Sugar and Spice

[Nicolas Hensel]

Nicolas quickly exited a store where he had just finished purchasing some potion ingredients and bottles of valuable potions that were currently all bagged and hopefully unable to get broken this time. A Few of of the things he had bought was going to be used for his Potions Class that he taught back at Hogwarts while the rest of it was probably going to be used for his own personal benefits at home. It was a very casual thing for Nicolas to do these days, to brew various types of Potions at his home whether they were going to be needed by him or not. It helped him to perfect his skill and if there was ever a time when he did need one he would have very easy access to it he could probably even sell them to make money but for some reason he didn't. Making Potions had become a hobby of his, ever since that man had destroyed his life and left him with nothing to do but find a way to keep his inner misery locked up and his sister had taught him all she knew about the subject he had been making potion after potion. At one point he did have a little bit of happiness when his wife was alive and his children were all happy but it didn't last long because she was soon taken from him when she was murdered by the very man who ruined his life in the first place. He only had one son to take care of, the others were at school, his sister had a life now, and teaching at the school only made him feel lonelier at times when he saw how happy the students seemed to be. And how happy the other Professors were without their damaged lives. It was hard to get close to people when you weren't really sure how to trust anyone these days.

"Oh sh-" Nicolas immediately silenced himself when he roughly bumped into someone and knocked the bag he was carrying out of his hands and onto the ground. Breaking a few of the Potion bottles he had inside, they immediately started to pool around the back and make a liquid puddle of various colors. Nicolas' illuminating gold eyes locked onto the person he had run into and wanted to mentally slap himself when he saw it was an attractive woman. Why was it always attractive woman he had to bump into and look like an idiot in front of, was life picking on him or what he just that unlucky. Nicolas lazily flicked some of his brown hair out of his face then sighed this was such a mess. He rubbed the back of his head apologetically because he pulled the wand from his coat pocket. "I'm so sorry, apparently life feels like being a pain in the butt for me today. I didn't hurt you or anything did I?" He had bumped into her quite roughly, which is probably why the bag fell but he was hoping he hadn't bumped into her that hard. Now he was just embarrassed and very unthrilled with the thought of him having to go back to the store to buy more supplies. What else could possibly go wrong with his day?

 

[Venus Fiorelli]

Venus was in no rush whatsoever today, being out from under the cold arm of the Italian mob or death eaters for lack of their proper title, she felt a buoyancy she had not contemplated before. Her job at the jewellers was not permanent but that didn't bother her, she was never sure if she would move on or not but for now, she liked the thought of settling at last into an area where the aurors seemed intent on bumping into her and wanting to protect her or any other ministry official she had met for that matter. As she walked along smiling to herself she had to be amused at the fact that all the men she had met so far in New Zealand she had managed to meet through an accident of some kind. Well excluding Edward of course but he would always be different.

She got no further in her train of thought when she was bumped rather harshly, the collision sent her reeling backwards but not before the smashing of bottles and the leaking of liquid found it's way inevitably to her dress. In shock she looked down, unable to speak as the man apologized and though once before she might have come back with a rather smart answer she seriously could not be bothered now. With a sigh she flipped the skirt of her dress watching as the stain spread menacingly. She shook her head at his question before speaking.

"No I am not hurt but I think my dress is" her Italian accent had never sounded so beautiful or forlorn before, as if she had quite enough of men using her for their accident prone ways Venus moved a few inches to the door step of a shop closed for some reason or other and sat herself down still staring woefully at her stained dress.

 

[Nicolas Hensel]

The woman did not seem happy at all about the way her dress turned out and Nicolas tried to resist to roll his eyes and mutter about woman and their clothing, he knew better than that these days. The woman he had bumped into sort of reminded him of his very own sister in a way but at the same time they also couldn't be more different from one another due the small display of emotion he had seen from the woman. When the woman went over to the steps of a closed shop and looked at the stained dress pitifully Nicolas knew he should just leave now while he had the chance. All he had to do was turn and leave so he wouldn't get involved in anything, and that was pretty much the last thing he really wanted to do now that he had cone here, was get involved into anyone's business. Just as the Golden eyes man turned to leave he felt something tugging on that wretched heart of his, forcing him to stay put next to the woman. 'Really? Your going to really make me break my word to myself?' He asked to whomever he thought could hear him out there before hit bit his lip and tried to decide what he was going to be doing about the whole situation. When he finally made up his mind he inwardly groaned and started to turn his body back to her. "Look miss I'm really sorry, if you'll allow me." He offered before he took out his wand and bent down so he was at equal level to her and pointed his wand at the stained fabric. He knew a few useful spells that would assist him in cleaning out the most stubborn Potion stains. He had to know them otherwise he'd have to go out and buy new clothes all the time. Nonverbally he pointed the wand at the stain and watched as it disappeared.

