Closed Anywhere In the World

[Tybalt Archer]

Tybalt had felt a little on edge all weekend, he knew why but it was hard. Since the conversation with Rhi over dinner one night, where they had talked about talking this trip he’d come to the realisation that he wanted more than anything else, to marry her. Rhi had been in his life for a while again now, and they had a house and he knew that there could never be anyone else for him. It help that they’d known each other in school, and though they had never dated until after he knew that it was the better that it had happened in that way. It had given them both the time to pursue their dreams and hopes and now in a better position they could have what in Ty’s mind was a near perfect relationship. He knew it would be hard for him to love anyone more. He had loose plans, ideas of how he could propose, everything was just for the two of them, nothing too flashy, but he hadn’t really figured it out. ​

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There would come a moment and he’d have to take it. Or in his mind, there was the option that in their next trip they go back to Sydney. They were at that point in Iceland, they only had the weekend, but most of that first day had been spent relaxing at the pools. He’d suggested they go get some food and take pictures of the town, enjoying the fact that they days were far longer. He had suggested fast food because it felt wrong to sit in a place when the weather was as nice. Not really warm in the way that they had both known in other places but nice enough. He watched her for a moment as he sat down with the food at the water’s edge and smiled, ”You’re beautiful, you know that?” he said with a smile. He placed his camera beside him and just then offered her the food for her. ​

 

[Rhiannon Archer]

it was saturday evening. or was it Saturday morning. or sunday morning. Rhiannon had lost track of time. part of that was because she had just come off night shifts. part of it was because she was spending the weekend in Iceland which was in a time zone twelve hours different from where she lived and also because it was summer there and there was a midnight sun which meant that there wasnt even the light and dark to define the time. At the end, or maybe the beginning, of the day it didn't matter, time was time. and the best time were days like today, where she got to spend it with her boyfriend. days experiencing other places were some ofthe best days she had had had. but even days when they stayed cuddled up in bed watching movies were just as good.
They had spent the previous day in the hot lagoon. she had always been sceptical about special healing waters but there was something about being there, the atmosphere, or maybe it was the company that made it special. Tybalt had been one of her first friends in the magical world she still remembered meeting him when she was eleven and dancing with her at her first yule ball. they had been friends since school but romantic feelings had only developed after graduation. it was a good way for a relationship to grow. they had become their own people and then gorwn together, if they had been at school it would have been filled of school drama. she didnt know how else she would rather spend her evening or morning but sitting next to Tybalt on the waterside the cute buildings of Reykjavik were behind them and in front of them were mountains which even in late summer they had snow on the tops. she looked at her boyfriend and smiled at him. there was a look in his face. one that she had seen there every now and then, it was a sort of distracted expression . she smiled then looked down at the water. she was almost surprised when he spoke she looked at him again the distracted look was gone and he was there the only man she could see herself spending her life with. she was taken a little aback by what he said, not that he hadn't said it before but it was just so out of the blue. "you are too, and there is no-one else I would rather be here with" she said as she took the food he offered her. was that what had been distracting him. "I guess the volcanic hot spring must be doing it's job." she said. passing him his drink before taking a bite of her food

 

[Tybalt Archer]

Tybalt had found the baths to be relaxing, but the combination of factors which brought them to Iceland and the timing in Iceland felt very much as if things were very out of time. The breaks they took with the ability to apparate had always removed time from a being a real factor, but with the hour and the sun still shining it was difficult to know when in the day or night it was. Tybalt was watching his girlfriend with a fond expression, he couldn’t help it, and he knew he was probably being annoying with it, but when he broke out of it and told her, reminded her how beautiful she was, not just to him, but in his mind she was just objectively the most beautiful person he’d ever seen. They were both a far cry from the kids they’d once been. They had both come so far, but he remembered when he’d first spoken to her, he’d been in third year and the yuleball had just been a boring enough event that he’d spotted her. They’d kept up the friendship over the years, though him graduating had caused them both to lose touch. He’d heard from his brother that she’d been head girl, which hadn’t surprised him. ​

