Weekend Retreat, Jani

[Trent Fleming]

Park Hall, Essex.

Accomodation

Activities availible

Attractions in the Essex Area

Trent finished packing his bag under that baleful look of Dorak, who seemed to sense that something was up, and that the something did not involve his participation. "Aww, don't look at me like that, mate," he said, zipping up the bag and reaching out to stroke his familiar's silky head.

Dorak seemed to consider his outstreched arm for a moment before deciding that perhaps he'd say goodbye, and scampered up his arm, nestling against his neck with a fond, "Fucker." Trent snorted at the sheer irony. Not that he wanted to be looking at being with Jani that way - it was such an ugly word, but still, Dorak's muttered words set off a new flood of nerves.

This morning, he'd been wondering if it was really a good idea after all. He wanted to treat her, to give her a relaxing weekend in the country, when he knew the city was confining, but it brought the issue of taking that final step to the forefront a little. It was easier for him to be the coward when they were on her couch and he had work to get to the next day. But this was an entire weekend, and he was nervous!

He picked up his bag as the Floo fired green and James came through to collect Dorak. "Thanks, mate, appreciate it." Dorak pretended to make a fuss about cuddling with James, just to spite Trent and Trent snorted. "Be good, mate."

"No worries," James said. "Have a good time." There was a world of meaning in his tone and look and Trent found himself reddening and pushing his apprentice towards the fire. "Manure duty for a week if he comes back with a new swear word," he threatened to cover his embarassment, and James and Dorak were gone in a puff of green.

He took a bit of a steadying breath and waited until his cheeks felt normal again before Apparating into Jani's living room.

[Janira Pejay]

Jani had hummed as she’d packed her bag for the weekend. It was mostly jeans and some nicer shirts, though nothing fancy, though she’d tucked away a couple of nicer things, just in case. That was what her mother had always told her to do, in order to be prepared. Guys could get away with a lot, but girls had a harder time of it when it came to going out.

She smoothed her hands down her green top. It was simple and plain enough, the cut just low enough to give a hint of cleavage but not much. Her jeans were her normal, middle of the road sort that fit her almost perfectly, and her hair was just pulled back with a simple clip. Underneath, to boost her personal confidence and in a fit of hope, she’d worn her new black lingerie.

She’d given Daemon to Lydia for the weekend. The girl seemed very pleased that Jani trusted her with himand Jani was just glad that she had someone to watch him. There was Nathaniel, that was true, but she didn’t want to impose like that.

She heard the faint sound of an arriving Apparition in her living room and padded from her room, setting her sketch book down on the nearest table as she moved to greet him. “Hey there handsome,” she said, arms wrapping around him and head tilting up invitingly. She’d missed him, she found, those days she didn’t get to see him, and had enjoyed their little owls back and forth.

[Trent Fleming]

Trent set his bag down on the floor, and tugged at the hem of his cable-knit sweater which had pulled sideways from the strap.

Dressed in jeans and boots, he looked like he did most days, and he'd packed some of his older jeans to ride in as well. There were a wide range of older activites to indulge in as well (his brain tugged frantically in one direction at that thought), but it depended on what Jani wanted to do. It was his gift to her, this weekend.

He smiled as Jani came through into the living room and watched her walk over with an appreciative gaze. She really did look fantastic in jeans, he thought, feeling a tripping of nerves tingle in his abdomen.

"You look great, Jani," he complimented. He wasn't confident enough yet to call her anything else, because when he'd tested it against his mirror, he'd sounded odd, contrived. Maybe it would come in time, but for Jani, words like handsome and luv seemed to come so naturally. "What you been drawing?" he asked.

His own arms went around her waist and he tightened his hug as he kissed her hello. Not quite a hungry, demanding kiss, but one that was a little firmer than usual; he'd not seen her for a few days, and he'd missed this already. "Ready to go?" he asked.

[Janira Pejay]

Her own gaze was appreciative as she looked at him, for he was one that looked both at home in and handsome in jeans. She’d never really seen him in anything else, and besides, jeans conformed to his long legs (and arse, couldn’t forget that) pretty damned well, if you asked her.

“Thanks. Looking pretty good yourself,” she said, her smile broad and genuine as she let her eyes rake over his form briefly, trying to toe the line between flattering and embarrassing. With him, it was a little harder to do, but she didn’t mind. Besides, he was adorable when he blushed.

