no time for caution | • r u a r i

The weather had been fairly nice today, as far as Dublin weather went. Dash had been pleased when winter had officially ended a few months ago, and she was even more pleased now that it was summer. The young woman had been thinking about holidaying in France or Greece or somewhere that was actually warm. Merlin knew she had enough money saved. After she’d moved out from her house with Sindri, Dash had barely bought a thing for herself. Most of her money had been going into a savings account at Gringotts and just sitting there. She didn’t know what for yet.

“Oh, I can’t tomorrow…” Dash called from the kitchen, flicking her wand at a stack of dirty dishes there. Dinner had been nice and light; they’d just had a citrusy salad and some fried noodles. There wasn’t much mess, but Dash was pretty diligent with the cleaning. The brunette placed her wand on the kitchen bench for a moment as she pulled her long hair up into a high ponytail, feeling just a touch of apprehension about explaining why she couldn’t go to the handmade markets with Ruari. “…I’m seeing Niska.”

Niska.

She’d been seeing more and more of him lately, and Ruari didn’t approve. Dash was half waiting for some sort of “harrumph” from the other end of the house. Her blonde friend wasn’t subtle about her disapproval. Dash finished up with the dishes and made her way back around to the loungeroom, where Ruari was choosing from a large selection of earrings that she’d laid out on the table. The pair were headed out to a new cocktail bar that had opened up last month. “Those ones,” she suggested, pointing at a rather ostentatious pair of colourful earrings.

Ruari was not happy.

She was in the bathroom, brushing her hair with more force than was entirely necessary. Dash had a new boyfriend. Though she supposed "boyfriend" may have been the incorrect word. "Manfriend", maybe. She didn't know this Niska fella. She'd briefly seen him once and she'd taken an instant, unfounded dislike to the stranger.

In her heart of hearts, she knew Dash belonged with Sindri. Yeah sure, things weren't great between them as far as she knew. It had been what, nearly two years since they'd split? Longer? She'd been the one to pick up the pieces of their broken relationship. She'd seen Dash, her friend, in bits. She was back to herself now. Full of life, happiness but she was not okay that someone else was causing her to glow like the bright star that she was.

Was she jealous? Maybe. More than anything, she was hurt. Dash had been at work and Ruari was attempting to do some laundry when a brochure had fallen out of the pocket of one of Dash's cardigans. A brochure for an apartment. That meant she was planning to move out and hadn't told her yet. With a crushing feeling of disappointment, she felt bereft at the idea of her friend leaving her. Despite her moving in being temporary, she discovered that she needed Dash maybe more than she needed her. As a result, Ruari had become rather childish and unresponsive. Rather than confront her friend, she'd simply put the brochure back where she found it, locked the bathroom door and cried. Simple as that.

"What?!"

The word sounded more like a pterodactyl screech. With her eyes wide, she poked her head around the bathroom door to stare at her friend. What the Hell was going on? "But you've seen him twice this week already!" She squeaked, sounding indignant and trying so very hard not to throw the hairbrush at the lovely, sweet tempered Dash.

What was the saying? Chicks before dicks? Wasn't that right? She stared at Dash, her mouth opening and closing like a bewildered goldfish as her brain tried to process the fact that she'd been replaced. So casually. By a man who dressed like a homeless vampire.

Swiftly, she retreated and slammed the bathroom door. Her cool clammy hands were pressed to her forehead as she sat on the edge of the tub and pitched forward. She knew she was being stupid. She was being rude, rash and totally unfair. Dash had every right to cancel their plans and hang out with someone else but she'd become so used to her friend staying in with her. They ate food and watched TV in their pyjamas and the thought of someone else, a stranger stealing away her friend, well, it just didn't bear thinking about.

Dash had been single for so long and she seemed to be happy, so much like she used to be that Ruari should be happy too but…she just felt irked. Who was this Niska, anyway? Wasn't he like forty or something? Gross. Ruari just dreaded Dash asking them to meet. She needed an excuse.

