Closed Back Again

[Emily Hastings]

Emily had fallen into a comfortable routine. She didn't think of Sydney anymore, and living with Daintree was nice. Her jobs kept her busy enough. And every so often she had the pleasure of getting a visit from Milly. It was a shame the last woman wasn't around more. Milly was intelligent, impulsive. A bit reckless perhaps, and stubborn. But she was interesting, and Emily found herself wondering how the woman's adventures were going.

Today, though, Emily had taken the day off from her jobs and was having brunch at her favorite cafe, sitting outside and enjoying a new horror novel she'd recently acquired. She picked slowly at her muffin as she read, sipping on her tea and just generally enthralled in what she was reading.

 

[Millicent Roach]

Milly had been away for a couple of months now, searching the deep tunnels beneath the ancient Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan for treasures she could bring back for her work. Normally, she would have said no to such a job given that these tunnels were literally centuries old, but the ancient Aztec capital had always interested her, much more so than the pyramids of Giza or the ancient ruins of Babylon. In hindsight, it would have probably been better to sit this one out, because the tunnels had been full of danger and Milly only barely escaped a nasty trap that would have otherwise been the end of her. Once she returned to the modern world and got paid for the treasures that she did manage to take back with her, Milly thought that it would be a good idea to stay at home for a couple of weeks just to get some rest and get over the fact that this job had almost gotten her killed.

That day Milly found herself wandering the streets, distracted by the things happening around her instead of running the errands her mom had asked her to do. She also wanted to visit Emily at the bookshop whilst out of the house to gift the girl a piece of a very old piece of Nahuatl script she had found while hunting for treasures in the tunnels. Almost as if faith had willed it, Milly found her friend sitting outside of a café, seemingly having brunch and engrossed in whatever she was reading. Without hesitation, she joined Emily. ''Fancy seeing you here,'' she said with a bright smile.

 

[Emily Hastings]

Emily nearly jumped out of her skin at the sudden voice, instinctively falling back in her chair and raising her book as a weapon. She let out a sigh, setting her book on the table and relaxing when she saw who it was. "Millicent," Emily scolded her. "It's not polite to sneak up on people."

 

[Millicent Roach]

''Hold your horses,'' Milly said, laughing at Emily's reaction of raising her book as a weapon. ''It's just me.'' She made a mental note not to forget that Emily could be startled easily, just in case she needed it for pranks in the future. ''And I wasn't sneaking up on you, you were too engrossed with whatever you are reading.'' She had definitely missed her friend whilst searching the deep tunnels of Tenochtitlan. ''Didn't think you'd be someone who gets startled easily,'' the Curse-breaker confessed. She knew that her friend loved anything to do with Horror, so she reckoned that Emily would not scare that easily. She was wrong, apparently. ''It's cute that you think a book can help you, though,'' Milly teased, grinning widely before leaning in for a hug.

 

[Emily Hastings]

Emily pouted. "It's a new horror novel," She quipped. She crossed her legs, drumming her fingers on the cover of her novel. "I don't startle easily. Unless I'm engrossed in a gruesome death scene and someone wasn't supposed to have returned yet," She countered, shifting to catch Milly in a hug. "You could send word, you know, like a normal person," She smirked, settling down in her seat again.

 

[Millicent Roach]

Milly grinned. ''Aren't you happy that this certain someone is back earlier than she's supposed to?'' She let go of her friend and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. ''I could send word like a normal person, but that wouldn't be very fun, would it? I also wouldn't be able to surprise you with this in person,'' Milly said, reaching into her backpack to, very carefully, take out the ancient piece of Nahuatl script she had collected from the tunnels of Tenochtitlan. She didn't know if it was legal to keep certain pieces of treasure for herself, but she had stumbled upon it on her way out of the tunnels after she had already collected whatever Gringotts wanted. Milly put in front of Emily on the table, smiling brightly at the girl. ''This, I brought back especially for you.'' She didn't know if Emily would like it, but since she worked at a bookstore, Milly figured that she would at least find it interesting.

 

[Emily Hastings]

Emily allowed a slight smile to cross her features. "I might be," she flipped her hair behind her shoulders. "Are you going to sit down or just stand there forever?" Emily asked, though she was quickly distracted as Milly pulled something from her bag. Emily blinked, sitting up straight. "What...?" she breathed, taking the item very gently. She looked it over, before raising wide eyes up to Milly. "You... brought this back for me? Why?" Emilys heart fluttered, and immediately her guard went up.