"See? No harm done Miss...well whoever you are." He commented almost as if he were trying to pull out another joke but he was actually serious, he didn't know her name and he wasn't sure if he wanted to. Once he did know her name he was involved and then if she were ever to be around or in trouble or anything like that he would feel obligated to help her out in any way he could. It was a code of honor that he hated to follow but he had done it all his life. It was actually the very same code that led him to Nadia, him becoming involved into her life. "Well now Miss, I think I should take my leave before I start to bother you. Later." Something told him to just stay and see if she wanted some company but he easily brushed that aside and told himself that even if he was a lonely person now that his children all but one were grown up just about and his sister had a family of her own. He was a very lonely person but he knew that Woman and falling for them or becoming close was dangerous...most of the time he turned his head for a moment to look at the woman with his gold eyes before he turned his head forward again..why was he walking so slow right now?

 

[Venus Fiorelli]

Venus continued to stare in abject dismay at her beautiful dress, the money she was earning now was not enough to cover new dresses on a whim and she was certainly not going to contact her family looking for an advancement on her inheritance or the trust fund that was to come into effect when she turned 25 years of age. As she sat there the man came over to her and she steeled herself for another mishap, moving her feet in a bit more in case he ended up trotting on those as well. As he pointed his wand at her dress, she looked at his face finding the hue of his eyes extraordinarily attractive. She forced a timid cough out to prevent herself from making a fool of herself over a man, that ship had long ago sailed and she had grown weary of them even at her relatively young age. Unable to help herself bristling when he kept referring to her as 'miss', she stood when he did and before he could actually take his leave of her she finally found her voice again.

"Venus ... my name is Venus" she blurted out, wondering if it was enough to keep him from just walking away completely. Why she even wanted him to stick around she could not fathom but a friendly face was a rare sight to her and those eyes were captivating, "thank you."
She indicated the removed stain from her dress as she said it before glancing back up at him. He seemed one of those men of an indeterminate age and Venus who was usually more selfish about everything in life, who had always preferred a topic of conversation to rotate around her brilliance, was suddenly preoccupied with the thought of wanting to get to know this man. She was counting on his gentleman like qualities as she held out her hand to him, surely he would feel compelled to accept it and introduce himself in turn to her.

 

[Nicolas Hensel]

Nicolas froze and decided against leaving when he saw the woman stick out her hand for him to shake right after she had told him what her name was. His bright golden eyes fixed themselves onto the woman's had as he tried to weight in his mind if he should be a gentleman or get out while he still could since he hated being involved. Deciding that he didn't like being rude he turned and gruffly but somewhat in still gentle manner grabbed her smaller hand and shook it. "My name is Nicolas. Venus is a very unique name, quite pretty though." It was a name he had never heard before so to him it certainly was unique and special. He found it kind of pretty though and suiting of the woman he had just met, it seemed to even trump over his sister Nicolette's odd name. He felt a little shy meeting someone new over such a horrible circumstance but in a way he was almost glad. Back during his school years he had so many friends over time it was a little hard for him to keep track of most of them, most of them were Gryffindors like themselves but in the end it didn't really matter who his friends were. The fun times and the memories he had with them during school were all he could do replace the memory of his family being murdered before his very eyes.

"I'm going to be honest, I am soooo glad you didn't beat me up for ruining your dress like that. At least it gives me an excuse to go shopping again." Nicolas rolled his eyes at the shopping part but a friendly and joking smile was on his the whole time as well, one thing he hoped Venus would pick up on fast was that he was usually very friendly and he laughed to laugh and joke around if the circumstances allowed it. He really needed those ingredients though, too bad he was a typical male and hated going shopping for almost anything.

