Don't know what you lie for, anyway ~ [Aline]

Zephir didn’t bother to keep quiet as he moved around the kitchen in the low light. Aline was having a shower, which meant she’d probably just gotten home from a long day of work. Zephir pulled out two red mugs from the top shelf instead of one, and poured hot tea into them both. Aline took milk in hers, but no sugar. He assembled her drink accordingly. Zephir’s tea taste changed, and tonight he wanted something strong and sugary, so he left the milk out. The man had spent the last few days in Paris, attending a medical conference and following his superior healer around at upper class social gatherings full of rich, powerful men and beautiful socialites. It was now well past midnight. He had a headache and he was exhausted.

He’d dumped his bag in his room and come out to make some tea. Aline usually showered as soon as she got home, so he figured that she hadn’t eaten yet. He’d brought home a chocolate muffin – the only thing he’d been able to take from the expensive dinner that he’d had with McTyrne tonight – and was now cutting it in half for the two of them to share. The healer brought out their snacks and drinks to the lounge room coffee table and sat himself down on the couch. It took him a moment to realise what he’d just done. He knew Aline’s living habits too well, he decided. The dark haired man sipped at his tea tentatively, trying not to burn himself. He heard the tap turn off and called out that he was home. If she didn’t want her tea and muffin, he’d have them.

The young man pushed himself back into the couch and shut his eyes for a moment. He felt like he was always working now. Not just when he was at the hospital, which was already most of the time, but on his rare days off too. The healer was paranoid that he was being watched or followed, and was definitely obsessed again with a number of things. The Abercrombie family was one of them. By now, Zephir was sure that he’d read everything about the family that was publicly available – tabloids, geneology books… everything. The Abercrombies weren’t the only ones that he’d researched though. Every person of power that George had introduced him to over the past year had been added to a mental list and later studied. Knowledge was power, and Zephir needed to be as aware of his surroundings as he possibly could be. He didn’t have another option.

“Hey, you,” he greeted his roommate as she entered the room, still wrapped in a towel, “I made us tea.” The man’s voice was tired and there were dark bags under his eyes, but his greeting was warm. He gestured to the coffee table. “I feel like I haven’t seen you forever,” he told her gruffly. The man straightened up a little. He had a headache and really needed to hydrate himself. He waited for her to sit before hesitantly adding, “He took me to Paris, Aline”. Zephir ran a hand through his hair slowly, massaging his head. He wondered if he was more genial when he was tired.

Hot water was running down her body and right now it was the best feeling in the world. The muscles in her shoulders and neck felt tense and her feet… They were killing her. She'd been running around all day, mixed with session of standing next to a patient's bed. She'd been assigned to work with O'Connor today and while the man was extremely capable, he seemed to enjoy bossing her around. The old wizard wasn't mean per se but apparently he liked to see her run though the corridors. Usually she would have told him off, the girl wasn't someone who let authorities do with her whatever they wanted, but he had taken her to some interesting cases and she had decided it would be better not to say anything. So while she felt as if she could collapse any second, it had been worth it.

The girl closed the tap reluctantly and stepped out of the shower. Her hair was up in a loose bun, a few damp strands were hanging in her face. Not expecting anyone to be home, Aline just wrapped a towel around her body and left the bathroom. Now she just needed some food, the former Gryffindor was starving, and then she'd probably fall into her bed and sleep for the next twelve hours. But much to her surprise she wasn't alone.

"Zephir, you're back!" She hadn't seen him for a few days and to be honest she had no clue where he'd been. Probably somewhere with McTyrne. Her friend did a lot with the older man and Aline wondered what exactly it was the young healer wanted to achieve. Sometimes she felt bad for not telling him that her parents had enough money to buy the flat they were living in, especially since it wasn't always that easy to get the money for the monthly rent, but she just didn't want them to be involved. Aline wanted live her life without her parents interfering every time and so far she was doing well.

