Nice To See You, Where You Been?

[Kimberlyn Ives]

Kimberlyn was not normally one to complain, but the heat in Italy was roasting her alive. The woman was wearing bare minimums as it was. The blue belly shirt and the black shorts were both a lace and silk material, nice and cool against her skin. The occasional breeze was nice enough, but the humidity killed her. Her chestnut brown waves were tied back in a high ponytail, a lame attempt at taming the frizz it seemed. There were obvious fly-aways though, and she had to spray it with gel before leaving. She hoped that the flight she had to be on next week would not be as miserable - she had first class though, meaning she would be in a relatively nice cabin. The museum never skimped out on her travels, especially not with something as important at the possible bones she would be helping to identify. She had to fly them back to the anthropological institute in Germany first, where not only would she oversee the treatment of them, students who had interests in anthropological and historical studies would get the chance to look at them. It was an all around wonderful learning experience for everyone. while she was in town she had planned to relax between meetings - but then he called.

Kimberlyn wanted to take a few days off, she deserved it, but she couldn't say no to someone like Orsino. The prideful man had worked in close quarters with her before when some muggle excavates had came across dinosaur bones. She worked with him and his team to dust off and discover a nearly complete dragon. She had to cover her rump though with her museum as to why Orsino and his team was to take the bones and not them. Luckily the Ministry had stopped in and helped out with the explanation, and kept Kimber's job for her. It was one of the few times she'd found interest working on something about magical studies - but history in general was something she enjoyed. It helped that she worked next to Orsino, whom was a no-nonsense serious man it seemed. That was partially why she was surprised to get a notice from him that he needed help. He was self-reliant, not needy. However, she would humor the man, considering he was in Italy and spoke little to no Italian if she remembered correctly. Looking down at her palm, where she'd written their meeting point down, Kimberlyn thought of the a hundred and one reasons he would call her. Though she found the most likely one to be him needing help on digging up some more dinosaur bones. With brown orbs wandering around the fountain area, she finally laid eyes on the brute, and approached him. "Orsino, what kind of trouble are you dragging me into?" She asked with a small grin, giving him a friendly push with her shoulder. Had he gotten bulkier? Perhaps even taller?

 

[Orsino Antolini]

Orsino Antolini was in Italy. The first time he had ever set foot in this country. Though he was of italian descent, he actually had never been here before. He was born in and grew up in New Zealand, the only languages he could speak were Bulgarian and English. He could not speak a word of Italian, which of course was a bad thing, seeing he was now in the country with little to no language skills to speak of. Still, it could have been worse. He had enough sense to bring an italian-english map that would at least help him get around, at least for the most part. However Orsino was not here to sightsee. He was here for a specific reason and that reason was to find his friend. He'd met her at a dig sight a while back fifteen minutes out of Medina in Saudi Arabia. She was a great girl, Orsino really liked her and she was basically his type. That was to say that he didn't really have much of a type at all. However they'd not done anything because they'd been so busy with work and other things, that meant that they were too busy to ever consider anything. They'd only spent a couple of days together whilst they were coming up with a way to hide the existence of the dragon bones. The poor muggles thought they were dinosaur bones, it would have been bad if they had discovered the truth, which was where Kimberlyn had come in. She'd contacted Orsino and his team who'd made their way to the dig sight to retrieve the bones. As it turned out, Kimberlyn was good with muggles and had been able to lie her way out of most of the situations that raised with his taking the bones. She was indeed an asset to any adventure. Even better, she spoke italian.

