[DDC] longitude and latitude | • g i a

Dash knocked on the door, but she let herself in rather than wait. “Will?” She called out, stepping inside and having a quick look around. Her brother had always been so much more like their mother than their father, she thought. Books everywhere, half-written notes stuck to things. Then again, she thought, perhaps she was mirroring her mother more than ever at the moment. Now that she was studying, Dash was writing multiple research papers at once. She still spent weeks out at sea following and making note of the behaviours of various magical creatures, but when she came home she had to write it all up. She was quite the academic these days.

“Oh hi Gia,” she said, catching sight of her brother’s relatively-recently hired assistant. “Is my brother around?” The brunette glanced down at the wooden box she was holding in her arms and then shifted it to one hand so she could open the top. “Check this out,” she said. The brunette reached in and scooped up the fat little creature she had inside the box. It looked sort of like a mix between a rabbit and a ferret, with greyish-blue fur and wide, cute black eyes. “Isn’t she adorable?” The creature’s fur was soft to touch. It blinked at them both and gave a gentle squeak.

"Sorry, he's at a meeting with the- Dash! Hi!" Gianna struggled to wave at her brunette friend with a pile of thick, hardcover books in her arms. She was glad it was Dash instead of anyone else, because she actually had no idea who Will was meeting with or how to finish that sentence. When Will gets back, she should really tell him that important notes detailing his absence were entirely pointless when everything was covered in them. "Unfortunately you just missed him. He's out for the afternoon, but I'm not sure when he's going to be back." Gia replied cheerfully, dropping the pile of books on the table, and held up the unfinished note that was half soaked with tea.

She was going to make more friendly chit-chat about Will (Dash's older brother, her current boss, weird), but she couldn't help herself from squealing when Dash held up plump, furry little creature with the biggest eyes she's ever seen. "Oh Dash, she's so cute! Where'd she come from?" She knew she probably shouldn't until she had explicit permission, but she couldn't resist reaching out and giving it a quick scratch behind the ears. "Is it for Will?" Gia looked up at the taller girl, silently hoping that it was a yes, and that they could keep it as their new office pet. 

Sometimes she missed being back here. Now that she spent so much time studying, Dash spent a great deal of her days on campus. She’d been living in and out of an inn there, coming home to Ruari’s place only occasionally. Her blonde friend jokingly complained that she was never home, but it wasn’t entirely a joke. Dash missed Ruari. The tall girl nodded at Gia’s explanation, of course Will was out today. She smiled when she saw the note. Will’s untidy scrawl said something about going out with no explanation about where or how long for. She hoped secretly that he was out to see a girl…

Dash laughed. “Sadly, no. We found her injured a week ago,” she explained, shifting so she could put the box on the table beside her (on a stack of books no less; go figure). She cradled the creature with both of her hands. “She’s pregnant actually! These hiffloppos are going extinct because their bones have like, all kinds of properties - I think they might be used in a variation of Felix Felicia potion, you know - and wizards have hunted a lot of them down.” Dash patted the thing affectionately before holding her hands out. “Would you like to hold her? They’re suuuper friendly,” probably another reason they were dying out, dash thought distantly. They were quick little things - when not pregnant, at least - but they were also curious and loved playing with witches and wizards.

“We’re hoping to look after her until she gives birth, then try and find a safe place for her and her babies back in the wild,” she said.

Gia took the hiffloppo with both her hands as carefully as she possibly could, snuggling it close to her. She was so good and patient with Gia's fumbling, just lying there sweetly in her hands; she swore she immediately became ten times clumsier than she usually was when she was told to be careful with something. Maybe she dropped Kerr on his head as a baby or something when she was young and nobody told her. That would explain why he never wrote and kept secrets from her all the time. "How could anyone hurt something as adorable as this?!" Gia cooed at the hiffloppo, who blinked at her in response.

"We could... keep it here?" Possibly forever, she added internally. Sure, it would make a mess and probably chew up books to make a nest and probably drive Will half mad, but she would just be doing her part to save wildlife! Wasn't that an admirable thing to do? "Have you been keeping it at yours? Have Hal and Ruari made any disgustingly perfect babies that I don't know about yet?" Gia made a face and dissolved into a fit of giggles. It was always fun to tease her cousin about her boyfriend, especially since she's always insisting they're keeping it pressure-free for now, but anyone with eyes could see that they were meant for each other.

