We'll wish this never ends ~ Sindri

Dash surveyed her long fingers for a moment, noting the dirt underneath her nails. “No, I already planted the cabbages,” she told her boyfriend with a small smile, “But we need to do the herbs still, and re-do some of the chilli plants.” Sindri was so forgetful sometimes, and it was sweet. Dash watched him working for a moment, and considered lending the young man a hand, but she’d already re-potted the plants that needed it (around their back porch), and he’d be done in a moment anyway. It was still morning, and they’d already done so much. She enjoyed feeling so productive. At the moment, the brunette was perched on the wooden fence that they’d constructed together around their vegie patch. The vegetables were protected from animals with spells too, but neither of them would pass up the opportunity to work with wood, and Dash thought the fence was really nice.

The girl had woken up a couple of hours ago, but she was still in the shirt that she’d worn to bed. A huge, paint-covered button up shirt that came down to her mid-thigh (one of Sindri’s old ones). Dash had quite a few of these smocks, and when she was around the house the girl wore them all of the time. Her hair was messy, and she wasn’t wearing any make-up or jewellery (or shoes, as a matter of fact), but that was how she liked it. It was how she fit. “Sindri,” she said softly, hopping down from her seat nimbly, “Would you like me to make you some tea? Or maybe eggs?” The girl stepped lightly around their vegetables and stopped in front of the tall man. Her eyes ran up his figure and came to settle on his face. She smiled, her eyes crinkling a little around the edges. The young witch placed her hands gently on his chest and leant up and kissed him on the nose.

The girl could feel the dirt underneath her feet, and it felt good. Soft, earthy, natural. After breakfast she’d have a shower and then they could decide what to do with the rest of their day off. It was Spring, which meant it was perfect time for planting things. Of course, some of the edible plants they had growing here were magical (her eyes flicked momentarily to their dirigible plums before ), and some of the non-magical stuff was better in other seasons, but their garden was ever-expanding. It was one of those things that the couple really enjoyed doing together, even if they didn’t spend the whole time talking. Right now, she was feeling closer to Sindri than she’d felt in weeks. She didn’t know why, but today the girl could only see his good traits. It was a quiet kind of comfort. Her man looked especially handsome today, even if there was a smear of dirt across one of his cheeks.

Dash laughed and reached up, wiping the dirt away with a thumb. It was gritty, and Sindri’s cheek was a little sweaty. It was strangely hot and very sunny today. She looked at him silently for a second, still smiling and appreciating the moment. The girl could hear birds in the distance. It was peaceful. “Maybe we should go inside?” she suggested.

"Herbs..." Sindri heaved as he worked at staking tomatoes, his hands pushing through the cold soil with the precision of a professional. "...chili," He added as he shoved chestnut locks from his forehead which was damp with beads of sweat. In some way or another, he figured that listing the items out loud would generate some sort of mental list for him to check off - it was clear the heat was getting to his head. The change in weather agreed with the man who wouldn't dare shy away from some sweat and dirt, and he relished under the beaming rays of sun. "Oh, and I picked up those peppers from the market, can't forget the peppers," Sindri finally took a moment from his work to glance up at his girlfriend, and he couldn't control the goofy smile that worked it's way into his expression. Dash could wear his old shirts every day of the week and he would still be infatuated with it.

"Tea and eggs and bacon and sausage annnnd..." Sindri sang out, standing up from his crouched position just as the small brunette approached his figure. The charade was put on pause when a pair of dainty hands made their way to Sindri's chest, sending a set of shivers up his spine. "Oh yes, and maybe some toast with jam, too?" He grinned, pushing his luck as far as it would take him. Placing a hand on the small of her back, Sindri took a handful of plaid fabric in his hand and clicked his tongue disapprovingly. "One of these days we are going to have to get you your own clothes, you know," He joked, a laugh escaped his lips.

