Jared gave a playful smirk at her redness. Muehehehe, that's riight. He liked that he made her blush like that. Achievement.

Merlin, he honestly didn't know this side of Maria. She was actually a very funny lady. And knowing a woman dressed up for him did indeed wonders for his ego. He snorted at her remark and didn't say anything. Jared could say a thing or two about that, but he prefered not to push it. So a half-smirk, half-smile was what she got for that one. He laughed at the other comment as well. Not half bad usually, eh? "You're very funny." He said when he was done laughing. "It's a quality, you know."

As Maria went on about his weather comment, he got a cauldron cake and took a bite. Since he had his mouth full, a smile was all she got as a reply at first. "We're lucky that it is summer." British summer, but summer nonetheless. "Besides, if it started raining, it would give us many different options as well." He added stopping half-way to bringing the cauldron cake to his mouth again. "What is creativity for?" Wink. And he knew how to compliment a woman? Haaaah. Of course he did. "It is easy when they have so many good traits." You know. Hah. There he went again.

But come on, she did have a nice smile, he had to admit. "I'll be happy to." See more of her funny side, that was. He faked a serious face when she asked the question. "I will inquire about they intentions. They probably wouldn't know half the meaning of those flowers and that would be outrageous! So I would have to let them know what they are about and why I am the only one who can give you those." Simple, eh? He thought so. And he was actually willing to do that if necessary. If there was anyone who knew about meanings, it was Jared Cattermole.

"What about you? How's everything in your world? Or should I say your shop?" He teased her with a smirk. Wasn't her shop her world? Until now, of course, muehehehe. "You are most welcome, my lady. You deserve all this and more." Wink.

Louisa chuckled nervously, admitting that he was right. Why was she questioning him being nice to her? "I dunno." Did he just call her van fat? She arched an eyebrow and racked her knuckles, a little too forcefully, on her big baby's metal surface. "That's right, we're a couple scary ladies." Her van was a she, in case he hadn't noticed. She rubbed her knuckles, making a quick face at her red hand.

Maybe the mention of any sort of payment made Louisa a liiiiiiittle anxious, but she wasn't one to show it. Her grin stayed on her face as she answered bravely, "Okay, I agree to your terms. I'll pay whatever damage I cause." Nose in the air and everything, she extended her hand to him. "Are we going to do this starting now? Meet up here tomorrow, same time?" Did this sound criminal-like to him, too? Hehhhh. How fitting, both young politicians and now acting criminal. They got the hang of it already.

Oh no, he was getting serious. And soft serious, with his face falling like that and his eyes getting all droopy and sad, Louisa averted her gaze to his car, distracting herself and trying not to get any emotions to rule the situation. "Well... sometimes no matter how hard you try to cross someone's name off, it just keeps coming back." Ugh, enough with the seriousness and feelings and whatnot. She glanced up at him and punched his arm lightly, "You idiot, though. Do you really believe I'd just cross you off? How shallow do you think I am?" She'd known him for too long to simply decide not to be associated with him.

Having gone to pick up a pizza and couple of drinks down the street, Awarlesta brought her friend to the park instead. She believed it sounded better to enjoy the view rather than a room of screaming children and teenagers.

Picking a spot near the pond, she set down the pizza box on the grass and motioned Easton to sit next to her. "So," She began, reaching for a slice of pizza inside of the box, "Why didn't you go back to New York for the summer?" Not that she was complaining or suggesting he go back. He being here was the highlight of her year!

João chuckled. Alright, she had time to learn what to question and what to let be. He arched one eyebrow when she petted her van. Okay. He smiled wryly, but didn't comment again. Okay. Okay. "I see you mean business."

He DID miss this silly Louisa! He would rather die to admit he... maybe... didn't laugh this much with Aspen. Or rather, he laughed differently with her. With Louisa, it was innocent fun. With Aspen, it was clever and well-planned fun, and he needed both. He was one lucky boy to have both. Maybe. Somehow, he couldn't be sure with any of them, but he was going to have fun while they both liked him.

Well, well. "Deal." He shook her hand forcefully as a hand-shaking tactic to assert that he would crush her if she didn't pay (joking and he knew she would get the joke).

"Yeah, tomorrow, same time." He paused then, clearly hesitating. "Did you rent this van, you said?" he asked as he lightly touched it as if he was afraid to hurt it. "What if you hit it somewhere?" Did she see where he was going? If she would drive his baby, he wanted to drive hers. An eye for an eye subtly, wasn't that politics?

