Emrys grinned almost instinctively. "I was homeschooled, too," he said, relieved to find some common ground, which was helping him feel less awkward. "I enrolled for fifth year, but this really crazy thing happened with orbs and freezing time, and I didn't go back for sixth." It had seemed the right decision at the time, but he wondered if things might have been different if he'd stuck it out. Like being able to hold an actual conversation. But he was absolutely in agreement about it not being an environment conducive to learning. "Amelia doesn't seem to mind it nearly as much as I did," he said, laughing lightly. "She's happy to be there, I think. No matter how 'ridiculous' things are." He made little air quotes around the word ridiculous. It was... perhaps his sister's favorite word. "She's a sixth year and I think she's starting to realize she doesn't have a lot of time left there."

Walking up to the cart, he ordered two teas, turning to look at her, his eyebrows drawn together in a bit of confusion at her 'I guess' statement. "Playing professionally certainly sounds like an accomplishment to me," he offered as he dug the coins out of his pocket to pay for their drinks. "I... admittedly don't know a whole lot about it." It was enjoyable enough to watch now that he'd gotten over his being afraid that every single person on a broom was going to suffer some tragic sports accident, but without it having been part of his upbringing, he didn't think he'd ever 'get' it on a level any deeper than an intellectual surface understanding. "Is that why the matchmaker? No time to meet anyone?"

Taking their teas from the cart, he handed one to her carefully. Spilling a tea at this juncture would be a complete disaster, and the nerves from that worry had his hand shaking just slightly.

Oh look! Something to talk about! “You were? It’s kind of a culture shock being sent to a proper school, right? Lessons not going at your speed and stuff...” She’d really struggled at first, at least when she was home her dad had worked with her rather than speeding through the content so quickly she got whiplash.

“It’s good that she enjoys it though,” Derry mused, thinking about it. “I was always looking forward to holidays and stuff. I don’t think I’d have stayed there if it weren’t for the people.” Like, she’d made so many good friends, she’d never give them up, not for years of perfect education. As for her not having much time left, Derry didn’t understand that though, she didn’t miss Hogwarts, and she hadn’t been worried about leaving. Apart from that bit where she had to figure out how to do adult life, anyway.

As for the accomplishment thing... “I nearly didn’t take the job. Being the centre of attention and stuff, not exactly my kind of thing usually.” So that was the accomplishment in her eyes. The not-freaking-out part. She didn’t even get the pre-match nerves on quite such a huge scale as she had done at Hogwarts. Though she suspected that was due to other things too, so she didn’t mention it. “Oh? I guess some people don’t. I mean... I grew up in the muggle world more or less, and I still know nothing about football.” Not really. Just that it was played on foot rather than on brooms. And you had to kick a ball into a net. The matchmaker though... “Yeah, sort of. My team mates were concerned about my love life...” she admitted it. “So they suggested it to me.” Meaning, she’d agreed to it... eventually.

Mmmmmm tea. Derry took the tea in her free hand - flowers in the other - and smiled at Emrys. “Thanks.” Nice hot tea.... lovely.

Emrys nodded knowingly. "I had a hard time with there being so many people around while I was trying to focus," he said. When he was alone, he could zero in on something and just run with it for hours. But with all the comments and questions around him, he just couldn't keep the thread of a lesson. Which had meant far too much study time on his own trying to keep up. He'd... not had people. Well, maybe Kurumi and Louisa, but after that seminar, he hadn't been able to look at Kurumi for weeks... and then the orb and... He'd had no people. And so nothing kept him there. "People are important," he offered, knowing it to be true because he knew how different things could have been had he'd even just kept in touch.

She was certainly challenging his, admittedly ill-informed, preconceptions of professional quidditch players. Not take the job? Not want to be at the centre of attention? Wasn't that sort of the point? "I very much get the not wanting the attention," he mused. In fact, if no one noticed he'd even been in the room until after he left, so much the better. "What do you think you'd be doing if you hadn't taken it?" Since asking what she did for fun going to be his question until she'd said she didn't have time for much other than quidditch. "First match I ever saw was at Hogwarts and I had a hard time following the actual game even after I understood how it was played." So much going on. "And after I left, it wasn't really something that was a thing in my family so I never really picked it up." He shrugged. What he really needed was someone to sit through a whole match with him and talk him through it. Then.. maybe.

