{ wood of england } ; rootless { ashley }

She stood in front of the mirror, tucking and un-tucking the dark brown strands of hair from her ears. What was a girl to do while she lie in wait for a whole month? Emily was notorious for changing the color of her hair and chopping it off when she got bored or felt like she was floundering about. And, during the month that that dome had surrounded the grounds of her alma mater, she'd felt extremely floundery. Enough to go through twenty books in a week to distract herself.

Twenty books in a week was pretty standard in terms of non-fiction texts -- books that helped to build her knowledge base, that would help to increase consults and clientele, and the like. It was quite a lot for leisurely, light reading. Normally she'd write, run errands, or something -- but it seemed that to immerse herself in a fictional world was most effective. Blocked out any original or creative thought she might've had. She'd tried to remind herself that Ashley wasn't really hers. He was his own person. What he did in there and with whom was, truly, none of her business. Emily would only admit to herself that she wanted it to be her business, but her desires didn't make the sentiments she had any more real. Nor was she champing at the bit to say any of this aloud to him when he came to get her. She'd keep her lips and her wondering sealed tight and that would be the end of that.

Adjusting the too-typical navy blazer she wore, she almost jumped out of her sneakers when she heard three quiet raps on the front door. They'd gone on a few dates before the dome incident, but this was new territory. They were going away for a long weekend together in the woods which seemed like a rather hefty step in the relationship direction, but she wasn't going to assume. (He's been away for a month.) Regardless, they'd exchanged a few brief letters and had settled on just about this time to head off to the cabin.

Em hoped he knew she wasn't much of a woods girl. Much more of a city girl by birth, quite honestly. She wasn't opposed to the idea, it was just... foreign. And she'd travelled a lot with John, but all of that had been much more ritzy than she was anticipating this would be. Low-key and understated might be nice for a change.

Padding through the house, she caught her breath, which shouldn't have been so short after a few leaps across her flat, and unlocked the door to open it. "Hi." She muttered, smiling warmly and leaning in to hug him. Perhaps she should've been polite and let him make the first move, but seeing his face made her realize how much she'd missed him while he'd been gone. And, on the flip-side, how worried she'd been for his safety.

She ushered him inside and shut the door, shrugging her shoulders and letting her palms fall flat on her legs. "So... are you okay? I mean. It's been ages."

The past month had been incredible, and Ashley was incredibly worn out. He'd been gone for a whole month, and his head was still spinning. He felt as though he'd come back from a war—one that, thankfully, they had won. He had spent the entire month fighting legions upon legions of beasts, some of which Ashley didn't even know existed. He felt worn out, but he was happy that it was over and that he could finally come home to something quieter and easier to handle.

He also hated to admit it, but he was excited to come home for another reason, too. He had a girl waiting for him. He and Emily Fleming had been on just a few dates and hadn't made anything official, but Ashley was surprised by how much he missed the girl while he was gone. She was interesting to him, every different from anyone he had ever been with, and it was refreshing. There was no chance of him breathing Nadia's name into her neck. Rather than being spontaneous and wild, Emily was reserved, quiet, bookish.. but so, so intelligent. She knew things about things that Ashley didn't even know existed. If she had ever set her eyes on hunting or beast lore, she'd be a force to be reckoned with.

He'd never thought that he would like a girl like her. Perhaps a younger him would have called her “boring,” but she was anything but boring once he got to know her. She had so many layers that Ashley wasn't sure he'd ever finish pulling them back, and that was addictive.

Knowing that he was ready for the next step, Ashley had asked Emily to come away with him for a weekend. He'd rented a cabin in the woods, and was looking forward to a few nights of peaceful relaxation and cozy cuddling. The two were so early in their relationship that they hadn't even been intimate—a new feat for Ashley—so, he worried that she might feel pressured. He did his best to accommodate this by making sure they had two bedrooms. He wanted her to enjoy this and enjoy being with him. He hoped he wasn't moving too quickly. The month away had made his heart grow fonder. He wanted them to be closer. If she wasn't ready for sex, that was okay. He just wanted to be near her for awhile, to make up for all of the time apart.

Ashley, who had already taken his things to the cabin to get it ready for Emily's arrival, pulled up in front of her apartment on his bike. He ran a hand through his hair, almost nervously. He hadn't seen her in awhile. He hoped things would be the same as they were before. She wouldn't agree to come if she didn't still like him, right?

He knocked on the door and smiled as she opened it, going quickly for the hug. “Hey.” He greeted. She was just as beautiful as he remembered. He hugged her back firmly.  As she pulled away, he smiled lightly at her.

“I'm good. Never better.” He promised. It wasn't all true, but did it really matter? He had a nice slice on his left bicep and some bruising around his ribcage, but she didn't need to worry about that. “Hogwarts was wild. I'll tell you all about it when we get to the cabin. Are you all packed and ready?” He asked.