Ruari emerged ten minutes later, her blonde hair neatly braided, her dress catching the light as she strode over to Dash. Looking at the pair of earrings that she'd chosen, she reacted. In a surge of childish passive aggressiveness, she reached out, ignored Dash's suggestion and chose the pair furthest from her friend and slipped them into her lobes before turning her back, swishing into the kitchen and flicking on the kettle.

Ruari had been so tetchy lately, and Dash had reacted… rather defensively. Not that the two of them had actually talked about this sudden new tension. It certainly wasn’t Dash’s style to bring up problems or talk about feelings when it came to conflict like this. She assumed that Ruari was all worked up over Niska, which was completely ridiculous. “We’re not dating,” she reiterated, “Just hanging out.”

Lately, Ruari had started casually bringing Sindri up in conversation. It was all ”Oh, remember that time that Sindri took you to Paris before you moved into your house together” or “Sindri really did take care of you, didn’t he?” The young woman wasn’t really sure how to respond to that, but it irked her that this was happening now and hadn’t happened when she’d been seeing Clooney. Dash smiled at the memory of her first awkward date with him. She was briefly distracted by the thought. He’d been so sweet. So gentle with her, and though she hadn’t said it, he’d known that she wasn’t ready for anything serious yet and he’d backed off. He was lovely.

But that hadn’t lasted very long. And now…? Well, now she was sort of seeing Niska. She’d tried to work out what was happening there, but she just hadn’t yet. How would she feel if he kissed her, or made a move? Probably nice, she thought. There wasn’t a whole lot of sexual tension there, but she always got the feeling that he felt protective of her. Maybe he just thought of her like a little sister or something? The idea was disheartening, and Dash wondered if that thought alone was enough to categorise him as being more than a friend. 

Ruari stalked out of the bathroom. “You look…” The blonde walked straight past her, pointedly choosing earrings that were nothing like the ones Dash had suggested, without a comment. “…Nice.” She finished lamely. Right. Dash didn’t huff or puff, she just turned and walked straight to her room. The passive aggression thing stressed her out a little, but she could be passive aggressive herself at times. Anything to avoid conflict. The brunette slipped into something casual and stepped back out into the living room. “How are you and Hal, anyway?” she asked, hoping to change the subject to something more fluffy. Dash grabbed her wand and purse from the couch, ready to apparate to the new bar.

As she waited for the kettle to boil, she chewed her lower lip nervously. She knew she was being irrational and it wasn't at all fair. She pulled a chipped mug from the rack and jiggled her leg anxiously, hearing the kettle whistle.

It was rude and she knew it wasn't right to act so selfishly but the thought of losing Dash was…well, painful. Maybe she relied on the brunette too much. Maybe she took her for granted. Wrestling with her conscious, she slowly and carefully filled two mugs with tea and stirred with a battered old tea spoon. The silence was heavy. She supposed it was her fault things had gotten to this point but a small part of her blamed Dash for not letting her know properly what was going on with her, with this man, with her maybe finding her own place. Everything.

"Thanks," she said quietly as a fresh wave of shame crashed over her, turning her cheeks pink. Shit. What if Hal saw how she'd just behaved? He'd break up with her, she was damned sure of that. Urgh.

Chewing on her lower lip, she crossed the room slowly and held out the mug towards Dash in a sort of peace offering but she was a bit scared of being rebuked. Rather than feeling angry, Ruari just felt sad. Despite Dash being less than three feet away from her, she felt like there was a chasm between them and it was all her own doing.

"Sorry," Ruari replied gently, sipping at her tea despite not wanting any of the hot, sweet liquid. With her free hand, she removed her earrings and slipped in the ones her friend (were they still friends?) suggested. Dash was right: they did look considerably better than the pair she'd chosen rashly. "I'm sure he's…nice," she settled on. The word nice tasted foul on her tongue, like cockroaches. There wasn't anything she could do. Did she think Dash was making a mistake? Damn right she did but it was horribly unfair for her to judge this stranger so harshly indeed.