...

Oh. His heart felt weird - he had a heart, and it was all swollen with emotions he couldn't name. "I..." Yeah yeah, she'd punched him and whatnot, but he couldn't get this feeling off his mind that...

Eh, whatever. He punched her van instead of punching her. He was sure she would feel it, she looked that attached.

"Shallow enough to agree to a deal with a Neves." Teehee.

Rude. Zeke was being rude again... Emily rolled her eyes at his personal question to Bennett, but instead on flicking him or slapping him upside the head, she took his distancing himself from her to mean that he understood that he was out of line. She'd have words with him later.

The dude understood, and this much Zeke could appreciate. He continued to walk between the two adults, though his attention was very much focused on Bennett instead of Emily. She didn't seem to like him talking to her people, and wondered if that was one of the reasons why she hadn't let him visit her work. Boo. Still, she had promised to take him once everything was back to normal there.

He was easily distracted from these thoughts though, as Bennett!Man revealed his scar. It was tame and boring, cept for the sword bit. THAT bit, was cool. "What were you sword fighting for? Did you win? Did you lose?" he asked, eager to know more about the mystery man his muuuummm worked with. "I only have a couple of scars from falling over, nothing exciting yet," he mused, doing the gentlemanly thing and sharing his own experiences, lifting his sleeve to expose a small scar above his elbow.

Merlin...

"I'm sorry, you'll have to excuse Zeke, he's too nosy for his own good sometimes," she apologised to Simon, the smallest of smiles turning up the corners of her lips. The boy had grown on her, yes, but she was convinced he would find an early grave if he didn't learn to keep his mouth shut and hands to himself. And what was this about nothing exciting yet? Yet?...

Smirk all you want, Cattermole. She rolled her eyes at that but there was a smile on her face while she did so. This man, seriously.

That half smirk and half smile was her sense of achievement. Maybe it was a sign that this really was doing wonders for his ego. Probably Did he smirk or smile a lot? Really, she had no idea. Flashes of previous times when he had been infuriatingly adorable came back to her. And she was funny? "Not many people have said that to me so thank you, Jared." Smiles were given and more mental points for the former Ravenclaw. "It might have a lot to do with your laugh. It's a nice one." Meaning laugh more please.

They really were lucky that it was the summer. Maria mused on this as she looked over towards the duck pond where the sun was reflecting off of the water. "Lucky, yeah." And what was this about different options? Green eyes back on you, Jared, and raised eyebrows too. Heh. Options and creativity. "Okay, Cattermole, I'm listening. What are these, ah, creative options you'd have in store?" And if it was what she was thinking of, then he was very lucky that she didn't have anything nearby to throw at the man. Nothing like a pillow. "Didn't know you were such a flirt." Smirk.

The shopkeeper merely nodded and made a mental note to keep up the funny side. And to think she didn't think of herself as the funny type. Merlin, it was like he was challenging her! Almost like a challenge of wits. Smiling at the thought, she kept her eyes on the man when he started talking about flowers and meanings and things he would do. "That's... that's really..." She was lost for words. Maria Jennings. Lost for words. Her cheeks flushed once more but she kept her eyes on the man. He wasn't lying, was he? It didn't matter. Not knowing what to say, she leaned over.................

............... and.....................

...................... placed a kiss on his cheek.

"You're being very adorable, Jared Cattermole."

Her shop was her world? SNORT. "Har har, funny!" Only pretending to be mad, she was. "Good good. I have an intern there this summer. A sixteen year old from Beauxbatons." And no more pansies were given to her by any other strange men so there was that. Merlin, Jared and his winks. She really was going to resemble a tomato after this. "Your lady. I like that."

Whewwwhhoooo, wasn't that one big handshake, Mr. Neves? Louisa didn't rub her hand or show any sign of change of mind, though. "Deal. Now the keys, please?" Smiiirk. Oh and he was investigating about her vehicle, wasn't he? "Yep, it's a rental. But it has much more feature than yours, you can pee in my vehicle, you can eat, you can drive in your underwear. So many other cool things to do." She should work in campaign & advertisement business, heh heh. Hit it somewhere? "You'll have to pay the guy if you hit it somewhere." Louisa obviously was an excellent driver, the van didn't get a scratch so far!

... okay, this was a lie. She grinned and pointed with her thumb over her shoulder towards the van, "There's a charms book inside about maintenance and magic. Knock yourself out with it." This was her secret.