 

[Venus Fiorelli]

She felt his hand grab at her own, it wasn't altogether rough but still the motion jarred her somewhat especially as her own small hand seemed completely lost within his own. Venus looked from their hands to the man called Nicolas and wondered just who exactly he was. She had felt attracted to different men over the years but so fleeting that she knew nothing would ever have come of it; she had even thought at one time that she might have fallen for Edward Stanton but she had realised soon enough that it was simply transference. He had rescued her and she had placed him on a pedestal as a result. There was no one Venus preferred to love more than herself and no one had come close to breaking up that particular relationship. Yet there was an unmistakable tingle running the length of her arm from where his fingers clasped about her hand. She attempted to swallow but found her throat a little dry and tight.

A moment past and she at least regained some composure, enough to smile that he thought her name was pretty and then her smile brightened, encompassed her entire face as he mentioned how glad he was that she hadn't beaten him up.
"Have you not seen how small I am?" she said, "you could I am sure easily step on me. I do not beat people up at any rate, I might have been tempted to hex you as you walked away but only something small."

She of course remained smiling which again was unusual for her. The woman thought it extremely common to wear a smile all the time and yet here she was unable to prevent her lips from curling upwards as she looked at him.
"If you need assistance with your shopping, I would be happy to help. It is my best occupation" she confided because honestly give Venus any amount of money and she could spend it in a heartbeat.

 

[Nicolas Hensel]

Nicolas chuckled at the woman's words softly and nodded his head before he muttered gently; "But I also keep in mind that even the prettiest and smallest of flowers can have some nasty thorns." He told her gently knowing that there had to be something about this woman that he needed to keep his eyes on to avoid any kind of trouble. He knew for a fact that even though a woman was small and pretty it did not mean that she didn't have trouble written all over her. His younger sister Nicolette and Miss Danielle Lefevre were perfect examples of woman who had just much of a bite as any man around here did. Who's to say that this one wouldn't be the same? Her smile was enough to convince him that she was seriously about not wanting to attack him for ruining her dress. He didn't know Venus' last name but he could almost swear that she reminded him of someone that he knew very well. In a way the woman reminded him of his late wife Nadia, they both had really pretty smiles and a natural grace about them. It made him want to stick around so when she offered to go shopping...or help him shop he grinned and tried to conceal those stupid little butterflies that he always felt when he was around pretty and naturally gorgeous woman.

"Are you any good at shopping for Potion Supplies and Ingredients." Nicolas asked in a tone friendly tone that could also be almost considered flirty too. He knew that woman were expert shoppers in a lot of situations but he had no idea if they knew how to really shop for herbs, powers, and all kind of other gross things. He remembered the looks that some girls in his classes gave while cutting up ingredients and such and that was funny enough, how would Venus react to this kind of shopping?

 

[Venus Fiorelli]

Venus looked utterly aghast as he spoke of nasty thorns, taking the implication that she had burrs attached to her completely to heart. She scowled at him, glancing away for a moment reconsidering the kind offer of assistance. Venus was never one to put herself out there for anybody and the fact that she had even offered had said alot to begin with. The man infuriated her and seemed to cause other strange emotions to run amok in such a short space of time within her. As he asked her about shopping for potions and ingredients she felt an overpowering desire to stomp her foot as if he had just insulted her for a second time. Her face devoid of a smile now looked petulant and it took all of her nerve to resist wiping the smile from his own face. He was handsome she would give him that but what was good looks if the man beneath was just an insensitive oaf?!

Venus of course didn't consider for even one moment that she could have been classed as the female equivalent, she was much too high upon her horse of indignation to consider anything but his insults. With chin tilted with far too much pride she spoke.
"I will have you know that I excel at potion ingredients" she felt the sting of white anger grip her and knew that her eyes would prick with tears as a result of it and hated the foolishness of women for such a reaction when angry.

"I was one of the best in my class" and at Durmstrang that had said alot, her entire class had been so cuthroat at wanting to be the very best at everything. Venus whose nature bordered on lazy at the best of times had to up her game considerably, she had a nasty streak of competitiveness that had jumped to the fore in those times and potions ended up becoming one of the few subjects she had become most proficient at.

"And still make plenty of potions when needed and ..." now she really did feel like stamping her foot but only just managed to stop herself, "and I do not have nasty thorns!"
With that being said she finally let out a humph of pent up frustrated air and twirled about to leave.