Sindri suddenly became aware of how disgusting he had gotten in the process of he and Dash's morning gardening session just as she wiped some stray soil from his cheek. The man constantly found himself questioning how he got so lucky to have a girlfriend with no qualms about his affinity with getting dirty. In fact, his counterpart seemed to enjoy it as much as he did. "Perhaps," He replied, his hazel eyes shifting to the grounds around their home. "Only if you make me my hearty breakfast, woman!" Sindri joked, reaching a hand to stroke Dash's jawline affectionately. "How's about I help?" He added with a grin, leading her towards the porch. 

 “Oh, good, I almost forgot about those,” Dash answered with a nod when he mentioned the peppers. Vaguely, she wondered if they’d be able to plant an apple tree out the front of their house. They needed something out the front to decorate it, but the witch would always choose something useful like fruit trees over flowers. She wasn’t overly pragmatic in all areas of her life, but plants and gardening just made so much more sense if the plants were actually useful. They even had a section for plants that could be used in potions. Nothing rare or too expensive, just simple stuff. The brunette raised her eyebrows when he started listing off all of the things he wanted for breakfast. “Oh really?” she teased with a disbelieving smile, “Anything else?” The girl moved closer to him when she felt a hand on the small of her back. “Mhmmm?”

At his next words, her eyes widened in mock surprise. There was a hint of a pout in her tone as she replied, “But these are my clothes,”. The girl’s expression broke into another smile as she tilted her head to the side. “Poached or scrambled?” she asked, rocking forward onto her toes. She was eighty percent sure she knew the answer already. Dash liked cooking for Sindri, even though it was so familiar. Familiar meant easy, right? It was all just routine by now. “Maybe we could pick some of the cherry tomatoes for brekky?” she suggested. A hearty breakfast would probably do them both good. He offered to help, and a soft smile appeared on her lips. “Okay, deal,” she agreed softly. The girl followed her boyfriend inside obediently, watching the back of his head and thinking about how things had been for the past few weeks.

Different to how they’d been for the past year, that was for sure. After the rebuilding, Dash had thought things might change for the better. Certainly, having her father safe was something in her life that she was incredibly thankful for. Her relationship with Sindri, however, had changed during the first few months of 1998, and sometimes she caught herself wondering why it hadn’t changed back. Some days she thought about it way too much, but not today. Right now she wondered how she’d even had those thoughts. Sindri was… earthy and honest and she knew his sweet side intimately. There was so much that they shared in the way of interests, and she felt like she’d grown up with him. They fit. Any woman in the world would be lucky to have him.

The girl busied herself for a moment in the kitchen, grabbing a couple of cooking things from the kitchen cupboards and then washing her hands, rinsing the dirt off her hands before starting cooking. "Did you end up visiting Leifr yesterday? I forgot to ask last night." Dash tied her hair up in a loose ponytail and flashed him a small smile before turning back to the cooking food. 

"Hmm..." Sindri exhaled throatily as if he were making a big, important purchase. The man took half a step back to get a better view of Dash, arms still wrapped instinctively around her waist. "I guess it does look a bit better on you, yeah?" Sindri grinned. In all of their years together, he never hid the fact that he preferred his girlfriend wearing his old flannels as opposed to a skimpy dress (although he constantly found himself reiterating it). Such signs of closeness and affection had become scarce in the months leading up to this particular day, and Sindri felt a sense of relief at this indication of things returning to normalcy. Perhaps it was his habitual nature to blame, but the man had a hard time dealing with all things unfamiliar - and the tension that had come between he and Arden was just that.

"Surprise me," Sindri responded, knowing full well that she would scramble them to his liking. The creature of habit within him had the tendency to creep into all aspects of his life. Sindri was at a point in life where all things familiar to him were comfortable, and quite frankly he had no interest in shaking up whatever balance he could find after the war. He was desperately latching on to what he knew in an attempt to return to stress free life he was living before graduation.