He'd made tea and there was… food! Thank Merlin. The small brunette walked over to him and plopped onto the couch right next to him. "You are the best. I'm starving." Aline took her half of the chocolate muffin and took a rather huge bite. "Mhmmm. Where did you… Paris?" Her blue eyes widened in surprise and she swallowed down the bit before she continued. "What were you guys doing there?" She put the muffin back on the plate and took the cup of tea into her hands, enjoying the warmth. "You're the one who was gone for a few days, remember?" Milk, no sugar. When exactly had they started knowing each other that well? "Anyway. Tell me." Zephir looked exhausted and she really wated to know what the two men had been doing.

He shook his head. The young healer looked tired and maybe even a little dazed. He’d had a very intense weekend, with barely any sleep and a lot of alcohol and… other things. But he didn’t want to talk about that. “Medical conference in Paris.” He answered simply. Yep, it was true that McTyrne was dragging him around everywhere these days, but Paris? He wondered how much Aline knew about what McTyrne was doing. What it was that had given McTyrne months of travelling time, a large manor in the country and a crazy amount of influence on the medical board. None of that came from being a healer alone.

The man hesitated for a moment, staring at the palms of his hands. Merlin, he waas tired. The man leant forward again to take a sip of his tea. When he placed the cup back down on the table, he spoke again. “And… business meetings.” Zephir’s dark gaze sought hers out, to see if she understood what he was saying. His mentor hadn’t dragged him all the way to Paris for some potioneer speeches and speculation on differences being made in the magical medical world now. No. They’d been there for other reasons. Not that Zephir knew anything, really. He wasn’t allowed in on any of the details, all he had to go off was speculation.

He seriously doubted that it was legal though.

Aline wouldn’t ask for details, he didn’t think. Zephir wouldn’t answer her questions anyway. He leant back in his seat, staring at the opposite wall with slightly glazed eyes. Zephir would definitely be going to bed soon. "And parties," he added softly. The image of Farren Abercrombie and her little vials and pills swam in his memory. I changed my mind, she'd purred in silky tones, one isn't enough. It troubled him, but he couldn't have said no. Not once he'd already started down the rabbit hole. The man arched his back a little and rubbed his eyes with both hands. He proceeded to run his fingers back through his hair and relax his arms across the back of the couch. One was around Aline, and instinctively, Zephir pulled her in a little closer. "How about you?" he asked after a moment, leaning his head back on the couch and closing his eyes. "Busy weekend?"

Zephir didn't only look exhausted, he was exhausted. The way he was answering her questions told the little brunette more than what he actually said. She suspected parties with lots of alcohol and only a little to no sleep at all. It was always like that with McTyrne. Aline didn't know much about him but she knew that he was quite influential and that he was travelling a lot. The former Gryffindor doubted that he was only a regular healer but so far she had not cared about the man. It wasn't her business what he was doing to achieve that much influence.

However, maybe she should start to care. Zephir had become one of her closest friends and she had to admit that she didn't like to see him like that. He always came back tired when he was travelling with McTyrne but something was different today. Aline was quite sure that it hadn't been one of the usual meetings. She sipped at her tea, her blue eyes fixed on his face. His eyes were telling her more than his words and the girl nodded slightly. She understood.

"Did you meet anyone interesting over there?" She wanted to ask more but she wouldn't. If she had learned something over the past few months it was that she couldn't pressure information out of him. If he wanted to tell her something he would and if not... Well, then he wouldn't. It was as simple as that. Their freedom was one of biggest advantages of their relationship. They cared about each other and they slept together occasionally but that was it. She didn't love him, he didn't love her and that was exactly what made things so easy.

The man put his arm around her and when he pulled her a little closer, Aline leaned against him, her legs tucked under her. "Mhmmm," she replied and took another sip. "I worked with O'Connor today. You know how he is. I think he enjoys letting me run around way too much." The brunette shrugged, signalizing him that it hadn't been too bad. "I'm glad that I don't have to work tomorrow. What about you? You seem like you could need a good night's sleep."