"Fine," she replied with a gentle, brittle smile as she looked at her tea, finding comfort in the pale golden colour of the liquid. "He's doing well. Busy as usual," she replied. Dash knew how busy Hal was. He'd always been busy. He always found a way to fill his time for maximum impact but she didn't really want to talk about Hal for a change. She also didn't want to go to this club as planned, either. She wasn't really in a party kinda mood.

"I think there's a party soon for one of his sisters," she ventured as she sipped at her tea, shyly catching Dash's eye. "He said there was an invite for you," she added before folding her lips into a thin line as though to prevent herself from saying anything else. Would it be the perfect opportunity to reunite Dash and Sindri? Hell yeah. She could make Dash a pretty summer dress and they could fall in love all over again in the vast grounds of the Trickett household. But she didn't mention that.

It didn't occur to her that Dash and Sindri may have just fallen out of love. For Ruari, love was for life and it was fixable. In actual fact, it was like mending a vase. It was intact but the cracks were still clearly visible. The fact that Dash was on her feet and starting a new relationship was a good thing. She was just having a hard time seeing her with anyone other than Sindri. Even if that ship had sailed, there was always hope.

Putting her tea down on the table, she crossed the room quickly and threw her arms around Dash's neck and squeezed her fiercely. Tears threatened to fall as she practically got her friend in a rib-cracking embrace, holding on so tightly as she thought the brunette might just disappear into thin air. They could go out in a minute or whatever. For the moment, she just needed Dash to herself. No ex boyfriends, no current boyfriends, just her.

“I’m not going to a Trickett party,” Dash answered, her tone final and defensive. She hadn’t been to some Trickett event for almost two years now. In fact, she’d actively avoided the Tricketts where she could. There were a lot of them around her age and obviously there was a lot of overlap with social groups which made it difficult, but it was just too awkward. It hurt too much.

Even seeing Hal all the time was too much for the brunette. He came over sometimes to stay or to pick Ruari up and while it was a lot more comfortable with him now than it had been, say a year ago, there was a little part of her that was jealous of Ruari’s position within that family. The Tricketts were so much more welcoming than her own family. She used to wonder often about what they thought of her and how they felt about her breakup with Sindri.

Suddenly, Ruari’s arms were around her in the tightest of hugs. Dash snapped out of her thoughts. “Are you okay?” she asked, her defenses falling away to quickly be replaced by concern as she realised her friend was crying. The girl’s thoughts were racing. Had something been happening with her and Hal? Or was it a work thing, perhaps? Dash strokes Ruari’s blonde hair with gentle fingertips. Her maternal instincts were taking over. “Hey…”

Ruari frowned and watched Dash with sad eyes. This continually happened. Every time she breached the subject, she was shot down in flames by the brunette. The Tricketts were a big family and often had get togethers throughout the year for various things. She'd taken to hiding Dash's invites in fear of her becoming upset and she hated having to leave her to attend.

After a while, Ruari had taken to gently lying to her best friend. When invites came, she usually just said that she was going out for dinner with Hal or with a friend so she didn't feel upset. Dash was a strong girl but Sindri had been a part of her life for so long, even two years later, the wounds must still feel properly fresh. Folding her lips together into a thin line, she nodded softly and let the subject drop.

She'd tried. Merlin, had she tried to get those two back together. She knew feelings were still there, no matter how deeply buried. They just fit. Like cosmic jigsaw puzzle pieces and she wanted to scream at Dash for not realising it. But she knew there was a reason they'd parted ways and if they wasn't fixed, the relationship would be in tatters. Still in tatters. Maybe that was why she was so adamantly against this Niska fella? He was tall and handsome and he treated her friend well and she seemed…happy. That was all she'd ever wanted.

She just needed Dash.

