Chiffon

[Audel Lesley]

When Audel had found the delicate pink chiffon shawl stuffed down the side of his couch, he'd let it run over his hands until it rested against the cushions. The feeling brought bitter memories to him of a time now long past, before last evening's rakish shenanigans. His wife had worn a night-dress of the same fabric and colour many years ago before his son was born. He recalled running his hands over her whilst she was wearing it, and she had turned to wrap her arms again his neck while he buried his head in her hair.
Audel had stared at the fallen wrap in silence before bringing it carefully to his face and breathing in its scent. The familiarity of it had shocked him into putting it down again. It was Demeter's, the shy twin who'd stuck to her sister like glue and smiled at him from under her lashes. Sniffing the wayward cloth was going to earn him a one way ticket to creepy town (choo, choo) but it was better than keeping it to himself. They'd all discarded many items of clothing on that wild night, so she'd been likely to miss it in the drunken chaos.
Embarrassed with himself, Audel had wrapped up the shawl promptly and returned it by owl, attaching an apologetic note and signing it with his sharply-pointed signature. To his surprise, a thank you message from Demeter arrived only a few hours later, which he'd read with a smile and responded to the next day.
From there, Audel's evenings were filled with the scratching of quill on parchment, with his best friend and room-mate Greg poking his head into his study and watching with curiosity. Occasionally his son would also join him on his lap and dictate what to write to 'the lady with the big eyes', and he would faithfully copy out the six year old's correspondence. Recently, he'd only ever looked forward to returning home after a shift at the restaurant and watching muggle cartoons with Greg and Damide, but after the boy was in bed and Greg was out for a lion's romp in the garden, he'd sit down, re-read today's letter and write back with a smile on his face.
Audel was watching the path of the house owl for the eighth time when he noticed it angling off down a different path in the night. The next letter he wrote, he politely inquired towards Demeter's address, and was joyed to discover that she was now only five kilometres down the road. It was on the third day of knowing this that he decided to walk home from work and place the next letter in her letter box, himself. He'd only walked two streets out of the way to do so, and it saved him the trouble of flying.

The letterbox gave a tinny creak as he opened it to place the carefully folded parchment inside, and Audel instinctively looked up to the door of the little house to see if there was anyone at home. The letters were fine, but he was sure that between them both, he and Demeter would be too shy to call upon each other properly after everyone in their group had made such fools of themselves. Nevertheless, he thought back on the evening fondly, but it never occurred to him to correspond with other members of the party. The shawl had made their letters ... special, somehow. Audel smiled to himself and was turning to continue his walk, when a noise from the house made him lift his head.​

 

[Demeter Lesley]

Demeter Lesley sat on the ground in the kitchen, music playing softly as she continued to unpack all of her belongings. There really wasn't all that much to be honest, she still had to buy a lot of stuff and so for the moment, everything was kind of bare, it was almost like a skeleton house. Just over a month ago, Demeter had been given a promotion which required her to move away from France and to New Zealand. This was where she had been based and she had been quite happy to come. Of course, Demeter missed her siblings, but she also really enjoyed her job and she had been staying here for a while anyway. She was also now much closer to Dwaide and would be his point of contact when he was not in school. It was always a good idea in Demeter's opinion to have a decent point of reference and a good place to stay. Demeter had been lazy over the last month and it was because of that, that she was now having to move things around like she did. She hadn't had a proper meal in weeks, though she cared little about that. She wasn't much taken to eating healthy foods anyway, it was easier to cook up a bowl of chips, or duck down to the local diner and grab a hamburger. Demeter's magical skills did not lie in cooking, though she was very good at extravagance. She could fake her way into pretty much anything, it just went all down hill after that. Shaking her head, Demeter stood up from the floor and stretched. She had been at this for the better part of an hour and the floor was beginning to get its revenge on her backside. She liked doing this the muggle way, one because she wasn't very good with house keeping spells despite her good grades in charms, and two, it took up more time. She didn't start work officially until next week and so she hadn't really had anything to do over the last two weeks or so. Sleeping and reading had been taking up most of her time, as well as the odd weekend jaunt to the medley where she usually found a decent dance partner or two, but this time of year normally held the weirdos and she was careful not to run into them.