The healer wondered momentarily if he was being a little more liberal with his words than he’d usually be because he was so tired. He frowned a little, without opening his eyes. “Interesting?” he repeated slowly, wondering just how much to tell her. Sure, he’d met interesting people. Business associates. That sort of thing. Secretly, Zephir wanted to know what it was that McTyrne was up to. One day he’d reach that level of influence and everything would be… easier. The dark haired man felt a stir of uncertainty somewhere deep within him, but he tried to dismiss it immediately. He didn’t know if he’d ever be satisfied. The man was obsessive about self improvement, and he wondered sometimes if he’d ever lose the need to be better that drove him to exhaustion. Huh. Zephir wet his lips with the tip of his tongue and decided to snap out of it.

“Sure. Wealthy heiresses from families with more influence than the minister of magic. Teenagers with more power than anyone I’ve ever worked under…” he shrugged slightly, trying not to disturb the comfortable resting place they seemed to have found here. He didn’t really think of it as cuddling, but really that was what it was. Touch for comfort. The young woman leaned into him and tucked her legs underneath her and he pulled her small body even closer. Zephir wondered what she’d think of what he’d told her. It must be surprising at least. The young man found himself drawing little circles on his roommate’s shoulder with his index finger. Huh.

Zephir was reminded of a different time here, when his lounge room had been much plainer and less decorated, and he hadn’t known Aline nearly as well. “I hate O’Connor,” he told her flatly. Zephir was glad he wasn’t an intern anymore. The older man had treated them like children, and Zephir had hated it. Not to mention his obvious preference for female interns. Of course he’d deferred and behaved exactly as he was supposed to, but that didn’t mean that he enjoyed it.  “You don’t have work?” he repeated, raising an eyebrow and looking at her again. Lucky thing. He had a mid-morning start, which meant that he'd be lucky to get five hours worth of sleep. "I start at ten thirty." The man trailed his fingers across her still-warm skin towards her neck and rested his large hand on her shoulder. He gave her a firm squeeze, pressing his thumb against her muscles in slow circles.

"And… Did you enjoy it? Meeting those rich kids, I mean. They can be exhausting." Aline nibbled on her bottom lip, wondering if she'd just said too much. She'd been one of them even though she had never enjoyed it. Already as a child she had hated these gatherings her parents loved so much and the feeling had just intensified over the years. The healer-in-training was more than just a little glad that her life was different now and she wouldn't want to change it ever again. Having money was nice - she couldn't deny it - but being one of those rich, ignorant idiots? Not so much.

It was comfortable siting here in Zephir's arm and Aline noticed how she slowly got sleepy. The feeling of his finger drawing circles on her shoulder was relaxing and the young woman closed her eyes for a while, her breathing slow and steady. "There are worse ones," she said, her eyes still closed. "At least O'Connor knows what he's doing. He's capable and I like that. Did you ever have to work for Smith? That guy is a nightmare." She'd only worked at the Alderton Archibald Ward for a few weeks but it had definitely been enough. First of all the ward was rather boring and second of all it had Smith. There was no way she'd end up there after finishing her studies at Dilys.

"Nope. I guess I can finally sleep out again. I can't remember the last time I didn't have to wake up early. Not that I'm complaining but you know what I mean." The brunette opened her eyes again and saw him looking at her. It was a pity that he had to work tomorrow, he really looked like he could need a day off, but that was the life of a healer, especially a fully trained one. Her small hand rested on his thigh and she wondered if the evening would end like most of them did when they were sitting on the sofa like this.

"You should maybe go to bed then. Get some sleep." It was a well-meant suggestion but the former Gryffindor made no move to leave the cozy place right next to him. Standing up and leaving the sofa seemed like so much effort and so she just stayed where she was, her hand squeezing his thigh lightly.