Only then did she realise what a horrid friend she'd been to the brunette. She'd been rude and moody and dismissive. Why? Because she wasn't dating who she wanted her to, which was absolutely bonkers. Dash could date whoever she wanted to and none of it concerned her.

"I'm sorry!" Ruari howled as she shook with the sobs that wracked her body, holding her friend closer still. The gentle finger tips in her hair weren't helping. Eventually, she stood back, her rain cloud coloured eyes wide and red as she sniffed and hastily wiped at her nose and face with the back of a shaking hand.

"I saw the brochures in your room," Ruari said, gesturing limply towards her friend's bedroom as she blew her nose on her own dress, not at all caring about going out any more. She knew their living situation had been temporary and that Dash would be finding her own place eventually but the idea left her feeling oddly…bereft. She'd become so used to having another person living with her. Someone to cook with and clean with and dance around the kitchen with. It was so nice to finish work, come upstairs and to see another soul on the sofa. It made her feel less lonely. And Jeff absolutely adored her.

"I know this was never permanent and you've probably wanted your own space for a long time, especially since you're dating someone now but -- " Sniffing woefully, a single tear escaped her left eye and made a sad, lonely track down her pale cheek and dropped off the end of her chin pathetically. "I don't want you to go."

“Brochure?” Dash held her friend, totally unsure of what Ruari was talking about. What had she had in her room that had made the woman act like this? Dash was a little stunned. Ruari’s sobs shook them both, and Dash’s defensiveness had completely disappeared. So it wasn’t about Hal? That was a bit of a relief, if she were honest. Heartbreak could ruin people. Dash would know.

And then it clicked.

Oh.

Oh.

“Ruari, no! That was… I was looking at schools. You know, to get a higher qualification than Modesty Rabnott could have offered me.” She was a little uncomfortable, and shifted back to look her friend in the eye. A part of her was deeply touched that this was how Ruari had reacted. She didn’t want Dash to stop living with her. It was almost sweet. “We’re not dating,” she corrected again, this time a little more gently. “And I’m not looking to move out just yet, okay? I guess I was just… curious.”

The brunette fixed a strand of Ruari’s blonde hair, anxious that the woman wouldn’t believe her, or that she’d argue. “Honestly, living here with you has been the most amazing thing. I’ve loved it.” Dash stood up, moving to the kitchen. The girl searched around for a moment, but quickly found a box of tissues. She brought them back to the loungeroom, holding the box out. A peace offering, of sorts. Dash slid back into her seat. “I’m sorry that you found those. Really.” She stroked her friend’s back.

"What?"

Ruari's head jerked upwards. They weren't dating? "But why?" She blurted out quickly, her bloodshot and red-rimmed eyes wide. Ruari had a habit of flip-flopping through her emotions. She'd been so damned sure that Dash and Sindri were soulmates. It didn't turn out that way. Did she wish they'd get back together? Sure. But there was obviously a reason why they weren't. Some sort of problem they were unable to overcome. All the dressmaker wanted was for her best friend to be happy. If not being with Sindri made her happy, then that was all there was to it. She, herself, had made some questionable romance choices but Dash had never once forced her opinion on her.

Ruari sniffed morosely, wiping her nose on the inside of her wrist clumsily. "No that's fine," she began gently, all the misplaced anger and hurt just seemingly melting away now. "That's really great," she said with a weak smile. She wasn't being sarcastic, she was proud and supportive of the brunette. Ruari realised she was being rather selfish and the idea made her feel a bit ill.

"No, Dash, really. I'm sorry. Maybe we can look through them together?" Ruari offered gently, ignoring the feeling in her chest that made her feel like she'd been stabbed through the heart. "I just --" she paused, folding her lips together into a thin line. "I got used to you being here, you know?" She said with a sigh, her slender shoulders slumping in defeat as she tried to explain how she was feeling in a way that wouldn't make her friend feel sad. She gave a small smile as Dash fixed her hair and left her for a moment before she took a tissue and blew her nose loudly. "I didn't realise I was lonely until the prospect of you leaving popped up but I'm totally cool with you if you want to pursue other things." That was sort of true. She wasn't "totally cool" with her leaving but she was with Dash bettering her life. "As long as we have a massive farewell party. I promise I won't make jambalaya this time," she said with a wince as she remembered everyone who'd eaten it getting terribly ill.