He sipped his tea and ran his hand through his hair. "My sister.. had similar concerns, it would seem," he said, chuckling a bit embarrassedly. She'd threatened to submit the forms herself if he didn't, and so had gone through with it, so at least it had been his words. But now that he was starting to get a little more comfortable, he wasn't sorry she had.

Phoebe nodded. "I took it only for a year--decided it was silly--and yeah. My fifth year only." She replied. And then she chuckled. "See--I wasn't even good at it--you--you saw things? In the crystal balls--tea leave--?" She was curious. Was her...was her DOUBTFULNESS of the subject what had hindered her? Probably.

Oooh he thought Connor was YOUNG? Phoebe snorted--"I don't feel like he's young. I feel like he's growing too fast--and that he was just a little tyke not too long ago--" she sighed in a melancholy way. "Do you have children?" She asked...since she had told him about hers. "He IS. A lot like his father actually--" she rolled her eyes a bit. "oooh--I was a Ravenclaw! " She cried excitedly, causing the swans nearby to look up at her in fright. Oops. Phoebe smiled apologetically--''Sorry--" she looked down and blushed. "I just--yes, I was a 'claw." Must be why she liked lions so much. The two seemed to attract each other, in her experience.

She nodded. "I do. I just-it's not what I went to school for--" she shrugged. "I was an art major--" she blushed more because...it seemed silly. "I specialized in sculpting.." like...with clay. She liked the feeling of it--the smell--just everything about it.

Derry'd had a hard time with there being so many people around in general when she'd first started. She'd been to muggle school, yes, but people usually avoided her there since she was that weird farm girl who was homeschooled four days a week and only came in for maths and science lessons. "I think it was the homework that got me, at home I always had my parents to help... My mam's a physicist so I was always good at science in muggle school..." Was it weird she'd done muggle exams too? She was never sure... but she was glad she had done - it helped her connect with her muggle mother. As for people... "Yeah, I mean... I definitely wouldn't be playing Quidditch if it wasn't for the people at Hogwarts." West, mainly... he'd supported her whole heartedly and it was the thought of him that finally made her accept the Magpie's offer.

She nodded at his agreement to the attention thing. It didn't surprise her... attention was... difficult. It put a lot of pressure on and Derry did not usually do well under pressure. She'd gone almost to pieces over her NEWTs... and over the muggle A levels she'd tried to take. In fact... that was part of why she was playing quidditch and not following the plan she'd made when she was ten years old. Which brought her onto the next question. "Veterinary science and care of magical creatures." she said, scuffing her shoe a little as they walked. "I might go back to it after quidditch... as a mature student maybe. I mean... a quidditch career cannae exactly last your whole working life." Like any sports career, she would have to retire before she was old. "I've always loved animals... I've wanted to be a vet since I was about six and I was helping my dad with lambing - I grew up on a farm.." The whole lambing thing needed context, probably. "So yeah... that. Though I'd have to go back and retake my muggle A-levels." Because for veterinary science she'd definitely need biology. Maybe she'd start soon. She could study alongside quidditch, right? Unofficially at least. Hm...

"Quidditch is fairly simple really, it just gets a bit... tangled up when you see everyone flying around out there. I've always thought about it as three separate games together. Like... there's the chasers and keepers game, the beaters game and the seekers game... and they kind of... intertwine." It made it easier than trying to get all the scoring and fouls and stuff to make sense in her head, anyway.

Ah... that was... sort of a relief actually. At least she wasn't the only one who'd been pretty much thrown into this. "Maybe she worries about you, it's hard being away from your family all term." She'd missed her own a lot when she was at Hogwarts. Now that she was forced to spend so much time with them? Not so much.

