[007]

[wavesofjade]

Your Attention Please, Students.

First Of All I Am Afraid That I Am Going To Have To Take Matters To The Headmaster If Another Student Comes Into The Hospital Wing After Falling Through The Ice At The Edge Of The Lake.
It Is Not Strong Enough To Hold Your Weight, Please Do Not Walk On It!

Secondly, I Understand That There Are Important Exams Fast Approaching.
For Those Of You Whose Nerves Are Adversely Affecting Your Studies The Hospital Wing Has Mild Calming Draughts On Hand.
Do Not Hesitate To Approach Us If You Find Yourself Needing Help.


[Private to Kurloz Makara]
Do You Have A Free Period Later This Week, Dear?
Your Help In The Hospital Wing Would Be Appreciated.
I Am Very Impressed With Your Progress So Far.

[Private to Rhys Rhydderch]
Rhys, May I Have A Few Moments Of Your Time?

Comments

[wavesofjade]

[The smile is returned, and it's with the air of someone who seems relieved to be able to smile.]

There are very few people here who can offer the kind of conversation that you do. I can appreciate your presence for that reason alone.

[higherthaneverybody]

My devastating good looks haven't swayed you, hmm? I must be getting old. [He smirks at her, then pauses for a moment, before reaching out and very lightly brushing his fingers through a bit of her hair. Then he stands to move over to the work table. It's a means of running away, a little, but he's not sure if he should have done that, and now is really not the time.]

I can start something for you right away, that should do until I can properly examine the old batch.

[wavesofjade]

Your good looks are a bonus.

[She smiles, her fingers lifting to touch his wrist as he brushes her hair. It's an uncommonly tender gesture, and one that makes her stomach flutter. A smile lingers on her lips as she watches him walk away.]

Oh, Rhys, you're a godsend.

[higherthaneverybody]

Don't say that until I've figured out if it was my error in the first place. [He warns her, as he opens a stained-glass fronted cabinet on the wall and starts taking out jars and vials, and even a few small cloth pouches.] Your normal potion takes a few days to brew, so this one will actually require some human blood. Wizarding, specifically. Just a bit, though. Is that all right?

[He looks over at her then, struck by her loveliness, sitting on his couch with that little smile. Girlish, some might have called it, but he wouldn't have said that at all. She has all the subtlety and complexity that only years can bring, no matter how young she appears to be.]

[wavesofjade]

I wouldn't trust anyone else with this, error or no. [There's a small nod to answer his question - whatever it needs, she has faith that he's doing his best for her.]

Of course. Do what you need to do.

[She's aware of his eyes on her but she looks down at her hands as she speaks, that tiny smile still tilting her lips up.]

[higherthaneverybody]

[He watches her a few moments more, her graceful hands, the slope of her shoulders, the line of her neck - he likes that her hair is short, so he can see it. And not for the first time, he wishes things could be different. Dolores is the type of woman he would greatly enjoy wooing, and perhaps even winning, if he were willing to get involved with someone he'd have to keep so many secrets from.]

You're very beautiful.

[He pulls down the wooden cutting board and grabs a small silver knife, to start paring the root cluster of the bloodwart.]

/lies here

[wavesofjade]

[She doesn't expect those words, and looks up with a little start, the faintest hint of pink on her cheeks. It's by grace of the potion she takes that she's able to do so, but it betrays her level of surprise.]

Th.. thank you.

[After a moment, she gets to her feet and crosses to him, standing close by his side and gently placing her hand over his, her fingers following the line of his own. She glances up at him briefly, then looks down and speaks quietly.]

If you cut it a little more thinly.. [Slowly, she guides his hand to demonstrate.] It will mix more easily when you come to add it to the potion.

[higherthaneverybody]

[He looks down at her - with his height and the way her head is bowed, he can't see her face, only the crown of her head. Her cool fingers feel sure on his, and though of course he knows to cut the root finely - this is his job, after all - he can't bring himself to object or take offense. He wonders if she has to breathe. His own breath seems caught somewhere just below his throat, at least for a moment.]

I don't think I have your delicate touch. [His voice is equally quiet, a basso counterpoint to hers.] I wouldn't want to mishandle this, something so important.

[wavesofjade]

[Of course he knows, and a doubt of his talent isn't why she's standing there. Her head tilts slightly and she smiles, looking up at him.]

I know. I hope I'm not implying otherwise.

[higherthaneverybody]

No. [he smiles back, though a little more thoughtfully, as though he's still feeling this out] I appreciate your help with it, and your trust.

[Raising his hand, the one not smelling of bloodwort root, he brushes her hair back from her face once more.]

[wavesofjade]

[Her smile turns faint, but soft, and she tilts her head a little against his touch, lifting her hand to catch his fingers, only for a moment as she presses a kiss to his palm.]