Louisa didn't expect him to punch her back, even with his joking Joao was always the uptight gentleman. Nice to know that certain things never change. "Don't harass my van!" She patted the spot where he hit it. "Making a deal with a Neves is wildly stupid and crazy, not shallow." He got a Treyen-like wink from her.

"You're very welcome." Jared smiled at Maria and finished his cauldron cake. And she said his laugh was a nice one??? Hah! That highly amused him and he raised his eyebrows at her. "Look at you, Maria Jennings, learning to be nice." He said jokingly and then gestured to the rest of the snacks in front of them. "You may help yourself as a reward." He joked again, this time getting a piece of crystalised pineapple and popping it whole into his mouth.

She wanted to know about the creative options the rain would give them. Jared laughed before answering. "We would have to be spontaneous, wouldn't we?" Truth be told, he was the type of person who liked planning in advance, but not everything. There were a few moments in life he believed the best thing to do was improvisin. "You will find out if, perhaps, it starts raining." He added, giving her a quick wink and getting another crystalised pineapple for himself. Merlin, those things were good. His favourite, even. The former Ravenclaw chuckled at Maria's remark of him being a flirt. "Not always, no." But she knew that, didn't she? She had experienced Jared's 'other side' when they first met after all those years.

What happened next actually surprised Jared. And he didn't consider himself to be very easily surprised. Maria was speechless? What a nice surprise! In fact, it made Jared quite proud of himself. He was about to tease her, bragging about the fact when she suddenly leaned forward to... he turned his head SLIGHTLY to face her and the kiss that she intended to be only on his cheek happened to be placed on the corner of his lips.

Remember all about him planning in advance and whatnot? Exactly. He could do this quite fast as well. Mind you, Jared Cattermole was rarely caught off guard. He smirked and gave her a thank-you nod at her comment on him being adorable. He should probably have gotten used to being refered to as 'adorable', but that word still sounded odd to him. 'Adorable' was too feminine of a word. But then again, it was probably a woman thing to call everything 'adorable'. Jared could deal with that, he supposed.

Jared listened as she talked about her shop. See? Her shop was her world, even if she said it wasn't. Heh. "Beauxbatons? Interesting. How is her English?" He assumed it was a female student, because... he always related Beauxbatons to girls, for some reason. And..... boom! She liked being called that, did she? Hah! Jared half-smirked, half-smiled again. "Well, perhaps we should make that official then." He added casually, popping another crystalised pineapple into his mouth and chewing away as he admired the pond. He was just playing casual, of course. He truly was observing her every move from his peripheral vision.

...wait a minute, the keys, NOW?

"I thought - no, you're driving it either with me or never." His eyes were bigger with panic and he shook his head quickly. He trusted her, but only that much.

Ooooooh-kay, he first raised his eyebrows at her, then laughed in high spirits. "Have you really driven in your underwear, Louisa?" He eyed her for a moment, then shook his head. She didn't have to answer that, did she know?

Was there, now? "I need that book, actually." He had a clear record too, completely, but he was worried that some people were jealous of his beautiful car, so he wanted to make sure no one touched it.

He laughed again, then... had she just WINKED at him? He gaped, because she had!

"Good gracious, Louisa," he exclaimed at last, "you should come visit me more often." Especially if they were friends. He, as a friend, had never seen her friend wink to someone before!

Tsk tsk tsk, she was going to FORCE him into this? This was disappointing. "Oh come on, don't be such a coward! I won't do anything to it, just drive it up to my mum's house, and then drive it back here tomorrow." She rolled her eyes at him, why was he so afraid? "It's only one day, I don't even have time to wreck it if I wanted to." Louisa gave him a confident look, one that should reassure him.

"You're welcome to read the book. You can't do it when you're stalking me in your car, though." Seeeee, he had to get into her van and look for it and drive the van somewhere quiet and nice and THEN he could enjoy reading it. All fingers point to her taking his car ALONE.

She didn't know a Treyen-wink would cause this much hilarity. Louisa smirked, amused more than anything, and nodded. "Sure, sure." She wouldn't go to where he shared a place with his girlfriend, though, so it was just a pleasantry that answer.

Now... keeeeeeeeys?

.......she was challenging him, and you know what? HE WASN'T GOING TO BUY -

He narrowed his eyes and gave her one very suspicious look. He was basically weighing her up - whether she was fit to drive his car or not. He even ignored her not very convincing 'sure sure', and after a looooong examination, reached into his pocket.