“Wynken, Blynken and Nod,” she said dryly before laughing at herself. “No, really, it’s Atropos, Clotho, and Lachesis, these three pups I have at the store at the moment. I’m having trouble finding homes for them—they seem to be a package deal—but they’re very sketchable. Quite the little personalities.” She just hoped she could find homes for them, all together.

She hmmed softly as he pulled back, a smile tipping up the corners of her mouth. That had been a nice greeting, she thought. She wondered again what he might be like if she ever got him distracted enough to stop worrying and just feel and act instead of think.

“Yup. Just need to grab my bag and shrink the sketch pad,” she was trying to get into the habit of always having it on her, at least, “And we can head on out.” She reluctantly moved out of his embrace and walked over to where she’d set it down, bending to grab it, and then her sketch pad, shrinking it and shoving it in the bag as well, before turning back to him. “Floo or Apparate?” she said, willing to trust him to apparate them if they were going that route.

[Trent Fleming]

He could have sworn that he felt the heat of her gaze on his skin as her eyes travelled up and down, and remarkably, he felt good and embarassed all at once. He liked that she looked at him like that. Sure, women had looked at him before, but Trent wasn't he sort of guy to revel in that type of attention.

He didn't consider that he'd ever like to have one-night stands and flings like the other Keepers did - it just felt shallow to him. Charlie always had a gorgeous woman gracing his side and he'd said Trent too serious about it all and that he should lighten up and relax. Where was the line between respect and disrespect there, though? Trent had to question that.

He smiled and looked a little abashed, knowing he hadn't really dressed up in anyway. "Er - thanks," he said. For dinner tomorrow night, he'd thought they could do the pub. Tonight, maybe just dinner at the hotel - it was already late and too dark to appreciate much of the surrounds.

He blinked for a moment, looking a little confused at her reference, then smiled as she named the three fates. "Aw cute, you called them after the fates - what type of puppies you got?" he asked. "And, thank you for the pictures," he said with a smile. "I really liked them."

Her sound of appreciation after the kiss blazed white hot through his stomach to his groin, and he felt the pull of that anticipation and nerves again. He knew Jani would probalby pick up he was nervous, but there was bugger all he could do about his reactions and how he felt. He felt a little awkward, because it was kind of weird to be anticipating the evening and thinking of making love with her, when he wasn't sure if it was going to happen.

He walked over to where she stood and reached to take her bag. "I'll take that," he offered, and inhaled her light perfume again. "Erm - Apparate," he said. "The owners are wizard, but they do have some Muggle guests. There's a special living room for the wizards with spellbooks and Floo fire and Apparating access, though, in the main house."

[Janira Pejay]

She didn’t care that he hadn’t dressed up. She hadn’t, really. Though her shirt wasn’t one she would have worked in the field in, it wasn’t something fancy. It was probably something she’d bought in the past to go to the pub in, in whatever random town she’d been in at the time.

She smiled when she saw his confusion, and supposed that he’d never heard the nursery rhyme her mother had sung softly to her every night when she was little. “Have you never heard that rhyme?” she asked curiously, tilting her head to one side slightly. “Yeah. It fits them, somehow, and they took to the names really quick. They’re rat terriers, cutest little things.”

She hitched up a shoulder almost self-consciously. “I’m glad you liked them. I was just getting back to my sketching and thought you might enjoy them.” Though she hadn’t sketched herself in years, and didn’t make it a habit. It made her almost uncomfortable, and felt a bit vain to her.

Jani could smell his lust, such as it was, and his nervousness. The former filled her with a comfortable warmth and anticipation, the latter pulled at her heart a little because she didn’t want him to be nervous. She wasn’t trying to push him into anything, either way, though she wouldn’t be protesting in the least if they did take the final step tonight.

“Cool stuff,” she said, and let him take her bag without any fuss, remembering to snag her purse from the chair as she did so. It wasn’t habitual to carry it, though she did more often since she’d taken over the shop. “Thanks,” she said as she handed it over.

She slipped an arm around his waist, so he could apparate them both easily. It was a trusting movement, that he wouldn’t splinch them. She didn’t think he would at all, which was why she could so easily set her trust in him to do it.

