brand new sounds in my mind [kit]

It was late. The twilight sky had already fallen over London, the dusk ushering in a cool breeze from the east. Street lights sent an orange glow over the asphalt streets, but even with the light, the witch made her way down the sidewalk with a certain lack of coordination. She was carrying a brown bag in one hand that was getting heavier and heavier with each step she took. It carried a few containers from a certain someone's favorite restaurant. At the very least, the take out bag hadn't been dropped multiple times like the small clutch she carried in her other hand. When she had purchased it this morning, hoping it would improve her mood, it had been a light gray leather with rhinestones studding the front. Now it was scuffed, some of the rhinestones were missing, and she was pretty sure it was kind of wet because she sort of remembered dropping it in a puddle a few streets back. It didn't help that her hand-eye coordination was off and as soon as she had picked it up, she had dropped it in to the same puddle again.

Whoops.

All because Lulu Prescott was drunk. Drunk and throwing all caution to the wind tonight. After a miserable week of wallowing in her own self-pity, she had decided that shopping sprees, all the cake in the world, or romcoms would do the trick. She needed alcohol to drown out the miserable inner voice that kept asking questions that she didn't know how to answer. And all of the questions centered around one deliciously handsome man she couldn't get off her mind. Alcohol soon turned into action fueled decisions and then turned into a little trip to a restaurant that wasn't exactly nearby which then had her walking.. or more stumbling down the street toward a familiar office.

Kit's office. It was illuminated by a single exterior light, but she could see that there were still lights on inside the office. She knew he was kind of a workaholic and had hoped he would still be here. She had even thought ahead to bring him his favorite dinner, the smell of the Thai food bringing her back to a certain night they had shared while on that Thailand trip together.

In some corner of her mind, she knew this was a mistake. She knew she shouldn't be here. That in the morning, she would regret all of this and that she should just try to apparate home right away before she took one more step. But reason and logic hadn't really played a big game in any of her decision making processes tonight and so it was easy for her to push them away now too. She wanted answers, needed them. And as she tried to manage the few steps there were to the office door, she knew she really just wanted to see him.

Finally at the door, slumping so that she was halfway leaning on the railing, she raised a hand to knock on the door but forgot that was the hand holding the food. She knocked sloppily but then realized a half second later that the take out bag was at her feet. "Shit!" she exclaimed as she bent to pick up the bag. A second later, she was holding her forehead, cursing again, as a pain seared through her head, her ears ringing. She had forgotten how close to the door she was and had banged her head right into the front of the door. "Dammit," she muttered just as the door swung open, Lulu still clutching her head, the takeout bag sideways at her feet and her clutch forgotten on the step behind her.

@Kit Emberton

A string of colourful language hit callously against the walls of Kit Emberton's office as he slapped both hands to the refurbished antique desk with a smack. To say that he was having a bad day would be an understatement. It was the type of day in which absolutely everything that could have gone wrong, did so, and then some. The icing on the proverbial cake was when a new hire had stuffed up the weekend schedule leaving all patients with conflicting appointment times. "Well, mate, sort it out," He spat, the venom of his voice only just doing doing justice to his opinion on the matter. He didn't want to intentionally tarnish the kid's first week, particularly on his first Friday, but there was no stopping him now.

"You let me know when it's all fixed," The Healer let out a deep, exasperated breath. Aggression was not usually in his wheelhouse and the few moments he allowed himself to indulge in the emotion were exhausting. "It'll be fine," Kit resigned, his cerulean eyes softening as he threw himself into a tattered leather armchair. "If any patients give you a hard time for the changes, have them call me," He dropped his head to the palms of his hands. If this was any indication as to how the rest of his evening was going to go, he was going to need a strong drink with some sort of sedative potion.

"And for Merlin's sake, get out of here, it's Friday," Kit spoke through the smile he could manage whilst shooing the young wizard from his office. As he logged the list of things he needed to get through before the weekend, he absentmindedly summoned a glass and poured a whiskey that far exceeded the the two finger anecdote. He planned on spending most of the night awake absorbing case studies in relation to his new werewolf patient, so the need to relax was essential. Kit leaned back in the chair and took a mouthful of the amber liquid, listening as the footsteps of his employee climbed up the staircase to get back to work.

Just as he closed his eyes to relish in the absolute quiet, the confronting sound of knocking on the front door had torn him from his solitude. Kit groaned and slowly got up to go and investigate with his drink still in hand. He and the new guy were the only ones left now and Kit wasn't about to let him take on any more responsibility for fear that he may come short again. As he reached the interior door another thud and panic set in. Kit picked up his pace and threw it open, fully expecting to see a patient strewn across the stairs. Instead he found something else entirely.