 

[Millicent Roach]

In her excitement, Milly had completely forgotten to sit down next to Emily, so while her friend was inspecting the ancient text of Nahuatl script, she sat down on the chair next to her. ''I thought that you might be interested in something like this,'' she said, patiently trying to gauge Emily's reaction to the gift. It was hard to tell whether she liked it or not so Milly hoped that the wide eyes were something positive. ''Unless I am wrong and you'd rather have some other ancient treasure that you could show off in the shop?'' she teased.

 

[Emily Hastings]

Emily bit back a smile, running a hand through her hair. "No, I love this." She offered, studying Milly's face. "I just don't understand why you brought me something like this." She explained slowly. "My ex was um...very cynical." Emily looked back at the gift. "Something like this must mean something. You want something in return?"? She asked.

 

[Millicent Roach]

To be frank, it wasn't the reaction Milly thought she'd get out of Emily when gifting her the ancient text, but it wasn't bad either. At least she said that she loved it, which Milly believed. She shrugged. ''I genuinely thought that you might like something like this, that's why I brought it back with me,'' she said truthfully. ''And I don't want anything in return,'' Milly said, though stopped herself before she could say anything else. There was something on her mind, something that had been on her mind ever since their previous goodbye, but she would have brought it up eventually. Now was as good a time as any though. ''Well, I wouldn't mind going on a date with you,'' the told Emily, a teasing grin spreading across her face.

 

[Emily Hastings]

Emily bit her lip. "I do, I love it." She told Milly softly. She ran her fingers gently over the text, knowing she'd hang it as soon as possible. As Milly spoke again, however, Emily's jaw dropped. "A date?" She repeated incredulously. "You want a date with me?" Emily's eyes were wide and her cheeks flushed. "Why?" She asked, doubt warring with the desire to go.

 

[Millicent Roach]

''Why not?'' Milly said, giving Emily a questioning look. Was Emily really that surprised that Milly wanted to go on a date with her? She had given her friend plenty of hints that, to anyone paying attention, were very obvious. But, while she didn't fully understand what was so difficult to believe that she wanted to date the girl in front of her, she could understand Emily's ... doubt? It wasn't as if Milly was around a lot to make it even more obvious that she wanted to go on a date with her. Still, she was here now and she wouldn't be leaving anytime soon. She wanted to continue on and list the reasons why she wanted to go on a date with Emily but would much rather find out why exactly Emily thought the way she did. ''Why wouldn't I want to go on a date with you?'' she asked.

 

[Emily Hastings]

Emily chewed her lip, studying Milly as she considered her answer. "I... had a girlfriend." She spoke gently. "I thought we were... rather serious. I had expected her to be in my future. But, ah... things did not end... nicely." Emily sighed. "She was... intelligent. Strong. Stubborn. But she was... spiteful. She didn't like that I was friends with a boy in our class. I'd always been his friend, I never hid it. But she found out one day, and well... it wasn't pretty." Emily sighed. "She wanted me to change. I refused. It was... ugly. And heart breaking." Emily admitted gently. "I didn't have many friends to begin with. I've always been a bit... odd. Not even the girl who was supposed to love me could see past that."

 

[Millicent Roach]

Milly listened carefully as Emily began to answer her question, shifting in her seat to properly face her friend. It actually surprised her that Emily was telling her about her previous relationship because it was a lot more than she had expected for such an innocent question. When she finished, Milly took a second to gather her thoughts and process the story she had just been told. It seemed to her that this girlfriend Emily was talking about was rather stupid for letting someone as awesome as Emily go, and for such a stupid reason too. She put her hand on Emily's and smiled brightly at the other girl. ''I promise you that I am not the jealous type. Heck, I even have some male friends myself so there's absolutely nothing to worry about.'' She could see why her friend would have a hard time getting over the break-up but at the same time hoped that she would still say yes to going on a date with Milly. It had been some time ago and Milly strongly believed in the whole 'carpe diem' approach to life. ''And I don't think that you are odd at all,'' she added softly, squeezing the girl's hand.

