Okay, you've got me confused and a little worried there, but your timing is excellent, since I was just about to go and get myself kicked out of the library.
Sitting cross-legged on the floor of the Great Hall, Lily had a large text open on her lap. A backpack was next to her, along with a pair of hiking boots. Dressed in jeans and a hooded sweatshirt, her hair pulled back in a pony-tail, she was absorbed in translating a spell for the repair of internal hemorrhaging. She'd been working on it for an hour now and was getting slightly frustrated. Really, she'd meant to leave the book in the library, but since she was waiting anyway...
Cox came downstairs soon after, dressed in a similar fashion, albeit without the hiking boots (or, for that matter, the ponytail). Coming up from behind her, he rested his hands on her shoulders and crouched, eyeing the book. Shaking his head, he grinned wryly and kissed her temple. "You are such a nerd, Red. At least I managed to leave the library without, in fact, bringing it with me."
As he shifted carefully to sit down beside her, the boots and the backpack caught his eye, and his eyebrows raised. "What's all this?" he asked, pleasantly surprised.
Looking up, wrinkling her nose at his teasing, she grinned at him. "Yeah, I know. I really did mean to leave it, but..." Shrugging, she closed the book and pulled her bag towards her. As she charmed the book to shrink small enough to fit inside she tried to look innocent. "All this? Nothing much. Thought we might like a bit of a hike before the weather turns is all."
Zipping the bag back up, she handed him his boots. "Suit up, Ginger." She looked extremely pleased at knowing that bit of American sports slang. "I know a lovely spot I think you'll like. The House Elves packed us supper. And I brought Firewhisky," she laughed. "Can't have a proper picnic without Firewisky, yeah?"
Nibbling at the cole slaw - which she looked suspiciously at for a moment before deciding that it wasn't all that wretched - she wrinkled her nose. "We did the 'British thing' already," she reminded him. "Pub food and all that. And you only really get British food at the castle. I just figured you'd like something that didn't involve bangers or lamb."
Now tasting the potato salad, Lily decided she liked that far better than the cole slaw and munched on it eagerly. "And that is a deviled egg. I've not the foggiest why it's called that, actually." She paused and thought a moment, cocking her head as she regarded the eggs. "Do you think there's a reason? Or is it just one of those things, like 'Devils Food Cake' and 'Spotted Dick
( ... )
"Mmmm." Perry shook his head, tried to speak around a mouthful of potato salad, gave up, swallowed, and continued. "You're wrong about that -- the house elves make a pretty mean club sandwich, which, thank God, because no offense to your country, Red, but you guys do not know how food is supposed to work."
As for the eggs, he recognized the name when Lily mentioned it, but he was at as much a loss as she was. This was partly because he had no idea what made it 'deviled,' and partly because he had no idea why it was included in this so-called typically 'American' feast. He certainly had never had one before. Weren't they something tacky Midwestern housewives in the 50's put out at barbecues? Actually, that was pretty quintessentially American. At her question, he merely shrugged. "I... think it's got something to do with the way it's cooked?" he ventured. "Who the hell knows
( ... )
Her head dropped forward slightly at his touch and she made a soft noise of pleasure as his fingers worked at the kinks. "I should know better than to sit in the same position for hours," she smiled a little. "But I keep losing track of time." And sitting in the library or her room, bent over her research, was easier than lying in bed, staring at the ceiling. She glanced over at him, then back down to her plate. "Seems to be a common affliction," she remarked mildly. If he wanted to talk about it, it was now vocalized. Not quite as blunt as telling him he looked like shite - after all, Lily knew that the dark circles under her eyes weren't completely hidden by the complexion charm she used - but at least it was out there that she'd noticed
( ... )
Lily's pointed comment, no matter how mild it was, made his hand still on her shoulder for a moment. Then, with a quiet sigh, he nodded, his lips quirking ruefully. "No kidding," he murmured in agreement, picking up again where he'd left off. Perry wasn't sure if he really wanted to talk about it. Of course, he never really wanted to talk about his feelings or his problems, but especially right here, right now... they were supposed to be relaxing. And he had mentioned Ben to her, briefly, but he wasn't sure if he was really ready for the full-on explanation, all the time and energy it would take to tell her why he was really there and just what it was he was doing late at nights in the library.
On the other hand... Perry regarded Lily's seemingly innocuous grin with deep suspicion, eyes narrowing. "You... mean like, what, a group thing, or a double date?" Oh, he was onto her. Back when they were married, Jordan had tried to get him to double date all the time. And now, apparently, Lily was picking up where she'd left off. Was this a
( ... )
The thing of it was, to him this was nothing new. Even more, what he was feeling now was small potatoes compared to, say, how he'd felt when Ben had first been diagnosed, when they had all been convinced he was going to die by the end of the year. Or during the divorce, or pretty much any time he had to see his sister, or... well, the point is, the guy had a lot of pain to deal with. The only reason Lily hadn't seen it until now was that in the two months she'd known him things had been going amazingly well. He had her, he had still been hopeful about his research, he'd been excited about his new job... Now, he was starting to hit the brick wall, so to speak, and the frustration was palpable and overwhelming.
If they stayed together, it was a guarantee that Lily would see worse. But Perry had been dealing with his own crazy mind for a good forty years now, and this haggard edge, this little breakdown, the look in his eyes, wouldn't last nearly as long as she thought it would. Either it would burn itself out spectacularly, or he would
( ... )
"Oh, no," she assured him, mock-serious. "No, this is all completely according to plan. I always like to take my boyfriends out into the countryside and then talk about emotionally draining things. 'S just my way of showing I care."