"Don't make me regret it." Hear the hesitation in his voice? YEAH. "Now, yours."

Waiiiiiting waaaaaiting waitiiiiiiing... finally!

Louisa snatched the keys from him and shoved them in her shorts' pocket with a smirk. "I won't!" When did she ever make someone regret something? Don't answer that.

Now for her keys, she handed them to him gladly, "See, I have more confidence in you than you me." Feel the guilt burn, Joao Neves. "So, tomorrow, same time. See you then!" Yes, she couldn't wait to get into his car and smell the delicious luxury.

João felt as if someone he loved dearly was in hospital or something. He HOPED his car wouldn't need any fixing tomorrow. He took her keys much less enthusiastically, and nodded.

"Yeah, safe driving," he muttered and turned to then van. These things... didn't require a different licence, right?

She was learning to be nice, wasn't she? "You say that as if you've doubted me all along," she said in a mocking way, smirking at the man. And reward? Her gaze moved from the man's face and landed on the snacks, after which she le out a small snort of laughter. "If that's the case, I might fling more compliments your way." And she was going to help herself. Help herself to a white chocolate almond truffle.

Maria tilted her head, her gaze back on Jared. Spontaneous. Heh. "Since when did you become the type of person to do things spontaneously?" Did he like doing things spontaneously? This didn't sound like the Jared she knew, unless he did this on his dates with the mermaids other girls. "Be careful, you're going to make me wish for it to rain." Because her curiosity had spiked. So much so, that she hardly noticed him taking yet another crystallised pineapple. She did notice that he was chuckling again. "Maybe it's my lucky day." Yes, she had experienced his other side. Merlin, that meeting!

The kiss on the cheek didn't end up being what she had expected it to be. Her eyes were wide and her face flushed as she stared at the spot on his face where she had kissed him. "Er..." she started, tucking a lock of her hair behind her ear. Merlin, why did her brain decide to become full of fluff right now? She was well and truly speechless and it was entirely Jared Cattermole's fault.

He was smirking so there was that. Smirking and nodding. The shopkeeper let out a small sigh of relief and smiled back at him before turning to look at the snacks instead. Maybe that could hide how flustered she still was over whatever it was that had happened before. She could have almost kicked herself.

Winnie's English? "Very good, I'd say. She reads to children and seemed enthusiastic with any task I give to her." A little too enthusiastic but the girl seemed to be good at getting the job done. Shrugging, Maria reached over to pick up another truffle when.......... Jared spoke. And she looked at him. And stared. Look at this dork casually eating a crystallised pineapple while she sat here speechless. Again. Merlin, Cattermole! "What do you mean?" she asked quietly. And if it wasn't what she thought it was, he was getting a cauldron cake to the face.

Jared smirked at her right back. "Of course I didn't, I knew all along you were the nice kind. It's just a different type of nice." Was he being serious or was he mocking her? He would leave that up for her to decide. Muehehe. And she would fling more comments his way? Hah! "Yes, keep practising." Smirk.

That was actually a good question. "I can't tell, but it might have been when I started working with merpeople." He pondered out loud. They weren't the most unpredictable beings, but you still couldn't just decide absolutely eveything in advance sometimes. "And with the people enthusiasts." Yeah, they were probably the worst. "It's good for your creativity, at least." Jared shrugged, helping himself to another cauldron cake. Maria's comment on wishing it would rain made Jared wiggle his eyebrows briefly at her before taking a bite from the cake. And was it her lucky day? "It is indeed." He raised his cauldron cake as if to make a toast and smiled at her.

Smiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiirk. Bahahahaha, her expression was priceless. No need to make fun of her or anything. The situation was good enough as it was, and Jared pretended nothing happened as he looked back at the pond and admired the nice day a bit more.

"Good to hear." The former Ravenclaw took another bite out of his cauldron cake and kept watching whatever was going on near the pond, though his attention was really on Maria. "Sounds like you're having a break from all the hard work at the store." She worked there by herself, didn't she? He wouldn't say so, but it was a big bookshop and it was probably good to have some help every now and again.

Instead of smirking, this time Jared kept acting casual, still not taking his eyes off the pond. He shrugged before answering. "If you like me calling you my lady, then it would make sense if this were true. You're not mine." He still had the most casual expression on his face, but finally turned to look at her and shook his head to emphasise she wasn't his. "But this issue shouldn't be too complicated to solve." Jared added looking once again at the pond. "If you want to, of course."

