RP: Designing Man

[shh_orla]

Date: September 23, 2005
Characters: Orla and Dean
Location: Orla's house
Status: Private
Summary: Orla and Dean meet to discuss potential changes in her home and practice..
Completion: Complete

Orla had done some cleaning to make sure her place was in its best light. Dean would likely need to get a sense of the space before he did the mural. She hoped

Comments

[shh_dean]

Murals really weren't Dean's thing but he was an artist and a half decent one if he believed others, so he thought he was definitely intrigued by the concept of painting a mural at Orla's house. But it was also because he liked her, not only because he thought that she'd helped Parvati more than anyone else, including him. But Orla was just a wonderful person who he enjoyed spending time with the other day, so he looked forward to seeing her home and finding out what she wanted to do there.

He cleared his mind, not wanting to go into looking at Orla's space with any type of prejudice. Dean knew he'd need to listen to her carefully and then offer advice as needed. Hopefully, then they'd be able to decide on something that worked for her and make her house even more her home.

As he walked up to her home, Dean looked at the little home. The place had wonderful lines and even though it was quaint in appearance, Dean suspected that the inner space was much larger than the outside would suggest.

He knocked and when Orla answered, she looked a bit flushed and he wondered if she was ill but he decided to ignore it. Smiling at her, he tamped down the bit of nervousness he felt before he said, "How're you doing, Orla? I love your house."

[shh_orla]

She smiled at him as she opened the door. "Hello, Dean. I'm good. Come on in, tell me what you think."

She showed him through the downstairs, ending in the dining room, where the rooster wallpaper mocked her. "I'm sure you can see why I need help." She grinned at Dean. "I await your expert opinion. I'm open to whatever you think best."

[shh_dean]

Dean followed her inside as he replied. "I'm glad you're doing well. Heard about your run-in with the ants, though." Looking around, he concentrated on the living space, taking out his quick quill and pad. "It's a good space, well-balanced but we can improve the flow here." Nodding, he looked over at the wall with the dining room behind it. "Maybe we can open up that space, put in an arched entrance and the same into the kitchen."

Eying the rooster wallpaper, Dean snorted and tried to cover it up with a cough. "I'm sorry but that's so 1970's. We can tear that down and I can definitely do something better than that. What would you like for a mural up there?"

[shh_orla]

She shuddered. "Yeah. That was embarassing. More embarassing than calling you a pinching pervert. You've been unthroned." She attempted to joke. "If you see me scratch, smack my hands."

She saw what he was talking about. Pursing her lips, she tilted her head sideways. "Well, we could, but I was hoping to get another room out of it. Maybe divide out my personal space and work space, you know?" She looked at his notes. "Maybe a doorway between them, but separate it so I can have a library office area away from the front, where I treat people."

She rolled her eyes. "Laugh all you like. I know it needs help. I'll get some wallpaper remover from George, I mean, the apothecary's this week and get working on it." She hoped he didn't notice her slip-up.

"You know, I'm not sure what would be a good mural." She said, frowning. "You have any suggestions?"

[shh_dean]

"Stupid ants. I finally win myself a decent title and lose it a few weeks later." Dean grinned and then nodded. "Slap Orla for scratching her hands. Check."

"You work in here?" He looked around the room, noticing how large the space was. "Brilliant then." His quick quill scribbled over the paper rapidly while he pointed out. "The wall leading into the dining room could be a doubled arch to really add depth to the space and a continuity."

He turned and faced the place where the office would be located. "There could be a wall there, depending on the size of your office. But this space is more than ample for two rooms."

"George?" Dean smirked. "Always on a first name basis with your Apothecariwhosits? Are you the same way with Fred too?"

"Think about a place you really want to be then. Somewhere that makes you feel better." Dean replied after thinking for a moment. "Me, I have a place that I have wonderful memories about from the time I was a kid until I took Parvati up there. They're a set of cliff that overlook the North Atlantic. I love it up there." He glanced at Orla. "Do you have a place like that?"

[shh_orla]

She laughed. "No! Slap Orla's hands for scratching!" Shaking her head at his antics.

She nodded. "I like haivng some choices for seating, but I would really like to have a more private work area, for research, and so I can get my books away. Maybe even some built in bookcases." Remembering what Hermione said, she added, "I might contract for Roger Davies to do some work, depending on what you think would work."

She flushed. "Er, we know each other. Outside of his work. I've not met Fred yet, actually." She wasn't sure what she'd do when faced with a second charming redhead.

She thought for a moment, the said softly, "Hogwarts." SHe blinked back a sting in her eye, remembering her years at school. She'd been an oddball, but she'd been at home. Everyone that was magical was like her, in some ways, and even being overlooked was ok, as her tendency towards reading and being quiet meant people often missed her. But she remembered the first time she'd seen Hogwarts across the lake, she'd had a sense of coming home.