Zephir gave half a shrug, turning his palms up for a moment. His body language said it all, but he voiced his opinion anyway. “Most of them were a waste of time.” Rich kids who didn’t really know or care about anything outside of their easy lifestyle. Zephir didn’t really want to go to parties and drink mysterious little shots of cloudy potions. He didn’t want to spend weekends with his superior in Paris while the older man went about doing shady business deals with questionable individuals. Zephir could see how such a social gathering was beneficial, but for the most part, he hadn’t enjoyed it. Especially after McTyrne had deserted him. His mind was, however, throwing images of one particular girl at him. Farren. 

The healer didn’t like those kinds of drugs. Recreational potions that made his speech lax and took away his inhibitions. Who was he without his inhibitions? Zephir identified himself as a thinking man, above everything else. Farren wanted him to loosen up, but he hated it. He had too much to lose. And yet… there was no way he could say no to her. In some ways, she held his future in the palm of her hand, and it was kind of terrifying. People didn’t get second chances at things like this. Any mistakes he made would be painstakingly difficult to rectify. The only solution was therefore to never make a mistake. “I’ve never worked for Smith, no. We’ve talked a couple of times since I finished my internship… and I’ve heard he’s an asshole.” Zephir’s attention zeroed in on her hand on his thigh and he quirked an eyebrow at her, catching her blue eyes with his dark gaze.

“I suppose I should,” he commented, trying to gage whether there was extra meaning behind her sentence or not. Zephir’s gaze travelled across her exposed shoulders. It certainly was coincidental that she hadn’t dressed herself yet, and was wearing only a towel. Her body was warm and a little damp curled against his side. There was a slight element of internal debate going on here. On one hand, Zephir felt like he could probably fall asleep right here. She’d said she was tired too, and it would probably take some work to get her properly in the mood – not that he minded that, really. On the other… he wanted the comfort. Zephir bowed his head a little so that his lips were almost at her ear. “Want to come with?” he asked softly, against her skin.

"They mostly are." Her life could be busy and exhausting but Aline was glad that she'd escaped the family tradition. She knew that her parents were still disappointed in her even if they never mentioned anything anymore. They had accepted her choice to be a healer but that didn't mean they liked it. It wasn't that they wanted her to just marry a wealthy pureblood wizard and be a housewife but they had definitely thought she'd work at the ministry as well. To be honest, Aline couldn't imagine a duller job.

He had never worked for Smith? Lucky guy. "Consider yourself lucky. I really hope I'll never have to work for him again." The brunette shuddered slightly but focused on her friend again within seconds. She returned his gaze, trying to read his expression. Zephir was tired, yes but she could also see that he was considering the same thing she had just considered. Aline knew perfectly well how weird it had look to a bystander if they saw her here on the sofa, only dressed in a towel, next to a fully dressed man but she didn't mind at all. The former Gryffindor felt comfortable around her friend and there was absolutely nothing she had to be embarrassed of.

Want to come with?

She could feel his warm breath against her ear and had to admit that it was definitely an alluring thought. There was just one thing... She turned her head a little so that they were facing each other, their noses almost touching. "And what about rule number one?" They hadn't established many rules when she'd moved in but they usually followed the ones they had. Would that change now?

“Rule number one was that I get the ensuite,” he reminded her gently, a small half-smile tugging at one side of his lips. He sensed the joking tone on her end of the conversation. Zephir felt like he knew his roommate well enough by now that he’d know if she was listing reasons not to do something as a roundabout way of saying ‘no’. The two of them had a highly functioning relationship, for two people who weren’t fond of commitment. Everything else that seemed to stump roommates – cleaning, noise levels, having friends over etc. – just glanced off of them. Zephir couldn’t remember arguing with Aline about anything at all. She’d shifted so that their faces were very close together, but he wasn’t really looking at her big, blue eyes. It was true, he supposed, that they didn’t spend too much time together. They both worked rather erratic shifts and led completely separate lives. Maybe that was what made it so simple to live with her.