Desislava had warned Demeter about living on her own, it was going to be a problem because she had never lived alone before, not even for a single day. She always had someone in the house with her, but these days, boredom and silence were her friends. At least on the Weekdays. Weekends were all about parties and dancing, though she'd not had nearly as much fun as she had the day she'd met Audel and Fabian. She had kept in contact with Fabian a little, sending letters between them occasionally, but he was not as much of a priority to her as Audel and when he one day wrote her a note about her shawl she had blinked slightly. She hadn't even thought about the shawl at all really as it had completely slipped her mind, but never-the-less, she had written him back thanking him and it had sort of just gone on from there. Demeter stepped over the boxes strewn through her house, marveling at the fact that she actually had a lot more stuff then she had thought. Her house was a bit of a mess at the moment and she was really going to hate fixing it. Making it to the lounge room with little to no injury to her person, Demeter flung herself onto the couch and groaned. She didn't particularly like this couch, it was ugly and old, but it was the only one she had been able to get on short notice. She wasn't exactly made of money, but she had enough to support herself. She tended to give most of it to Slava to help with the kids. Demeter sometimes found it difficult to think of them as her siblings. Not through any kind of malice, but for the fact that they were all so young and Demeter and Desislava were practically their parents. She loved her siblings, but she sometimes felt like she was paying child support, like a father would. Desislava was the one who got all the praise. Demeter guessed people seemed to forget that Demeter had done a lot too. But she didn't mind so much, not really.

However, Demeter sat up when she had a sound from outside. It wasn't a particularly interesting sound, so it probably wouldn't have caught the attention of most people, but it was the sound of her mailbox. She hadn't been expecting any letters for a few days or at least by owl. Frowning, Demeter pulled herself up and leaned over the couch to peer out the window. Gasping when she saw Audel, Demeter fell backwards off the couch and hit the floor with a resounding thud. Empty houses were the worst. Picking herself up from the floor, Demeter made her way to the front door and was about to open it, when she remembered that she hadn't been out of the house all day and probably looked a right, proper mess. Quickly running her fingers through her hair, unsure where she had lain her brush, Demeter quickly looked at herself in the mirror in the hallway before deciding that she at least looked more decent then when she had been hungover at Audel's house. Anything was better then that really. Squaring her shoulders, Demeter opened her door and smiled when she saw that Audel was still there. She hadn't seen him in person since that night and it was nice too see that he still looked like she remembered him. Despite the constant letters, Demeter had wondered if she was going to see him again. "Why hello there Handsome. Mail man never looked like you before." She said, winking at him and stepping, barefoot, out onto the steps of her house.
​

 

[Audel Lesley]

Audel turned his head fully when Demeter's front door opened, and the lady herself called out to him with a sentence that shocked him so much, his eyebrows met his hair. She winked openly at him and the face he made then became a horrific cross between intrigued and embarrassed.
"Demeter!" he greeted her, backing away from the mail box as though he hadn't just dropped off his ninth letter.
"You're looking- " He paused, taking in her baggy home-singlet and bare feet. "- Relaxed." A smile began to creep over Audel's face. Her hair was streaming down her back, and though she was clearly unprepared for his 'visit', her haste had given her a most attractive flush.
"Beautiful, actually," he added in a much quieter tone.
"I suspected you'd be just moving in," he continued, looking for confirmation in her face. Hesitantly, and watching Demeter's face in case he wasn't welcome, Audel stepped onto the garden path and walked until he stood at the foot of the stairs with his pen-pal several steps above. He gave her a proper grin, then, and shoved his hands into his pockets.
"How's the move going?"​

 

[Demeter Lesley]

Demeter was glad Audel was here. She needed some company, anything really to distract her from the boring hum-drum of her less then fancy, non-existant, social life. She stepped forwards slightly as he spoke so that she could hear him properly and so that they wouldn't have to yell back and forth, because that was a little silly. At his exclaimation, Demeter laughed into her hand, and placed her hand on her hip slightly, turning her head slightly away from him. "Expecting someone else?" She asked, teasing as she moved her body out of her current stance and leaned on her now closed screen door. Audel was precious, she loved that he was so adorable. She did distinctly remember thinking that back at the Medley too and she was glad it was still true. She had not met many adorable men, but she was sure, none of them would be like Audel. "I suppose that is as good as any compliment given to a woman. Not really what I was going for, but it will do." She told him grinning. Banter like this was always fun and it made her wonder why she didn't engage in it more often with others. Of course it failed to occur to her that she just never had a suitable partner. Smiling, Demeter lent forward as Audel approached and pocked her tongue out at him slightly before leaning back. "Well, does a month ago count as "just moving in?" She asked, shrugging, but the smile stayed on her face.