“Cute, right?” Dash smiled, moving to the table she’d dropped the wooden box on and peering into it. “Ahh, I think it’s probably better to have it stay with a magizoologist,” she said, letting her friend down gently as she pulled her wand out from her jeans pocket. “They also absolutely love ripping paper into little shreds, she added, so I’d probably keep her away from the books.” The brunette poked at the inside of the box. scourgify, she thought quietly. After giving it a little dry, Dash turned back to her friend. “She’s staying at mine until she gives birth… I think she does love you already though,” she admitted with another soft smile.

Dash leant against the table beside her, careful not to disturb the books. “Not yet,” she said, rolling her eyes in a well-natured jab at her best friend and her boyfriend. “I mean, I know we’re all only young but they must have been together for what, two years now? And how long around the first time?” She knew her friend was all free-spirited or whatever, but she could also tell that Ruari was really committed to the relationship she was in right now. Dash was keen to be bridesmaid at their wedding. “I’m just waiting for one of them to pop the question, any day now. You know he gave her a promise ring?”

"That's ok. Here, diffindo!" Gianna pointed her wand at a paperback book and tore it up into neat little shreds. "It's alright," she explained, letting the hiffloppo use it as a little nest so that she'd be more comfortable in the box as opposed to being in her thin and probably uncomfortable arms, "this is just a draft version they sent in for editing. Will won't even know it's gone. It wasn't very interesting anyway." At least she hoped it was the right one. She wasn't very keen on finding out if she was right though. That would be future Gia's problem, and right now, she had a hiffloppo who loved her! She really needed to find a new apartment that allowed pets, she just can't keep living like this.

"You don't think he's going to be the one who does it first?" There was a part of her that was pretty traditional still, and she'd always dreamed of being proposed to somewhere she could be surrounded by flowers and jealous happy friends and family. "I heard about the ring, but I just don't know what's up with that, you know?" Gia wrinkled her nose at the other brunette. "What if he takes five years to propose? Does he really expect her to wait for him forever?" Five years can feel like forever, for her at least. A lot can change in that time and...

A tiny squeal came from the box. The hiffloppo must've bumped against it or something, because it shifted dangerously close to the edge of the table. "Uhh, Dash? Was that supposed to happen?" Gianna turned around and looked at her friend, her blue eyes wide and startled.

Dash watched with slight amusement as her friend butchered one of the books on the table. She wondered vaguely what Will would have thought of that. Would he be annoyed, she wondered? Amused? The brunette smiled and put the bits of paper into the hiffloppo’s box anyway. The destruction of literature and manuscripts wasn’t really a big deal for her. “It’ll probably be him,” she admitted, “though… Ruari isn’t traditional in every sense, you know. I can see her doing the proposing.” Her blonde friend could be headstrong when she was set on something, and Hal - while clearly into her - was more of a passive sort of guy. He wasn’t always the first person to take initiative.

“You’re right,” she agreed with a short not. Five years did feel like forever to her, when she and Sindri had been together. There was a while there where everyone - she included, along with his entire ridiculous family - had been waiting for him to propose. The Trickett family had a lot of young weddings, she thought. She’d even been to a few. She supposed that their family probably watched Ruari and Hal’s relationship unfold with a similar sort of excited interest. If she was honest, she was just a touch jealous. “Can you imagine the wedding?” She asked. Tricketts and Regans. Whoever had to organise that had their work cut out for them, she thought.

“Hmm?” Dash went over and had a little look in the box again. “Oh, shit,” she said. Quickly, the woman grabbed her wand and conjured a pair of clean gloves. She slipped into them and started poking around in the box. “She’s in labour,” she said, her eyes wide. Oh wow. Dash had expected it to be soon, but she hadn’t known how soon. There was still a leeway of maybe three weeks before they were going to start worrying. “Do you have any dittany?” She asked calmly, glancing up at her friend. "Sorry, wasn't expecting this to happen today."

As far as cousins go, Ruari wasn't as... outlandish or bold as some of their other cousins, but she definitely inheirited some of the Regan temperament. Tenacity seems to be a trait that runs strong in most Regan's, which is not a bad thing in Ruari's case, she supposed. "That's true," Gia relented, "our nanna probably won't be too happy though. But then who knows, she changes her mind faster than my brother changes girlfriends." And that was something, because she rarely saw Torr with the same girl twice.

"The wedding will be insane." Gia nodded, confirming whatever unspoken thoughts Dash might have. It was unbelievable to think that two of the largest wizarding families might now be joined in marriage, and they keep getting larger! Although now that she thought about it, she was a little surprised it hadn't happened sooner. With that many Tricketts and Regans running around sparks were bound to fly at some point. "I'm so envious of them though. And a little jealous," she admitted, "I thought I'd have something sure by now, but it's only just a maybe, we'll see kind of situation."