"Lulu?" Kit took a step forward to get a look at her head, putting together the pieces of what had transpired prior to his arrival. "Are you alright?" His brow furrowed, reaching to help her pick up the bag left at her feet, another reaching forward to touch the apparent injury on the top of her head. "Come in," The Healer offered, leading her into the waiting area that by now would have been fairly familiar to her. As he watched her stumble forward, he broke into a grin. "Are you..." He narrowed his gaze carefully. "Are you drunk?" He continued with a laugh as the conclusion hit him.

"Yep, that's my name. Don't wear it out," Lulu slurred, enunciating the Ts as if that would make it seem like she wasn't as drunk as she really was. Normally she might have been worried about whether her skirt was wrinkled or if her hair was out of place, but at the moment, all she could notice was the blue-green color of his eyes and the way his hair was always adorably messy. Her heart squeezed just at the sight of him. "I'm fine," she started to say, but just as he touched her head, the pain started again and she flinched at the rawness of the feeling. "Ow ow ow ow owwwww. That hurts," she said dramatically,  even as she followed him into the waiting area.

She frowned at him as he laughed at her and sent him an icy glare. As if he dare suggest that she had overindulged. "I don't know what you're talking about," she tried to tell him haughtily even as she stumbled a step or two past him, but ended up falling against him. It hadn't been entirely planned but she wasn't complaining when she realized how close she was and how good he smelled. Like whiskey and sun rays and denim. "You smell good, you always smell good," she mumbled , her head against his chest before squeezing her eyes shut.

Nope. This was bad. This was really bad. But it was also difficult for her to pull herself away from him. But she had something on her heart. Something she needed to say.

Just say it, Lulu,  she coached herself, the war raging in her slightly dazed grey eyes as she looked up at him.

"I brought you dinner," she said and then blinked before blushing faintly and pushing herself away from him and into one of the patient chairs. The walls were at least not spinning as much now that she was sitting. But that's definitely not what she had meant to say and plus, it was a little obvious by the bag of food he was holding. "Do you have any whiskey?" she asked suddenly, glancing down the hall toward where she knew his office was. She was up a second later, the quickness of the movement sent her vision spinning away and she grabbed onto the back of the chair to steady herself as she said, "Woahhh."

Kit watched with interest as Lulu gave her best attempt at acting sober while instead cementing the fact that she couldn't be farther from it. He nearly laughed but controlled himself, shaking his head through an exceptionally telling grin. As he too stumbled through the threshold of his business by way of her movements, he straightened up to steady her against him to prevent any more injuries. As far as he could see the prognosis of her head was less dire than initially anticipated and far more drunkenly exaggerated on her part, but he didn't plan on writing it off just yet.

"Well thank you," He gave her shoulder a squeeze. "You smell... well, a bit like beer," Kit let out a laugh, his arm now casually draped over her in an embrace, prepared for retaliation. It was no secret that the two of them had come a long way from their platonic volunteer friendship, a certain trip to Thailand had solidified that. Lulu was fun. She made Kit feel lighter, more carefree than even he cared to admit, and he was having fun. Anything beyond that was entirely lost on him though.

"I noticed," The Healer mused, holding up the bag to inspect the source of the fragrant scent of Thai that had now consumed the room. "I can smell it," He added with a faint smile, fighting his immediate reaction to question if there was a  more significant reason for her unplanned visit. If this was some sort of booty call, he could definitely get on board.

"Erm," Kit jumped to follow to Lulu as she got up to run before quickly falling back into the chair. "I do..." He sat on the arm, crossing one leg over the other. "I think water may be a better idea?" He suggested innocently. "C'mon," He stood up and sent the bag of food to his office with a flick of his wand before pulling her to her feet. "Let's get some food in you," He insisted and led her to his office. "Have a seat," He directed Lulu to a more plush leather sofa in front of a coffee table covered in books and case studies. With another flick of his wrist, he moved his work and replaced it with the boxes of food. "What did you get into tonight, then?" Kit asked absentmindedly as he reached for a few plates.

She frowned at him, but a smile tugged at the corners of her lips as she watched him laugh off his comment of beer. "Not the compliment I was looking for," she muttered under her breath before she could stop herself, but she couldn't help but smile with his smile. He just had that sort of effect on her. It was automatic.

His hands on hers as he pulled her to her feet sent little shocks of warmth through her hands and arms and she smiled to herself despite her thoughts, her doubts. Just being near him made her feel warmer on the inside, and that had nothing to do with the alcohol she had had today. But it was a dangerous kind of warm too because she knew it was risky. And yet some part of her, she wasn't sure how large that part was, still wanted to take the risk. Lulu frowned again at his back as he suggested water. She knew the whiskey would help her be a little braver. She hoped he was just joking.

She collapsed into the plush leather sofa in his office, sinking it to more than she expected as she looked up at him through her lashes. As he began to dish out the food, she shrugged and picked invisible fuzz off her skirt. "Just decided to get some drinks," she muttered with a shrug. She couldn't really tell him the real reason she decided to drink way more than she normally did. Especially by herself considering Erika was out of town. "And then I was in the mood for Thai," she added lamely as she pulled a container of food toward her and picked up a fork, mashing it into the container and pushing around the food.