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Running into her that day at St Mungo’s all those years after when Ty had begun to assume he’d spend his whole life alone, had come at exactly the right moment to mean this. He smiled at her, and smiled at her words. There was no one he would rather be there with either. ”I don’t think I’ve ever been this relaxed,” He took a bite of his own food. He couldn’t help but think of that first date they’d had, sitting on Sydney’s harbour, eating fast food, fending off the seagulls from their food. He knew that it wouldn’t which harbour they were in, what fast food it was or what native animal they were fighting off, as long as it was with her he knew he would be a happy man. ”We should take a picture of this, of us,” he put down his food, and from his bag retrieved his camera, he was glancing about to see if he could spot someone to take the picture for them, ”maybe we could ask that guy?”​

 

[Rhiannon Archer]

Rhiannon chewed and swallowed. it was so calming here. sure there were people about but it was not an overly busy destination and from shat she could tell they were in a quieter part of the city. the air was so fresh and clear it almost reminded her of summer days spent with her aunt bridge walking along the breaches of mull looking for shells. she remembered one time they had walked along the beach around a couple of headlands and had to cross a stream where they reached a cave just as the weather changed and they had spent half an hour sheltering in the cave as it rained. cool Atlantic air always contained happy memories for her. As Tybalt said that he had never felt more relaxed she smiled. there is something about fresh sea air and holidays that cant not make you relaxed" she said as she shuffled her position slightly moving closer to him. she would have rested her head on his shoulder if they weren't both eating. but from her new position she could feel him next to her, her foot against his, their elbows brushing as they each moved out of time with each other. and his warmth, even though it was summer here is was still fresh outside.
as Tybalt suggested to take a picture and went to grab his camera she rested a hand lightly on top of his. "there is no need to take one now. nothing is going to change in the next few minutes, so enjoy your food, wont the wrappers will sort of spoil the shot anyway?" she said not wanting to move but just enjoy the moment. of course, if he really wanted to take the picture. and recapture the iconic fast food on the harbour of the first date she wasn't going to stop him.

 

[Tybalt Archer]

Tybalt smiled at as she suggested it wasn’t really the time for it, and admittedly they had just started eating, but his heart hammered in his chest in a manner that he was sure he couldn’t really eat. He wasn’t so focused on the food at all, and instead was still glancing around. He wouldn’t have minded if there were about six seagulls trying to steal their food as they’d experienced in other places. ”Come on, we’ll make sure they aren’t in shot,” he told her. He took her hand lightly and squeezed it. He used his bag and the things within it to ensure that none of the wrappers would fly again, and spotted the nearest person who could take a picture. ”Wait here,” Ty rushed to the man and after a few brief instructions he handed the camera to him. He wasn’t particularly worried about the man running off with it, even if he did they’d be able to get it back pretty easily. Tybalt when back to where Rhi was and smiled at her, he held out a hand to her to pull her to her feet. He put one arm around her so they could pose for the picture and the other firmly in his pocket, where a little box had been sitting since he’d bought it.​

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”You know we could’ve had a trash heap behind us, and I’d still want a picture with you, of you,” He spoke quietly as the guy who was taking the picture seemed to be getting ready, ”We could eat any garbage food, on any harbour in the world, and so long as we we’re together I’d want to keep that memory forever. There’s nothing I would rather do with my life than make sure we can always do this together,” The man taking the picture indicated a countdown. When it hit one and the picture was being taken, Tybalt’s grip on the box tighten, and in an almost fluid motion he removed his arm from around her shoulders, got down on one knee beside her, held out the now open box and said, ”Miss McGowan will you marry me?” ​

 

[Rhiannon Archer]