Sindri followed Dash's lead and hovered behind the sink to begin to sanitize the mess he made of his hands, which were now an unnatural color brown. Reaching around her midsection with feigned impatience, he interrupted her washing process to rinse off his own hands, muddying hers in the process. Sindri didn't even attempt to disguise the girly giggles that escaped his lips soon after. In no way trying to annoy her, the twenty year old took her hands in his own and lathered them in soapy bubbles until they were as good as new. "Oh did I ever," He began, starting to cut thick strips of bacon on a cutting board. "That man and his whiskey. You're lucky I made it home in one piece," Sindri shook his head as he recounted the previous evening spent in the bar his brother worked in. "Always trying to get me drunk that one..." He added with a click of his tongue.

"He gives his best," Sindri helped himself to a strawberry from the counter. "Asked if we'd eloped yet," He stated matter-of-factly between bites of his fruit. He and Arden were used to such comments from the entire Trickett family - it was as if they had become numb to it, shrugging the questions off as nothing because it had been brought up so many times.     

Surprise him? Scrambled it was, then. Sindri was nothing if not consistent, and Dash had been with him long enough that she was familiar with most of his habits and, especially, food preferences. “Oh!” she exclaimed as arms appeared around her waist. He started washing his hands above hers. The girl frowned and twisted a little, turning her head so that she could look up at him. “You’re the worst,” she teased, wrinkling her nose and then smiling cheekily, all traces of her frown gone. She let him wash her hands for her without complaint. When he was done, however, the girl spun quickly and pressed herself against his torso, running her hands up his chest again slowly. “But you’re cute,” she conceded in a soft, cheeky voice. The hufflepuff graduate scrunched her hands in the front of his shirt, making a point of drying them there before laughing a light, tinkly laugh and poking him in the direction of the food he was supposed to be helping with.

She was never quite so cute and playful when the couple was around other people, but then again, neither was he. It wasn’t that they weren’t affectionate with each other in public, but there were definitely things that they only saved for each other. The girl cracked a couple of eggs into a cup, planning on beating them a little. Really, she thought, it would be a surprise for him if she poached them. But as much as he’d asked for a surprise, they’d both known what he’d wanted when he said it. It was a strange dynamic, she mused, but a familiar one. Dash filled their little kettle with water and then disappeared for a moment into their bedroom to fetch her wand to boil the water more quickly. She was on breakfast-autopilot.

“Of course he did,” she answered, unsurprised. The Tricketts were that kind of family. The kind that were quite forward with those sorts of things. She sometimes got the impression that the family didn’t really understand people who didn’t have a similar mindset. Imagine if she didn’t want to have children at all! The brunette knew that she wouldn’t still be with Sindri if that were the case. They just wouldn’t be compatible. Family was the most important thing to the Tricketts, and Sindri was no different. By now, Dash felt like they were all her family too, especially Leifr, Tor and the boys’ father. Even though her boyfriend had never known his mother, the girl felt like his family was infinitely more real and together than hers was. She was totally drawn to them, so unlike her mother and father and their pseudo marriage.

“I think my mother wants us to build her a new dining table,” she said after a moment’s silence, assembling various elements of their breakfast in the frying pan in front of her. She didn’t eat very much, but Sindri did, so the girl made sure to get an appropriate amount of food cooked. She wasn’t stingy with helpings of bacon for her boyfriend, instead piling it up as she cooked it. “I was thinking that we might be able to start something this weekend? She’d never ask, but I think she’d love it.” Dash started heaping their breakfast food onto two plates. When she was done, she poured two cups of tea, making both of them just as they liked it. “Outside?” she asked, raising her eyebrows. There was a breeze outside, but it wasn’t cold, and enough shade from the few trees they had growing around their back porch.

"If by worst," Sindri put a pair of dramatic air quotes around his word, emphasizing the fact that he did not believe her. "...you mean most handsome, thoughtful and brilliant man-friend you could have ever dreamed of, then yes, yes I am," He confirmed, grinning from ear to ear and visibly proud of the joke he had come up with. Sindri was, in no sense of the word, serious about his statement; in fact, most of the time he thought the opposite of himself. The fear of being inadequate for Arden was always creeping it's way into his consciousness, although he hardly ever voiced it. Somewhere deep down he believed that he couldn't possibly deserve all the great things she had given him in their six years together, and that terrified him.