"It's going about as well as can be expected, given how absolutely lazy I am. Guess I never realised how much house work Slava did until now." She told him, moving her hand to the door and opening it, before stepping back up into the house, her eyes still on Audel. "You're adorable... Are you going to stand there like that all day? Or are you going to come in?" She asked, grinning at him. The house was a mess, but it wasn't a dirty mess, only boxes and random bits of random things strewn across the floor. Nothing immediately embarrassing or bad. At least not that she could think of. She just hoped he didn't need to use the bathroom anytime soon. She'd not cleaned her... clothes... from in there yet. "Seriously though, you want something to drink, I'd offer you food, but I haven't got anything... I suppose I could try and cook you something, but I can't make any promises on how good it would be."
​

 

[Audel Lesley]

"Well, does a month ago count as "just moving in?" said Demeter with a smile. Audel smiled right back at her and jerked his head towards the open door behind her.
"Survey says yes, the lady is very much unsettled in her humble abode," he said in reference to the unopened boxes he could see. He was halfway to responding to her next sentence when he was called adorable, which threw the chef right off. Audel stared at the twin, his mouth open in astonishment. It took him a moment to snap out of it, during which time he'd been invited in and was following his pen-pal mutely up the front stairs. When they stepped into the hallway, his brain sputtered back to life.
"Come on, Demi, I'm over thirty!" Audel exclaimed, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. "I haven't been called adorable since I was five- and that was because the next door neighbours thought I was a girl." he admitted. He politely scrubbed his shoes back and forth on the doormat and waved off Demeter's offer of food.
"S'all right. I get fed enough at work. The sous chef doesn't think I'm fat enough to be a dad." said Audel, running his hands absently over his flat stomach. "But hey, I can always cook something for you, provided the kitchen's ready to rock."
He stood face to face with Demeter awkwardly for a second, with poetic license being used on the phrase 'face-to-face', as Audel could quite easily rest his chin on the twin's head should the fancy take him.
"I was just on my way home, actually, but Greg's got Damide for the afternoon so I thought I'd drop the next letter off. Damide wants to start writing to the kids so I won't have to do anymore letter carriage myself, but ... I hope it doesn't mean that we'll stop talking," he said to her with gentle hope. "That is to say, you're just down the road now, and ... well, maybe we could see each other more often?".
Sh*t, Audel, thought the chef to himself, It sounds like you just asked her out! She doesn't really know you from a bar of soap! Quick, cover!
"A-as friends!" he added swiftly. You idiot! Now she'll think that you're not interested! "Um, for now." said Audel. "Okay, I'm just going to stop talking. Can I take you up on that drink?"​

 

[Demeter Lesley]

Demeter followed Audel's gaze as he got a glimpse of the inside of her house. She giggled slightly at the comment before shaking her head. He had such a strange way with words, but Demeter liked it, it was unique to him, she didn't know anyone else who spoke like him and that was really quite fine. She didn't mind, it suited Audel like it should. The way people spoke was often a good indication of personality, intelligence and upbringing. Despite her outward style, Demeter was quite smart, she just sometimes dumbed herself down because she preferred it that way. Demeter noted, as she walked into the house, that Audel was distinctly quiet. She kept looking over her shoulder to make sure that he was still there. Had her comment shocked him that much? Was it bad to call him adorable? She thought he was a adorable but, so that was what she said. Maybe brain to mouth filters were a good thing to have. Demeter had always just tried to ignore hers. Nothing ever got done on euphemism's and poetry. At his exclamation, Demeter jumped slightly at the unexpectedness, before doubling over with laughter. He was worried about his age and the fact that his neighbour thought he was a girl. He really was adorable!

Calming her laughter down and rubbing her tear filled eyes, Demeter got control of her breathing again and grinned at Audel. "See, you really are adorable. You can be adorable at any age, you big goof!" She told him, nodding and stepping over a box to move into the lounge room. When Audel spoke again, Demeter's eyes immediately went to the man's stomach and she distinctly remembered her hands. She smiled slightly to herself before turning her face away from him and in the direction of the kitchen, gageing whether or not it would be safe to let him in there. Most of her cooking utensils were already unpacked, so it should be okay, she would just have to move a couple of boxes. Although what food did she have in there. She didn't have much, maybe a couple of eggs, some milk. Cheese, half a cake and some strawberries. Not much he could do with that really. There was more stuff in there as well, but, well, she didn't know exactly what was in the kitchen at any given time, that would be silly. After all, she had been eating easy meals for the last couple of weeks.