"Probably the smart thing to do." Seth nodded, agreeing that if she thought something was silly there was no reason to continu studying it. Except if you were anything like him. "I took it from my third year on." He said casually as he strolled along the pond. "No, I never saw a thing!" Seth said happily. "Let's just say I have a very creative mind." He flashed her a grin and winked. "It was one of my best subjects. Very amusing." And inaccuarate. "I believe the only reason I was so good at it is because I didn't see anything." He chuckled.

The primary teacher smiled at her comment about her son. "I'm afraid children do grow up fast. I used to think it was only my girls who did, but my students are just the same." He said longingly, admiring the waterfowl. "I wish they would stay kids for longer. I enjoy kids." He turned to her. "But if he's still at Hogwarts, he's still young." Seth said reasuringly. "Yes, I do have kids, and the both of them have already graduated from university! Not younglings anymore." He gave her a friendly smile and turned to the pond again, but what she said next - and the way she said it - made him laugh and turn to her again. "No need to apologise! It's always good to see some house pride!" And Ravenclaw was a good house, he had to admit. "One of my sisters was also a Ravenclaw." Always surrounded by them, he was, but he didn't mind.

What she said next really surprised him. Art major! If they had met a few years back he would've had a different reaction to that. "It's good to do what you love." He nodded. Even if it's arts. "I learned this from my daughter." Seth smiled at the pond, remembering the struggle that was for Amanda to go to Drama School. "Your house must be very interesting." He supposed there were sculptures everywhere. "Have you got any idea what you want to do after leaving the bank?"

Phoebe wished she had some bread to feed the pretty swans. Geese---NO. Swans---YES. She had no issue with SWANS. Smiling to herself, she looked over at Seth as he went on about Divination. "I should have...done that...alas, I didn't like the idea of continuing a class I hated." She shrugged. "But--some people are really good at it---I guess. SO...power to them." She said, chuckling as they continued walking. Hmm.

"Should we find a place to sit, soon? I'm fine with whatever." Phoebe was the IDEA of easy-going. She wasn't STARVING yet, though. but soon she WOULD be. Of course--She'd let Seth call the shots, if he wanted. Heh.

Ooooh his students? "So you teach?" had he said that? Before? Oops--Phoebe blushed and looked all shy--was her brain playing tricks on her? "How old are you students typically?" she asked softly, trying to get her cheeks to NOT be sooooo darn red and all. "It IS kind of fun to watch them grow into little people..adults..making choices..making you proud and whatnot." She smiled all big at the thought of Connor. He was an amazing kid, really. And smart--kind. And an amazing writer. She was so proud of him. "Recently he made a decision I'm not ALL that fond of--but--he's so...just..well..he gets his reasoning from his father. And he isn't stupid and--" she was babbling about Connor again and she had to STOP. Merlin.

Clearing her throat, she grabbed her basket from him. "I'll give you a break--" she said, giggling softly. "Ooooh they're older! My oh my--what do they do? Do they have families yet?" If she was on a date with a GRANDPA she'd feel so...well not WEIRD but it'd be cute. Grandchildren were a wanted thing for Phoebe..eventually. MHMM. "And oh--cool--we're--overthinkers." She said, rolling her eyes. Ravenclaws, honestly. "So you're used to us. Good." That was easier.

Yesss yes. This got a sigh from the woman. "My parents were...not amused with my choices. That paired with falling in love with a muggle--" she sighed. "But all is good NOW of course." Her parents weren't awful people or anything. "My one back in new Orleans was..but we had to downsize when we moved here...a lot of my stuff is in storage." Kind of sad.

Oh. Good question. Phoebe looked up at the sky..."I...have no idea. Work at a daycare...teach art..who knows."

Physics? Emrys perked at the mention. Muggle science made sense to him, much like the theory behind things like potions and transfiguration did, even if his, uh, practical application was not strong. He wished that he had pushed his parents for tutoring in muggle subjects... maybe then he wouldn't be running errands for a recluse researcher. "You went to muggle school, too?" Granted, Emrys had only been enrolled for the first few years of primary school before the homeschooling had begun...