A different type of nice? "Considering how we met back at the store all those years ago, I wouldn't have expected you to say that." Because she had been, as he had put it, unprofessional. And probably a little rude. Keep practising? "Hey!" she started, pretending to be offended, "I could take it all back, Cattermole."

Maria raised her eyebrows. Rhetorical question, that had been. But while he went ahead and answered, she opened her chocolate frog packet. "Those merpeople must have had a big effect on you." she said before taking a bite of the head of the chocolate frog. And working with and dating was completely different, Cattermole. SNORT. "You worked with the people enthusiasts?" Jared Cattermole? The same one she knew? The wiggling eyebrows made her cheeks flush once again -- merlin, how many times was this going to happen? -- but she ignored this while she flung the chocolate frog card in his general direction. "Thank you." A toast for her lucky day? Heh.

That smirk. Despite being all too used to it, she was still taken aback with the fact that he was smirking. She hadn't expected that, unless he happened to be that happy with getting an almost kiss. And was he really going to pretend that nothing had happened? Merlin, MEN.

What was so interesting about the pond that he kept looking over there? He didn't expect a mermaid to pop out of there, did he? The man was going to be severely disappointed, if that was the case. "I am. Which is how I'm able to meet you here today." And he would have had a wink sent his way if he had been looking at her. Shame.

The man was being his usual Ravenclaw self and it would have both amused and annoyed Maria if the situation had been a different one. Instead, she bit her lip and decided to look down at the snacks and the picnic cloth. As much as she hated to admit it, he was right. "Would it be wrong to say that I did want to?" she said, finally looking up at him.

"This is the exact reason why I said that." Jared explained. He didn't quite think that back when he met her at the store, but looking back now... it hadn't been that bad. Maybe it had. And she could take it back? "You could, but you wouldn't." Wink. And if she did, he miight take what he said back as well. Hmmmm... nah, he wouldn't.

Jared smiled when Maria said the merpeople had had a big effect on him. "They most certainly did." He would tell her he'd rather spend his time with merpeople rather than regular people, but that would be an inappropriate time, in his opinion, so he kept quiet about that. "I think you will only understand how amazing those beings are when you learn more about their culture and, if possible, get to spend time with them." And the fact many people didn't appreciate merpeople really annoyed him. "They are fascinating and there are many people that enjoy learning about them." He explained. Jared had stopped eating when the subject changed to merpeople. He could easily go on about them the whole day! "You know, you could come with me one day to see what my job's like." He grinned at her, before finally popping another crystalised pinapple into his mouth.

Was it bad that Jared was glad he had annoyed her a bit? Well, he was.

Oh, that was what the intern was doing? Looking after the entire shop while Maria was there with him? "Wow, that's a good intern that you've got." He was impressed. "Is she planning to move to the UK after finishing school?" Why else would a French girl want to do an internship in Diagon Alley?

Jared smirked triumphantly as he still watched the pond. He changed his smirk to a grin and turned so that his eyes would meet hers. "Not at all. So you are my girlfriend now?" He asked in his casual tone, but the look in his eyes was an intense one.

That was why he had said what he had said. Maria raised her eyebrows, half-amused, as she said, "Looks like we've come far from that meeting." The woman remembered, all too clearly, the level of rudeness and un-professionalism that had passed between them. "What makes you so sure of that?" Of course she wasn't planning on taking it back.

Huh. Will you look at that. Jared really was in love with these magical creatures, wasn't he? It was amusing and the woman would laugh if she knew that it wouldn't offend the man. But there was every chance that it would so she kept quiet. Besides, there was something nice about hearing someone go on and on about something they were passionate about. "Are you telling me that when you've been away for months on end without even dropping an owl," Still a tiny bit mad about that, FYI. "You've been partying with the merpeople?" Maybe partying wasn't the right word but she couldn't help it. Many people enjoyed learning about them. Huh. "It sounds like someone's been making a lot of friends." She was happy for him. Really. Couldn't you tell behind her smirk? "I'd like that. It'd make an interesting change. I hardly know what you do, you know."

Yes, that was bad, Jared Cattermole. Shame on you.

Maria nodded along as she reached over and grabbed a piece of fudge. "I only choose the best." Wink. Jared didn't need to know that she hadn't actually chosen this intern. "I have no idea. Maybe she's looking into bookkeeping or something similar and thought working in the UK will boost her profile." She shrugged before chewing off a bit of the fudge.

