Well, Fancy That

[Fabian Morden]

There was not a cloud to be seen in the beautiful October sky, allowing the sun to reign down over Brighstone Village in its full glory. Fabian Morden peeked through his curtain, squinting as the bright sun shone straight into his tired eyes. He stretched, concluding that a walk in Takarokaro park was in order. It had been months since he'd gone there, and the atmosphere was always vibrant and cheerful, which was just what Fabian needed today. A year had passed since his relations with Isabel had come to an end, and whilst Fabian was happier for it, he was only just beginning to accept that it was over.

Fabian hopped in the shower, lathering himself in a concoction of sweet smelling gels he'd bought in the village, and then wrapping himself in a towel. He padded through his flat, searching for a comb to tame his wild, curly locks. His hair needed cutting, really, but Fabian was starting to like the way his soft, dark brown curls hung over his forehead. Throwing on some summery clothes, he grabbed his wand and keys and set off through the Village. Fabian was immediately glad he'd chosen baggy clothes. The sun was extremely warm, making everything feel damp and sticky. The short walk to the park was uneventful, and Fabian arrived within minutes. He sat down on a bench, next to a Mother and child who were eating ice creams. He smiled at them, leaning back and enjoying the buzz of the park. Kids were playing without a care in the world, inventing games and chasing each other around with sticks. The adults stood nearby, watching them like hawks, ready to swoop in and protect them from any danger that should arise. Birds chirped happily left right and center, flying down every now and then to steal chips and other pieces of food which had been dropped by clumsy children. Fabian sighed, suddenly feeling a loud rumble in his stomach. He had been so eager to get out that he'd completely forgotten to eat breakfast. He glanced around, before heading over to a crepe stand. He got in line behind several women, weighing up his choices of filling as he waited.

 

[Demeter Lesley]

Demeter Lesley had not been out for a walk with her baby and Audel for a long while. She had been taking it easy since the birth, as it had been quite traumatic. She had a pretty good feeling that Audel was not likely to try again for some time. Still, it didn't matter, she had Atala and she loved her. Atala Harriet Lesley. She and Audel had picked out the name together, but she had picked Harriet herself. It had been her mothers name after all and she had wanted to honour her memory in some way. She thought this was a perfect way and she would always believe that a part of her mother was in this baby now. Demeter bounced her four month old in her arms as she tried to fix her shirt which had slowly been riding up. Not that it made much difference. Though Demeter was slowly beginning to dress more conservatively, she was still partial to a bare midriff, much to Audel's horror. Still, she loved the man and she loved the child they had made together. Despite his many misgivings, Audel loved her and she loved Audel, what more could she ask for in a relationship, except perhaps marriage. But that was not something she cared much about. She knew Audel had gone through hell last time, she was in no rush to put him there again.

Shifting her weight again, Demeter shook her hair out of her eyes and smiled at her sister., who had also joined their walk. It was nice that they could have this time together, away from that nest of boys and just talk. She gestured to a bench in nearby Takarokaro Park and headed towards it. "So, how are the kids. How is Davalynda? I haven't seen her since after the baby was born. Is she doing well? And Drew?" Demeter hadn't really been in touch with a lot of her family since moving to New Zealand. All of her updates came when Desislava visited and that wasn't as often as either of them would like. She turned her head to examine her surroundings and suddenly squinted when she saw a familiar body shape. It was one that she had not seen in quite some time, years in fact, but she had a very good memory. She grinned and elbowed her twin as she winked at Audel."Slava! Check it out! It's that guy from the club!" Demeter stood up, despite her sister's protests and walked quickly over to stand behind him in the line before someone else did. She cleared her throat after having covered Atala's face with her blanket so as not to blind her child. "Well if it isn't Mister Morden." She started, smiling lightly. "Flirted with any cooks lately?"
​

 

[Audel Lesley]