He nodded as she described what she would do after quidditch, sipping his tea as he thought. "Hm. I always just assumed that retired players ended up working in sporting in some other way." He scratched the back of his head. But farms and animals and whatever lambing was, that was way out of Emrys' knowledge base. "Doing what you enjoy is important, if you can manage it" he offered, finally. "I think about going back.. as a 'mature student,' as you say," he offered, smiling and kicking a stone in the path. Not that he had any idea what he would do. And his parents were awfully disappointed he hadn't gone on to university, though they'd never have said it to his face.

He considered her explanation, eyes narrowing a bit in thought, head nodding just slightly. "Three games..." he mused, thinking it through. "That's helpful... I'll have to watch a match and see if that untangles things." He sipped his tea once more, lost a bit in his head visualizing a match and how those parts might fit together, his finger absently drawing in the air as if tracing the players' movements...

"I don't know if it's so much that Amelia worries about me..." he said, laughing lightly. Though, she did. It's not good for you to be alone, Emrys. You need to spend time with people, Emrys. "She.. likes to meddle."

Hm? Oh, that. "Yeah, well, my mam's a muggle. And I didn't show magic until late so... I guess my dad thought I was a squib." Derry had been rather taken with charms once she did manage to be able to actually do them. "I missed the English lessons once I got to Hogwarts. Creative writing, that sort of thing. Talking about books." Was she rambling? Probably. But books... he loved books.

"I'm... actually really bad at sports. Other sports I mean, than Quidditch." Not that that really had any bearing on whether she'd carry on with Quidditch. "I don't think I'd enjoy coaching or anything.." She paused, and tried to think of other people who she, y'know, worked with. Immediately feeling kinda bad that she couldn't think of another sporting job. "Maybe you should, if you think about it... often..?" She made that a bit of a question, since he hadn't specified. "I definitely want to be able to get the vet point some day. I always wanted to be one..." She had an animal affinity, dontcha know. "Though when I was younger I wanted to grow up to be a horse." Wow. Great. So cool. Well done. Ten out of ten.

Derry smiled widely at that. She'd helped, see? Awesome. "You should come to one of our matches some time. We have this play where it's like three obvious separate things and then two of the chasers..." she trailed off. "Sorry, technical stuff... it's just... looking at that stuff can make it easier to understand." Especially cause she basically saw in diagrams at this point. She should probably not offer loads of stuff, like telling him she'd talk him through a play and then he could watch it and understand... because... they had just met.

Yes, that too. "Mhmmmm. Meddling. My cousin... kind of... I think he contacted my team mates for help and they... kind of... ran with it." Which was highly annoying, by the way....

Emrys nodded, feeling more comfortable the more they talked. Sipping his tea, he stuck his free hand in his pocket. "Both of my parents are muggleborn so they wanted us to be connected to that part of our family," he offered. Not that either he or Amelia had lasted very long in muggle schools, but for vastly different reasons. But talking about books... that was something he could do. "Have you read anything good recently?" he asked. "I end up spending a fair bit of time in libraries and bookstores for my work and I'm always looking for something new to read." Because that's how he spent his abundant time alone free time

"I'm not sure what I would want to do if I did, honestly," he said with a shrug, looking over to her to smile. "But it sounds like you've got a good plan." This was going.. well, he thought. Maybe. Except.. she said the thing about the horse and as a complete reflex, Emrys snort!laughed. And almost immediately feared that she would think he was making fun of her. "Derry, I.." he stammered, and fixed his eyes firmly on the ground. Merlin. "I didn't mean.." Ugh ugh ugh. Smooth. He had finally been feeling comfortable.. which had clearly meant fumbly, bumbly Emrys was bound to show up sooner or later.

He did think going to a match would help and it wasn't too technical - it was actually the technical bits that he followed - but he'd gone a bit quiet and so just nodded in agreement with her.

And if her being on this date was the result of SO MUCH meddling, did she want to be here? Probably not, he thought.

