dreaming instead of sleeping. [tag; hefin]

It was raining. Again.

London in winter was always the same and in times like these, Viola missed home. At this time of year, her German town was covered in snow. Proper snow. Not this grey and grimy, pigeon-pocked slush. Viola was still on winter break from school and she'd gone back to Germany for Christmas. It was all well and good until her family members got a bit drunk and asked where he was.

"He" was Johannes. He was a typical Norse god; tall, blonde, strong and beautiful and Viola had fallen hard. They'd been together for the last two years until one afternoon he decided he'd had enough. They were out at dinner and Viola had a spare key to her apartment, ready to give it to him when he announced that he'd met someone else. She felt as though the rug had been pulled out from under her feet. She didn't know what she did next. She felt numb. She gathered her things and walked home in a daze and Johannes didn't follow her.

The rain tap-tapped against her windowpane as she frowned in her sleep. She rolled over, sea green sheets clinging to her bare legs. Viola's New Year's resolution had been to get her head straight, to move on and not to get distracted. She'd broken all three because she'd been infrequently seeing a Quidditch player.

Hefin had been very clear about what this was. They weren't dating. Viola didn't want to date him. The phrase he'd used was "sex friends" and she remembered laughing at him before she realised he was serious. To be honest, the odd arrangement was working out pretty well. Viola wasn't getting distracted from her studies, she didn't need to be on her best behaviour and she referred to Hefin was her personal stress reliever.

The tall brunette cracked one eye open in the darkness. The faint luminous glow of her bedside clock told her in no uncertain terms that it was 4:45 AM. Viola winced and pulled the cover back up over her head, trying to stop the coldness from creeping in. To say that her apartment was crappy was an understatement. Viola lived in a dinky one bed roomed apartment on the wrong end of Wandsworth. Hers was on the fifth floor and there wasn't a working elevator. She'd done some major refurbishment.

Her apartment was light, filled with little trinkets and some magic that maximised the space she had. The rooms were small but they were functional and most of the spare space was filled with her textbooks. She'd managed to magic in a bath tub, make the windows larger and move some stuff around so she no longer felt claustrophobic. Her building was Victorian and so was the plumbing; she hadn't managed to sort that out just yet.

She rolled over, her hand sliding across the mattress, expecting to feel a warm body but she felt nothing. Viola opened her eyes in the gloom of her bedroom and shifted her weight on to her elbow so she could sit up. "Hefin?" She asked softly, her voice hoarse with sleep. Cold realisation hit her, seeping over her skin like ice cold water. She sighed softly and rubbed her eyes, propping herself up against her plump pillows. In all fairness, she wasn't surprised he'd left before sunrise. This was all of his accord and Viola was going along with it. She agreed but it didn't mean it didn't sting.

The disappointment was short lived, however. Even in the dim lighting, Viola could see her underwear was carelessly hanging off the door knob and she blushed in the darkness, filled with an unfamiliar sense of naughtiness. She chewed on her lower lip, her toes curling as she replayed the memories of events a few hours previously. Her hair was a mess, her eye make up smudged and her cheeks pink as she felt herself grin, just a little. Very rarely did she take time for herself and she absolutely didn't let herself feel free that often. It was a new and unusual sensation. In a way, she was thankful for the reprieve in his absence. After all, it wasn't every day that a six foot tall hunky Australian filled up her apartment and continually bumped his head on the low ceilings. The thought alone made her snort with laughter.

Viola Rosenthal was basically a gift sent to him by Merlin himself – a German sex friend. Hefin had always wished for one of those; not that he didn’t have several fun buddies, but a German one was quite the accomplishment. He was keen on collecting all nationalities, so upon first meeting Viola, the quidditch player thought that he could finally scratch off that from his list. Still, after their initial one night stand, Hefin was the one to ask if she wanted to be sex friends; much his amusement, she hadn’t taken him seriously at first, thinking it as a joke. Obviously, she didn’t know him; he wasn’t the one to joke. And he wasn’t the one to date Viola’s type, yet she was just perfect for their established arrangement. Beautiful and free-spirited.