Orsino approached the fountain where they had agreed to meet. It appeared that he was here first, which wasn't a problem. He would much rather wait here on his own, then have her wait. He wasn't sure what it was, but he was always worried that something bad was going to happen to his female friends whenever he wasn't around. He also felt the same way about Rosa and Clara though, so that made a lot of sense. He had a weak spot for most girls. It wasn't that he was antifeminism or anything, he supported that. He also just happened to believe that generally, most girls would be unable to fend off an attack. Especially if the attacker was built as he was. Finally he spotted Kimberlyn and waved to her. He laughed slightly and played off her question with a small shrug, grinning at her. She was gorgeous as ever, like he remembered her really. Had she cut her hair? He wasn't sure, he was not so good with the finer details after all. He brushed some hair out of her eyes and shrugged. "Why do you assume the worst of me?" he asked, shaking his head. "Can't a guy just call up a friend and ask her out for the day?" Kimberlyn was an amazing girl, he liked being with her when he could. After all, he was in Italy with no one to help him, he had to start somewhere.
​

 

[Kimberlyn Ives]

Kimberlyn stopped right in front of the blonde man, giving him a smile. Her thin hands moved her her slender hips as she stood. She popped one out, bouncing ever so slightly as she gave him a once over. He hadn't changed one bit - but what did she expect? He was a large man, and seemingly cocky. Perhaps it was just confidence, there was nothing wrong with that, after all. Kimberlyn was a confident person, but in different areas than the man in front of her. Orsino was the kind of guy in a bar, doing the most minuscule things, but because he was confident, everyone would pay attention to him. With a flick of her head, her brunette locks bounced back over her shoulder. "Not the worst, just the typical." She rebutted his comment. She didn't want to admit that she thought this was more than just a friendly situation, but what was she supposed to think after his display back in Medina? Two of the excavators had to be fired for fraternizing on the job. it just so happened that Kimberlyn was good at resisting his charm - though it helped he was no where near her type. She was narrow in her pickings. She wanted someone tall and thin, a muggle if she could have one. After all, muggles were interesting. it was the biggest reason that she was in the career she was in. She got to keep in touch with her magical routes if she needed to, and she got to work with muggles on a daily basis. She learned about the good and the bad, and loved them just the same.

Kimberlyn didn't bother moving away when he brushed some of her hair back. She stood up evenly, opening her arms up. "Get over here you self confident jerk." She said playfully, giving him a hug. There was something endearing about Orsino that caused an attachment to him with Kimberlyn. He was like a big brother to him, though she wouldn't deny he had qualities that made him a little more like a best friend than family. Namely that he flirted with her - and every other woman - every chance he got. "Alright, you've got me here and interested, what is it that you wanted?" She asked with a grin, her tone unassuming. She wasn't accusing him of anything at this point, only trying to be sure that they were just going to have fun. She was leaving the city in a few days anyways, so why not celebrate with an old friend?

 

[Orsino Antolini]

Orsino liked the way that Kimberlyn moved. She was much shorter than he was, not surprisingly. He was a tall guy, most people, especially women were shorter then he was. She bounced, something he found quite endearing and whilst she wasn't precisely his type - did he even have a type? - she was certainly good looking. He shook his head at her and smiled. "I'm hurt. I truly am Pumpkin, truly." He held his hand to his heart, feigning his own wounded heart was aching. Though she would obviously see past it. "Not everything about me is your typical manwh*re behaviour you know." He winked and shook his head. Kimberlyn was a lot of fun. She was sweet, hardworking and kind. Three things he honestly admired. Not just in women, but in anyone. It was always nice to know that someone out there actually cared about the welfare of others. Admittedly, he was surprised she didn't harbour any ill will towards him. He'd gotten a number of the excavation team fired for sleeping with him. It wasn't his fault though, not entirely. They approached him first. Who was he to say no to some lovely looking ladies who had just thrown themselves at him? He didn't force them to do anything. That would be wrong. He just had looks, talent and charm. A lethal combination for some.

