The Apartment of Awesome!

[Lily Drage]

Lily slowly was waking up. She could hear birds chirping outside and the sound of the surf from the ocean. This was home and the sounds of it made her smile. Sumner was soundly sleeping, snoring lightly with his arm posessively around her midsection as he laid on his stomach. Reaching over, she brushed a strand of hair from his face and pressed a kiss to his forehead. He stirred slightly, then settled back in again. She needed to move. The bathroom was calling and her stomach was shouting in protest of the calories burned the night before. Finding a tank top and pair of boxers, she slipped them on and walked out the door to her bathroom. The apartment was quiet, the way she liked it in the morning. She noted that Ford's door was shut, meaning that he was home. The four room mates had such different lives, though they intersected each other perfectly. It worked for them well.

Making her way to the kitchen, Lily grabbed a bowl out from the cupboard and poured herself a heaping amount of cereal. Finding milk in the fridge, she poured it on top. She grabbed a spoon from the drawer and moved to the patio off of the study to eat her breakfast. Lily sat in one of the patio chairs and pulled her legs up under her. The summer weather was warm and the sun was bright. Perfect for eating outside.

 

[Kale Thomas]

Kale was restless. It had been ages since he had a full night of sleep, since work had been boggling him down, giving him barely any time to lay and just sleep. When he did get the opportunity to relax, it would usually result to the gangley boy laying and staring up at the ceiling, instantly swallowed by his thoughts and ridiculous ideas swirling in his head. Call it A.D.D. or insomnia, all Kale knew was that it was beginning to be a real pain in the ass when he wanted to sleep. Last night, he managed to get a couple of solid hours of shut-eye, which he was grateful for. At least he wouldn't be too grumpy on his day off.

Rolling out of bed, Kale threw on a pair of jeans and a hoodie that was lying in the 'clean clothes' pile of his bedroom floor. Stepping out of his bedroom, he walked into the kitchen with a lazy gait, rubbing his eyes and ruffling his hair. He was going to prepare something quick and easy before watching some television. Something that he learned how to embrace. The tube. It. was. Awesome. Upon entering the kitchen, he sensed a presence not too far from where he was standing - turned his head toward the courtyard...he saw Lily. Sitting outside. With a slight shrug of his shoulders, he took a slight detour and walked toward the sliding glass door, where his friend was sitting outside and enjoying a peaceful breakfast. Being the 'brother-like' figure that he was to the girl, this was the perfect time for Kale to grind her gears in the morning. Walking up the door, he swiftly shut the screen door, following with the glass slider. He laughed from the opposite side of the door, poking at the glass and waving at her. "Hey, that's what you get for eating my cereal again!" Kale bellowed, pressing his nose up against the glass to make a pig-like snout.

 

[Lily Drage]

Lily was just about to drink the milk from her bowl when she heard the shutting of the sliding doors behind her. At first she figured it was Sumner messing with her, but when she turned, Kale was standing there, nosed pressed to the glass in a full out snout. "Well, you ate my ice cream! Fair is fair buster!" she yelled back at him, sticking her tongue out at her roommate. She was a bit nervous about living with guys, let alone ones that at one point in time she had crushes on, but things had worked out well. The fact that she was happily married was only a bonus. Quickly she drank her milk up, then moved to the doors, her back a bit sore from the fresh tattoo on her lower back. As she pulled the door to try to open it, she realized quickly that it had been locked from the inside. "Dammit, Thomas! Open the door!" She stood with her hand on her hip, the empty bowl in her other hand and full of attitude.

 

[Kale Thomas]

The reaction on Lily's face was priceless. Definitely what he was hoping for. Sure, she'd probably end up kicking him as soon as she found a way back into the house, but it would be well worth it - thanks to the look on her face now. She drank the milk and he added an extra touch of pulling the blinds shut, "I wasn't the one that ate your ice cream. Liar." he lied, knowing that she already knew the truth anyway. Kale stood at the door, where the blinds were still pulled shut. "Fine, I'll let you back in..." Kale started, a smirk spreading across his features. "....but only if you could solve this riddle." Trying his best to stifle his laughter, he brought a hand up to his mouth and bit down on his cheek. This was really immature of him, but that was just how Kale worked.

 

[Lily Drage]

Lily watched as Kale pulled the blinds on her. Swearing, she started to think of plans of revenge on her friend. "Fine. Gimme the stinking riddle." She waited, impatiently, for him to start talking. In school, he was a Slytherin so he might have been sneaky and cunning, but she was a Ravenclaw. Her intelligence was impecable. She had no doubt that she could figure out whatever it was that he was trying to pull on her. Worst case, she would run around the house to her own bedroom and wake her husband's sweet little arse up and make him let her back in. Kale would really be in for it then. Sumner towered over him and was still growing and filling out. Lily swore that Sumner had grown at least another inch since the last Brightstone weekend. All of his school uniform pants had to be adjusted a bit to fit his new height.