"There's no point in doing that." Seth said, giving her a warm smile. Taking classes you hate didn't help in your learning at all. It was a shame teachers weren't able to pass on their knowledge in a way all students enjoyed.

The man looked from her to their surroundings when she mentioned a place to sit down. "Sure, sure! I was thinking under that tree." He gestured towards a place no too far from where they were at the moment. "We'll still have a very nice view of the pond." He smiled dazzingly, walking over to said tree.

"I do indeed. I'm a primary teacher at a Charm School." Seth said as he organised a little place for them to sit. "Do you mind the ground or would you rather a stool of sorts?" He asked, looking at her, before continuing. "The subject called Discipline and Balance." A silly name, he knew. "I like to call it 'Wandless self-control'. The kids prefer that name too." He winked at Phoebe. This was just what they were talking about earlier; making children enjoy the subject, not hate it. It always helped. "I'm the teacher they only see twice a week, hence I'm their favourite." Seth chuckled. The teacher who came in to make everyone have fun. He couldn't have chosen a better job!

'It IS kind of fun to watch them grow into little people..adults..making choices..making you proud and whatnot.' Seth listened to this sentence as he admired the pond, thinking about his own two daughters and nodding his head. He understood that very well. He gave Phoebe a typicalHarrisonFord half-smile. "May I know what decision it is?" He asked looking at her. It was fine if she didn't want to share, anyway. "This has been one of the most difficult things I had to learn with my daughters. They are their own people now and make their own decisions. We can't force our will on them anymore." Unfortunately. But as Phoebe had rightfully said, they had grown up to make him very proud either way.

Yes, his children were older. Older than her son, at least. "Rachel, my youngest, is a healer at St. Mungos." The man smiled proudly. "Amanda is an aspiring actress. She's a very good performer in general, as she's going to sing at the Music Festival in Diagon Alley." He couldn't remember what it was called now, but it didn't matter. "It took me a while to accept Mandy wasn't going to have a prop-- Well, a normal profession." Seth had to stop himself from saying 'proper' again. He was still getting used to the idea, give him a break! "Neither of them have their own families yet, no, but they don't live with me anymore." Grown ups, they were. Even Amanda was managing to maintain her own flat without his help, which, he had to admit, was quite impressive.

Seth gave her another warm smile. Used to Ravenclaws. "Yes, I am." Most definitely.

The former Gryffindor was partially amused at her comments on her parents' reaction to her studying arts. He could identify himself with them; he had given Amanda a hard time in the beginning as well. "They were only worried about your future." He mentioned casually, looking at the pond, before smiling at Phoebe once again. "It worked out well in the end; that's what's important." He was saying that to Phoebe but was thinking of Amanda at the same time. He was also saying that to himself. It would all work out in the end. A lot of her stuff was in storage? "You should get it all back on day." Now that it was all done, it shouldn't be wasted!

Her thoughts of her next working place made Seth perk up. Daycare? Teach art? "You want to teach too?" Fantastic! "At a Muggle school or a Magical one?"

http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=143494312

It was no surprise that Ophelia's that day of meandering brought her to the park. The second year had always loved outdoor places like so, places where you could run around aimlessly and not really DO anything. At home, something always had to be done. Either that, or they needed her to not be around so they could get something else done. Here, the Ravenclaw made the choices. If she wanted to walk the path, she would walk the path. If the twelve year old wanted to go look at some ducks, then she would go look at some ducks. The preteen had some candy to burn through and nothing else to do for the day, so why not spend it exploring the park until her parents picked her up at the Leaky Cauldron?

It was a beautiful day too, with the sun tickling her arms and her wavy hair --curling it wasn't going to happen anymore, post epiphany-- reacting to the light in a way the child actually enjoyed. Also, her shoes were really cool. New sneakers! The youngest Clarke child had a THING for sneakers, being the only shoes she could walk in without tripping or getting some kind of damage to her poor body, and thus new sneakers were kind of like a new car for her. Which made the choice of what to do around her much more complicated. Besides her parents knowing that she didn't buy anything today and instead spent the day wandering around the wizarding world like a stray cat, any dirt on her shoes was not welcome. The shoes people. Watch the shoes.