Rhiannon was not sure what was going on. it was not like Tybalt to be this persistent in wanting to take a picture. she saw him walk over to a man, someone who looked like he knew his way around a camera or at least he was also holding a decent quality one. as her boyfriend explained the navigation to him she shuffled the food and bags hiding the papers and securing them with a quick subtle freezing charm. so they didn't blow away. when Tybalt returned she stood beside him. her arm around his back. waiting as the man took a picture. she looked at her boyfriend as he spoke. he was rambling about rubbish and junk, almost like he was nervous. but what was h nervous about. he was only asking a stranger to take his picture. nothing out of the ordenary there. she looked away from the camera and to him. and gave him a squeeze. "hey ty. anywhere in the world with you. so dont worry" she said to him. not caring if the man took a picture like that.
however it seemed like there was another plan in store as a moment later Tybalt was moving. letting go of her and was on the floor. "are you.."' she started before he realised what was going on. no way could that be real. she staggered backwards half a step her hands going up to her mouth. she could alread feel tears forming in her eyes. she wiped them away but they just kept coming. she stood there speechless nodding and trying. trying to find the words, the only word that she needed to say. "Yes, yes, of course, yes" she said moving back towards her boyfriend fiance. she threw her arms around him and kissed him. the kiss was warm and tasted of salt but the moment was so perfect. when they pulled away she moved her head back a bit. using her hand to brush some of his hair out of his face. "Of course I will marry you, Ty. I love you" she said. a fresh wave of tears starting down her face. of course she would marry him. he was perfect to her. and even the imperfections just made him better in her eyes.

 

[Tybalt Archer]

Tybalt could admit that immediately after the words had left his mouth, he felt she might say no, perhaps that he had misjudged where they were in this relationship, that he had gotten it wrong. He didn’t have to be held in suspense for too long as after a moment of silence as he watch Rhi seemingly process what he had asked, the answer came. Yes. Yes. Yes. He felt his heart soar in a way it had never done before, he felt joy in a way he had never felt before, he knew that a marriage certificate and a ring wasn’t necessary for them to be happy together but Tybalt couldn’t help but admit the joy that it brought him that they would be together in this manner. He smiled easily and wrapped his own arms around her, returning the kiss with a joyous passion. He felt overjoyed, truly putting all of the love that he could non-verbally say into that kiss. He pulled away as she did, he was still very conscious of the ring box in his hand, of the man taking their picture, but his eyes remained on hers. As she assured him that she would indeed marry him. ”I love you too,” it was odd, he almost wanted to thank her for saying yes. But he just took the box and pulled out the ring from the box and motioned for her to give him her hand so he could put the ring on. ”I thought about waiting till we were next in Sydney, but I just, now felt like as good a moment, I just want to be your husband already,” he had a wide smile and an expression sat on his face somewhere between pure joy and pure love. ​

 

[Rhiannon Archer]

Rhiannon now understood why Tybalt had been acting so weirdly. he had had something else on his mind. how long had he been waiting for this moment? She didn't want to let go of him. their kiss was so full of emotion of happiness she knew he was the right person for her and that she was for him. she had all but forgotten the man standing not too far away with tybalts camera looking slightly uncomfortable as though he had suddenly realised that he had been given a job far bigger than he had wanted but clicking away at the camera anyway. she had also forgotten about the food sitting just beyond where they were standing.
as Tybalt moved away she felt the cool air against her face and her cheeks were damp with tears.
She wiped them away with her right hand as she gave him her left "It is perfect here, Sydney, Obsidian. anywhere it doesn't matter, I can't wait to be your wife" she said not sure how much sense the sentence made. "the ring. it is beautiful" she said. examining how it sat on her finger glittering even though the sun wasn't that bright.

 

[Tybalt Archer]

Tybalt had prior to Rhi, resigned himself to just being single his whole life, it was hard enough to date normally but it was harder to date when you barely had the time for it. He had never thought his luck would change so fundamentally in a few short years, those days seemed so long past. He was facing a whole new world with Rhi, and he couldn’t wait to face it with her. He noted the tears Rhi had but knew that these weren’t bad tears. Though the temptation to wipe them felt so strong, if only hands weren’t lightly trembling as he slipped the ring on to her finger, he had followed the old muggle saying, that the ring was supposed to be the equivalent of a month and a half’s salary, it had definitely taken him some time to get one he liked, but this one, the one he could now see on her finger was perfect, and he couldn’t help but feel his heart swell further seeing it on her finger. God how amazing. ​

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”It’s beautiful on you,” the man replied knowing the line was a little corny, but he felt like it was justified given all of this. It seemed in that moment, he remembered the man with the camera, ”I’ll go relieve our poor photographer,” he leaned in and pressed a kiss to her cheek before he jogged over to the man, who seemed pretty happy to have been caught in this moment, offering Tybalt congratulations in Icelandic. Tybalt thanked him and took the camera back. He went back to Rhi and smiled, ”I’m hoping to have caught the moment you realised what was going on,” they’d both always loved taking pictures but he was looking forward to having these developed and hopefully them being good enough to place somewhere in their house. ​