[Trent Fleming]

Trent shook his head with a curious look. "Nope - a nursery rhyme?" he asked. "I had ones with princes and dragons," he said with a grin. "So really, it's all mum's fault that I am the way I am."

He tilted his head slightly and looked vaguely confused again, trying to recall exactly what a rat terrier looked like. "All scruffy, like?" he asked, looking uncertain now. Muggle dogs weren't really his forte at all.

"Oh, yeah," he said, nodding. He didn't have any photographs of Jani, and the sketch was a good likeness. He felt a little shy to ask her for a picture. "Awesome." His smile was genuinely pleased.

"Woah, did you pack the kitchen sink, mate," he teased as he took her bag, and then eased his own onto a shoulder. He smiled down at her before concentrating on the reception area for magical folk at the Park Hall Manor.

They arrived with a light pop, in a comfortable sitting room, lit against the evening chill with a crackling fire. "Aw, hate arriving in a blazing fire anyways," he said, glad that they hadn't Floo'd. He could sense the wards on the doorway as they stepped through into a reception desk area, where an eldery woman sat behind the counter. She was dressed in Muggle clothing, but the wand in the tin of pens told him another story.

She welcomed them warmly and gave them keys for the Carriage House; accomodation just down a path from the main Park Hall Country House. She told them to leave their luggage and gave them a conspirational grin - obviously the bags were delivered via magical means.

She told them to get settled and relax - there were meals served at the main house, there was a pub in town, and there was the self catering (not a bloody chance in hell) option as well. Trent turned to Jani with a questioning look about what she wanted to do for dinner.

[Janira Pejay]

“Yeah. I think it must be a Muggle carry-over from somewhere in the bloodline.” Her lips tilted up in fond remembrance. “Mum said it to us every night when we were little. Wynken, Blynken and Nod one night, sailed off in a wooden shoe …” She shook her head to bring herself back to the present. “I’ll tell it to you sometime. It’s very cute.” It was also something she had always thought she’d do with her children one day.

“Actually, these look a bit like Jack Russells … like Daemon. Really cute, but they can be a handful sometimes.” Not all of her time in the shop was stocking and selling, but spending time with her charges, handling them, doing a little bit of training with the ones she had.

She pulled a face at him and poked his bicep. “Come now, you’re a big strong man,” she teased back. Her bag wasn’t that heavy, all things considered, but it was fun playful banter.

“Yeah, don’t like it much myself,” she said. It made her sneeze something terrible sometimes, especially if there was a big fire and a lot of crackling and popping of the logs in the fire. She didn’t draw away from him now that they were here, but stayed close, comfortable with his closer proximity.

She liked the older woman immediately, and liked the house as well. It was comfortable, not too fancy, and even in here it felt more open. She realized that it was the utter and complete lack of the buzz of the city that she was used to hearing almost subconsciously these days, and her body relaxed accordingly.

“Do we want to do the pub tonight or tomorrow?” she asked Trent, wondering if he’d had an idea in mind. She didn’t mind either option.

[Trent Fleming]

He chuckled and shook his head. "Well, mate, if they sailed off in a wooden shoe, then it must have been a magical shoe," he reasoned. "I'm a little old for bedtime rhymes," he said, grinning, before he realised the implication of what he'd said and turned his focus to the vicinity of a stray piece of wool hanging from his cuff. He tugged at it but it remained stubbornly in place.

"What else you got in?" he asked. Trent didn't ask for askings sake - he was genuinely interested in Jani's shop and how she was doing - people he cared for, their wellbeing was always important. And he found he learned a lot about her just by asking simple questions.

He gave her a smile and a grin - he wasn't a bodybuilder, but he was decently strong from hefting feed and such around. It was a huge relief that they'd managed to find that lighthearted facet to their relationship again. For a while he'd despaired that it'd been lost for good.

A little dog heaved itself up from the heart to sniff at his boots lazily before returning to it's possie. It looked like a Jack Russell, but Trent didn't think it was a Crup with a docked tail if there were Muggle visitors here.

Trent turned to Jani and shrugged, then spoke quietly, a bit mindful that the old woman was there and observing what he considered a more intimate conversation. "I reckon I'm a bit knackered from work - maybe tomorrow when we've had a good lie in?" he asked, feeling his face flush with warmth again.