Stopping for a second, the blonde twirled her hair around her finger and blew a small bubble with her chewing gum, knowing she needed to makea choice before Ophelia moved any further. What would she do first? The place was so new to her and so pretty, it was hard to decide. There were trails and ponds and meadows, such beautiful wooded meadows that her feet almost itched to explore it all at once. However, that was impossible. There had to be a choice. With a small whistle and another pop of her gum, the Ravenclaw decided to go walking, a smile on her face and her freckles coming out more in the sun. Hopefully that would make her look adorable and not like a half completed connect-the-dots picture.

He wasn't smiling. Nope. There was no smug look on his face and Gavin was most certainly not still highly amused by the events of the morning gone by. Of course not because then he'd be a horrible boyfriend but maybe he was, you know?. There was never a time when he didn't appreciate the right kind of attention and until the proposal, he'd been content to let her stay that way for a while longer but no.... That was enough. No need to get her into anything worse. It'd be bad enough once she snapped back to normal and remembered the whole thing.

This was just one of those times he was glad to not be Zeke Rogers. No telling what he'd get when Emily went home. As for Ashley (because there's no way he'd believe she didn't have a part to play) he was still rolling somewhere between dead amused and....no, there was no other end of the scale. He was simply dead amused.

"This seems like a good spot." He said, breaking the silence that had followed them to the park. No wonder too. If he acted like THAT he'd be at a loss for words too.

Ignorance was bliss, and right now she was trying to be just that - ignorant. It wasn't as easy as it seemed though, and every time she tried to forget the events of the morning, the memories just came flooding back. Rather than struggling to retain the memories like water in cupped hands, it was more like being locked in glass cube that was filling with water... and there was no way of stopping it. She could see their smug faces still, and not only Gavin's, but Zeke's too. When Culloden had owled her about the boys aptitude with potions, she didn't think it would come to this. What were they teaching her son at that stupid school?!

Nevertheless, at this stage she just wanted to fade away into the background. Being here, just didn't seem right. It was, awkward.

Pausing just short of Gavin, Emily nod her head and demonstrated her approval of the spot by parking herself at one end of the park bench, dropping her lunch-bag beside her - between them. Distance. They needed distance.

It wasn't until she'd flopped into the seat and created a barrier with her lunch that all traces of amusement were reigned in. Gavin was nothing if not professional when he needed to be and right now, the last thing Emily needed was him being amused only what he could only imagine was one of the most mortifying mornings she'd had in ages. Too soon to admit he liked the kisses then huh? He would guess as much and would wait until she saw that it wasn't such a horrible thing....as unlikely as that would be.

Gavin took a seat as well but placed his lunch on the OTHER side so the little barrier wouldn't get any bigger then he cleared his throat. Nothing hasty, just something to break the silence before it slipped into the unhealthy kind.

At the moment he was refraining from any comments that could be linked to jokes about the love potion earlier but Merlin, this was harder than it looked. "So," He turned to her in all seriousness. "how are you feeling?" Objectively speaking. Had to be sure the stuff was completely out of her system. Not teasing, proper Ex-Potioneer curiosity.

It was difficult to meet his eyes, but she did, and then proceeded to pull out her sandwich - which was mandatory before sweets. She let it sit on her lap a moment, not able to bring herself to opening the packaging just yet. Somehow, she lacked an appetite. It was surely a side effect of the potion, or if not the potion, then the experience.

Gavin's throat clearing, as obvious as the gesture was, helped somewhat. He was still here. He hadn't left the country, which didn't sound all too bad an idea in itself. Shifting her gaze back away from him, Emily thumbed the edge of the plastic packaging, finding the crease where she could pry it open. Then he spoke.

...

How was she feeling?

Hazel eyes turned back to him as she gave him an incredulous expression. He couldn't guess? Embarrassed, no... mortified, is how she felt. Slightly nauseous too, but that could be overlooked.

Words weren't forming, so she took to shrugging and letting out a short stiff, "Mmmm."