[higherthaneverybody]

[He stills for a moment, looking down at her with a solemn expression, one that seems almost foreign on his face. Rhys's default is one of perpetual amusement at the world, as if he's sharing some vast joke with the universe that no one else is in on. He's certainly capable of a serious expression, but it's usually coupled with some other emotion like anger, or intense concentration, or stern judgment. This is none of those things, just a quiet, thoughtful stillness as he contemplates her face, the soft press of her lips against his big palm. Though they had been dancing around this for some time, flirting, he had genuinely never thought she would be so receptive, not like this. There's no mistletoe here, no magical spell that put him in her bed with no memory, but only a warm, poignant sort of swelling in his chest. It's just the two of them, regarding each other.

It takes barely any thought at all to gently cup her chin and bend his head to kiss her.]

[wavesofjade]

[At first she thinks there's something wrong, that he'll gently push her away and say he shouldn't, she shouldn't, and confirm that the subtle (and at times, not so subtle) warnings that people have been giving her about him for some times now. She can't say for sure when she stepped over the line between playful flirting and an active pursuit, but she knows that it has been over thirty years since someone made her feel like this.

When he kisses her, she could swear for a moment that she feels her heart racing. Her slim arms come up around his neck and she moves up onto her toes, one thumb gently brushing against the soft hairs at the nape of his neck.]

[higherthaneverybody]

[He knows very well he shouldn't. This is a bad idea in so many ways, not the least of which is the fact that she's too clever by half, that she might figure some things out if he allows her to get close, things that no one should know. She could be very dangerous to him, and he to her, if he's honest with himself.

But.

But she's beautiful and intelligent and funny and interesting, and her life has been more than ordinary and she likes him and she makes him feel that curious quickening he had in his youth, when it seemed as though there were endless possibilities, wide open, and not just plans within plans. And he likes kissing her, as he pulls her body against his with an arm around her waist, a soft, low noise at the back of his throat - likes her soft lips and the very, very faint taste of blood he might just be imagining, and the smell of her, sharp and lovely. And so he keeps kissing her, makes it just a little deeper, just a touch more heated, even though he knows it could all go to hell so very, very fast.]

[wavesofjade]

[She's the first to break it, though reluctantly, and with a soft exhale of breath that she'd been holding onto. She bites her lower lip and curls her fingers lightly against his chest, her palm resting over his heart. The sound she makes is soft and thoughtful, and though her mind is racing she's not sure what to think.

Though she finds him attractive, and in more ways than just one, but he's always kept himself distant. Until now.

Dolores kept her silence, looking up at him, waiting for him to speak.]

[higherthaneverybody]

[He looks back down at her, and it takes him a few moments to speak, just studying her face, allowing his heart to calm.]

I won't apologize - I'm not sorry. It would be foolish to regret something like that, with you, and I've wanted to for awhile. [murmurs finally] But I suspect I should not have done that, as sweet as it was.

[wavesofjade]

[Her condition leaves her more sensitive than most to other people's heartbeats, and it's somewhat gratifying to find that she can do that to his.]

No apologies.

[She shakes her head, letting out a little sigh.]

I have wanted to, as well.. and I do not regret it. The question is, shall something be made of it?

[higherthaneverybody]

I am not- [he pauses for a moment, considering how to say] I am not the kind of man who makes for a good partner, not the kind that you deserve. I have secrets, that I don't think you would find acceptable.

[It's as blunt as he can be without saying outright what those secrets are. But she deserves as much of the truth as he can give her.]

[wavesofjade]

I will be the one to decide what I deserve.

[She touches his cheek, briefly, then lets her hand drop.]

But I will leave it to your choice, my dearest. I will not deny my feelings for you.

[higherthaneverybody]

[He looks down at her, his gaze dark and intense with emotion.] And what are those feelings, annwyl?

[It's not something they've ever really spoken of driectly - he has to know before he can make any sort of decision about this.]

[wavesofjade]

[She smiles at the term of endearment, and gently places her hand on his arm.]

I do not give my heart easily nor without some consideration.. but I would give it to you, and trust that you would keep it safe.

[higherthaneverybody]

I don't know that I can be trusted. [tells her, brow furrowed and expression troubled. He wants to be. For her. But there are other forces in his life, forces which might not allow him, as much as he wants to ... ]

[wavesofjade]

Rhys..

[She hushes him, cups his face with both hands and touches one thumb to his lips. It's drawn lightly over the lower and she shakes her head.]

If I truly could not trust you.. you would not worry about it.

[higherthaneverybody]

It's not so black and white as that. [He protests, but he's tired of protesting, and the way she's looking at him - it's too much to expect him to keep resisting. Hell with it, he's always made his impulses work for him, anyway.

So his hands slide around her waist once more, pulling her to him as he tips his head to kiss her again, something slow and deep and lingering, backed by the heat of desires repressed for too long.]

[wavesofjade]

[It was not meant to be a simple statement, but she knows what she means by it, and she feels the moment he stops resisting. It's strange how safe she can feel in the arms of someone she knows to be dangerous, someone she's been warned against, but she'll take this risk for now.

She returns the kiss, slow and deep and warm, lips curved in a smile as she draws back from him.]

I will not push you into anything, my dear, but I judge you worthy of my trust.