"I missed it terribly." She blinked hard, and gave him a lopsided smile. "Sorry, not much help."

[shh_dean]

"Oh,that makes more sense then." Dean's grin spread slowly across his features. "Roger does a good job, we've worked together before."

"I could do that. Built in bookshelves would add to the space and maybe a built in desk too. We can add some extra windows also to bring more light into the room too." He thought about color schemes and then decided he'd bring those up in a moment.

"They're both good blokes and you can't go wrong with either one." He said a bit dismissively after seeing her blush. Dean didn't want to push the subject, so he added. "But I still can't tell them apart."

"Oh." Dean said with a bit of wonder in her voice as he watched her reaction to her own admission and thought of the school himself. "I could do that, you know." His hands spread to encompass the wall. Remember your first night? What you saw when you came in? Maybe I could do one from outside looking at the school from the grounds." Dean reached over and took Orla's hand, squeezing it before he smiled. "That's brilliant, Orla and I think that's what should go up on the wall."

[shh_orla]

Oh, that would be nice. This big thing hardly suits." She'd inherited the desk, but given her talent, or lack thereof, with transfigurations, it was little wonder she'd left it be. "And I like that. Extra windows, or maybe even an outside access that way." She'd often thought more folks would visit if they didn't have to be visible from the street.

She nodded. "I imagine I couldn't if I saw them together either." She refused to get flustered about George. He was a lovely man, really.

She smiled, remembering the view. It had been a clear night, with a full moon. The castle seemed like something out of a muggle fairy story, and her already wide eyes had about leapt out of her head. "From the lake, maybe?" She asked softly, still caught up in the memory. "It was the most magical thing I'd ever seen. Still feel that way." She squeezed Dean's hand in return. "You think it will be ok? I mean, I don't want it to stir up bad memories for anyone that visits, you know?" SHe worried her lower lip.

[shh_dean]

Dean's brow creased as he thought about the desk before he said, "I'll design it, maybe something modular with movable cabinets and charmed so it can be hidden if you don't want the desk to be visible all the time." Smiling, he replied. "Outside access is a brilliant idea. You should be doing my job."

"Don't know about it now but those you couldn't tell those two apart at all. I mean you know, we were all boys in the same dorm and..." He blushed. It was just one of those things where you shared an area for five years. Grinning, he shook his head. "Damn dorm room antics and communal loos."

"We can paint it from the boat with the lantern lights, the only thing you can see across the fog shrouded lake until you looked up and saw the castle. That would make a beautiful scene." Dean smiled wistfully and nodded while squeezing her hand again. "It was something for a little Muggle boy who'd never seen anything magical." Shaking his head emphatically, he replied. "It's your home and it means something to you." Looking over at Orla, he added. "I think it'll mean alot to other people too."

[shh_orla]

"That sounds lovely!" She smiled up at him. "Be careful, you might have bitten off more than you can chew. I'd keep you running ragged with designs."

She shook her head. "I'm just telling you what I'd like. I don't know if it would be doable. That's what I need you for."

Orla was a bit bemused when Dean got flustered talking about the twins. Shaking her head, she replied, "Must be a boy thing. I couldn't so much as tell you my dorm mate's bra size."

"And for this Muggle girl too." She turned and gave Dean a quick hug. "Thank you. Getting even a piece of that place back will mean a lot to me." It had been 6 years since Hogwarts was destroyed, and she tried not to dwell on it, but she missed the drafty old castle.

"Well, before I continue down this maudlin trail, why don't I show you the upstairs?" She led him up the stairs, which faced the bathroom door. To the left of the bathroom was a bedroom, and the front of the house was another, larger bedroom. Too big for Orla, really, and she wanted another room, or at least a space for her to set up her tv and DVDs. They were still packed, as she couldn't bring herself to take that part of her muggle heritage into her wizarding life. It was time she got past that.

[shh_dean]

"You're allowed to run me into the dirt." Dean winked at Orla. "Or maybe not, Parvati might get a little pissed if I'm dragging too much." His eyes widened as he thought some more. "Although she'd probably agree to letting me be your man servant for the foreseeable future." Grinning, Dean quipped. "That's what I went to school all those years for."

"It's not that I saw everything but you know, upper torsos and so forth." He blurted out and then fidgeted. "I didn't go around looking for blokes and all. They found me!" He grew quiet before he grinned sheepishly. "Maybe I should shut it now."

"It's reassuring to know you're a Muggleborn too." Dean answered. "I don't know why but it feels good." He smiled when she hugged him. "Thanks for letting me give it a try. I can't wait and I have so many ideas in my head. I need to scrounge up some pictures and then you and I can sit down and you can tell me what you remember while I rough it out."

He felt oddly drawn to the idea of painting the castle and more so, he wanted to do this for Orla to show his appreciation for what she'd done for he and Parvati and this would be a good start for a debt he'd never be able to repay.