Of course, their meetings weren’t frequent. Once every few months, when he would be in London and his friends’ schedules weren’t compatible with his. Still, there were times when he would contact Viola for a quick encounter even if his schedule wasn’t completely free. In the end, there were two individuals involved in this arrangement, and Hefin was the type of person who enjoyed making things even – Viola needed her stress relief as well, especially since she was doing nothing but studying, as far as he was aware. Pretty sad, a particularly striking single young witch in London, just reading and working all day long.

The previous night they had spent together, and Hefin had done the mistake of not leaving right after. Still, Viola didn’t seem particularly attached to him – thank goodness – and Hefin could afford such slips once in a while. Well, even if it was only the second time or so, as he was very strict on these rules in general. The former Hufflepuff generally stuck to his rules and arrangements, and didn’t go outside the already established boundaries, keeping everything in line. His arrangement with Viola made no exception to that rule, yet, as long as she wouldn’t show any kind of particular attachment, Hefin didn’t especially mind having little slips, when he could afford them.

At three thirty in the morning he had woken up and had gone for his daily jog and morning exercise, later on dropping by a non-stop café and getting two green teas. He then apparated back into Viola’s flat, a bit before five in the morning. The Australian was thinking of leaving her the beverage along with a note, but as soon as he apparated back in her house, specifically her kitchen, he was at loss as to where the younger witch kept her parchments. He wasn’t keen on opening drawers and whatnot, as Hefin respected one’s boundaries and, of course, privacy. Still, he was looking around her living room as he took sips out of his tea, hoping that a small, unwritten piece of parchment would be laying around somewhere.

He then heard Viola calling out his name, which made the quidditch player arch his eyebrow. Hefin doubted he has made that much noise, or enough noise to wake her up. In the end, he had just come back and done nothing but quietly walk around. Still, if a lady called, one had to indulge. He approached her bedroom’s door and opened it, casually leaning against it as he stepped inside her bedroom. She was laughing, a bit too naturally (which was cute, he had to admit), but he had no idea why Viola was so amused.

“Anything fun going on and I’m not aware of?” He inquired, arching an eyebrow as he took a sip out of his cup. “And oh, am I liking this dishevelled look on you.” Hefin added teasingly, a playful smirk appearing on his face, as he ran his free hand through his hair.

Viola knew this was a bad idea. She knew that Hefin was a bad idea, too. Then again, weren't they all? He had this air about him. With his laconic accent and decidedly irreligious smile, she didn't have a snowball's chance in Hell to resist. But she was still emotionally sore and he offered her  a way to fill the void. She thought he was cute but she didn't know a lot about him and she assumed that was how he liked to play it.

His presence made her smile, thanking her lucky stars that it was dark so her blush was half-hidden. "Oh no," she was quick to placate him with a shrug, the duvet slipping down her chest a little to reveal the elegant curve of her shoulder. "It's just my underwear is, erm," she began, using her slim index finger to point at the lacy garment that was hanging comically off her door handle.

She snorted with laughter again, her hazel eyes full of mirth as she clapped a hand over her mouth. "It's not funny," she assured Hefin quickly. "I'm just not really this sort of girl and I definitely do not do things like that," she went on to explain. Not that it mattered but she felt the need to remind the Quidditch player that this kind of arrangement wasn't something she usually did.

Casual sex was never something that Viola had been comfortable with. Her agreement to Hefin's plan was borne from loneliness, the need to be wanted and her desire to just get some sort of release. So far, it was working well. He wasn't usually her type but the way he said her name had her purring like a kitten.

His flirty remark had Viola wincing, her pale fingers automatically shifting her sheets to make sure everything was covered. The tall witch wasn't really feeling like a Botticelli painting at the moment. "Thanks," she told him with a small smile, reaching out to take the cup from him. "And thanks for this. That's very kind," she began. She made no move to invite him back to bed, she was sure that went against one of the rules.

Suddenly very self conscious, she sipped at the drink. Viola was mildly surprised to find that he'd bought her a green tea and she didn't have the heart to tell him that she drank coffee exclusively. Come to think of it, Hefin would probably have a heart attack had he seen all of the packet soups and instant noodles that lived in her cupboards. She offered him another smile as she shifted her weight to lean against her headboard, stifling a yawn behind her free hand.