Sindri wasn't surprised by Dash's lack of interest in the fact that his brother had asked about an impending marriage between the two. "Y'know, if they had it their way we would have a whole lot running 'round by now," The man said as he plopped another strawberry in his mouth, careful to catch the juice before it dribbled down his chin. By 'them' he was referring to his family, who had a knack for making the whole topic of children uncomfortable on any given day. An outsider would surely be perplexed by the manner in which Sindri and Dash talked about these topics, in a way that completely removed them from any emotional attachment to the statement.

"Dining table?" The man contemplated the time consuming task as he stacked slices of toast on a plate hastily. "It has been a while since we've had a project," He mused, still deep in thought. Briefly, Sindri thought back to their last endeavor, a bench for the back porch; he had avoided telling Dash that he didn't like the design she added until the final stages of its completion, resulting in passive argument in which neither of them spoke up about how they were really feeling. "Good, good. This weekend then," Sindri shook himself back into the present, avoiding his thoughts and hiding any traces of doubt with ease that came from years of swiping things under the rug.

"Oh! Let me get that," Sindri filled his arms with plates and sped to the door before Dash could even attempt to open it; one wrong move and they would be down all of their fresh fruit and toast. The man attempted to balance food with doorknob as he struggled to thrust open the entrance to their home. "Ahh," Sindri heaved a sigh of relief as the breezy outside air met his face, an indication of his victory. He began setting the table for two and took Arden's dishes from her before she could even get close; his combination of chivalry and hunger quite obvious. "Looks lovely," Sindri could no longer contain himself and he eagerly shoved a forkful of scrambled eggs into his mouth. "Haven't eaten in days," He joked, a grin playing over his features. "Starving me now, hm?" The man laughed in between bites of his food. One of the perks of dating the same girl for six years was that he felt no need to disguise any of his habits. 

“Of course,” the pretty brunette sighed, “handsome, thoughtful… “man-friend”?” Dash tilted her head to the side, questioning his use of the made up noun. It was days like today that she was reminded of the truth of all of these things. The woman knew he was joking, but Sindri really was the most thoughtful and, well beautiful soul she’d ever known. Sure, with friends or family he played the typical man’s man, but Dash doubted that anyone else was acquainted with his sweeter, more sensitive side. Dash was the emotionally sensitive one in their relationship (she didn’t think she’d ever met anyone as emotionally sensitive as she was), but Sindri definitely had a soft side. The young woman watched her boyfriend quietly, a small, fond smile playing across her lips.

Her man was talking about his family again, and Dash could only nod. “I know,” she said softly, glancing at the plate in her hands before looking back up at him will a slight shrug, “It’s not like they make a secret out of it.” Sindri walked ahead, agreeing to her suggestion and she watched the back of his head carefully. "It has been a while," she said carefully "...I think it'd be nice to start another project soon." They were only twenty-one, but they’d been together for six years. Dash had always known that Sindri would want to settle down and have children early; it was something that she’d accepted years ago. But she had no idea when. The problem was that they never really talked about it. Sometimes the brunette got the sense that he avoided really talking about that topic because he thought she was uncomfortable or didn’t want to discuss it. Maybe he was right.

“Thanks,” she said, amused as the man dashed to the door with the food. He made it out before her and then came back for the plates they were carrying. She laughed lightly as he did so, obviously hungry as well as gallant. It was a lovely day outside and the brunette felt a strange pang of… something. Sentimentality, perhaps, or wistfulness? Her laugh faded into a little smile as Sindri came into view, already eating, and she tried to shake the feeling so that he wouldn’t notice anything. If she was totally honest, maybe it came from missing moments like this. It had been a while since things had felt so... simple. The girl took a seat with her boyfriend and started eating her own breakfast, in a much more demure way than Sindri.