"-And then the tomato paste," Audel told Atala. His daughter had both chubby fists bunched into her mother's shirt but her eyes were on her father, who had spent the morning teaching Damide to make a spaghetti bolognese sauce. His son had been interested, up to a point, as making a mess was fun for everyone from two years old to two hundred, but he'd yet to show real interest in his father's vocation. Audel despaired in an affectionate manner, but he'd started onto Atala early. Having raised a child from the newborn before, he knew that it was only the sound of his voice that had her enraptured, but it never hurt to try.
One of Atala's fists had migrated into her mouth, and slimy saliva was trailing down her arm to pool in the elbow of her jumpsuit.
"You're drooling now, but if you don't have fresh basil then you might as well give up and make soup." said Audel conversationally. He watched Atala munch her fist in what he'd like to think was a thoughtful manner.
"It'll all become clear once you're off the milk," Audel added. He spoke quietly so as to not interrupt his partner's conversation with her sister as they walked alongside each other. They hadn't had a moment to themselves for many weeks.
"Milk for breakfast, milk for lunch, milk for snacks, milk for when you're not even hungry but mostly thirsty-"
Audel was just amusing himself now.
During his little one-sided conversation, they'd migrated from the foothpath to a park bench, but Audel was startled when Demeter started into a trot over to a crepe stand.
"Hey, you know I make 'em better than that-" Audel protested, but stopped short when he recognised the familiar face of Fabian Morden. He grinned down at the mop of curly hair that belonged to their one-time party friend.
"Look what the lion dragged in, gelled up and spat out in semi-expensive khakis!" said Audel, teasingly.
He automatically adjusted Atala's little face blanket whilst speaking, then scooped her into his arms to give her mother a rest. The new dad smooched his daughter's fluffy head instinctively and returned Demeter's wink.​

 

[Desislava Lesley]

Desislava was glad to be in New Zealand visiting Demeter. She had not seen her sister for what felt like en eternity, even though she had been there when her little niece was born. Atala was a beautiful little girl, and Slava was very happy to hear that she did not have a name starting with D. unlike Davalynda and Drew, who had named their son Devlin. The name itself was fine, but the fact that it was another D was something that Desislava found very hard to forgive. The two year old was, however, absolutely adorable, and considerably well-behaved, which was a surprise. She had half-expected a terror to come from Davalynda. Fortunately, she and Drew were not planning another one for a long time, and Slava was completely in agreement. She grinned at her little niece as they walked, and nodded as her sister spoke. "Davalynda is fine, she is studying to be a music teacher. Drew mostly stays home with Devlin, who is absolutely lovely. Daelin is looking into becoming a magizoologist, while Dwaide is still in school learning," she explained. "You should come visit." She poked her head around her sister to smile gently at Audel. "All of you. Why not, bring Gregory too if you like." To her knowledge that lion animagus was still at the house.

She sat down, and stretched her legs out and jumped slightly when she felt an elbow to the ribs. She followed her sister's sight, and frowned slightly. That was, until she realised what Demeter was going on about. The woman went redder than her hair, and began frantically trying to summon her sister back. "No, Demeter!" she called, tugging after her. She had woken up in the shirt of that man! The last thing she wanted to do was run on up and talk to him. She looked at Audel expectantly, but found that he too was all far walking up and greeting Mister Morden. Oh, this was horrible. Desislava desperately tried to find some place to hide, but there was no-where to go. She was left out and spotted, and she desperately hid her face, though she knew it was too late. "Hello Mister Morden," she whispered, not being nearly as outgoing as the other two. "It is nice to see you again." She was lying. They all knew it. She wanted to crawl under a rock and die.
​

 

[Fabian Morden]

When Fabian had lined up to order himself a crepe, the last thing he had expected to receive was a side dish of a beautiful woman and a rather hunky looking man. At first, Fabian couldn't place where he'd seen them before, though they both felt strangely familiar. All of a sudden, at the mention of 'Mr Morden', the penny dropped. "Demeter? Audel?" Fabian laughed in disbelief. "Is good to see you! A little embarrassing though, maybe." Four years had passed since their one night misadventure, but the two of them had hardly changed a bit. That was, of course, except for the baby Audel was cradling in his arms. Fabian grew more and more excited as he put two and two together, an expression of pure delight coming over his face. "You two married? You 'av baby now?!" He half asked, half exclaimed, his excitement only strengthening his German accent. Not bothering to wait for a reply, Fabian began cooing over the small child. He had always loved kids, though having some of his own was a thought which frightened him. Not only that, but Isabel had been completely against the idea. "You are very brave. Does 'e or she 'av a name?" He asked, continuing to grin and pull faces at the baby.