Ruari leaned into Dash as she embraced their uneasy truce, wiping her eyes as she did so. "Sorry I reacted the way I did," she murmured sadly, her eyes downcast. "I didn't mean to. And I'm really sorry about judging you so harshly. I was unfair. I'd really like to meet your --" Dash had said they weren't dating and Ruari paused. "Friend?" She ventured gingerly. "Tell me more about this qualification. If you need any heavy boxes moving or if you need to wrangle a wild animal, I can contact Clooney? He might as well be put to use doing something, rather than sitting there, well dressed and surrounded by various women."

“Ru, stop.” Dash shook her head, firmer this time. The brunette tried to calm her friend with a reassuring hand on her back, but Ruari seemed unable to stop talking. It was like word vomit. “I’m not moving anytime soon,” she repeated.

“Look, I’m not wrangling anything. I’m really not. You don’t have anything to apologise for. I just… I’m looking at my options. Broader options. Life things, you know? Long term things.” It had been a while since Dash had known where her life was going. She hadn’t had direction for a long time, almost two years now. In her head, the young woman’s life was split into two categories; before the break up and after it. She hadn’t managed to maintain anything resembling a relationship in the past couple of years and hadn’t even had sex again until almost a year after their breakup. She was lost, just wandering through life aimlessly.

“I had all these plans,” she explained, feeling a little frustrated at the swell of emotion in her chest. “We knew we were going to get married someday. I knew how many little Trickett children I was going to have, and I felt safe in that family.” Dash shook her head; she didn’t want Ruari’s pity right now. This wasn’t about that – it was about what came after. It was about deciding where to go now. The brunette sighed, exhaling slowly as she gathered her thoughts.

“You know how well I cope with change,” she said, making an emotional appeal. “It’s been almost two years and I’m still recovering. Not just from not being with him, but recovering from realising I don’t know who I am or where I’m going. But I am recovering. I’ve wallowed for a long time, but I’m looking at the future now.”

Ruari winced. She parted her lips to offer some sort of gentle comfort but she was stopped short. She realised how much of a shitty friend she really must have been to Dash. They had a similar but not the same experience with Trickett men. Ruari had always been careful not to have Hal around too much when Dash was here but sometimes, it was inevitable. She wanted her boyfriend and her best friend to get along but she often wondered if his presence upset her. She really didn't want to parade her happiness around when Dash was clearly still not okay with things. She'd stopped going to Trickett gatherings despite being constantly invited. Now that Bear had died, there was nothing tying her and Sindri together and that made her feel for her friend so much.

Cautiously, she reached out and affectionately squeezed the brunette's shoulder. Tonight was meant to be fun and they'd both sort of ruined it. The split of the blame was more like eighty-twenty on Ruari's part.

"I know," she said gently, rubbing her hand across the other woman's back. "I started designing a dress when you began dating," Ruari said with a small smile, hoping to try and lighten the mood. "Safe isn't always what you need," she told Dash. She didn't want or need pity. She needed her to listen and listen, she would. If all else failed, she could always go down the "girl power" route but the thing was, Sindri wasn't easy to hate. He wasn't a bad man. He was actually really lovely.

"This is really good though," Ruari enthused. "You don't need to reinvent yourself. Your relationship with Sindri is in the past but it's also part of who you are and who you are is amazing." She smiled brightly at her friend. "It's a time for self-discovery. What do you want to discover?" She asked Dash. She'd been there. When a person was in a relationship for so long, their likes become your likes. So much so that a person doesn't even remember who they are anymore. Ruari thought Dash was perhaps suffering from that phenomenon.