That. Smirk. He really was being both amusing and annoying, wasn't he? Stupid adorable Jared. But then he was asking the all important question and her cheeks flushed once more. Be. COOL, Maria. "Only if you promise not to run off with a mermaid. Because I WILL gift you a screaming book." But she smiled to show that she was joking.

And that's your yes, by the way Cattermole.

With the holidays from the ministry in full swing Tasha pushed the baby stroller away from the leaky cauldron and bustling streets full of shopping people towards the city park. Her little baby boy was tucked in under the warm blankets in the stroller sleeping peacefully. Tugging her coat closer against the cold Tasha steered the little stroller to one of the benches with view out over the fountain.

Sitting down on the bench she leaned back and waited for Dorian to come join her with the steaming coffee he had promised to buy at one of the vendors. They were just going to make a short stop in the park before they made the trip over to her parent’s house. Tasha knew her mother wanted to add on to the list of names for the baby.

Every once in a while, it seemed unreal to think about how much his life had changed over the past year. Aside from the whole Ministry lockout, Dorian had actually had a good year, and those hadn’t come often. Plus, they were all back in the Ministry, so even that had worked out. He had been looking forward to the holidays, and other recent events had lightened his mood even more. His past still haunted him, but he could see a future. A future that was currently waiting at the park, yet he’d held back for a second to just watch the two of them sitting there, yards away from him. Years before, he would have never thought any of this was possible, but there it was. His wife and child. Not as he had expected when he had been younger, but he still was grateful for them. He was grateful that Natasha had understood, and she’d helped him get over his loss. And now this.

After taking that moment, he went back into motion, striding across the street toward the park, coffee cups warming both hands. At least they had time before they had to be at her parents’ house. He’d never really thought how difficult it could be to come up with a name, but apparently he’d been proven wrong. Everyone seemed to want to give suggestions, and as he’d lifted one of the cups to drink his usual espresso, a wry smile flickered on his face. It was probably lucky most of MLE wasn’t aware, or there would probably be even more names on the list. “How is he?,” he said, arriving at the bench and handing his wife the other cup. It was definitely winter.

Natasha’s eyes darted every minute or two to look down at the child in the stroller who seemed to be sleeping peacefully. A fact she was grateful for. When they came to her parent’s house she knew the little one would be carried and cooed with so much that sleeping would be out of the question. It would be nice though. Her mother was nicer than usual to everyone in the family and Tasha was going to savour every moment until her mother changed attitude again. It was inevitable.

Catching a glance at her watch she wondered why her husband was taking so long and when Izzy would arrive to the park. Her sister had wanted to come see the little one before the big family get together where a chance to take a peek at the baby would be limited. Tasha was just pulling up the blankets around her son when Dorian finally arrived with the coffee. Accepting the cup from him she said quietly. "He is sleeping. I doubt he'll get much sleep at my mothers. Did you see Izzy on your way here?"

Even from a distance, Dorian had been able to sense the impatience and the simple concern over their child. It was rather sweet, really, and once again he’d spent a second thinking about how he hadn’t expected to ever get this. To get a family and happiness, after his first chance had gotten brutally torn away long before. He’d been solitary ever since, but now he had Natasha and the baby. It was still taking some getting used to, even though he had been with her for a few years now. Just the permanence was new, and the even more important need to protect them. To protect what he’d been given, yet he also wanted the normalcy. He didn’t want to continue always looking over his shoulder and expecting Gabriel to appear and take everything from him. Even the bizarre pleasantries of Tasha’s mother qualified as normal compared to that; she wasn’t a threat.

A slight smile had crossed his face as he’d come up next to the bench, watching as she’d pulled the blankets up around their son. At least one of them didn’t have to worry about the weather, although the coffee was helping. He’d taken a sip from his cup as he’d listened to the answer to his question, along with other questions for him. “Unfortunately, I didn’t see her on my way here. Possibly she’s running late?,” he replied, letting his grey eyes scan the area for the figure of his sister-in-law even as he’d spoken. Wes and Izzy had kids of their own, so it was highly possible that was what had kept her. “I can’t disagree with you, either. He may as well get sleep while he can,” he added, glancing back down at the stroller. There would be entirely too much fussing over his son once they arrived at her parents’ house. Even he wasn’t particularly looking forward to that.