When Fabian stepped back at last, he couldn't help but hear a faint whisper coming from behind the new parents. He stepped to the side, curious to see who else had joined them. Upon noticing it was Desislava, Fabian promptly turned a violet shade of pink. He struggled to make eye contact with her, remembering what had happened between them that night all those years ago. His fondest memory was that he had woken up next to Desislava wearing nothing but a colourful lei. "Uh, Desislava," Fabian nodded, acknowledging her presence and suddenly going quiet. Fabian expected the only thing that could have made this situation more awkward was if he'd forgotten her name. "Is good to see you too," He added, coughing slightly towards the end of his sentence as the words got stuck in his throat. Now what?

OOC: Tenilee may want to edit Desislava's age so it doesn't look like Fabian slept with a 16 year old ;r

 

[Demeter Lesley]

Demeter laughed happily to herself as her baby was retrieved from her into the arms of its daddy. She turned slowly with Atala as Audel took her even thought she knew no harm would come. She was very overprotective of her baby and it was probably going to stay that way. She smiled at Fabian and watched as he recognised them. It was a long time ago, yes, but it had been memorable for many reasons. She laughed slightly when Fabian mentioned that it was a little embarrassing to see them and she shook her head in disagreement. Whilst she may have initially felt embarrassed at the memories, she was past it now and she was living a life she had always dreamed, well, partially. "Well, not married no, but this is our child!" She was excited that Fabian was excited. They'd only met once after all, but it had brought her together with Audel and she supposed she had to thank Fabian for his part in it. Were it not for him, things may have gone very differently for them all. Demeter stepped up to stand next to both men as Fabian met her daughter. She softly captured one of Atala's pudgy hands in hers and kissed it. "Fabian, meet Atala, Atala, this is Fabian, you pretty much exist because of him." She told the baby, who simply sneezed and looked up as if what Demeter had said was the most profound thing in the world. She supposed it would be, to a baby.

Demeter cooed at her daughter as Fabian stepped away when he noticed Desislava. She smiled to herself and looked over at her sister. "It is so wonderful with all of us together again. Why don't we get lunch, catch up?" She looked at Audel. I know you can make nicer crepes, Hon, but I'm sure Fabian is hungry and Atala is due for a feed soon, we might as well eat here, have a picnic, no?" Demeter liked picnics, they were fun and she'd not had one since she was a child. She would like to have another one. Atala squeezed Demeter's finger. "Look, Bubba agrees, it's decided."
​

 

[Desislava Lesley]

Desislava could have crawled under a rock, and died. She had been working hard to omit that night from her memory - and it had been hard considering Demeter was there, and so was Audel and Gregory, and Damide, but she had finally managed it. And then this happened. At least he remembered her name? A part of her was excited, but it was quickly crushed by a deep sense of shame and embarrassment. Her face had to be redder than her hair. What made it even worse was that Demeter was completely, and utterly fine with all of this. She was so relaxed, in fact, that one would never have guessed that this man was involved in one of the most humiliating nights of Desislava's life. She did not blame the man before her, as he was perfectly nice and very understanding, but she would be lying if she said that she did not blame Demeter just a teeny bit. She had, afterall, convinced Slava to go out in the first place. However, she realised that about ninety-nine point nine percent of the fault was on her own shoulders, and it felt terrible.

"A picnic?" she exclaimed with wide eyes, staring at Demeter. "C-catch up? With him!" She suddenly realised how that all sounded, and slapped her hand over her mouth, before looking at Fabian. "Not that you're a bad person or anything - I'd like to have lunch with you some time - oh goodness, but not like lunch lunch, as in a date, but more like a... a lunch shared between friends. Nothing more of course - Audel and Demeter and Atala are here!" She had lost it. She took a sobering breath through her nose in defeat. "I'll get a blanket," she whispered, wandering off to go find a deep, dark hole to crawl into.
​

 

[Fabian Morden]

"Oh.." Fabian began, flushing a little with embarrassment for jumping to the conclusion the two had been married. "Sorry. Vell, congratulations anyway! You two look vair good togezer," He said with a reassuring grin in Demeter's direction. Her ease over the whole situation was perhaps the only thing keeping Fabian and Desislava from running away from each other at high speeds. The longer they stood there, the more about the night at Audel's flooded back into Fabian's mind. As happy as he was to see Desislava, he couldn't help but wish Demeter and Audel had been walking alone. Fabian did not need to be reminded of the night he cheated on Isabelle. When he had returned home the next morning, Isabelle had thrown a fit. It was extremely hypocritical of her, considering the number of times she had cheated on him.