Orsino grinned down at Kimberlyn when she opened her arms wide for a hug and wide they would need to be if the small thing was really going to try to hug him properly. He was a big guy after all. He stepped into the hug, laughing at her teasing and squeezing her tight, though not tight enough to hurt her. He'd missed her whilst he was in New Zealand. She'd been a delight to meet whilst in Medina, they spoke a lot and it was how he knew she spoke Italian. Orsino stepped back and stretched his arms out a little, rolling the stiffness out. He'd not really had the chance. Sleeping rough in Italy was not easy. "Well Pumpkin, there are a number of things I could do. However, luckily for you, there is only one thing that I require of you." He smiled at her and pulled her along with him in the direction of a bar. "First though, I want to buy you a drink, because I never really thanked you for all your help that time." He was of course referring to the dragon bones. They'd never have gotten it all done smoothly if not for Kimberlyn Ives.
​

 

[Kimberlyn Ives]

Kimberlyn's brown orbs rolled back lightly, shaking her head at the man in front of him. His corny, feigned innocence and hurt behavior was something she should have expected. Between the letters they'd wrote to each other and the days - and nights - they'd spent together, of course she'd see right though him. Her plum colored lips twisted upwards into a smile, and once more she managed an airy laugh for the man in front of him. His hug seemed to nearly squeeze the air out of her, but she was glad he wasn't trying to hurt her. Sometimes her brothers seemed to hug her just to try and injure her, but wasn't that how all brothers were? "It's not typical for anyone." She jested. Kimberlyn was glad that Orsino knew she only meant well. er dry and insulting humor could sometimes come across as hard to read. She was serious about her work as well, so for co-workers to get to know her more joking and easy going side was nearly impossible. It just so happened that to loosen up her personality, she only needed to be offered a small amount of alcohol. Kimberlyn couldn't resist a good drink. And perhaps Orsino knew that, considering the fact that it was exactly what he wanted to do with her. But how could she say no?

As they arrived at the pub, Kimberlyn couldn't help but order right away. The orders kept comming as she and Orsino caught up. He talked about some new research he'd done in New Zealand, and she couldn't help but mention that she'd be in that area in a few weeks herself. With each new topic came another fruity drink. Cherry liquor and some of Italy's special wines. Before Kimberlyn could really count the amount of alcohol she had in her body, her mid was fuzzy. With a heated pink face, Kimberlyn laughed slightly, telling one of her lame history jokes to amuse herself. It did pertain to their subject of interest at that point - dinosaurs. She had only a moment ago told him why she was going to New Zealand, and told him he'd be the first person she'd call if the dinosaur bones turned out to be more. After all, who else could she trust to take care of the job. orsino was the best as what he did after all. He was the best at a lot of things. Including making Kimberlyn forget her inhibitions. "You are so nice for buying me all of these drinks!" She said with another laugh, thin fingers landing on his arm for support. "Really, I can see why so many women at the exter-veesion site liked you." She was only in town for a few more nights, what would it hurt to let go a bit? "I like you." She muttered under her breath. Kimberlyn's eyes closed, and she leaned in, waiting for Orsino to meet her the rest of the way.

 

[Orsino Antolini]

Catching up with an old friend was always a lot of fun. Kimberlyn and Orsino had not seen each other for quite some time and it seemed that they had an awful lot of catching up to do. Truthfully, there was more then one reason Orsino had contacted her, but he didn't have to get into all of that right away. He'd just gotten here, he didn't want to go galavanting off again right away. Drinks were his best option. Anyone loosened up with a bit of alcohol in them. He remembered that being true about Kimberlyn in any case. She was very slight, so there was no way she would be able to handle as much as him. It was a good thing. Whilst she got sloshed and loosened up a bit, he would be in complete control of his faculties and could indeed, make sure that they didn't do anything that they'd both regret in the morning. Orsino may have been an easy layabout, but he did have his standards. He didn't have drunken one night stands with people, that only cheapened the experience. More often, Orsino preferred to have meet ups with girls he already knew. He wasn't really in the habit anymore of picking up random people from a bar. Who knew what diseases people carried. He sure as hell didn't want to find out.

