Closed Years That Divide

[Grace Raven]

The Raven Inn had been in Grace's family for years, and whilst it was unconventional how she ended up acquiring it, she had yet to give him any reason to regret his decision. In fact, she felt she had rather improved the place considerably, making it a safe haven for magical folk that needed a holiday, away from the hustle and bustle of city life and into something far more relaxing. The inn was situated on a large, secluded property, with a large lawn and many small, intimated spaces outside where one could sit and read, or enjoy a pastry with their family and loved ones She had eventually got her way and was able to include a sensibly sized pond for people to take walks by and have a picnic, but it would only be a matter of time before she wanted to do something else. Redecorating or renovating would likely be her next project, if she could convince her business partner of nearly twenty years to let her do it. Technically, she owned the property and held the majority in expenses and income because of it, but she would never go over Shiloh's head when she, too, had put so much into the place. It may have been Raven Inn, but Shiloh Denton had certainly left her mark. ​

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September was usually a quieter period for her inn, which she preferred, as it gave her time to prepare for the inevitably busy December and January period, which meant that she had perhaps too much time to flutter about her patrons, one in particular. Mister Khamidouline always seemed to need assistance with something, and he never seemed content to discuss the issue with any of her staff - and it was rarely an issue, anyway. Once, the window had been stuck, but as a wizard, he really should have been able to loosen the iron handle himself, and even Grace was physically capable of opening it for him. She was hardly lifting weights (and whilst she was certainly not looking, she couldn't help but notice that his arms looked like he would be able to handle a window handle). She was sure he was seeing to flirt with her, but Grace felt as eloquent as a baby penguin in these matters so she couldn't be sure, and she certainly wasn't going to ask for anyone else's advice - she would rather live in confusion for the rest of her life.​

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Finally locating the man, she offered him the note he had sent flying to her, letting her know that he needed her assistance, again. Giving him a knowing smile, though trying to look disapproving, she looked around to see if she could spot the problem, before deciding that she would need to ask. "Mister Khamidouline," she started, still not using his first name, despite being asked to. Rather than insist he called her Madame Farfalla like most, she permitted him the rare honour if calling her Grace. "What seems to be the problem?"​

 

[Konstantin Styx]

Konstantin Khamidouline only came to Europe when he was with a conference when it came down to his grandfather's company with making brooms. Racing brooms were his specialty, though his grandfather seemed to take more notice in the women than the actual products and trying to be successful. Since Borka had his family, and kept on having kids, it was up to Konan to figure things out for himself. Ever since he found out about his paternal side of the family, Konan used the conference to go around to Greece to see about what the "Katsaros" were like. Apparently, his father was raised by the Styx and Zhefarovich family, which he knew enough about them to avoid them completely. Things were winding down and he was not due to be home for some time, as he was wanting to stretch the broom making business to New Zealand, where his father went to school, but he had another couple of weeks to wrap things up here in the United Kingdom. Grisha Khamidouline, Konan's loving son, stayed with him since his mother did not want to be tied down to motherhood for a while. Grisha had blonde hair, whereas Konan had brown, and his mother had red. If it weren't for the paternity test, two of them, Konan would swear up and down that Grisha was not his. But at least that Konan had Grisha. Kept him from having any more sudden kids, which definitely separated him from his grandfather, who slept with any woman with legs, and had several illegitimate children.​

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That was not the only highlight of being with Raven Inn. There was this one woman that Konan pretty much summoned any chance he could get. Why? She was just so gorgeous and he loved to see her blush. Konan openly flirted with her, and even Grisha came around to talking on occasion, but he was an awfully shy kid. Odd since he would mismatch literally every outfit he would find. Definitely got that free spirit attitude from his mother. This time, when he asked for Grace to come up, he actually did not have any problem. Well, there was one, but it was less obvious. He chuckled as she asked what the problem was. "Mister Khamidouline is too formal. Call me Konan! My name, first and last, are a handful enough as is." Konan looked back to see that Grisha was still sound asleep for his nap after a bit of lunch. "Right, the problem... I ordered too much food and I need some help with it." Lame, but that was his way of asking her to have a spot of lunch with him. "My son is passed out, so he can't help so, I wanted the beautiful Grace to 'grace' me with her presence this lovely afternoon." Well, so much for lovely, since it was pouring rain outside. It was truly an ugly day, but still.​

 

[Grace Raven]

Grace's face pinched slightly at the nerve of him, though there was a mischievous sparkle in her eyes that she could not contain. She had been able to navigate around several of his other attempts to capture her time, but it was difficult to keep finding excuses and reasons when, in her heart of hearts, she had no idea what she was doing, or where she did or did not want this to go. It was a simple matter to decide to be alone when you were used to it, and Grace very much preferred the stability of predictability. There had been moments when she had entertained the idea of another, the latest being Banafrit, but even that had been nearly eight years ago, now.​

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"I see," she replied curtly. Unsure whether she would regret it or not, she decided to sit, adjusting the skirts of her robes whilst she tucked into the table. "I like Konstantin Khamidouline." Coming from someone with the nice, short, easily pronounced 'Grace Raven', it was almost certainly a sense of the grass being greener on the other side. "Perhaps, in the future, you should consider ordering only what you know you can eat?" she suggested, reaching for a pastry. "There is no point in indulging eyes that don't know the size of our stomachs, Mister Khamidouline."​

 

[Konstantin Styx]

Konan chuckled as she said that she preferred his long name. Of course she did. Konan gave her a charming smile, wondering how hard this would be to get her to spend a little bit more time with him. He liked her. She was charming, graceful, absolutely gorgeous. Konan leaned back in his chair and replied, "My eyes only want to indulge in the beauty that is in my room with me." That was lame but sometimes, he just could not help it. He reached and took a pastry himself, and kept eye contact with the woman. He began to nibble on it, as if to take his sweet time to keep her here. "Not to say that the food isn't good because it is absolutely delicious," added Konan to reassure her that he loved the food too. "How many times do I need to compliment you before I can get you to agree to go out on a date with me, Grace? Cause I like you. You are gorgeous, ambitious, and just perfect. I want to shower you like the queen you are."​