"She's what?! Oh no, oh no, oh no!" This was not supposed to happen! Ok, so she didn't know what was supposed to happen technically, but this was probably not one of the probable outcomes anyway! "Um, dittany. Uh ok. Accio dittany?" Gianna waited for a few seconds, but nothing happened. "I guess that's something I should put on the shopping list! Is there anything else we can do?"

“I can’t even imagine the wedding party,” Dash added, wondering who the bridesmaids and groomsmen would be for each of the people involved. She would be disappointed if Ruari didn’t pick her. Freya, Valda and Ingrid might get a place too - being Hal’s sisters.

“No, it’s okay,” Dash said, trying to sound reassuring as Gianna drowned her out with a chorus of oh nos. She had to smile. Dash supposed that she would probably be pretty uncomfortable if she hadn’t been expecting something like this to happen, and if she didn’t have much experience with animals and this sort of messiness. As it was, however, Dash had been covered in blood and slime and all kinds of magical and mundane grossness. She’d witnessed all kinds of messy and horrible animal-related things since she’d started working with magical creatures several years ago. Births, deaths, disease. Being Arden Dasher, she felt everything that happened with genuine emotional openness. Each death was horrible. Each birth, beautiful. One thing that she rarely felt when working these days, however, was panicked.

“Hey how about you go and buy some from Baker Street? You know the apothecary there? It’s about two blocks away. Right next to that amazing taco stand?” Dash glanced back at her friend with a calm smile. “Actually, maybe you could grab a couple of tacos while you’re there?”

"If it's going to be anything like a Regan event, probably loud and extremely chaotic. Someone will leave crying." Gia warned, shuddering a little at the thought of her cousin's eighth birthday. She loved children, but they could be terrifying when they wanted to be.

The brunette wanted to scream that everything was not ok, and that this felt very much like when her pet bunny went missing, except probably much worse since she only heard the gory details about that incident and now she actually had to see it. "Oh Merlin, I bet you're not ready to be a mum yet huh, little hiffloppo? It'll be ok soon. I'll be back with the dittany soon." Gianna said in an exaggerated whisper. She heard somewhere that talking in soothing tones would help, but honestly, she needed someone to talk to her in soothing tones right now, because she was sure she was panicking way harder the hiffloppo, who didn't really seem to comprehend the situation fully.

The walk to Baker Street shouldn't have taken as long as it did, but it felt much longer to Gia, who came back with her hair messed up, eyes wild, and trying her best not to get the dittany on the tacos. "I don't know how you can think about food at a time like this Dash. I don't even know what I bought, so I hope it's um.. edible at the very least." She grimaced, and handed the much calmer girl her food. "How's the situation?" She was definitely going to leave today with an entirely new impression of Dash; slightly terrified and completely in awe of.

Dash was glad when Gia left. She loved the girl, but she wasn’t used to having someone so stressed in her vicinity when she was working. Most of the time for things like this, Dash was out at sea or in some research team on a remote island somewhere. She was by herself or with a team of calm and collected professionals. The last time she’d seen something give birth it had been a moonwhale and she’d been just a few metres away under the water. The calf had been born upside down, so they’d been there to make sure things went smoothly. At the end of the day, everything had been fine. It was pretty magical, actually. The hiffloppo started making some pretty strange noises - they seemed louder in Gia’s absence - and Dash was glad that she was alone. Gianna would probably freak out at the sounds. The brunette shifted some of the shredded paper aside carefully, stroking the hiffloppo’s back lightly. “There we go,” she cooed softly, “you’re okay.”

On the spectrum of traumatic things to witness, this was far to the side of soothing. If anything, it was a cute highlight blip in Dash’s work day. “There’s one,” Dash murmured to herself, checking her watch.

When Gia finally came back, two of the babies had been born already. “Oh, thanks Gia,” she said. The brunette wasn’t even sure that she liked tacos. It had been a long time since she’d had them. “Here, let me take that,” Dash held her hand out for the vial of dittany. She glanced down at the blood on her glove. “Oh everything’s fine,” she said, trying to be reassuring. “I wouldn’t look in there if you’re squeamish though. We have two little hiffloppos out and I think one or possibly two small ones left to go.”

"How can you be so calm?" Gianna marveled, not even bothering to hide the admiration in her voice. When she was younger she learned the hard way that it was better if other people didn't know she thought they were impressive. It gives them too much leverage over her and puts her in a weird position. But she didn't think that it'd matter in this situation. Dash was clearly a lot smarter than she was, and she didn't lose her head like Gia did over every little thing. It probably came with the job, like her ability to stare down vomit and not flinch after her much too long career as a waitress, although she could still be a little squeamish when she came into close contact with blood.