 

[Kale Thomas]

Damn it, she had accepted the challenge.

He should have known better with his friend. Now he had to think of a stupid riddle. Kale's eye brows knitted at the center of his forehead and he cocked his head to the side, "Uhhhh...." Pulling the blinds open just enough to pop his head through them, he looked at Lily with a quizzical expression, "Nevermind. I think I'll just have some ice cream. If that's okay with you?" Before she could even answer, Kale walked over to the refrigerator and took out a carton of ice cream of hers. Opening a drawer in the kitchen, he grabbed a spoon and shoveled it into the creamy goodness. He teased her through the blinds, getting a spoon full and shoveling it into his mouth. "Oh, do I see you jellin' out there Drage?" inquired the former Slytheirn with a sarcastic tone in his voice. Okay, he was only teasing her. It's what most of his friendships revolved around, him messing around with them, grinding their gears, and them doing the same to him. It was fun. At the end of the day, they all knew that they'd take a bullet for each other though.

 

[Lily Drage]

Lily smirked when Kale quickly backed down. He should have known better than to challenge a Ravenclaw. Then he went for her ice cream. Eating it right from the carton. "Jerk!" she screamed at the door, smacking the glass with her free hand. Then she decided to find a new way into the house. Moving quickly, she sprinted around to the one guarenteed entrance she had. Her own room. Laughing as she ran, she knew that Kale would never dare to enter her room, especially when Sumner was there, unless he wanted to see just why the Drage men were so popular with the ladies.

Cursing that she had left her wand on the night stand as she ran, she only hoped that she would be able to disable her wards wandlessly. Lily knew that she would be able to bring the wand closer wandlessly, so once she was around and next to her doors, she looked through the glass and cast the spell. Sumner was still sound asleep, laying on his back, the dragon tattoo on his chest in full view of anyone who would dare to enter the room. Quickly, she disabled the wards, thankful that her wand was close enough to help her out. She quietly entered the house and padded her way across the floor to the door back out into the main part of the house. Just before she walked around the corner from the hallway she shared with Ford, she set the bowl and spoon down on the floor. Running out, she lept onto Kale, hoping to knock him to the ground. "Lock me out and eat my ice cream? You are in so much trouble!"

 

[Sumner Drage]

Sumner rolled across the bed and gave a jaw cracking yawn. He hadn't slept that good in a damned long time. Not without his Lily beside him. And other ways, he smirked, reaching a hand on the sheets. Frowning, Sumner opened his eyes a slit then narrowed them in irritation. Cold. Her side was cold. When it should be warm and preferably willing. Making a grunting sound very like the rumble of a hibernating bear the last week of winter, he rolled his long frame from the mattress and headed into the loo. The privy flushed seconds later and then the roaring of water sounded.

Irritation fled the soon to be graduated man as he eased back against the tub, skin pinked from the hot water, dense bubbles frothed the surface. A bit tipsy still from the night before, Sumner propped his worn fedora hat on his head from where he'd tossed it from the night before. His messy tumble of hair, in much need of a cut, spilled from below it. He looked like a devil may care rake from hell. Exactly how Lily loved him. Striking a match, he puffed on his cigar, chomped it between his teeth and spread his arms back against the rim of the tub. He hummed a particularly dirty ditty, set the hat low over his brow, and began to just let his overexerted muscles rest.

 

[Lily Drage]

After successfully stealing back her ice cream from Kale, she made a run for her room before Kale was able to get even with her. As she neared her room, she noticed that the door was open and the bathroom door was closed. Mostly. A wicked grin crossed her face as an idea formed quickly in her mind. Padding softly down the hall to her room, she doffed her clothing into a pile on the floor. Little did Kale know that she had attacked him while wearing her husband's boxers. Now they laid in a pile on the floor along with her cami. Moving quietly back to the bathroom, she slipped inside with minimal noise. The ice cream was in one hand and she was eating it with the spoon in the other. Leaning up against the wall, she observed her husband relaxing in the bath.

 

[Sumner Drage]

There weren't many things that could stop a healthy young wizard's heart. Magic came to mind, if were dark enough. Maybe a strong blow from a bludger, perhaps a course of lightning on the pitch. Sumner wasn't quite sure about any of those things. What he was damned sure about; the answer was Lily. His nostrils flared and he couldn't control the spasmodic clench of a fist. She was perfection, the type of woman who could make any man fall to his knees and beg to worship her for all eternity. Intelligent, funny, stubborn, beautiful and too many other things; they were why he kept coming back. She was why he woke up feeling free and loved and wanted every morning. His eyes scorched along the smooth, tanned line of her legs and beyond until they bored into hers, set deep within the shadows of his hat.