“You want me to make you more food?” she asked, mock-disbelief replacing the expression on her face. The girl still couldn't shake that strange mix of happy-sad that had strangely appeared on her emotional spectrum. Nostalgia, perhaps? But she didn't want to let it show. "Oh, did Leifr say anything to you last night about maybe going hiking? Last time he was over he suggested that the three of us go... somewhere," she shrugged, "I don't really know what he has in mind, but hiking... somewhere." Dash wanted to add something like just like old times. The three of them had done things like that during Dash and Sindri's first year out of school. Obviously during the dark time period where her father was on the run, and the wizarding world was a mess, activities like that had died. And they hadn't really been revived yet.

"Growing boys need their food you knooow!" Sindri responded in a sing-song voice much unlike his usual tone;  oh, if only his brothers could see him now. At the end of his finale, a drawn out and high-pitched note, the man took a bite of his toast, nearly eating the whole slice as if to prove a point. It was not characteristic of the man in the past couple of months to be in such a jovial mood; in fact, he couldn't remember a time when he felt so carefree post-war. Maybe it was the outdoors or perhaps it was the breakfast that had his spirits up, but more than likely it was his innate ability to ignore all the nagging thoughts that plagued him.

Sindri's eyes narrowed as he furiously worked through the previous nights conversations, racking his brain for any mention of a hiking trip. Whiskey was involved, and for the ex-Gryffindor that meant things were a little bit hazy. "Ehh..." The man trailed off, studying the strawberry in his hand as if it could offer him up some sort of sign to point him in the right direction. "Oh yes! He did, he did," He replied, convincing himself that his memory was not simply just a dream. "I mentioned heading out to Cornwall, out by the coast?" Sindri shrugged his shoulders. "Get a bit of sailing in," He added. Sindri was an aquatic being, and Dash would surely understand his reasoning for choosing that particular location without further explanation.

"What say you, misses Dasher, shall we hit the showers or continue work?" Sindri tried his hardest not to draw any attention to his question, hazel eyes fixated on his now empty plate. He figured if he didn't play it up too much, he might receive the answer he was looking for. Despite his valiant efforts to hide it, a grin forced it's way to Sin's face, his dimples more prominent than ever. "It's gotten rather warm out, yeah?" He added as he took in his surroundings, the insinuation quite clear. 

Dash shook her head at Sindri and his antics in mock exasperation. “You’re the worst,” she teased fondly, repeating her earlier insult. After a moment, however, a smile broke onto her face. She hadn’t been this smiley for ages and it felt good. Today was a good day. “Exactly,” she agreed with a nod. They’d spent a lot of time out near Tinworth. The brunette had come to associate Sindri with the smell of the sea and sandy textures. She knew it was probably a by-product of the way that her Sight operated, but the brunette seemed to have a collection of sensory associations for each person she was close to.

Sindri was the smell of the sea and salt spray, mixed in with fresh citrus fruits and bare earth and the feeling of the sun on her skin in summer. Woody smells and textures featured there too. The girl, like her boyfriend, loved swimming. She wasn’t quite the fish that he was (he’d even been called that by some of their friends at one point), but she loved swimming. It made her feel… free. “You know I love you?” she told him in a gentle voice as she stood and started packing up the plates. Some days it was easy to forget how much she loved him. Or perhaps it had more to do with the fact that they took each other for granted. It didn’t change the fact that she did love him, however. A lot.

“Oh?” she asked, raising her eyebrows. It didn’t take him long before his face broke into a grin. Merlin, she loved those dimples. Another strange, nostalgic ache rang through her and she smiled a little. “Well it is warm…” she conceded, pretending to think about it. “I tell you what,” she said finally, tilting her head to the side playfully and twirling a long strand of chocolate coloured hair around a finger “How about we finish with the basil and mint, and re-do the chili plants, and then…” The girl skipped lightly over to him as he stood, placing both of her hands on his chest as per usual. She leant in to peck him playfully on the neck and finished in a whisper; “...then we can shower, hmm?”

Knowing what his answer would be, the girl smiled and raised her eyebrows playfully. “Dishes first,” she added, poking him lightly in the chest. The young woman decided to lead him back inside. Dishes, garden, shower. She had no idea what it was about today, but it just felt right. As the two made their way back out to the garden, the young woman wondered why all days weren’t more like this. It was perfect.