Sighing in relief, and trying her hardest not to touch the blood on Dash's glove (did she just happen to have those lying around all the time?), she handed her the dittany and set the food down on a different pile of books. After all that's happened Gia didn't think a little sauce on the pages should bother Will very much anymore. She grabbed a burrito for herself and bit into it. She didn't think she could handle the sound of the crunchy taco shells around tiny baby hiffloppos who'd just been born; it sounded too much like bones crushing to her.

"Thank Newt Scamander I didn't add any ketchup or hot sauce on the food then, huh?" She chuckled weakly and tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ears. "Did you say there are two more to go?"

“I don’t know, I guess I’m used to it,” Dash answered vaguely. She supposed it could seem like a contradiction; some people only saw the gentle, soft side of her. The side that often preferred being around nature to being around people. The gentle Arden Dasher, with her soft hair and softer features. The side of her that could really do no intentional harm. There was another side to her though, one that was strong and made up of rough hikes in the summer heat, dirty fingernails and chopping wood for the fire. She was stronger than she looked, in more ways than one.

“One or two,” she confirmed. “…Hmm.” Dash glanced at the label on the dittany bottle and then unstoppered it and applied just a touch of the liquid to the tips of her gloves. She put her hands back in the tiny box, pulling out a very tiny, wet, messy hiffloppo and holding it up for closer inspection. It wasn’t moving. The brunette started rubbing its back in quick, firm motions from the base of its neck to just above its little tail. “C’mon,” she said quietly, not paying much attention to Gia at this point. The thought that Will might be a little horrified about what was happening here did cross her mind, but only briefly. Her brother could just deal with it, she thought. Besides, it would only take one look at the cute little hiffloppo babies to win him over…

Squeak!

“There we go,” Dash smiled as the creature in her hands took its first breath. It coughed and sneezed. “Get the mucus out,” she encouraged softly, stroking it a little more before returning it to the box. After a quick inspection, she said, “I think that’s all of them, Gia.”

Watching Dash handle the hiffloppos made Gianna wish that she had spent her time in school more wisely. Actually learned to do things with her hands. All she was good for right now was mopping a sticky table or count change ridiculously quickly. It was a little too late to fret now, she supposed. She wanted to say something again, she didn't know what exactly; maybe pay her a compliment. She ended up keeping her mouth shut when she saw how focused the other girl was. Dash probably wouldn't even register what she said anyway.

Gia couldn't help but laugh when the last hiffloppo baby sneezed. Its eyes would probably remain unopened for a few more weeks, but this was like its way of saying 'I'm in this world now, and I'm not sure I like it', which was completely adorable! It was probably the dittany. "Aww, don't worry little guy, I know it smells bad but the dittany's good for you. You're safe now!" She cooed. Dash was probably going to take them away, but she couldn't wait to see them all grown up one day. Was this what being a parent felt like?

"What an afternoon, huh?" She grinned at her friend, stretching the very new kinks that worked their way down her back. "I'm not sure if I even remember what you came here for!" She gestured at the toppled book piles and shredded up pages around her, "Imagine Will's surprise when he comes back to all this." Although that wasn't something she was inclined to think about. Not yet, at least.

Dash peeled off her gloves and vanished them wordlessly with her wand. Then she had another look in the box. Things were a little messy, so she did a little bit of gentle cleaning with her wand before leaving the little things alone. Dash was sure they’d appreciate the space. “It’s almost sad that we’re relocating them,” she said with a smile. Dash wasn’t really that sad. This was how her work worked, after all. They researched, they helped, they took notes and they tried not to get too involved. “I can bring them back before I take them back to uni, though. They’ll be so cute in a week.”

The brunette smiled again, using her wand to clean the glove powder from her hands so she could actually take one of the tacos her friend had brought back. The tacos had been a distraction, but now they were just a tasty treat. “I hope he doesn’t throw a fit,” Dash said serenely, taking a bite of her food. After all of the chaos, the taco was heaven. “Delicious,” she said through a full mouth. When she finished it, Dash dabbed at the corners of her mouth gently.

"I'm going to get out of here; could you tell Will I stopped by?" The girl gave her friend a quick hug before packing everything up. She was gentle with the now-closed box of little hiffloppos, careful not to jiggle the box too much as she picked it up. I need a bigger box, she thought, stepping outside.

[end]