Thoughts swirled in her mind and she glanced up at Kit. He had been on her mind so much since their trip to Thailand that she thought she would be used to the effect he had on her. But nope. She felt it all just the same and it made her heart twist. She just wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing yet. She was surprised she had lasted this long after Erika had broken the news to her two days ago. Kit and another girl. Making out at a party Erika had been to. It twisted something inside her just thinking about it as her eyes wandered over him. She knew there hadn't been any promises made, but Lulu couldn't help but think they were on to something. Something mutual.

"Are you seeing other people?" she blurted out, her blue-gray eyes wide, surprising even herself with the question. She had almost convinced herself she wasn't going to say anything.

Kit looked up over the hood of his eyes at Lulu between heaving spoonfuls of rice, noodles, and meat to their plates, his line of vision blurring as the steam of the hot thai dishes filled his vicinity. Aromatically, the room had transformed as well. The Healer may as well have been hopping off a scooter in Thailand to eat his weight in street food. He was lost in the daydream momentarily until the sound of Lulu's voice had brought him back to reality like a welcomed slap in the face.

He shrugged nonchalantly in response to the witch's personal depiction of her evening. He was aware that she was withholding something but he chalked it up to whatever drinks she had consumed and instead enjoyed how cute he found her struggling with her fork was. Honestly, how she had ended up at his office meant less to him than the fact that she was actually there.

"Sounds like a solid Friday," Kit mused with a grin, falling into the arm chair opposite before digging into his own meal. Sure, he had eaten earlier but a second dinner was never a bad idea. "Actually, I was having an absolute rubbish night, so this is just - " His statement was cut short by Lulu's question as much physically as it was mentally. He nearly choked on a piece of beef. Kit slammed a closed fist into his chest to clear his windpipe. He was probably better off choking, he decided as soon as her words sunk in.

The bout of coughs now nearing an end, Kit carefully placed his chopsticks on the table and studied her expression with a furrowed, thoughtful brow. To say that she had caught him off guard would be a complete understatement. Until that very moment he assumed that this was some sort of booty call, of which he had no problems playing into. "I... am," He gave one final hit to the chest while speaking matter of factly in response. The man was nothing if not honest.

He sat back contemplatively as a wave of empathy washed over him. He and Lulu had slept together on a trip to Thailand, a night he looked back on fondly,  but he should have read the signs afterward that made it clear that perhaps she was looking for more. Kit physically recoiled at the idea of commitment, his arms crossing over his chest. "I didn't think..." The man began, pausing to eat the words he knew would be too offensive. "I didn't think this was something exclusive," He motioned between them, shuddering at the thought of exclusivity.

She knew it probably wasn't a good sign that Kit nearly choked on his food at her question. She leaned forward but her lack of coordination made her double think trying to get up from her seat to do.. what exactly? She wasn't sure. Pat him on the back? He seemed to already be doing that himself as she watched him pound his chest with his fist. Her hands worried the edge of her skirt as he looked at her. She met his gaze for the first few seconds, trying to decipher through the haze what was there. Surprise? Apprehension? She didn't know. Lulu glanced down at her shoes because it was almost too hard to look at how handsome he was.

But at his answer, she whipped her head up back to him. "You what?" she whispered, but then shook her head. The words had sunk in a second later. She didn't need him to repeat it. She shook her head and then started nodding, unsure of what reaction she should be having. What was the normal reaction when someone folded up your feelings and handed them back to you? She saw him sit back in his chair and cross his arms and she mirrored his actions, sinking further into his leather couch. "Right, right, right," she said, going for blase. "Not exclusive. Yes. I mean, I thought that.. we.. that I.. but after you.. yes, I think I understand now." The alcohol in her system was making her more chatty, but she thought she was doing as well as she could considering. She even tried for a smile, but it came out more like a grimace and she glanced back down at the food in her hands because even she knew she wasn't a great actress.

The food no longer held any appeal though and she suddenly wanted to apparate away. Back to her apartment, back to her own couch. But she remembered belatedly that Erika wasn't home and suddenly her empty apartment held no appeal for her either. Maybe she would try her brother Adrian's? She wasn't sure, but she felt like his office was a little too small, too cramped for both of them now. She stood, uncrossing her legs and leaving her container of food on his table, while giving her excuse. "I'm feeling very tired all of a sudden," she said with a forced smile. "I think I should go. Leave you to your work, I know you're busy. I'll apparate just outside. Finish your dinner though, you're probably starved," Lulu said, going on and on as she made her walk to the door, her hands finding the back of chairs and door jambs to help with her balance. She just hoped she could get clarity of mind enough to apparate home.