Laughing, she turned on her side, propping her head up on her hand. Other hand resting lightly on his chest, fingers stroking absently, she smiled, "Now, by 'not being able to return the favor', are you telling me that you have no interesting 'back when I was in school' stories? Or that you've never skinny-dipped? Because the first one I don't believe and the second one," she grinned wickedly, "well, that just can't be tolerated, Ginger."
He looked back to her and smirked slightly. "Sorry, baby, you're not gonna break my skinny-dipping cherry. I did go to college." That was practically a prerequesite for graduating, where he came from. Shifting slightly, covering his hand with her own, he thoughtfully turned his gaze back up to the sky. "As for the former..."
Perry hadn't told Lily much about his younger days, really. Just bits and pieces here and there; most of his stories had taken place in the past ten years or so. It wasn't so much that he had no interesting stories about when he was young, it was more that every time Lily told him an anecdote from her past it was always so... cheerful and goofy and British public school-y. His stories tended to be just a little rougher around the edges, and he always felt weird comparing notes. He was never sure she'd find them nearly as funny as he did
( ... )
"Good. Don't reckon I could be with a bloke who was a skinny-dipping virgin. What would we talk about?" Laughing, she turned her hand over to lace her fingers with his. "And I'd no idea that Muggle Universities were such dens of vice and debauchery. Makes me want to go."
Many of the stories Lily told Perry were tailored to fit into the 'cheerful, goofy, British public school-y' image. She had other stories she could tell, other sides of her life she could show, but mostly she didn't see the point. He knew that she'd died, that there was a War, that life hadn't always been puppy dogs and roses. And mostly, when she was searching her brain for amusing anecdotes, it wasn't 'let's have a serious moment' time. It was usually her looking to change the subject from a serious moment. So if he thought her schooldays were filled with skinny-dipping and prank-pulling, that was fine with her. He didn't need to know about the week she'd had to literally walk from class to class with a shield charm up because some of the Slytherins had
( ... )
Comments 38
Okay, you've got me confused and a little worried there, but your timing is excellent, since I was just about to go and get myself kicked out of the library.
I'll see you in 20.
-Ginger
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As he shifted carefully to sit down beside her, the boots and the backpack caught his eye, and his eyebrows raised. "What's all this?" he asked, pleasantly surprised.
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Zipping the bag back up, she handed him his boots. "Suit up, Ginger." She looked extremely pleased at knowing that bit of American sports slang. "I know a lovely spot I think you'll like. The House Elves packed us supper. And I brought Firewhisky," she laughed. "Can't have a proper picnic without Firewisky, yeah?"
Reply
Now tasting the potato salad, Lily decided she liked that far better than the cole slaw and munched on it eagerly. "And that is a deviled egg. I've not the foggiest why it's called that, actually." She paused and thought a moment, cocking her head as she regarded the eggs. "Do you think there's a reason? Or is it just one of those things, like 'Devils Food Cake' and 'Spotted Dick ( ... )
Reply
As for the eggs, he recognized the name when Lily mentioned it, but he was at as much a loss as she was. This was partly because he had no idea what made it 'deviled,' and partly because he had no idea why it was included in this so-called typically 'American' feast. He certainly had never had one before. Weren't they something tacky Midwestern housewives in the 50's put out at barbecues? Actually, that was pretty quintessentially American. At her question, he merely shrugged. "I... think it's got something to do with the way it's cooked?" he ventured. "Who the hell knows ( ... )
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On the other hand... Perry regarded Lily's seemingly innocuous grin with deep suspicion, eyes narrowing. "You... mean like, what, a group thing, or a double date?" Oh, he was onto her. Back when they were married, Jordan had tried to get him to double date all the time. And now, apparently, Lily was picking up where she'd left off. Was this a ( ... )
Reply
If they stayed together, it was a guarantee that Lily would see worse. But Perry had been dealing with his own crazy mind for a good forty years now, and this haggard edge, this little breakdown, the look in his eyes, wouldn't last nearly as long as she thought it would. Either it would burn itself out spectacularly, or he would ( ... )
Reply
Laughing, she turned on her side, propping her head up on her hand. Other hand resting lightly on his chest, fingers stroking absently, she smiled, "Now, by 'not being able to return the favor', are you telling me that you have no interesting 'back when I was in school' stories? Or that you've never skinny-dipped? Because the first one I don't believe and the second one," she grinned wickedly, "well, that just can't be tolerated, Ginger."
Reply
Perry hadn't told Lily much about his younger days, really. Just bits and pieces here and there; most of his stories had taken place in the past ten years or so. It wasn't so much that he had no interesting stories about when he was young, it was more that every time Lily told him an anecdote from her past it was always so... cheerful and goofy and British public school-y. His stories tended to be just a little rougher around the edges, and he always felt weird comparing notes. He was never sure she'd find them nearly as funny as he did ( ... )
Reply
Many of the stories Lily told Perry were tailored to fit into the 'cheerful, goofy, British public school-y' image. She had other stories she could tell, other sides of her life she could show, but mostly she didn't see the point. He knew that she'd died, that there was a War, that life hadn't always been puppy dogs and roses. And mostly, when she was searching her brain for amusing anecdotes, it wasn't 'let's have a serious moment' time. It was usually her looking to change the subject from a serious moment. So if he thought her schooldays were filled with skinny-dipping and prank-pulling, that was fine with her. He didn't need to know about the week she'd had to literally walk from class to class with a shield charm up because some of the Slytherins had ( ... )
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