Somehow, Kimberlyn had basically managed to match Orsino drink for drink, at least almost. It had taken more to get her to loosed up then had expected. He was seriously surprised if he was honest. Orsino threw his head back and laughed at her joke. Under normal circumstances, it wouldn't have been very funny at all, but with a fuzzy head and a hand full of alcohol, anything was funny from where he could see. "Early bird. Good one!" Orsino wasn't sure if he'd heard it before or not, but it was still funny regardless. Many things were funny. Kimberlyn's voice. His hair. The fact that he was probably going to be very broke now. All of it was rather hilarious and caused random outbursts of laughter from the Dragonologist. Learning that Kimberlyn was going to be in New Zealand in a couple of weeks made Orsino happy. He would definitely be glad to put her up when he got back. She was his friend he couldn't let her stay in some crappy hotel. "Ah, no way! Don't even worry about it." He told her, clinking his own beer with hers. He covered her hand with his own when she placed it on his arm. It felt nice. He hand felt like fire to his skin. Orsino laughed slightly as she mentioned his many women, only shaking his head. He wasn't going to even dignify that one with a response. It wasn't his fault that women liked him. Sometimes it just happened. Even now, when he didn't want the attention, he was getting the attention of the whole bar. "Well I like you too, Pumpkin." he patted her hand, oblivious at first, to what she had meant.

It didn't take long for him to figure it out though, because there she was, lips puckered, waiting for him. This hadn't really been where he was intending to go, but hell, why the heck not? He'd never been one to say no to a woman before. Why start now? Orsino placed his hand under Kimberlyn's chin and pulled her head up slightly, moving his own mouth to connect with hers. His eyes closed, as hers had and he deepened the kiss as soon as he thought he was able. He was quite content to keep kissing her over the table, his hands travelling up her arms to rest on her cheeks, but he felt something at the back of his mind, trying to pull him away. There was something that wasn't right about this. It was just... wrong. A red head entered his mind. A red head with a child. Suddenly Orsino's eyes flew open and he immediately jumped away from Kimberlyn. He shook his head and sat as far away from her as he could. "Merlin. Pumpkin. I am so sorry. I don't know what I was thinking!"
​

 

[Kimberlyn Ives]

Kimberlyn did not normally go to bars. The brunette didn't stay out late, or drink outside of with friends. When she drank she did so heavily, and when she was with friends she would feel comfortable enough to be bold. The woman wasn't interested in dating unless she was drunk, and often found other's dull because of their lack of intelligence. Orsino had intelligence though, he had poise, and was a hard worker. He laughed with her, and he was just easy to get along with. The mixture of the alcohol and her own pent up frustration was the reason she'd started this kiss. Her hands found their way to a comfortable place on his leg and shoulder, helping to hold herself up as she leaned forward. She couldn't believe how much they'd both drank, and was sure that if they chose to go home together she'd regret it - not that she knew that consciously. The thought of regret was somewhere shoved to the back of her mind behind lame dinosaur jokes and just how soft Orsino's lips felt on hers when they finally connected.

How long had it been since anyone had kissed Kimberlyn? Months, maybe years. Since starting her job t the museum it seemed like she didn't make enough time to kiss or even to make friends. She traveled a lot, and she worked so much. When she wasn't working she was painting, reading, or researching about muggles and their customs. Her head was light now, though, and she did not want to consider all the time she'd wasted being antisocial. She was twenty two, she wanted to enjoy her night out, drinking with a close friend. She wanted to enjoy the potential relationship she'd let spread before her. However, it seemed one of them had still kept their wits about them, and it wasn't Kimberlyn. The first to pull away as the large blonde man in front of her. He was saying sorry, still using her pet name, and it was obvious tat the tall brunette was confused by it. Lucky for the historian, nothing was quite as sobering as rejection, and the haze over her mind cleared considerably when he said he didn't know what he was thinking. "Oh Merlin." She muttered, her own eyes widening, thick lashes nearly brushing her brow bone. She leaned back in her seat, her head no longer buzzing, and her ability to think clearly coming back to her. "I am so sorry." She said, trying hard to laugh rather than cry. How could she let herself get so carried away? "Listen, i uhm, it was the alcohol. i mean, I wouldn't normally just do that." She said, trying to correct her mistake. "Orsino, why did you decide to take me out?" She asked him, hoping to shed light on something other than her mistake.