"Where did you go?" She asked, distractedly. Viola rubbed at her eyes, the remnants of last night's mascara now feeling crumbly and flaky as she blinked it away. Her dark locks had knots and gnarls in it, partly from tossing and turning but mostly from the impassioned way Hefin's hands had run through it. The memory made her cheeks burn again as she coughed in response. He looked as though he was dressed to leave and she couldn't help but feel a very slight pang of disappointment. "Off to training?" Viola asked brightly, hoping that Hefin would never ever find out that she wasn't a fan of Quidditch.

“Oh.” Hefin let out rather nonchalantly, not really understanding her overall amusement. Considering last night’s events, it was quite normal for her clothes – let it be undergarments – to be all over the place, so the hilarity of the situation didn’t appeal to him. True, a disorganised environment was distasteful, however, it was obvious Viola’d been too busy to gather her things. In addition to it all, it was almost five o’clock in the morning – while for him it was an already late hour, Hefin highly doubted she’d have the same schedule as him. He shrugged, smirked, and took another sip out of his green tea.

She stopped laughing, and voiced his own thoughts – it wasn’t funny. “Ha.” Hefin let out a soft laughter, slightly teasingly, as soon as he heard her next remark. She wasn’t really that sort of girl, she said. The quidditch player moved his gaze from Viola’s figure towards the living room, as he still leaned against the bedroom’s door’s inner edge. He was situated in between the two chambers, which offered him the best opportunity to move his gaze when needed. And it had been needed.

While Hefin sometimes wondered how he’d become one of the most cynical men to ever exist, moments like this one made him realise that life itself had turned him into such an individual. Girls like Viola were plenty; true, maybe not all had her natural beauty, however if he’d have gotten a sickle for each and every time he’d heard that line, the part Australian would’ve tripled his family’s fortune. Regardless of her reasons for saying she wasn’t the type to be for one night stands, or beneficial arrangements, Viola was either oblivious or feigning ignorance towards the fact that, in reality, she was that type of girl. His presence there confirmed it.

His gaze moving towards the other room was a gesture more out of courtesy than anything, for at that point Hefin would’ve mentioned his thoughts out loud if he’d have looked her. Either way, since was training to become a healer, the quidditch player highly doubted that Viola would be that naïve that she’d lose touch with the reality of facts. She was definitely feigning it. He took another sip, and then turned back his gaze towards her as she gathered the sheets around her, to make sure she was covered up. “You don’t have anything I haven’t seen before, so you don’t need to act like such a prude.” He let out with a soft laughter, as Viola reached out for her own cup of green tea.

“It’s not kind.” He commented on her observation that his gesture of bringing her green tea, only after he’s voiced it realising that their notions of what was kind and what wasn’t might be very different. But then he wondered, why did she think of it as kind – Viola made a point of casually mentioning that she wasn’t that ‘type’ of girl, yet her words revealed that she was in that category. Normally, a liberal arrangement wouldn’t imply getting tea or drinks for one another in the morning. But, how would she know that and deem his own gesture as kind if she hadn’t done it before? Contradictory, aren’t we. He thought, before continuing out loud. “Just the minimum requirement of proper etiquette.”

She took a sip out of the cup, and Hefin found arching his eyebrow, perplexed. He was a bit surprised that she’d not asked what he had brought before taking a drink. It might’ve been Irish coffee, in the end. Or actual firewhiskey. Her candour was somewhat cute, he had to admit it. “If you’re gonna go back to sleep, you might not want to drink that.” In the end, it was green tea and it was still early. Unless she had to go to work in two hours or so, he highly doubted that she wanted to drink an energiser.

“Not your concern.” Hefin replied instantly, at her question. In the end, such inquiries were off-limits, particularly in an arrangement such as theirs. He liked Viola and their ‘friendship’ because it had no strings attached, so her question was definitely misplaced, in their context. Nonetheless, the tone of his voice hadn’t been as cold as the remark in itself, but more relaxed and charming, as he generally talked to her. She was particularly different from his general type of witches he enjoyed spending time with, and while Viola was beautiful and charismatic, Hefin found himself not revealing more than needed when around her. She was unknown territory, despite finding slight similarities between her and some of his other friends.