 

[Rhiannon Archer]

Rhiannons mind was spinning. how had Tybalt managed to keep this a suprise from her? how long had he been planning this. when would they get married? how much did it cost? was it something they could really afford? she would have to tell her family. and her friends. What was the time here, what was the time in Hobart?. she pulled herself back as she felt Tybalt shaking as he put the ring on her hand. she put her free hand on his and gave it a gentle squeeze. "it really is stunning" she said letting go of him as he went to reclaim the camera. when he left she ran her finger over her cheek where he had kissed her, wiping away the tears and feeling the connection even in that small contact. "Thank you" she called to the man as Tybalt spoke to him.
"You will probably end up with a load of confused looking expressions first" she said realising how long it had taken her to click with what he was doing. "you really are amazing, how, how did you manage to keep it a surprise?" she said as she looked from him to the ring glistening on her finger and back to him.

 

[Tybalt Archer]

Tyablt knew that really getting engaged was only the beginning of a whole process and bucket of money that would be funnelled into the wedding, but he didn’t mind, at the end of all of it, Rhi would be his wife and he would be her husband and they would be able to move forward with their lives in this whole new commitment. He smiled at her statement, and had to admit perhaps the confusion that she had felt in the beginning would be a good surprise. At the question he laughed, ”Well, I haven’t had the ring for long really,” he told her, ”After we decided to take a little weekend away I had decided that I wanted to marry you, and then I went and bought the ring, and then today seemed as good a day as any to do it.” he thought it was perfect, he thought it was the perfect occasion to do it because of how simple it was. Because it was just them, because he felt it symbolised so much for them. He just smiled at her, ”Now we just have to plan a wedding,” he already knew who his best man would be and he would’ve been happy to marry at the city hall, but he would also be very happy to have whatever Rhi wanted. ”Shall we get back to eating before the food gets cold?” ​

 

[Rhiannon Archer]

Rhiannon felt a fresh wave of tears form as she listened to Tybalt's explanation. "you did well I didn't suspect anyhting, even when you really wanted someoen to take a picture" she said putting her arm around him and tucking herself against him. she just wanted to be as close to him as she could and she was aware how arkward kissing him every thirty seconds woulld be for everyone.
after they had moved in together she had thought that she was not going to spend her life with anyone else, she guessed she had thought they would marry at some stage, and maybe start a family together but in her head it had always been in the future. in her mind they were still young, of course, they weren't actually that young. she was twenty-eight and he would be soon turning thirty-two. that sounded like just the right age to be thinking about that kind of thing. a lot of her friends from med school were getting married now. it was always a discussion with each of them what name to go by. that was not something she had put thought into. but she guessed now she should.
while the thought of getting engaged to and marrying Tybalt felt like a natural progression in their relationship even if it hadn't been one that she had consciously thought about the idea of organising a wedding was a new one. "when should we have it? what kind of wedding do you think?" she asked. She would want her parents and brother there who were muggles. but they were already in on the magic secret so it didn't need to be too muggle appropriate. she wasn't religious and wasn't really the kind of person who wanted something big. "Oh right, food" she said she had totally forgotten about it in all that had gone on. a quick but stealthy wave of her wand later and it was freshly hot again. but even the smell of it didn't entice her hunger. she took a bite and chewed it lazily. "I shouldn't be before December. I have my final exams then. and don't want them hovering over me when we do it. and i don't want them to distract me on the day." thought out loud. she doubted there would be time to have it before december anyway. "we will have to tell mum dad" she glanced at her watch pausing again to admire the way the ring sparkled. "but maybe not at 3am." she said. she didn't know what shift they were on. they could well be on night shift or on-call but even then it was not a polite time to call. and she was no way dropping this news on anything less than a video call.