 

[Emily Hastings]

Emily was hesitant, but didn't pull her hand away when Milly took it. She struggled with her answer a moment, before she finally managed an answer. "I... suppose a date couldn't hurt." She offered slowly. "Did you have something in mind?" Emily asked, glancing down to their hands. The touch was... oddly nice. Emily wasn't an overly cuddly person, but she did like a bit of physical affection... with the right person.

 

[Millicent Roach]

Milly smiled when she finally got the answer she wanted to hear. ''That's great, I am already looking forward to it!'' she exclaimed with a bright smile. ''Well, I don't know if you like museums or not, but there is an exhibition going on that seemed interesting. We could go to that together?'' Realising that offering to go to a museum for a date sounded perhaps a bit boring and lame, Milly let go of Emily's hand and quickly offered something else. ''Or we could go see a Muggle film or something like that?''

 

[Emily Hastings]

Emily smiled, laughing lightly as Milly offered then tried to renege on the date idea. Emily lifted her hand and put a finger to Milly's lip. "Hush now. You can't just offer a date then take it back. A museum, you said?" She asked, considering it. "What about this... exhibit of yours, and then lunch?" Emily offered as a counter. "What's this exhibit on, anyway?" She asked, dropping her hand down to rest lightly in the crook of Milly's neck.

 

[Millicent Roach]

Milly couldn't help but be surprised when Emily moved to put a finger to her lip. She didn't necessarily mind it, it was just very unlike her friend to do that. In the months that they had become close friends, she always got the impression that Emily was a very reserved person. Deciding that she was going to see this as Emily finally opening up to her, and therefore a win, she smiled once more. ''Okay, we'll do the museum and then lunch after,'' she said. Milly actually turned red in the face when Emily's hand dropped to the crook of her neck. She did not expect the physical touches at all. ''Well, eh, it's about historical findings and how magical creatures lived with witches and wizards in the past.'' It did sound kind of boring when she said it out loud but if Emily wanted to go, they were definitely going to go.

 

[Emily Hastings]

Emily was paying attention. Mostly. She drew her hand back, brushing her hair back behind her ear. "Sure, that could be interesting. My aunt is a historian." She mused. Maybe this museum would be like listening to Kari getting lost on one of her tangents. Emily could appreciate an intelligent conversation. "When is it?"? She asked, looking to Milly.

 

[Millicent Roach]

Happy with the fact that it seemed like Emily was opening up a little more, she watched her friend intently, almost finding herself getting lost in her eyes. ''That's awesome,'' she said. ''Does she work at a museum as a curator?'' She didn't know who was curating the exhibition they'd see for their date but thought that it was funny if it was Emily's aunt. ''It's already going on and will be going on for a few more weeks, so I'd say that we have plenty of time,'' she replied.

 

[Emily Hastings]

Emily waved her hand. "Nah, she's mostly a stay at home mom, she works in the bookstore sometimes to get away." She replied easily. "Well then, when do you want to go?" She asked, turning her eyes back to Milly. "I'm free today and then next Tuesday," She told Milly.

 

[Millicent Roach]

Milly chuckled. She could understand wanting to get away from home life. She loved her brothers and sister but they could be very annoying at times and Milly did not always want to be the one to babysit them - she had better things to do these days. ''I need to run some errands for my parents but I am free on Tuesday as well,'' she answered, smiling brightly.

 

[Emily Hastings]

Emily nodded, clearing her schedule in her mind for Tuesday. "Alright. What time do you want to meet?"
Emily asked, planning ahead for their trip. She should wear something casual- maybe she would go out and buy a new outfit. Emily hadn't actually gone on any dates with Sydney- or at least, nothing they'd labelled as one. And while she was mostly convinced this would be only a one time thing, she still wanted it to be something nice.

 

[Millicent Roach]

Milly thought about it for a moment. What would even be the ideal time to visit a museum? Normally, she'd just meet up after dark but with them going to a museum, she doubted that it would still be open after dark. And since this was a date, they obviously couldn't go in the morning. Only psychopaths went on dates in the morning. ''What about two?'' she asked. Not too early and definitely not too late, she could even sleep in if she wanted.

 

[Emily Hastings]

Emily nodded easily, knowing she would probably have agreed to any time that Milly wanted. "Sure, that works," she agreed. She smiled then, shifting more in her seat to face Milly. "Now that it's settled, let's get back on topic. How was your trip?" She asked, wanting to spend more time with the other woman while she was available.