"Should be okay." Demeter looked over at Audel. "I don't really know what I have in the way of supplies, but you're welcome to give it a go." She told him. When he started talking again, the more he said, the bigger Demeter's smile got until she was grinning at him so much her mouth started to hurt. She closed her mouth and smirked. He was hilarious! "Didn't your mother ever teach you, not to play with veela's?" She asked, raising her eyebrow and trailing her hand along his cheek. Winking she dropped her hand from his face in favour of his arm and tugged him along behind her to the kitchen. "You're not having a drink in the hall way. That's stupid. Sit down you silly goose." Demeter, having let go of Audel, moved to the fridge and opened it, leaning over slightly to try and find something drinkable. She didn't have anything alcoholic, but she had a couple of muggle drinks, Dr Pepper, Chocolate Milk and Ice Tea. She closed the fridge again. "Do you want something cold or hot? Probably should have been my first question."
​

 

[Audel Lesley]

Merlin, he'd caught a feisty one. The deeper he dug himself into a hole, the wider she smiled until she was practically leering at him. You could have fit a tennis ball in Audel's mouth when Demeter reached out with a delicate hand and ran it along his cheek. The path her hand took left tingles in its wake. He remembered to shut his mouth on his way to the kitchen, but it was probably a good deal too late. She seemed to like rendering him speechless.
Audel seated himself at the breakfast bar and muttered to himself as his host rummaged through her refrigerator.
"No, I can't recall any of my mother's tales involving veelas, or playing with them,"
He had to shake himself into replying when she asked about his drink preferences. A coffee would have done him good at that point and he told her so, trying to ignore the burning in his cheeks and imagining how his day might have been had he not stopped to drop off the letter.
While Demeter was sorting out the drinks matter, Audel slipped a hand into his pocket to withdraw what appeared to be a mirror case. When he flicked it open, the object revealed itself to be more like a clock face only with short phrases around it instead of numbers. He moved the 'clock' hand, which was pointing to 'Going Home', to the next phrase along which read 'Coming Back Late'. Gregory, his room mate, had a matching phrase piece that displayed whatever setting the other wished them to see. That nifty bit of magic had been pulled off by Simon, Greg's younger brother.
"I hope I wasn't distracting you from your unpacking," Audel said to Demeter as he accepted a cup of coffee from her hands. He grinned cheekily for a moment and added "Though it's not like you shouldn't be finished already."
The coffee was hot and dark, and he took a deep sip, his throat flexing. His mind was still on Demeter's teasing; the mischievous urge to give as good as he got overtook Audel, who made the impromptu decision to take up the baton.
"Seen anything of Fabian lately?" he asked with a casual tone, his eyes dark as the coffee with playfulness.​

Out of Character:

Slight godmodding, do forgive!

 

[Demeter Lesley]

Demeter was in her element. She wasn't sure what said element was, but she was in it. Demeter, smiled at Audel when he ran with her joke about veela's. She wasn't being serious of course, even Demeter didn't really know much about the mechanics of a veela, which considering she was a veela, was pretty bad. She just never cared to ask. Did her genes only affect straight males or did it affect all males, could it affect woman who were into woman? All these questions were things that Demeter didn't really care about. How could she be expected to be treated normally if she considered herself to not be normal. It was all well and good for her to joke around, but if she was having a serious discussion, she wouldn't be joking like this. "No, I would imagine not. Well, never too late to learn." Demeter told him, winking. She proceeded to move about the kitchen, making Audel his coffee. Whilst she went she asked him how he liked it and did her best to follow along. She had only a little coffee because most of her family were tea drinkers, but she always kept coffee in stock for when Kaylee came to visit. She would never hear the end of it if she didn't have coffee for her aunt whenever she came by, just for a chat or something.

Finishing up the coffee, Demeter walked over to Audel and placed the cup in his hands, laughing slightly as he spoke. "Any distraction is a good distraction when you're doing something you don't want to do, right?" She asked as she sat across from him and reached under the counter for a half empty bag of chips. Placing on the table she munched on them slowly and shook her head at slightly. "Not really. Exchanged letters a couple of times, but i wasn't that interested to be perfectly honest." She said, looking at Audel from the corner of her eye. He was the one she was interested in. She didn't much care about Mr Mordan. Smiling to herself, Demeter pushed her chips away and moved around the kitchen, picking up some of the mess she had made earlier. She wasn't sure yet, where she was putting everything so she was kind of just tossing the stuff into draws. When Slava came to visit she would no doubt just pack all of her stuff away for her anyway. "Are you enjoying your coffee?" Demeter asked, looking over her shoulder at Audel.
​