 

[Tybalt Archer]

Tybalt was pleased that he had managed to surprise her, he’d thought he’d been pretty obvious the last while about the fact he was hiding something, but that she knew nothing felt good. He did hope that she had expected at some point a proposal but of course they hadn’t really discussed that in detail, it had just been discussed that this was mutual and would last a while, so he was pretty happy regardless. He smiled at her, as she asked the sort of questions that he was also already thinking, this was after all, just the first step of many, an important one but just a step nonetheless. He brought her back over to the food, where they’d left all their stuff and he nodded, ”We’ll definitely wait till your finished,” he told her with a little nod, he would never want it to interfere with her becoming a fully qualified healer. ”My family is magical, and I no longer have muggle friends, so why don’t we make sure it’s a place your family have easy access to?” he said, he wanted to make it easy on her parents, though he wouldn’t mind between Australia and New Zealand. He laughed lightly as she though about telling them, ”We can swing by before heading home at an appropriate time?” he said, ”Or we could invite them for dinner?” he wasn’t sure which she would rather, he was rather keen to just wait till he got home to tell his family, it would be easier, he knew his sister was at her home with her baby, so not travelling, and Stefan was always in the same places. ”I’m going to cry by the way, at our wedding, I’ll take one look at how beautiful you are and be a mess,” he was lightly joking with her, teasing, but he’d cried at both of his siblings weddings, he knew he was likely to cry at this one too. If only because he knew she would be so beautiful it would feel surreal to the point of tears how lucky he’d managed to be. ​

 

[Rhiannon Archer]

Rhiannon's mind was far from the relaxing weekend break. it was running a million miles an hour, she was happy and excited.. "We don't need to worr about that now. my parents and borhter will be there no matter where we have it. she said. between the two of them, aunt bridge and their friends she was sure they would find a way. even though they were muggles there would be a way to get around it. there had to be. give them enough notice they could fly. to new zealand. it wasn't far from tasmania. and they would be able to get some holiday. hell, they did enough overtime over the years. "would you mind terribly of we did call in and see them. I don't think i would be able to wait until we could organise dinner to tell them. She said as she rummaged in her bag for her phone. it was. a tool that she had grown up with and since living between the muggle and magical world had a weird relationship with. she didnt usually have it on her just between home and work. but used it mainly to talk to her parents and some of her friends from med school, but she broguht it with her if they were on a trip in the muggle world so that they could make calls and book things if they needed to. she unlocked it and went to the right program before typing a message into the family chat "hey, i know it is late notice, is there some time today everyone is free we havent seen you in a while and miss you all" before putting it away. it was unlikely that she would get a reply at least not for a couple of hours.
when Ty said that he would probably cry at the wedding when he saw her she took his hand and squeezed it. "You will be great. I will be right there with you and i am not that pretty. but I think I will have to invest in some heavy-duty waterproof makeup so i don't end up looking like a panda" she said teasing him back. she had never felt overly confident in her looks. probably because it wasnt somethign that she usually focused on. she couldnt necesserily pick out any faults in her appearence but that didnt mean she was pretty. just fairly normal.

Out of Character:

one of my close friends has just got engaged. and is very excited and it reminded me i needed to reply to this

[/B]

 

[Tybalt Archer]

Tybalt smiled softly as she asked if they could stop in and see them anyway. He could feel her desire to start telling people now, this huge piece of information about their lives and how it was moving forward, of course he wanted to her to be able to tell them. He gave her a little smile and took a bit of his food as he shook his head, ”I wouldn’t mind at all honey,” he said with a warm expression. ”If you want to tell them on the way home we can, but we’ll still have a nice dinner with them to celebrate,” he said, he thought it would be good to have a big family dinner and enjoy being an almost married couple. He knew he’d want to call round to his own family, to his mother, to Lydia and her young son, to Stefan and tell them all. He was so excited to share that information with them. He focused on Rhi as she took out her muggle phone and began reading the message that she was putting in. He just nodded along. He was sure they’d probably figure that something happened for them to want to go see them. He wouldn’t be surprised if they figured out that either she was pregnant or it was something like this. Regardless he looked forward to saying. He shook his head at her when she said she wasn’t that pretty. ”I think you would suit a panda look,” he said with a light tone. ”You’d look beautiful panda eyes or not,” ​