Closed RP: Stephen and Sarah - The Surprise

[nopower_overme]

((This starts Friday morning. Good clean fun with appliances abounds!))

Comments

[nopower_overme]

At this point, Sarah would not have been able to stop grinning even if it was vitally necessary. It was an incredible surprise, which was why she all but bounced out of the cab - it was amazing what such rushes of happiness after recent stresses could do to someone. It was not at all surprising to her that Stephen had manged the cab door so well, as she knew he was incredibly intelligent and observant, as well as possibly the most amazing person she had ever known. She was no less thankful now for the good things he brought to her life than she had been when this all started.

She took his arm, giving him a loving look at his question. Being able to watch him see things he had never seen before was an incredible experience of its own and she looked forward to what other discoveries he would make. "I do know the telephone very well," she said with a grin and hugged him again as she looked around as the cottage and its grounds. To think they were now getting away for a day and a night, in addition to the time tomorrow at the aquarium... for as many words as she could place on how she was feeling, only one simple one fit so well. She was happy; happy to be with Stephen here, away from Hogwarts, and it was a 'happy' that was untouched by anything bad.

[estebanmd]

"Look around all you like. Perhaps you will get tired of it after a while, though; it is ours for the next few days," Stephen said, pleased with Sarah's reaction. To his practiced eye, her face seemed for the first time in days completely free of the stress brought on by Dream's sorting and its reminders of Jareth. This trip served a dual purpose: he could pass it off as a birthday gift, true (though he wondered if she would ask how he had discovered her birthday; she had of course never told him), but regardless of occasion, he wanted her free of Hogwarts for a time, brief though it must be. From the beginning, she had been afraid to leave the grounds because it would mean leaving the no-kill zone, and River was a danger to her. Then when that danger was no longer an issue, she had felt guilty, and refused even the suggestion that freedom might be a relief. He thought -- he hoped -- he had arranged this trip in such a way that she could feel no guilt over it at all.

He held out the keys to her.

[nopower_overme]

Sarah took the keys gleefully in one hand, the other arm still tightly around him as she kissed his cheek. Theirs for more than one day and night. How was it possible this could be getting better than it already was?

"Oh, I intend to look all around at every last bit of it, and I doubt I will ever get tired of this place," she said and then kissed him lightly on the lips before letting go of him to smile gratefully at him. "I don't know what I did to deserve this, Stephen, but thank you, this is absolutely amazing, the next few days..."

She turned as if to start up the walk and then paused. The next few days? That would cover her birthday, but it had to just be a coincidence of some sort. He could not know, she had never mentioned it to anyone and no one had ever asked - which would have been when she told, she just did not like to tell someone that information without prompting for fear it seemed an attempt at gifts and attention. She turned back to him.

"Exactly how many days is the next few?" she asked, tipping her head slightly to the side as she searched his face. She did not think the school had academic records like a normal school, she had not had any classes in which her birthdate was required information... Yet, this did not seem to be a coincidence, not with Stephen. "Are we still going to be here on Sunday, by any chance?"

[estebanmd]

"Unless you would rather go back to Hogwarts sooner, yes. I have had necessary things sent ahead of us, clothing and food and suchlike, so there is really no reason why we should return early." This was true, but not the whole truth. Stephen had not been able to think of a way to send any of Sarah's clothing ahead without thereby alerting her that something was in the works, so he had simply had the house elf check the labels of various garments and order new things in the same sizes. Hopefully Aloysius II had reasonable taste.

Stephen did not miss the allusion, the hinted question, implicit in Sarah's remark about Sunday, but he would not come out and answer it plainly. However, he did take from his pocket a small book.

[nopower_overme]

"No, I don't want to go back early at all," Sarah said, still grinning but quite serious. Now that she had this time, she intended to make the most of every last minute with him. She took the book from him when he held it out and looked down at it, confused for a moment as to why he was carrying her book of poetry around in his pocket. She was certain he had already read it, so why did he have it now? As she puzzled over this, she flipped it open, and there lay her answer - the handwritten inscription inside the cover contained her birthdate. She blinked at it and then looked up at him, eyes just a bit too bright. He had known, for as long as he had been in possession of the book. She had not thought it was possible for all of this to be better, but again it had become that.

"Oh, Stephen," she said softly, staring at him for a moment before she broke out in an even brighter smile than the one from before. She shut the book and, somewhere between a hug and a pounce, latched on to him tightly with her arms around his neck. Turning her head, she kissed his cheek between every other word. "Thank you for this. I love you so much."

[estebanmd]

Stephen, returning her embrace, felt quite accomplished. The entire venture seemed to have been a success. Then again, as Jack would say, one ought not count one's chickens before ... wait, how did Jack put it? Well, at any rate, they probably ought to at least look about inside the place before he could feel justified in congratulating himself.

"I do not think there are neighbors for whom a spectacle might be made, but we may want to go inside at some point," he said.

[nopower_overme]

Holding on tightly to him a moment longer, Sarah closed her eyes and let out a happy sort of sigh and then released him. "Let's go in then, as I can't wait to see the rest of it," she said, shaking the keys slightly. Taking his hand, she made her way to the door and unlocked it, going inside. Once inside, she nearly reached for her wand to ward the door properly, then stopped. Her wand was not even with her, she had left it behind for what was supposed to have been this day trip... and she realized she had no need to ward the door as there was no one around but the two of them. She made a pleased sound at that realization and then looked around, squeezing his hand happily as she took the room in.

"It's gorgeous," she said, eyes alight with approval as she released his hand to keep from dragging him with her further as she moved toward the wall of windows in the sitting room to peer outside. Wanting to see it all, she did not stay long at the windows before turning toward the kitchen, eyes dancing. No house elves and electricity. "I'm actually going to get to cook," she observed gleefully as she made her way across the room.

[estebanmd]

Stephen did have his wand with him, and did ward the door, out of habit and caution rather than a real feeling that it was necessary. He watched with pleasure as Sarah wandered about. The agent had assured him that this place had "all the modern conveniences"; Stephen had no idea what that meant, of course. "Sure if you enjoy cooking than that is what you shall do." He had been given to understand that already-prepared food could be acquired fresh from restaurants by using The Telephone, but that raw components would also be made available. In the end he had directed the agent to have sent whatever she herself would have wanted for such a stay.