"Right!" Ruari said briskly as she clapped her hands together. "So we're gonna try new things to see what you do and don't like. Let's make a list of things you haven't done before and we can go from there."

“Of course you did.” Dash smiled at the image of a fifteen year old Ruari fervently sketching wedding dress designs in a notebook at school. Whatever she said, however she protested, the Regan was a romantic. She and Dash were very similar in a lot of ways. Everything from their taste in men to their taste in wedding dresses, she’d wager.

“I’m not trying to reinvent myself, I’m trying to find out… what I want. Who I am now, and where I’m going. Damn, that sounds so cheesy out loud.” The brunette smiled, shaking her head. She leant into her friend a little, shifting so that they were almost hugging. The contact felt nice. Dash had always been a tactile creature.

What did she wan to discover? What a confusing question. Dash had those brochures because she was trying to look to the future. What sort of career did she want? What sort of qualifications would she need? The Hufflepuff alumni didn’t know. The brunette laughed. She couldn’t help it. As soon as Ruari got the whiff of a new, helpful project, the blonde went for it, full speed ahead. “I don’t know. I don’t know what I want. I guess that’s the problem? I haven’t really travelled much?”

Ruari blushed and laughed, her first one of tonight. "You know me, jump in head first and all that," she joked. She still had those sketches but she decided not to show Dash. If she wanted to move on, then she wasn't going to hold her back. The Dubliner had sketched a full length dress, not quite a mermaid but more a rather flowy style. It had a sweetheart neckline and cap sleeves, the fabric would have been covered with delicate French lace. Dash was a traditional girl so she needed a traditional dress. Somehow, Ruari couldn't picture her in a fashion-forward, avant garde kind of creation. It just wouldn't fit.

"That's okay," she said gently, slinging an arm around her friend's shoulders and pulling her into a gentle side-hug with a smile. "You're not meant to have your life figured out just yet. That sort of thing just tends to happen. Or rather, that's what Isidore tells me," she shrugged. Isidore was Ruari's flamboyant, tie-dye wearing, incense burning, crystal wielding yoga teacher. He was glorious and honestly, actually very wise. Things took time. Life was short but it was better to be happy than rushing into things.

Ruari was up and on her feet faster than Dash could say "coconut bra."

"Then we're going on holiday!" She chimed, hauling Dash to her feet and giving her a shove in the direction of her bedroom. Ruari dashed past her, grabbing a well worn and battered suitcase as she went. Hastily, she flung a lot of unfolded clothes into the case. In went maxi dresses, a jumper, a pair of jeans with one ripped knee, fourteen scarves, five earrings (she'd lost the other one), one bikini and a pair of sandals. "Shit. Underwear." Yanking open a drawer, she picked up a pair of socks and sniffed them. Clean enough. Shrugging, she tossed them in, too.

"So where'd you wanna go?" She asked brightly, plucking a pair of knickers off her lampshade and shoving them into her bag. "Warm? Hot? Cool? Culture? Jungle? Remote?" Ruari spun, her eyes wide as they glittered. She bounced on the spot, clapping her hands. "This is so fun!" She enthused. Then it her. "Borneo!" She yelled, flailing her arms. "I might get to meet an orangutan!" Then she remembered this was for Dash, not her. "Or, you know, wherever," she whispered, coughing.

Dash wished that looking into the future was something she could do with grace. One way or another, the brunette had never felt much control when looking towards her future. The dreams came without her permission or knowledge. She was never prepared for her visions, they just happened to her. She was an instrument of fate, channelling other things. She was a vessel. When thinking about her own – personal – fate, she felt much the same way. It wasn’t so divine, didn’t feel quite so important, but it was just as unavoidable and just as hard for her to decipher.