Fabian felt a sharp pain in his chest when Slava exclaimed her feelings about catching up. He smiled weakly, not wanting to appear upset at her words. After all, he was just as mortified at the idea as she. His weak smile grew wider and more genuine as Slava began to ramble, doing her best to get out of the situation. Fabian lifted his hand to place it on her arm and leaned towards her. "Don't vorry, I feel just as bad as you. Ve'll forget about it, yes?" He whispered, lingering by her face a little longer than necessary to enjoy the scent of her perfume before pulling away and clapping his hands. "Right! Crepes are on me!" Fabian announced to the happy couple as Slava ran off to fetch a blanket. "Vat would you like to order? Oh and er.." Fabian hesitated awkwardly, lowering his voice. "You vouldn't know what Desislava's favourite flavour is, vould you?" He asked, blushing ever so slightly and reaching for his wallet as an excuse to conceal his face.

 

[Audel Lesley]

Audel winced at the tension so profound it was palpable. He and his girlfriend were perfectly content to catch up with their once fellow-clubgoer, but his girlfriend's sister look about ready to melt. It was quite cute, really. The two had clearly interacted with each other that night so many years ago, and apparently it had left an impression. He felt quite sorry for Desislava, being a generally shy person, himself. Fabian he just wanted to laugh at, since he was clearly so smitten with Demeter's twin that he was doing his utmost to put her at ease. It was a next-to-impossible endeavour, though. Slava disappeared into Neverland to 'fetch a picnic blanket', although a transfigured tissue or the like would have sufficed just as well.

He handed his little sunshine to his girlfriend for a feed, then batted Fabian's hand away from the man's wallet.
"Absolutely not. I insist on paying, since I can't provide you all with proper fare." Audel received a cross look from the crepe vendor, and he sheepishly paid for a crepe each, as well as a second for himself, by way of apology. He dared not try some of the more adventurous flavours without knowing the source of the ingredients, but he bit into his strawberry and cream crepe happily, and allowed Atala to suck on a strawberry with his supervision.
"I'll hope you'll come to dinner with us," Audel said to Fabian. "Despite how, er, apprehensive Slava would seem about it, I'm sure she'd be delighted to see you with us," He smiled encouragingly.​

 

[Demeter Lesley]

Demeter smiled at Fabian and his compliment and nodded. She was really quite happy to see Fabian again, regardless of her initial feelings towards him when she had been drunk. That night had been a lot of fun and she had no idea how it would have gone had Fabian not been there. She really had a lot to thank him for. It was also entirely obvious to her that Fabian felt a little something for her sister. She giggled slightly at Slava's discomfort. It was perhaps a little mean, but Slava was being ridiculous, none of them really remembered much about that night, which was probably best in hindsight, but still. She shook her head after her sister. "Settle, Slava. It's only a picnic." However she had taken off to get a blanket. Demeter rolled her eyes slightly and looked at Fabian. "She's not really gone to get a blanket. She's not coming back." Demeter actually found that rather funny and looked to where her sister had run off to before turning her attention back to Audel as she was handed back Atala, who seemed to be hungry if the pawing at her chest was any indication.

She left Audel to it, as she knew he would know what to get her and smiled at Fabian as she headed back to the bench. "Don't worry about the Crepes, Fabian. Go talk to her. She'll be behind that tree over there." Demeter fished through her pockets and handed him a packet of tissues. "Take these, she might be in need of them." She winked at him before sitting on the bench and conjuring a quick blanket to pop over her shoulder to hide her breastfeeding from the view of others. "Actually, Hun, could you get any bread sticks or anything with that for Atala to suck on?"
​

Sorry this isn't very good

 

[Fabian Morden]

Fabian was not quite so convinced Audel knew what he was talking about. Desislava looked as though she could have been the antonym of delighted. Still, his encouraging smile did assist him in steeling his nerves for the conversation ahead. He thanked Audel for the offer of a crepe, but his watering mouth was rewarded with nothing but warm, park air. It was no matter. Fabian could have been practically starving to death and still picked spending time with Desislava over eating. Whether or not the veela twin wanted to spend time with him, however, was another matter entirely.