Zephir leant in and softly kissed her on the lips. He lingered in the kiss for a moment, just enjoying the skin on skin contact, before pulling back. Sure, if she said no now he’d probably just go straight to bed and fall asleep, but the healer could already feel his skin becoming alert in anticipation. Just in case. Evolutionarily, this kind of desire made sense. Practically? There were non-pragmatic elements. He was just lucky, he supposed, that he was charismatic. Shifting his body so that she was supported properly by the couch, Zephir moved forward and pushed himself up to his feet. He turned back to his roommate and held out his hands to help her up, giving a slight shrug of his broad shoulders. “Does it matter?” he asked. There was something especially attractive about having the girl almost completely naked while he was fully clothed. He wondered briefly about whether or not it was tied in with his associations of masculinity and power, but then decided that he was thinking far too much.

Zephir tugged lightly on his friend’s hands, pulling her over to him. He knew from experience that sex didn’t really help too much with his overactive critical mind, but it was a slight improvement. Besides, the more he allowed himself to entertain the idea of pulling her into his room and ripping that towel off, the more appealing the idea became. The healer pulled her close and wrapped an arm around her waist. He let his fingers glide over the rough texture of the towel and closed them at the small of her back, taking a handful of the material. Zephir pressed against her back, bringing her warm, damp body up against his.

Their interactions were just so casual that he barely remembered the fact that she didn’t come into his bedroom. The way that they treated their house might indicate to objective onlookers that they were a couple. They’d showered together and had no problems getting changed in front of each other. It was rare that the two of them were home for dinner and didn’t get some form of take-away, but they’d cooked together before too. Aline had only entered Zephir’s bedroom once, when he’d given her a quick tour of the apartment, but the fact seemed almost arbitrary and out of place now. The no-bedrooms rule had made sense when she’d moved in. The girl could have easily turned out to be a clingy weirdo, and if that had been the case then he’d have had no qualms kicking her out. This wasn’t meant to be some sort of pseudo relationship, they were just roommates. Roommates who slept together. It shouldn’t really make any difference whether they had sex in his bed or in their shower, should it?

"Yeah? Hmm, rule number two then..." The ensuite, right. In her opinion it would have made a lot more sense if she had gotten it but since she'd almost faced the fate of moving back to her parents' house, Aline had accepted his rule without complaining much. She'd rather live in a very tiny room with no window than moving back into Stanton Manor. Sure, she could have borrowed money but that would have been almost as bad. Moving in with Zephir had definitely been the better decision and she hadn't regretted it for a single second. Life was pretty much perfect at the moment and she wouldn't want to change a thing.

The kiss that followed made her shiver slightly and she realised that they wouldn't follow rule number two, three or whatever number they had given the no-bedroom-rule today. Rules were meant to be broken, weren't they? Aline knew that she should be the reasonable one here and send him to bed since he was clearly exhausted and had to get up early but being so close to him stopped her from being rational. When he pulled back again, the former Gryffindor opened her eyes, a small smile playing around her lips.

Zephir stood up and held out his hands which she took in hers to let him help her up. "I suppose it doesn't," the brunette replied, fully aware of what her words meant. He pulled her close and she let him, pressing her tiny body against his tall one. "You know, this situation is quite unfair," she murmured and tugged at his shirt lightly. "If I didn't knew you better, I'd think you might take advantage of my current dressing style." The healer-in-training wrapped her arms around the dark haired wizard and stood up on her tiptoes to place another kiss on his lips. It wasn't as soft as the last one had been and her hands wandered up and down his back before they reached the hem of his shirt.

Aline broke the kiss again and with a quick movement she pulled the shirt over his head. "Now that's a lot better." The petite woman smiled playfully and this time it was Aline who offered him her hands. She had only been in his bedroom once when he'd shown her the apartment and as far as she remembered there had been only a few personal items. It felt weird breaking one of their fundamental rules but it wouldn't change anything, would it? Their relationship would still be the same, no matter where they'd sleep with each other.

After reassuring herself, Aline tugged at his hands and took a few steps in the direction of his bedroom. She played with the thought of just letting the towel fall down but somehow she had the feeling that he would enjoy it a lot more if he was the one pulling it off.