“Isidore,” Dash repeated, smiling a little. The brunette was quite spiritual, but her kind of spirituality was very different to Ruari’s or, more specifically, Ruari’s yoga teacher. The brunette had a closer relationship with fate than most people did, and it was hard after dreaming about the future for her entire life to not feel a little spiritual about fate and destiny. That being said, she wasn’t so much into the tye-dye and the incense. There was this strange area on the fringes of magic that overlapped a bit with muggle spirituality that made Dash quite uncomfortable. Maybe it was the pragmatist in her.

“Uh…” Ruari practically bounded out of her seat like a newly-nubile deer. Dash got up slowly, following her friend warily into her bedroom. “I can’t afford a holiday,” she said weakly. It wasn’t entirely true. With Ruari cutting her a cheap deal on rent, and her lack of anything-to-spend-money-on, Dash had actually saved quite a bit over the past two years. Still, she’d have to withdraw the money from Gringotts… “No, Ruari. Ru? Hey…” Dash waved a hand, trying to get her friend’s attention. Ruari could be so one-track-minded sometimes.

“I’d have to ask for time of work… I don’t know. I don’t know about this.” The clothes strewn on and around the suitcase were stressing her out. As much as she wanted it, Dash was still afraid of change.

"Didn't say it had to be an expensive holiday," Ruari replied breezily as she scooted around her apartment, throwing things into her suitcase. Grabbing a piece of paper, she wrote a quick note to Clooney, her older brother. She asked if she could watch Jeff, her dog, for a few days. Clooney was more of a cat person but she knew that her boys got on well. He was due to meet up for lunch tomorrow and he had a spare key. Deftly, she filled up her dog's food and water bowl with enough to see him through the night. Her Samoyed didn't whine and pine for her; he was quite happy to be left alone, providing there was food and sunlight that he could nap in. Her brother was well used her to hair disappearing often.

Ruari waved her friend's resistance casually as she zipped up her well worn bag. "So we go for three days, max. It's Friday night. We'll be back by Monday. Don't get your knickers in such a twist," she said with a grin as she dashed about like a cyclone. She had enough, anything else she could buy when she got there. Murphy had an apartment in France he'd let her use. Her family had a villa in Italy. And her friends had a chalet up in Val d'Isere.

"Dash, stop," the Dubliner reasoned with her friend, her hands on her shoulder. "It's a mini break. I'm not asking you to pack up your life and move, okay? We're having a few days to ourselves. The weather here is shite and I know a great beach and you don't need to buy anything so just shush." With that, she stepped around the brunette and hastily packed for her. Ruari very rarely took no for an answer. Dash needed this. It'd be good for her soul. She didn't know about this? "Well I do," she said briskly, placing her friend's backpack into her hands with a winning smile. They were going to the family villa, on the edge of Lake Como. Bright, beautiful and full of wildlife, Dash would love it. "Viva Italia!" Ruari called, thrusting her hands into the air triumphantly before grabbing Dash's hand and apparating them there before she could protest.

Three days. Dash – hesitantly – made herself relax. Ruari wasn’t completely bonkers; she wouldn’t drag her off to somewhere super foreign and make her miss work. No. “Monday morning,” she corrected, “Early. Like before six.” The brunette exhaled a long, slow breath as her friend placed her hands on the Dash’s shoulders. What a whirlwind of a conversation! It had started with the pair going out, then turned into some kind of fight, Ruari had been upset that she might be moving out, and now the blonde was set on disappearing off somewhere for the weekend. It was giving her whiplash.

“The weather is terrible,” she agreed, a little dazed. Dash had always been a summer girl. She wanted to live somewhere sunny with trees and rivers she could swim in with a good view of the stars at night. Maybe they could go somewhere like that on their holiday. The girl turned, looking back at her own bedroom door, wondering what she should bring. Where were they going? Somewhere with a beach? Somewhere warm? The brunette mentally ran a list of things that she’d need. She recalled specific clothing items for the trip; certain pairs of shoes, for different uses.

The girl looked down dimly as Ruari pushed her backback into Dash’s hands. She didn’t have a chance to protest, however, as Ruari pulled her wand out. Moments later, they were apparating through space.