Having decided what to do for dinner, he and Jani followed the little path up to the Carriage House. It was lit with soft lights and the sky was open and strewn with an intricte web of stars. His hands were full, but he imagined it'd be nice to walk hand in hand with Jani here. After opening the door, Trent and Jani walked into a bright, cheerful porch painted out in a buttery yellow.

Ahead of them, through an oak arch, a gorgeous hallway beckoned with pools of golden light from table lamps. An antique mirror decked one wall, and wooden furniture, smooth and worn with age was welcoming.

[Janira Pejay]

“Looking at it, yeah, it does seem very magical,” she said, and wondered if it had had roots in the Muggle world first, or the magical. Her nostalgic moment was washed away by hissudden focus on his sleeve. “Well, I’m sure I can come up with an adequate bedtime … activity,” she said, unable to help herself, as usual. There were some things she could resist, and some she just couldn’t, and he’d left himself wide open there.

“Well, I got a fwooper … why I got a fwooper I’m not sure, but apparently it’s one of those yearly sort of orders my aunt set into place years ago. Some mokes … bloody paperwork on the whole lot of all those.” Because of the charms that had to be kept on them, and the safety restrictions, etc. “A litter of kneazles, bunch of puppies, different breeds. No crups yet, too early in the season yet.” Those would keep her busy once they came. “Speaking of Crups, Dae wasn’t happy when a Muggle came in the shop the other day.”

He might not be the buffest man in the world, but he had muscles and she liked that. So did the wolf, admittedly. It showed that he had physical strength, even if he didn’t use it often around her. Jani greeted the little dog casually, as was her wont, scratching behind the ears for a moment and was rewarded with a tail wag before it returned to its spot.

“Sounds good to me,” she said with a smile at the thought of a lie-in. “It has been along, busy week for both of us. Do us good to relax … it’s what this whole trip is about, yeah?” she said, slipping an arm around his waist and squeezing gently again.

Jani took a deep breath as they went outside, going so far as to lick her lips as she took in the scent of the area. There was humanity, yes, but less of it than the city, and the air was fresh and crisp and you could see the stars. She grinned broadly and looked up at him, her pleasure at the simpleness of being outdoors in this place with him showing clearly on her face.

“Oh how lovely,” she said as they walked into the cottage. “It’s just grand, Trent. Thank you for thinking of this,” she said.

[Trent Fleming]

His indrawn breath had to have been audible, he was positive, and he felt a brushfire of blood rush to his cheeks. "Aw, Jani," he said, unable to come up with anything clever to say.

"Eh, and Fwoopers are pains in the arses, too. I mean, who bloody wants a fwooper," he said, rolling his eyes. His eyebrows rose a bit. "Mokes, huh. What they do again? Remind old sieve brain over here." Talking to Jani also kept his Magical Creatures knowledge up, and his mind active.

Trent frowned. "Shite, mate, what was a Muggle doing in the shop. With relatives, then?" he asked curiously. You normally only saw them staring wide-eyes, accompanied by resigned looking witch or wizard relatives.

Trent nodded. His apprentices were good, but a bloody handful. He hadn't been that fucking cheeky, he was sure of it, when he'd been that age. "Yeah, erm, maybe get room service, then," he asked Jani, knowing that the kitchen did take orders until a reasonable time.

He smiled. "Aww - well, it was just begging to be claimed," he said easily, although he did look slightly pleased with himself for being brave enough to ask her. To the right of the entrance hall, they discovered a kitchen and lounge. "No cooking this weekend," he told her with a grin, and walked further into the living area to add a log to the fire.

He stuck his head into a lavender coloured bathroom and snickered a bit at the poncy towels tied together with ribbons before opening the final door, which was obviously the bedroom. He noticed their luggage had arrived and he felt Jani approach from behind as he studied the bed with some trepidation. Gods, what if he was just not all that?

[Janira Pejay]

“Sorry, luv … I just couldn’t help myself,” she said, reaching up to touch one blushing cheek, tugging him down so she could press her forehead against his in a gesture of affection.

“I know. You have to reinforce the silencing charms so regularly … they are a pain. But their plumage is pretty and apparently people like that.” She shrugged. There were some thigns that she couldn’t understand, and buying a fwooper because it had pretty plumage was one of them. She’d never had that sort of money. “Mokes are those lizard things,” her terminology was oh so technical, “that shrink. It’s their skin that’s used to make handbags sometimes.”