 

[Audel Lesley]

Audel was inordinately (and slightly unfairly) pleased that Fabian hadn't come snooping around Demeter's new place. From what he'd seen in the Night of the Drunken Fiasco, his brief partner-in-crime had been more interested in the sensual Desislava than Demeter's shy beauty. Seeing Demi in her own environment was turning into a shock to the system, also. With her own accoutrement strewn about, the part-veela's 'nest' was completely hers, and clearly a haven safe enough to relax and even tease someone in (him, in particular). Audel took a scalding sip of coffee that made him choke in a very uninviting manner. He placed the cup hurriedly back onto the bench top and settled for watching Demeter glide about the kitchen and chat. This proved mesmerising enough that he almost missed her question.
"Hm, what? Oh! Yes, the coffee's good, thank you." said Audel inadequately. He sat up a bit straighter and tried to look suitably appetised, but his expression fell short as his attention was clearly owned by Demeter.
There was a moment of silence before Audel sighed and pushed his coffee cup away. He stood from the bar stool and circled the bench until he was close enough to Demeter to touch. Her hands were busy with crockery which he gently pried from her fingertips until all she was holding was his own hands. His dark eyes were serious as he looked down at her, her hands seeming so delicate in his palms.
"Demeter." His voice was steady but his fingers betrayed him with their slight trembling.
"I can't think of why I'm daring to ask you this, but I have to know if I'm just fooling myself or if you really ... if you really want to spend more time with me. I'd like to, very much." Audel swallowed. Abruptly the chef dropped her hands and turned away to circle the kitchen in distress.
"Look, I know I'm old, and boring, and a father, and I have a permanent hanger-on attached to my household, but unless I say it then I'm never going to get an answer." He managed to stop his pacing and turned to her with a look of appeal. "Tell me I'm being stupid and melodramatic and absolutely insane, but also tell me ... if you wanted to ... keep spending time with me. In a sort of, official basis." He managed to stop talking before the awkwardness became too unbearable.​

 

[Demeter Lesley]

Demeter started to pick up some more of her crockery as she walked around the kitchen. She had to at least get the stuff off of the floor. She, or Audel for that matter, would probably trip over it at some point and she didn't fancy a trip to St Mungo's today. She smiled slightly at Audel as he said that his coffee was good. She was glad. She was usually not so good at making coffee's for other people, for herself she was great, but for anybody else she was kind of the worst person to let in a kitchen. It was a sad fact that she had gotten used too. She would make a horrible wife. She would have to marry someone that knew how to do all those things that a wife should. Like a maid or a chef or even a woman. Rolling her eyes at her ridiculousness, Demeter continued to pick up random items around the kitchen. She hadn't realised she had so much stuff. As she stood up, she raised her eyebrow as Audel stood up from where he was sitting, pushed his coffee away from him, walked around the counter and stood in front of her. "Audel?" She was doubly shocked when he pried the pots and pans out of her hands until she was only holding his hands. She stared down at them for a second before looking up into his eyes, quite unsure about what was happening. Had she done something wrong and he was letting her down gently about all this. "What's wrong?" She was going to continue talking, but the sound of his own voice, caught her before she could speak. Demeter listened carefully to what he was saying, slowly grasping his hands harder with each word. Had he seriously not been picking up on her intentions this whole time? Did he think she was just this friendly with everyone? Especially men?

When Audel dropped her hands, she reached out to grab them back, but he had stepped out of her path before she got a hold of him. Standing where she was, she watched him circle the kitchen before he kept talking. She blinked as she listened to what he was saying. He was crazy! He thought all those things about himself? And Demeter thought Slava had selfesteem issues. Slowly her brow furrowed as she continued to listen to what the silly man was saying. When he stopped talking Demeter groaned. "Stupid man!" She walked over to him and grabbed his hands in her own. "Listen to me. Don't even try to speak until I am finished or I swear I will slap you." She told him as she looked him in the eyes. "Those things you said. You give yourself all of these negative traits, but look at me. Do you think I see those as negative things? I don't even see how you could call yourself old. You're certainly not boring and so what if you have a child?" Demeter smiled at that and thought about his son. The kid was adorable. There was nothing there she wouldn't want in her own child. Demeter lifted one of her hands to rest on his cheek. "You are being stupid, melodramatic and insane, but only because you don't see how much I absolutely adore you, Audel." She breathed slightly, getting herself to calm down. "I have never felt about anyone, the way I feel about you." She told him, bareing more of her soul then she had intended. Suddenly she grew serious. "And if you tell me I am too young to understand, I will hit you in the face with my pan." She gestured to one of the ones on the bench beside her.
​