With Audel's words in mind, and the prompting direction from Demeter, quick goodbyes were exchanged before Fabian set off toward a large oak tree. For a moment as he approached it's trunk, Fabian's legs slowed to a complete halt. What if Desislava didn't want to talk to him? She had hardly shown great enthusiasm in his presence, despite what Audel had said. Perhaps following her would be an invasion of her privacy, and would only cause her more discomfort. If you don't try, you'll never know, Fabian reminded himself bravely, drawing a deep breath before he continued pursuing her trail. He reached the tree after a dozen steps, and rounded it so cautiously that it almost appeared he had snuck up on her. He cleared his throat, alerting Desislava of his presence. "Hallo," Fabian greeted in German, his mouth forming an involuntary but welcome smile just at the sight of the woman's back. "If you vant me to go, please just say. I vill not feel bad," Fabian clarified quickly. "I get ze feeling I make you uncomfortable. I did not mean to. I zink you are very nice." Fabian's cheeks had turned a violent shade of pink, and so he focussed his attention on a blade of grass at his feet.

 

[Desislava Lesley]

Desislava knew that she was being a child. Well, she felt like she was being a child, in any case. But when things got hard, or uncomfortable, one of the first things the red-head did was evacuate the situation so it could be dealt with by those more qualified or able, such as Demeter and Audel. They were a pair of sound people, and didn't get flustered and ridiculous easily. She stood hidden behind the tree, not hearing Fabian's approach, and quite frankly she would have never noticed his presence until he cleared his throat. She released a breath she had not realised she had been holding in the first place, and turned to give a polite smile to Fabian. She was going to be a grown up. She had had her minutes of solitude, it was time to put them to use and not appear like a delusional idiot. Her face was about as red as his, and she sighed as he finished, dropping her own face to look at her shoes.

"No, Fabian," she began, looking for words all over the place - the trees, that kid over there, a bird - "I mean, thank you for calling me nice. Um, I think you're very nice too, and..." She licked her lips slowly, trying to express what she was trying to say. As soon as she figured out what it was she was trying to say in the first place. Where was this going again? "I was, I acted like an idiot. I kind of... freaked? And that was very rude." She pressed her lips together firmly, but held up a finger to let him know she wasn't finished yet, she had just lost her train of thought for a moment. "I would like to return to Demeter and Audel, if you wouldn't mind... or you know, we could, like, go somewhere and do things... if-if you'd like. Um, with-with um, me."
​

 

[Fabian Morden]

Now that the warmth in his cheeks had subsided, Fabian resolved their gaze and beamed from ear to ear. Desislava had called him nice! His heart was skipping like a school boy in a model railway museum. Perhaps it was all the veela pheromones, but something about the fiery redhead completely enthralled him. He clung to her every word, bathing in the sweet tones of her angelic voice. It didn't matter that she was tripping over every third syllable. Fabian understood. English was a tricky language.

Stuffing his hands into his jeans pockets, Fabian considered their predicament a moment. As fond as he was of Audel and Demeter (or as fond as he could be, after their brief and far-between encounters), he could not be swayed from the offer of time alone with Slava. "Vy don't ve go for a walk?" he suggested, as casually as a man whose hands were trembling could. Across the park there was a field, and beyond the field there were footpaths that led through the picturesque forest surrounding Takarokaro. He knew this because he had walked them many times before, though always alone. He'd made a handful of friends since arriving in New Zealand five years ago, but none of them seemed even remotely interested in participating in the same hobbies as him. It was always cars this and women that. Those who happened to enjoy strolling through the countryside were married with kids, and couldn't have spared the time to join him if they'd wanted to. "I know a nice place down zere," he said, removing one hand to point down toward the edge of the woods. "It vould be my pleasure to valk vith you." Fabian smiled fondly, wondering whether or not walking alone was correct etiquette for a... second date? and then deciding he didn't really care.