Scooting nearer to the stroller on the bench to give her husband room to sit down Tasha shrugged. "You are probably right. I bet one of the twins has caused some sort of mess and that is what is holding her up. They are awfully good at that." If that was the case they would be made aware eventually. Letting her blue eyes scan the park Tasha didn’t see her sister anywhere and resolved to focus on Dorian and her little son. Izzy came when she came. Sipping on her hot steaming coffee with milk in it just like how she liked it Tasha asked quietly to not wake the baby. "Are you going to tell Emily about the newest addition to our family? I’m definitely telling Aron when we get back to the ministry." It would be weird not to. He had to know right?

Sipping on her coffee some more Tasha commented. "We should take walks in this park more often. It’s nice out here." And the air was fresher away from all the city traffic and noises from all the people going in different directions. Her mind wandered back to the coming family gathering. Tasha had the distinct feeling that it was going to end up with her getting a headache like after many gatherings because of the chatter, being pulled in multiple directions and most of all her father’s like for cooking an insane amount of food that he expected to be eaten up in its entirety.

Ember needed a BREEEAAAK from the wonderful office! Yes, yes, the Chorts were all gone--things were boring again--those horrible healers had kind of slowed their roll! Ember had still a lot of Pesting paperwork to do, though, and she had to beg Jose for a nice lunch break to break the monotony of the day.

AHH.

The weather was nice today. A bit chilly, but that was expected. She had dressed warm enough to be comfortable OUTSIDE. Hehe. She had her bag slung over her shoulder, and as she had eaten a quick salad in the lift, she was ready to spend her break RELAXING. She plopped down in the grass and kicked off her flats--admiring her WONDERFUL gummy bear leggings in the process--and just...crossed her legs and began to meditate. With sound effects and ERRRTHING. She was getting quite into it, too, and she would be changing positions quite soon. HEH.

She kept her eyes closed and tried her TIP TOP BEST to keep out all other sounds....AAUUMMMM!

Quote:

Originally Posted by kayquilz

Ember needed a BREEEAAAK from the wonderful office! Yes, yes, the Chorts were all gone--things were boring again--those horrible healers had kind of slowed their roll! Ember had still a lot of Pesting paperwork to do, though, and she had to beg Jose for a nice lunch break to break the monotony of the day.

AHH.

The weather was nice today. A bit chilly, but that was expected. She had dressed warm enough to be comfortable OUTSIDE. Hehe. She had her bag slung over her shoulder, and as she had eaten a quick salad in the lift, she was ready to spend her break RELAXING. She plopped down in the grass and kicked off her flats--admiring her WONDERFUL gummy bear leggings in the process--and just...crossed her legs and began to meditate. With sound effects and ERRRTHING. She was getting quite into it, too, and she would be changing positions quite soon. HEH.

She kept her eyes closed and tried her TIP TOP BEST to keep out all other sounds....AAUUMMMM!

William was getting used to being alone again. Today he was taking a walk on his lunch break. A lonely walk, after a lonely lunch, all alone in the City Park. He had his hands in his pockets and just the slightest frown ruining his otherwise perfect face.

Being alone sucked. It was boring, there was no one to talk to, no one to entertain, no one to entertain him, and it was overall a very sucky existence. How was this any better than being with Alysson???? He was still asking himself that only all the time.

As he walked along though, lo and behold, a bright object caught his eye. Why, it almost appeared to be glowing, like an.... Ember? That was his coworker's name, right? With the flashy clothes and the bright er teal hair? Heh. She looked like she was meditating. That or sleeping in a silly pose.

Either way, she would be perfect to sneak up upon. So, with his hand still in his pockets, Willy moved from the sidewalk to the grass and did his best to sneak up on his much younger coworker. He stopped a little ways away, though, and did his usual hide-behind-a-tree-because-you're-tall routine. He peeked around its trunk and aimed his wand at Ember's shoes.

Ommmmmmmmmmmmm, that's right, keep meditating.... ommmmmm your meditation is so powerful that your shoes are lifting right off the ground! Ommmmmmmmmm keep going, don't smell them floating above your face right now... ommmmmmmmmmm William just couldn't help it. He couldn't hold the spell any longer, this picture was just too hilarious.

With a small snigger, the levitating shoes fell from the air and onto Ember's head.

OOPS.

He kept his sniggering to a minimum and leaned back against the tree while he laughed. This was the perfect way to waste time spend a lunch break.