He didn't say anything for a moment, watching the chords of her throat move as she lazily ate the iced treat. Sumner sucked the smoke into his lungs, not feeling the burn, not caring that it was a horrible habit for him. Fire reflected in his grey eyes, tendrils of white grey smoke curled lazily about his face. "You could get me in trouble with my wife, witch." He exhaled, letting the cigar hang from between two fingers. The smirk on his face held a playful arrogance that rivaled that of a man twice his age. It was the knowing smile of the men in his family, one that had melted and broken hearts over the generations.

 

[Lily Drage]

Lily continued to eat her ice cream slowly, her eyes locked on her husband's form. She made sure to draw the spoon slowly from her mouth every time, licking the creamy treat from it with her tongue. The fact that she was married to this amazing man still blew her mind. Last year, things were just really getting going between them and now, well, they were coming up on their first anniversary. Sumner seemed to be the consumate arse until you really got to know him and realized that under that prickly exterior was a true heart of gold. A man that loved unconditionally and stood by anyone he felt was worthy. The best part of him for Lily was that he was hers forever. One day she wanted to be able to give him the ultimate gift of a child, but that time was not right. Not yet at least. They had so much to do before they started a family and corrected the wrongs that were done to them as children.

Standing up and moving slowly across the room to the tub, she set the container and spoon on the sink. "Really? Could I? Hmm. That might be a chance I might be willing to take, wizard." Sliding into the tub and taking the cigar from his fingers, she let her legs dangle over the edge of the tub and rested her back against the other side. "What is she like, your wife?" Placing the cigar between her lips, she inhaled deeply, feeling the burn she had begun to appreciate once in a while. Holding the cigar in her fingers, she waggled them back and forth before reaching up and grabbing his hat and shoving it on her head.

 

[Sumner Drage]

Sumner trailed his fingers lazily through the water then flicked the ends so beads of moisture dotted Lily's skin. "Hmm," he hummed, thoroughly enjoying the sight of her in his hat. Oddly the sight of her with the cigar, though enticing in one sense, bothered him on another. It was alright if he sucked the smoke into his lungs, but he didn't want to see anything harm his girl. Even something he himself did. It was odd, perverse but that was just how he was.

He plucked the cigar from her fingers, took one last draw and stubbed it out in the ashtray on the floor. Leaning back, he regarded her. "My wife," he mused, interlacing his fingers behind his head, "is the most gorgeous creature I've ever laid eyes on. Her legs go on for miles and she has this way of walking that drives me crazy." Grey eyes glowed with a warmth only she could provide. "She has a big heart and unwavering kindness." His lips twitched at the corners, revealing his quirky smile. "She can also outfly, outrun, outduel and outsmart me. Which is to say a lot, considering what a formidable wizard I am." Lashes of one eye fluttered against his cheek, like a dark angel against his skin, the wink unknowingly setting fires of their own in the woman across from him.

"To say she would be happy with me sitting here with a bit of fluff...well, let's say we'd both be lucky to come out alive." His face alight with love, his eyes shining with desire, Sumner regarded the woman he had vowed to spend the rest of his life with. He loved everything about her yet wasn't blind to her faults. He didn't love her in spite of them. He loved her because of them. She was his light, his anchor, his warmth within the storm that was his life. With her by his side, he felt he could do anything in his life.

He wanted to tell her about the meetings with his grandfather, yet hesitated. They felt personal, too personal to share with anyone. He'd had no close family growing up, always a burden, no one ever took the time to speak with him like he was a person. Valcan made him feel important, respected, like his word as a man and one of the newest additions to the family meant something. He couldn't put it into words and so kept it to himself. For now.

 

[Lily Drage]

Lily couldn't help but make a face at her husband as he stole the cigar back from her. She never was able to get a straight answer from him, since it was a habit he had started up since going back to school. She figured it was either Valcan or Tristan's influence on him. Both older Drage men smoked the same stogies that he was now infatuated with. Lily did not mind the habit surprisingly. She actually found it rather sexy on him. It worked well with the long hair and the stubble that graced his chin.

"Well, then we better be careful and not let her find us," Lily spoke softly, lifting her left hand to trail a single finger down his jawline. She loved to hear her husband talk about her good points, and yet, it made her blush. Her blue eyes met his grey, mirroring his desire. No matter how long they were together, Lily could not believe her luck at being Mrs. Sumner Drage. "Besides," she spoke, licking her lips slightly, "it would be her loss if she did catch us. How she could ever leave your side for a minute is beyond me." Leaning closer and pressing a kiss to his cheek, she continued to speak just above a whisper. "You are stunningly gorgeous." She pressed a kiss to the other cheek. "An amazing quidditch player, the best beater that Ravenclaw has ever had." She pressed a kiss to his forehead. "Intelligent beyond compare." And another kiss to the tip of his nose. "And the exact kind of man that I would be lucky to start a family with one day. She is a very lucky woman, you wife." Lily leaned against Sumner, her forehead pressed to his, heart ready to explode from the amount of love that flowed there for her husband.