The longer he stood there in front of her, the more nervous she became. Ashley wasn't anything like John. He was younger (closer to her own age), exciting, wholesome. Despite all that, though, she wasn't necessarily afraid to reveal things about herself to him. It wasn't often that another person could make her feel at ease like that. She'd only met a few who had been able to so soon, too, and they were all radically different people. Emily was convinced her intuition had a serious deciding factor in that. "Never better, hmm?" She repeated, skepticism leaking into all the lilts of her voice. One brow arched and she resisted the urge to cross her arms over her chest while she moved into the kitchen.

"Do you want something to drink before we leave?" It was just out of politeness that she was asking, of course. She feared that if they didn't leave soon, she'd chicken out -- find some reason to stay home instead of to go out on this odd little adventure, but that fear had no real basis. He'd been good to her during the time they'd spent with one another. He'd gotten rid of that awful boggart and it had all snowballed from that point. "I have wine, tea, water, milk..." She stopped there, waiting a second to let him answer before she smothered him with too many options. "I'm not sure what  kind of travel we'll be utilizing, either, so if we're not going to apparate and it's a ways out, I could bring snacks or make you something here, if you're hungry."

Emily looked him over more closely then, yellow-green eyes lingering on places that looked suspicious. She was sure that Ashley wasn't telling her everything about his time at Hogwarts, but then, he'd promised to do that once they arrived. Another reason she had to go. "Yeah, I'm all packed." She answered him with a nod and a shrug. "I might be omitting important things, though? Could there be anything I might be forgetting?"

She hadn't forgotten to prepare for certain other things, though. Potions were more complicated than pills, she felt, but also much more potent and effective. Everything had its drawbacks. Aesthetically speaking, black lace was a staple, and she was more than sure he'd thought about it. He was a man. Emily didn't really think he expected anything from her, but she wasn't sure how she'd feel once night fell and they'd spent a few hours there together already -- talking, hiking, eating, drinking, whatever. The last and only other first night she'd spent with a man, she'd made the mistake of giving everything away much too early and she didn't anticipate that she'd be making the same errors again. "I don't really have anything that would be of much use in terms of being outdoors or anything, I don't think."

She was nervous, and it was really cute. Ashley smiled as she offered him a drink, stalling. He hoped that she was as excited as she was nervous, because he was eager to show her everything. She continued to flit around nervously for a few moments and his smile grew wider and wider as he watched her. “I'm good.” He finally said, “And there's no reason to be so nervous. I'll take care of you.” He promised.

“I packed the cabin with anything we could need already, so if you did manage to forget something, then I'm pretty sure I have you covered.” He had literally filled the cabin with the entire contents of his personal belongings. He didn't have a home, so he carried everything with him from place to place. He was a minimalist, he said. Some clothes, some books, some toiletries—what else would he really need?

“How do you feel about flying?” He asked, reaching for her bags. “If you don't like it, we could always just ride there. That would be an adventure in and of itself, but would probably take a lot longer.” He confessed. He hadn't really told her that his bike flew yet, but she'd figure it out. “We can probably make it a nice mixture of the two if you don't mind heights.”

He was looking forward to the ride there almost as much as the trip. It was rare that he got a chance to ride out on the hilly, tree-lined roadways. It was cold, still, which made it's own beautiful landscape. The sun on his face, mixed with the cool air was a treat. He had an extra helmet for her back at the bike.

She laughed a little, genuinely, even. "Oh, I know there's no reason to be nervous. Doesn't mean I won't be. Kind of in my nature to worrywart away about things." Emily babbled a bit, the volume of her voice petering off as the ramble trailed off. "You prepared ahead? Oh." The admission at the end was of pleasant surprise, and a smile lay unconscious and dormant upon her lips while she listened to him talk. Advance preparation. How thoughtful. And... so not-haphazard. The whole thing still felt spontaneous, just not... careless. There was quite a difference between the two. While she wasn't used to "going with the flow", as they said, (whoever they were) she was willing to step out on a limb. For him. And he'd thought to put everything in the cabin beforehand. How thoughtful.  She was mildly moved. Not as though she was going to say as much -- it might've seemed almost insignificant to him, but the gesture certainly wasn't to her.

While totally unsure what he meant, she nodded a little as he went on about transport. "Ehm. Can't say I ever got top marks in flying class first year or anything, and certainly didn't go out for the Quidditch team, but I suppose I'm not totally rubbish if the situation called for it." She laughed again, except this time it was out of slight embarrassment. That was alright. She was almost positive he wouldn't make too much fun of her for it. "A mixture sounds great. I trust you," Emily added, moving quickly to scoot the bags she had packed toward him. It made her feel like she was contributing a little bit of help, anyway.

"That's it, then, I'd think." She grabbed a more comfortable jacket from the coat hanger close to her front door and held it open for him, waiting for him to pass through before she shut it behind them and tapped the keyhole with her wand to lock it. "Alright. Let's go." She nudged in front of him and led the way down the stairs, eyes widening to smallish saucers when she noticed the bike and connected the dots. "Oh. That's what you meant by flying. I see."