When he saw the upstairs, he thought to himself that this was an older home and the use of space was much different then, the preference being straight walls and boxlike rooms. He frowned as he concentrated on the area and then said, "I think we need to open this space up, knock through a few walls and create a open sitting area up here somehow, really make this airy and livable."

[shh_orla]

Laughing, she said, "Parvati would hex me sideways if I abused you. Don't worry, I only need a manservant for manly things, like carpentry, and maybe moving furniture." She shook her head. "I'm sure you've more talent in your little finger than I do in my whole hand."

She couldn't hold back her giggles at this point. "Really, Dean, its ok. I believe you. Besides." She gestured around the room. "You're in my place of business. Discretion at your service." She essayed a little bow.

"Means you're not alone. Though I envy you being able to finish, or at least stay in the wizarding world more than I could." She felt an odd kinship, like that of an older sibling. It was comforting, because she instinctively knew he would look out for her.

She nodded at his observation. "It definitely needs something. I'd like to keep two bedrooms, for overnight guests, but mine doesn't need to be large." She looked around. "Maybe take the master bedroom and change it up into a sitting area and a smaller bedroom, and I can move in back."

[shh_dean]

"I can do all those things, so I'm a highly qualified manservant. I also make a mean pot of coffee now if that helps me get the job." Dean grinned and then puffed out his chest. "Nah, I may be talented at a few things but I couldn't do your job. I design loos. You save lives." He mimicked weighing two items in his hands. "See what I mean?"

"So I can tell you that I think I've been head over heels for Parvati since I was twelve?" Dean grinned after watching Orla bow. "And that I used to pretend to study and draw her for hours on end?"

He felt closer to Orla and he found that he didn't think of her as a therapist but rather a friend and someone he could trust. He drew in his mind what Orla was suggesting and when she was done, he looked at her and held out his hands before he asked, "How about we open the wall there in the master bedroom and make it lead into the hallway? That way you can have a much more airy space."

[shh_orla]

"Eh, coffee I can do for myself. But if you can make a decent dessert dish, you have the job." She grinned.

"I can't lay claim to saving lives. I just help other people to save themselves."

"Really?" Her eyes softened. "Thats so romantic, Dean. Really. Parvati is a lucky woman."

"Mmm, I can't quite picture it. Can you sketch it out for me?" She furrowed her brow in thought.

[shh_dean]

"I'm pants at baking, cooking for that matter unless you like pasta thingies or fabulous quiches." Looking at Orla, he frowned. "Don't ask." Smiling, he winked. "But have you ever had a pot of pressed coffee? It's a whole new world there. The flavors are so robust."

"You do more than help. See, you changed my life too." Dean confessed. "I thought I'd be alone forever after my mum died last year. I think I might have wanted to be alone deep inside." He kicked the floor softly before he looked at her and smiled. "But by you helping Parvati, you helped her to see beyond her darkness." He didn't know what else to call it without getting too detailed. "Then we found each other and she let me in because of you." Nodding, he said emphatically. "You don't realize the good you do when you help that one person. You end up making so many other's lives better."

"But you can't tell anyone." He chuckled. "Since we're in your office. I don't know what it is about her but even when I saw others, she was always there."

"Ah." Dean walked over and gazed at the structure of the wall before he looked into the bedroom, then the one adjacent to it. When he looked out the window in her bedroom, he noticed the roofline extended beyond the living area and he had an idea. He took out a pencil and a shrunken drawing pad before taking out his wand and bringing the pad to full size. He placed the pad on the rail of the stairs before he rough sketched the upstairs, his pencil skittering on the paper. Soon, he had placed the walls and doors to the rooms adjacent to the hallway. Then he drew the wall that led to the bedroom she wanted to turn into a sitting room. "See, we can put an arch into the front wall and then that'll give you the living area you wanted and open this space." He then divided the space with a wall that separated her bedroom from the new sitting area. "This way, you can have your bedroom and if you wanted, we could extend your living area over the roofline, add in more bedroom space or a large master bath with a garden tub to soak in when the day gets too long."

[shh_orla]

She shook her head. "I'm afraid I like coffee more for its caffeinated qualities that for its taste. Otherwise I'm more a tea person."

She was truly touched by what Dean said. Blinking back moisture in her eyes, she said softly, "Thank you, Dean. That really means a lot." She smiled, then looked away, not wanting to be caught blinking back tears.

She put her right hand over her heart. "On my honor as a Ravenclaw. Your secrets safe with me."

She looked at what he was sketching. 'I see what you mean. Makes it more of a room at the landing than a hallway." She nodded. "I'm ok with the bathroom for now. It's pretty modern, and I don't need a lot in the way of frivolities there. I just would like to have a living room up here, if that makes sense, since it is an office downstairs."