 

[Orsino Antolini]

Orsino had never felt guilty about kissing someone before so it was definitely a strange feeling. He shook his head. He was feeling very guilty all of a sudden for more then one reason. How could he have forgotten why he was here? He'd come here with one purpose in mind and forgetting that purpose was rather sobering. How long had he been here yet? He'd already lost his main mission and gone off track. Being side tracked wasn't always such a big deal normally, but when he thought about why he had lost focus, he almost wanted to smack himself in the face with a frying pan. He probably wouldn't have regretted any of this under normal circumstances, or even only a few months ago, but he definitely would now, had they allowed anything to happen and he knew that Kimberlyn would have. It could have put a very dark dampener on their relationship and he didn't want that. Kimberlyn was his best friend, well, she was the closest thing that he had to a best friend. They just happened to get along so well. They liked the same things, mostly and she didn't really judge him as some others did. Yes, she was attractive, most definitely and he knew that he was, but she didn't let that cloud her mind. She told it like it was. She was blunt and she was brutally honest, at least, when he needed it she was. He admired her for that now and he always would in the future. He was definitely glad he had come to his senses because come morning there was no way they would have been able to get over anything like that. Orsino loathed drunken one night stands and he wouldn't have wanted that to be his last memory of Kimberlyn. It would have been the last memory though, because after that, he'd never be able to face her again.

Orsino nodded at Kimberlyn, settling himself back into the seat easily. He was calmer now. She had sobered just as instantly as he had, thankfully and they would be able to get over that kiss. After all, it was just a kiss and whilst it had been rather nice, it just didn't work for him. Maybe there was a reason for that, and the reason was why he had come seeking Kimberlyn originally. Orsino shook his head and waved his hand. "Wasn't just you. I too am at fault." He said, rubbing his shoulder where he had smaller it into the frame. "I gotta be more careful though. Damn that hurt." He laughed slightly and looked over at his friend. He might as well tell her now, seeing as they had gotten to this point. "Actually, I have a favour to ask... it's a big one and this was kind of me trying to butter you up a little. I know, I know, but I didn't want to take the chance of you saying no... you're my only chance, Kimberlyn... Please." He was in serious mode now, he wasn't even calling her as he had. She was not Pumpkin, she was Kimberlyn, his last resort. "You see, I'm actually looking for someone, but I don't know where she is and I don't speak Italian..." He breathed slowly. He wasn't used to asking for help from anyone. He was the reliable one, he didn't do the relying. "I just... will you help me?"
​

 

[Kimberlyn Ives]

Kimberlyn and Orsino didn't sit in a moment of silence, and that resilience was something she happened to love about him. Just as he thought of her, she thought of him as one of her closest friends. The brunette was not one to just make friends and keep them, but Orsino was interested in a lot of the same things she was, and it made their friendship effortless. Perhaps that's why the rejection didn't hurt so bad. She was more embarrassed than anything, knowing that had they gone through with everything it really could have messed up their great dynamic. Who else would she turn to for help with bones if they weren't able to look each other in the face again. She wished she hadn't drank so much, but there was a part of her who couldn't turn down any kind of alcohol. "Can we get two waters and two coffees." She ordered from the waiter, to try and sober them up. They needed to talk seriously now.

"Orsino, I owe you." She said starting out between him saying he had been trying to butter her up. "Without your help nothing would have come of Medina, and i owe you my job for that." Once she'd made the point that she obviously wouldn't turn him down, she nodded, listening intently to the man whom she wished she'd never tasted. Once he finished she couldn't help but laugh a little and shake her head. "Orsino in love, who would have guessed." She made the assumption from the way he talked about the woman he was searching for. There was no way he would chase just any girl across the globe, and call on her help. "I can help you, but we're going to be talking all night to figure this out. Come on, you can come back to my hotel room and we can start there." She said, standing up and paying for the coffees, which she requested to be poured into to-go cups for them. It was going to be a long night, but anything to help a friend.

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FIN​

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