Nodding slowly, Akiva listened to her friend while also chewing on a chip.  She didn’t want to speak too soon; after all, she needed a few minutes to think, especially in regards to her friend, her dinners, and her supposed lack of looking for something.  It was all very interesting to her, and she wanted to make sure she understood fully what had gone on to stimulate such a thing.  After all, Moira said in another place or time she might have attempted something.  What made this place and time different?

She had been about to lean back into the chair when her friend mentioned an unhealthy relationship.  Knitting her brows together, the blonde didn’t like the sound of that.  She readjusted herself in her seat, taking a pillow from the top of the couch and hugging it to her chest.  “What do you mean unhealthy?” she questioned, there was no way Moira could escape this line of questioning, no matter how evasive she might have been.  It was obvious something was up, and Akiva wasn’t going to let it go by without saying anything.

“You better spill and right now,” she ordered, “I won’t take no for an answer either.”  Akiva picked up the squirming dog from the floor and put her down between the two women.  Lady laid down between them and licked any hand that came close to her head.  Akiva chuckled softly, only at the dog though, and then looked back to her friend.  “If you share, I’ll share,” she added with a sympathetic smile.  “Though, I can understand if you want to get ice cream first,” she added, knowing when she talked about things that were hard for her, she wanted to eat something chocolate.  She even moved toward getting off the couch, excited for her brownies, the ice cream, and intrigued by her friend's story.  If she had to go to America and bust some heads herself, she thought she would just have to do it.

Moira knew there was no going back, and she had put herself in that position on purpose.  If she could find a way out of talking about what had happened, she surely would.  She left herself without that opening.  She needed to let people in, and she knew it.  The old Moira, the one Akiva knew at Hogwarts surely would have.

"I think this does call for chocolate," she said with a small smile.

Chocolate always seemed to make everything easier.  Plus it would give her a minute to collect her thoughts.  It was a tangled mess of a story, but she would try to explain it clearly.  She didn't have a lot of practice at telling the story.  In fact, in three months she had gotten so good at the dance she did around the topic, it had become second nature.

She was tired of doing that.  It wasn't being entirely honest, and she hated not being completely honest with others, especially her friends.  She stroked Lady's head gently, the little dog's relaxed state flowing through her a bit.  Animals truly were able to work magic it seemed.  She was still had a few nerves, but they were quickly fading.

"It's sort of one of those long stories..."

“That’s what I like to hear,” Akiva laughed and pulled herself off the couch.  She grabbed the tray that was half decimated, the snacks mostly gone, and led the way toward the kitchen, motioning with her left hand for Moira to follow.  She wasn’t going to assemble her friend’s Sundae for her, after all, and she needed to make her own.  The brownies would be a perfect base, then the double-chocolate ice cream with chocolate syrup, whipped cream, and sprinkles – she could feel herself salivating already!

Making sure that Moira was behind her, Akiva took the ice cream out and then two bowls, placing them on the counter next to the stove.  Reaching into one of the drawers, Akiva took out a knife and began to carve out the brownies, the way her mother taught her when she was little and made sure that the first row was extra big so they could be the base for a fabulous ice cream sundae.  Plating them into the bowls, Akiva pushed the brownies onto the back of the oven and smiled. 

“We have a lot of time,” she informed her friend with a careful smile, handing her over the bowl, “and we can start while putting these together!”  She smiled happily and took big spoons out of the drawer, handing one to Moira before she peeled open the top of the carton of ice cream, getting right to scooping out – with a little effort, of course.  Thankfully, it hadn’t fully frozen back over since Moira had gotten there, so it was a little soft.  “So, what’s all this about?” Akiva prodded as she opened the container of chocolate syrup and poured it over the top of the cream and brownie – a little too much, but it was how she liked it. 

Her patient ear was ready as she continued with her ice cream, glancing at her friend every so often to really let it sink in – still paying attention to her ice cream at the same time.  Whipped cream required attention too – and sprinkles were imperative… she didn’t realize how hard it would be to separate her attention… but she had to!  And with another nod, she dug her spoon into the layers of sweet goodness, a story like this, she felt, was really going to require this ice cream in a few minutes.

Moira followed Akiva into the kitchen, Lady hopping up at the action and trotting along behind her.  Her little shadown then left her to see what her mistress was doing by the oven.  She could smell the delicious scent again of the recently baked chocolate bars and she popped open the container or Rocky Road before taking the bowl from Akiva and started to fix her sundae.

“So, what’s all this about?”

She took a deep breath before reaching for the sprinkles.  She was trying to keep everything compartmentalized like she usually did.  She had become so good at being numb and only focusing on what was before her, it was a bit difficult to dive back into the past again.  But, she had to...There was no other way to move on.

"I guess it started last January," she began, using the whipped cream once Akiva was done.  "I met this guy, a Muggle, on a day trip with some girls from work to Boston.  He seemed like a great guy on the surface...he was the perfect gentleman.  I dated him for almost a year and I didn't tell him about being a witch."

The moved back into the living room as she talked, settling back onto the couch with their sundaes.  In her mind she could almost see the jazz club in Boston where they had met.  He hadn't been paying attention and had backed into her causing her drink to spill.  He had of course bought her another and they had talked like old friends the rest of the evening.

Drawing herself quickly out of the memory she added, "When I did tell him it was the biggest mistake I have ever made....No, scratch that, going to see him again a week later after he basically told me I was the devil's servant was the biggest mistake."

Listening to the story begin, Akiva could almost feel like it was her own story.  Of course, with the differences scattered about, Akiva wasn’t surprised.  They had always been similar, though it was a little strange.  She wouldn’t have imagined that things would be so close though.  Taking another mouthful of ice cream, she recalled her own issues and was satisfied that she had managed to get over them (sort of).  Her mother said she still had a way’s to go, but really, it was two years ago – Akiva certainly had moved on, hadn’t she? 

Whatever the case, she continued to listen to Moira with interest, wondering if their circumstance had been the same – or something different.  She couldn’t imagine it was the same, of course, seeing as Akiva had never really been anything special.  She was the manager of a bookstore and whether it was wizarding or muggle didn’t really matter – same general job.  Even now, being a librarian was a huge step up, but not one that people often recognized.  But, whatever the case, Moira didn’t have that problem; she was a mediwitch – something people couldn’t do without.  She couldn’t imagine a man could get bored with someone like her and be forced to look elsewhere.

Plopping back down on the couch, she was just going to take in the story and offer whatever she could.  After all, the situations were similar and that had to mean something.  It appeared that she had gone through it far more recently than Akiva did, which probably made it worse.  Outside of Lady, she had no previous connections to that, and the dog became more her’s than it could have ever been considered George’s. 

When their two tales diverged from one another, Akiva’s mouth slackened a little, her bowl dropping to her lap (not in a messy way, but just out of confusion), before she knitted her eyebrows together in confusion and a little bit of shock.  “Are they really that backward in America?” she thought out loud, though she probably shouldn’t have said it and immediately covered her mouth with her left hand, the other still cradling the bowl in her lap.   

“Sorry…” she apologized gently and shook her head, “Didn’t mean to say that,” she offered, “Anyway… what happened after that?” she regained enough composure to continue to prod and then stick another mouthful of ice cream into her face, sighing contentedly at the taste and texture, not at the particular situations he was being described.