“Viola…” He turned around properly, despite not advancing into the bedroom. Hefin faced her appropriately this time, his gaze analysing her features. Yes, that dishevelled look on her was indeed nice, as he’d mentioned before. “We’re not asking such questions, alright?” The quidditch player took another sip out of his tea, now genuinely regretting having spent the night over. Obviously, she had perceived it differently. He shouldn’t have let his guard down. First, she’d mentioned that she wasn’t this type of person, and now she was asking questions about his schedule. It wasn’t something he was keen on.

He needed to change the subject. Hefin then motioned with his chin towards the living room. “You have quite the amount of books there.” Most of his friends with intellectual occupations had books, however none of his personal acquaintances was into the healing branch, so it was for the first time he’d seen medical textbooks and parchments laying around. Normally, it was governmental business, as most of his former school mates went into that line of work. “Have an exam or something coming up?” He inquired, mostly to know as to whether or not she’d have to start studying and he’d have to leave sooner than initially expected.

Viola winced.

English was not her native language but she definitely understood the phrase "burning embarrassment." Her skin felt like it was on fire. Hefin's words weren't unkind but they were fairly direct and in the dim light of her bedroom, she was expecting him to launch himself out of the window. Well and truly chastised, Viola sipped at her tea. Proper etiquette, he'd said, ever so casually and she offered him a gentle smile. Yeah but not even my exes did that she thought idly.

"No, I'm fine," Vee replied as she scratched the back of her head absently. A regular occurrence or not, her newfound sexuality was just that; new. Hefin didn't know the ins and outs of her psyche and she was sure he didn't want to. No one wanted to be sleeping with a shy, insecure girl. But this was good. She was a smart girl and she knew this'd fizzle out so she might as well be what he wanted her to be while he was here.

Her full lips parted as she was rebuked and she found herself closing them again. It was a momentary slip but the familiar sting of shame turned the tips of her ears pink cutely. What Hefin didn't realise (or perhaps he did) was that he was very enchanting. Things were easy and sometimes, when she let her guard down, the clearly drawn lines could be blurred. Beneath the sheets, she pinched her left thigh, hard. It was something she always did and she did it to remind her of past mistakes. If her thoughts strayed to the subject again, the reminder of the shock of pain usually set her straight.

"Sorry," she told him genuinely. "I'm still half asleep and post-coital conversations aren't my strong point but I'll work on it," she added cheerily. It made sense, though. She liked him, she thought he was nice in that funny Antipodean kind of way but she knew not to stray. They'd agreed. Nothing personal and it was good. They didn't discuss feelings or how their day went so she was a little surprised to hear when he asked about her books.

"Always," Viola replied with a dimpled grin as she inelegantly clambered out of bed. The air of her bedroom was still chilly in the London spring so she reached for her robe and tied it loosely around her slim waist. "They're usually in the summer but these are from the library and --" she stopped suddenly, her hazel eyes wide. "Oh shit," she replied as she ran a hand through her hair, spiking it up to accidentally look like a newborn chick. "I was meant to return those last month. I might as well keep them now, right?" She asked Hefin with a smile.

She figured it'd be fine. After all, it wasn't exactly if the structure of the human body was going to change overnight or anything. Her living room was a bit poky. Though it was small, Viola had tried her hardest to maximise the space and the light. In the living room on the wall, behind the low grey sofa, there were little splashes of her home. There were pictures she'd taken of various sights she knew well; parks, fountains, her family and the beach. Little glass jars she'd got second hand as well as splashes of colour in the form of cushions. It was her very first try at being a fully functioning adult and she was proud of her efforts.

Juggling her tea, she sank down onto the sofa and grabbed the camera that was on the table. Now, she was no professional. Viola took photos purely because it helped her to relax. Without warning, she turned and snapped one of Hefin. Her camera was a battered old thing, magically repaired perhaps a hundred or so times but it still worked. Like a Muggle Polaroid, it eventually spat out of a photograph and Viola leaned back and smiled. "Cute," she told him as the photo developed.