Patient, that's another thing that Gavin was. So patient in fact that he was prepared to just sit there until Emily thawed a little more. Being love potioned was high up there on the list of 'yikes' and it was even worse for someone of her temperament so of course he could understand the continued silence even after her gaze had drifted to him then gone back to her sandwich and...oh...right back to him in disbelief.

Yeah........she'd possibly missed the point of the question, or so he figured with an answer like that. Hardly helpful--unless the lack of speech was a side effect...which would be bad because that wasn't typically supposed to happen....

"Seriously. Headache? Nausea? Dizziness?" He had nothing to go off of except a 'Mmmm'. As a result, he placed the back of his hand to her forehead, sliding it to her cheek. "No discoloration..." If she wasn't going to TELL him then he supposed he'd have to figure it out for himself. It was only a joke until someone got hurt and he wasn't counting on that today.

"Any spots?"

Her response had been thorough enough, or so she thought... until there were hands all over her face. Normally she shouldn't be fazed by it, it was nice when he cared, but not today. Today his touching was as a consequence of her earlier touching among other things, and suddenly it just felt so invasive. Swatting his hands away with her own, Emily shifted right up against the bench arm in the hope of acquiring a little more personal space, not that that was happening and reluctantly kept hold of his hands so they wouldn't and couldn't continue searching her face like they had.

"I'm fine," she managed.

She was fine. Physically speaking, fine. Perfectly healthy and fine. Did she mention FINE?!

"No headache, no dizziness, no spots, no chills, no nothing... I'm fine." Physically speaking. "Can we eat now?" Semi-serious question there. Food contained carbohydrates, carbohydrates provide energy, and energy was needed to get through the day. "Please?" And no, he would not be reclaiming his hands until she was sure he wasn't going to go all Potioneer on her again. She was NOT a test subject.

It only took a little for her to get uncomfortable enough which, admittedly, is what he was counting on in this case. The fact he'd lost possession of his hand didn't strike him as a tremendous problem because he'd gotten words out of her and, with those words, some relief. Whatever was wrong, it wasn't physically damaging and they wouldn't have to take her to the Healer when they got back to the Ministry before letting her head back to her office.

Can you imagine convincing her to see more people after the earlier ordeal? He'd have had better luck getting through her door without knowledge of the passwords and codes.

"We could..." He conceded, noting she still hadn't relinquished his hand. "But I'd rather know what's floating around in your head space first." So they could get that into the open. It wasn't doing her any good keeping it in. "And my hand...I happen to eat with this hand. I'd need it back too."

She could hold on to it a little longer if she wanted to but then the whole request for eating would go on hold. Just saying.

Though he wasn't being outwardly smug at the minute, his expression from earlier in the morning wasn't forgotten and she could just see it plastered on his face...

Shaking her head, Emily released her grip of his hands so he could make use of them too, content with the idea of eating. Food was an exceptionally good way to pass time, and time needed to pass. Pausing again as she was about to unpack her sandwich, Emily smiled smugly to herself. "You really want to know what I'm thinking?" she asked, speaking more to her food than to him. There was warning in her tone, sharing thoughts wasn't something they did all too often, not where all... this... was concerned.

Time and perspective, is what she needed, what he needed, what they needed.

Tearing into the packaging, finally, Emily put up a hand briefly to signal time-out so she could at least make a start on the meal they were supposed to be having in this time they had scheduled away from work. Only after leisurely taking not one, not two, but three bites from her BLT, did Emily set down what was left of it and wiped her hands on a serviette.

"You uh... looked a little freaked by the end of that."

Shame, she'd let go of his hand. Did that mean they wouldn't be getting any further? Not in nearly as much a rush, Gavin slowly picked at his wrapped sandwich, stopping only at her question. Honestly, there were only two ways this could go if you really thought about it.

"I do." He confirmed with a solemn nod of his head before finally biting into his own BLT. Granted, he'd already heard an EARFUL this morning but it could hardly be credited under the circumstances and it wasn't what he was fishing for anyway. It couldn't have been SO awful saying all that stuff, unless she thought so. More staring. Might just have been a bad case of curiosity, which admittedly didn't usually end well but....