She shrugged a shoulder. “He seemed to be alone. I think a colleague of his brought him. He seems to know a fair bit about the magical world too.” It had been interesting, in a way.

She smiled. “Sure thing. No cooking,” she agreed. It would be nice to go a few days without having to cook, she thought. Not that she minded doing it, but it was nice to have a break.

She came up behind him, smelling a fair bit of trepidation from him, and simply wrapped her arms around him from behind, pressing a kiss between his shoulder blades almost absently. “Relax, handsome, we’re here to de-stress, not stress more,” she said quietly.

[Trent Fleming]

He couldn't help but smile at the affectionate gesture - he was in awe sometimes of how easily it seemed to come from Jani, almost like she'd been doing just that for years and years. "Aww, don't be sorry," he said, swallowing his embarassment. He just wasn't used to that sort of talk aimed with such intensity and meaning at him. Truth be told, sometimes, he'd lie in bed and examine those moments and smile secretly to himself.

"Oh yeah, you don't want any accidents," he said gravely. "Long as you warn the new owners, I guess that there's nothing more you can do," he said, shrugging. "Those blokes who bought that fire-crab (and what an awkward time in their lives that was) - haven't burnt down the house yet, have they?

"Huh, maybe I need a creatures refresher course," he said with a chuckle. She'd be a good teacher, he thought, if only the fucking board of governers weren't so prejudiced against werewolves.

He nodded. "Ah, well, you get them, I suppose. Although strictly they shouldn't be left to wander around by themselves, I guess." A Muggle could get into such trouble wandering down the wrong alleyway. Gods, it was a disaster waiting to happen in some cases.

"Well, you're always cooking," he said, turning to check out the comfy looking living room. "Not bad, although I reckon we'll be out a fair bit." He certainly hadn't come here to watch telly. And Jani wasn't really a telly person, he knew.

Trent turned in her arms and looked down at her with a smile. "I know, Jani," he said quietly and toyed with a long strand of hair. "Guess I just can't help-you know." It was unspoken, but it was there, in both their minds, he'd wager. He felt a little foolish; almost like a schoolboy who was being innane.

[Janira Pejay]

Jani was an openly affectionate person with everyone, whether friends or something more. Physical affection came easy for her, though she was even more so with him than with many others. It was almost easier for her than other things were.

“I have to warn them and hav them fill out five different forms and sign them and then sign them myself that I have recently cast the spell as well. It’s really more trouble then it’s worth, a lot of times, but then, I said that about the same thing with the firecrabs too.” She shruggd, and those had brought in some good money. “I don’t think so. At least, if they have, I haven’t heard about it yet.”

She smiled and shook her head. “Nah, you know enough … plus you know way more than me about dragons, so we’re even anyways.” Not that she would be adverse to teaching him, if he wished to know more, any more than she was adverse to learning should he teach her something.

“I don’t think they should—they’re too easy to spot and too easy to target for those that might hurt them.” It wasn’t prejudice, only common sense.”

“I know, Trent,” she said, understanding at least in part what he was saying and feeling. She smiled up at him, leaning against him and pressing her lips to his briefly. “It’s okay, you know.”

[Trent Fleming]

"Well, it takes away any issues with liability," he said astutely. "You don't want to end up with a hundred lawsuits because some arsehole didn't know how to take care of his pet." If Jani explianed it, the owner signed to prior knowledge, then that removed that sort of thing. It was an unfortunate thing that had dragged in from the Muggle world, this lawsuit thing.

Trent chuckled. "Ah, yeah, dragons are cool enough," he said, nodding. "I reckon once I've done my research..." He shrugged. Perhaps by then he'd need a more settled lifestyle. "Teaching maybe." His bashful nature vanished inexplicably when he was teaching apprentices or talking work, so he didn't think it would be such a stretch for him to do that sort of thing.

"Hmm, yeah, can you imagine what would happen if they got into a place in Knockturn with those nasty sorts of anti Muggle goods." He snorted and shook his head. "So what he buy?" he enquired. "Are you allowed to sell magical creatures to Muggles anyways?"

He worried at his lower lip slightly. "Thanks," he said with a slight smile. "Feel like a bit of an idiot, really," he admitted quietly. It had been an adjustment, getting used to a more intimate sort of conversation with Jani - more revelatory on his feelings side where before it had been work and joking about mostly.