 

[Audel Lesley]

Audel's eyebrows climbed into his fringe when Demeter placed her hands onto his. It hadn't even occurred to him that she might say yes, or even scold him for his presumptions. He looked suitably mollified as she told him not speak, though it was hard going. He bit his tongue at every other sentence till finally the urge to interrupt disappeared, and he was left speechless.
Eventually his tongue was able to move again. "Well, I was going to say something about you being young, but I'm thinking better of it, now." said Audel weakly.
The true impact of Demter's words was slowly filtering through him as though it were travelling through the blood stream. His trembling hands stilled and he extracted them from her grasp and raised them to cup her cheeks.
"Demi," he uttered gently. Audel drew the beautiful witch's face to his and kissed her like a feather on each eyelid. "Demi." He was smiling. "You're beautiful."

When he was able to gather himself, Audel dropped his hands from her face and wrapped his arms around her torso. She was tiny in his arms and it was difficult to resist picking her up and swinging her around. Just experiencing the feeling of her warm body was better than anything he'd ever dreamt about between them (although he wouldn't admit that he'd thought it to anyone). She liked him, truly. Him. She didn't despise his faults or mock him for his insecurities. She was ...
"Demeter," said Audel seriously, drawing back his head to look her in the eyes. There was only inches between their noses. "Can I kiss you?".​

 

[Demeter Lesley]

Demeter shook her head at her companion at the truth of his words. She had rather expected him to want to say something about her being young, but she was glad that he hadn't. Of course she was young it was true. Demeter was very happy with this turn of events. She had been waiting for him to do something and she had been considering just attacking him if things didn't go in the direction that she wanted them too, but she was indeed happy that it was no longer a requirement. As she leaned into his hands, she smiled and looked up at him. Audel told her that he wasn't adorable, but she had no other words for him right now. If he was acting this way now, how would he have acted had she not been who she was. Maybe it was because she was younger then him that he seemed to not know what he was doing. As Audel leaned in to kiss her eyelids, Demeter closed them and was actually kind of surprised by the lightness of them. She had never really been in a relationship before, but if this was how it felt, then she was totally willing to go all out. She really liked Audel and now that she knew he really liked her, why wait? "Thank-you. You're amazing."

As he wrapped his hands around her torso, Demeter marveled at the fact that he was so much bigger then her. She had not taken much notice of it before, but now she was painfully aware of it. Leaning into his body, Demeter rested her head on his chest for a moment, before stepping back slightly to look at him. He spoke again and a warm feeling dashed through her body, but she wasn't done being playful. Unfortunately Audel had brought out her playful side. Maybe he would regret it, but she didn't think so. They had something here that was incredibly special. She shook her head. "No. You can't." Demeter slowly smirked at him, before placing her arms around his neck and pulling herself closer to him. "But, I will kiss you." Pulling Audel slightly closer to her, him being much taller then she was, especially barefoot, Demeter pressed her lips against his. She was not an especially adept kisser, but she knew the mechanics and she'd had boyfriends of course, but nothing has ever been serious. Pierre had been her first kiss and they had been about fourteen, it wasn't really something she filed away. "Audel, please never change."
​

 

[Audel Lesley]

Demeter didn't give him time to feel rejected before she declared her intention to kiss him, and before Audel knew it, he was on the receiving end of one of the most spectacular lip-locks he'd ever had. He froze for a moment and then returned it with fervour, pulling back occasionally to press a kiss against her hair or cheeks. Eventually he pulled his head away from the woman of his dreams to smile.
"I'll make you a deal. You don't change, I don't change, this doesn't change-" he gestured between the two of them, "Unless it's to get stronger - and I'll give you a sickle on my deathbed, if you stick around for it. Yeah?". Audel's smile went from calf-eyed to teasing as he twirled a piece of her hair in between his fingers.

---

The kitchen was never completely finished as there was always more interesting things to do, although occasionally when Audel brought over Damide and Gregory, the mess became a disaster zone and had to be put to rights. The pans still lived on the table top, and Audel never put the coffee cup back into the cupboard after it was cleaned.
Call him sentimental, but the coffee-stained china still made him smile.

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