The hand raise prevented any further elaboration on his part. In the meantime he helped himself to another bite. Still plenty of time before they had to head back. Gavin could wait.

His chewing came to an abrupt stop when she finally did speak and it was his term to ask for a time out as he took a swig of his drink to forcefully wash the food down. Freaked. That. Yeah........................................

"Uh...Let's just say everything was amusing til you hit the proposal bit." Serious stuff even within the joke. When your girlfriend brought that up, it was time to fix her, no questions asked and that's what he did. Surely she wouldn't have wanted him to leave her be after that.

The sandwich wasn't bad, lacking seasoning perhaps, and it was skimpy on the mayo... otherwise, it was passable. Taking it up again, Emily took another measured bite from it, this time savouring the flavour a little longer while she processed their conversation, or lack there of.

He did want to know? No. He liked the idea of knowing, he didn't want to know. Surely. As much as being privy to her thoughts would be like opening up Pandora's box, these were things that she didn't particularly want to face either, and more so because she had the tendency to easily over-complicate things, when they needn't be analysed so deeply. It was a stupid prank and the boy would pay, that was it.

That word though, was an unwelcome one. And the act of it left a bitter aftertaste in her mouth - still. Proposal. Emily could empathise with Gavin on that point, sure it may have been amusing up until then - only she hadn't found any of it amusing at all. Still, it was hard to shake his expression from that moment. "I guess," was all she could say to that. What else could she have expected, really?

"I think we need to forget that ever happened."

Admittedly, she wasn't giving him much to go off of by way of responses, not at all. In fact, he was sure her sandwich was getting more out of her than he was and under normal circumstances he might have gotten ridiculous about it but he could understand....sorta. Love potions didn't go by lightly.

Gavin managed to maintain a perfectly even expression at her request to forget but...he might have been dying again. It was her fault technically. The request had him remembering everything he was meant to be forgetting and it brought him right back to being amused. "I dunno..." He began hesitantly, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips despite his best efforts.

"I'm not sure I'd want to forget everything that happened this morning." Against his better judgement, the smile got wider. This was dangerous work. He'd have fared better nodding along and changing the subject completely but....

"It was interesting."

Her appetite was waning at best, though it was barely existential to begin with. Nevertheless, it was a nice day out, she managed to ingest food today, and things could only get better, right?

Of course, she couldn't count on Gavin to be the one to make things better, especially not with a response like that, or a look like that.

...

Emily didn't hesitate in slapping his shoulder with the back of his hand - not particularly hard, but hard enough. "Is that so?" she mused instead. There were threats she could make, they were on the very tip of her tongue just waiting to be unleashed. Alas, he was attractive when he smiled like that, and she could hardly complain about the view. "You wouldn't want more interesting morning's though." And yes, that was an almost threat, or warning, either way it was there - as was a hint of a smile from her.

His appetite was what it usually was, simply there. The sandwich was diminishing at a steady enough rate...which made it a little weird that he was practically on the same pace as Emily. She didn't typically mess around with her food. Zeke was really gonna get it. Here's to hoping Ashley would be able to keep her mouth shut about getting off scotch free. Otherwise he'd look bad.

The slap only had him chuckling because see, he was still composed enough to hold in the actual laugh. By all standards, that comment had been taken better than even he would have thought, a sign she was defrosting from the earlier horror.

Good. He'd hate the day to start and end on the same note.

"Is that a threat Ms. Browne?" Smirk in place. "I apologize but after dating the head of Law Enforcement for so long, I've stopped taking those seriously." Her threats anyway. Granted they were usually VERY REAL AND SERIOUS but the traces of a smile proved otherwise this time. Gavin stole a kiss for himself even though he'd already had so many since morning. "And as interesting as they get they'll never get that interesting again. I don't see you having another drink from Zeke." Faith in someone was a heck of a thing and son or not, Zeke just messed his up...with beverages anyway.