walk slow | [montse]

Still standing beside her, but not as close as he had been a moment ago, Jeremy basically melted when she looked up and smiled at him like that. He considered pinching himself, to wake up from what was so obviously a dream, but then realized he didn't want to wake up because this was awesome. The redhead watched her take her first shot, squeezing the trigger, and chuckling adoringly when he thought he saw her close her eyes a little at the last second. She was so close, and Jere was right there with her when she pouted a little. "That was great!" He exclaimed, meaning it fully, and gave her another big toothy grin. For the first time ever even holding one of these, she'd done pretty damn good.

"The professionals," he beamed at her, laughing and shaking his head but also feeling a strong ego boost at her words. He was a lion, Gryffindor through and through, and the fastest way to his heart was through his ego (and snacks of course). Jeremy received the gun from her with glee and took a step forward to square up on the target. He widened his stance, took a deep breath like he was some sort of marksman, and then squeeze the trigger with a serious look on his face. He hit the outer ring of the bullseye and the buzzer rang out and a little light flashed. He felt accomplished, so proud, and jumped a little before he turned to her and blew fictional smoke out of the end of the gun. Of course, the outer ring only won them one of the little prizes, not the stuffed kneazle he was gunning for, so it wasn't really a win but it was something.

The wizard behind the counter explained that he could pick a small prize, or take another shot for free, and so he turned back to her and held the gun up to her. "Try again?"

“It wasn’t, really, but I appreciate the encouragement,” she responded, “I’ll get it next time,” she reassured him, not able to hide just how pleased she was with the way he exclaimed that she had done a great job. It wasn’t as if Montserrat had never heard a compliment before, in fact, just like anyone else not only did the young witch enjoy being praised for a job well done but did her best to make sure that she completed assignments to the best of her ability. However, it was a little different when the words of encouragement came from Jeremy, the excitement in his voice along with his smile and gestures making her feel like he really meant it and wasn’t just saying it to be polite. And like a little girl, Montserrat giggled with excitement, cheering him on as he took the gun from her hands.

The witch watched him closely, making sure to take note of the way that he handled the gun and how he aimed, realizing that though it seemed a little too off to the side, it somehow worked to his advantage and hit very close to the middle of the ring. When he actually hit the ring however, she brought her hands together in much enthusiasm. “You did it!” she exclaimed, raising her hands to give him a high five for a job very well done. Even if they had only gotten the small prize, Montserrat was happy for them both, a prize no matter how small feeling like a victory for her.

But there was now an option to take another shot and Montserrat was intrigued by the possibility that her luck could change. She figured this was exactly how they got customers to spend all their coins trying to change their chances. “Sure!” she responded, taking a deep breath as she took the gun from his hand, concentrating as she moved a little to the side to aim again. “Is this right? Should I shoot or is my angle off?” she wondered out loud, hoping that he’d help her secure a bigger victory this time. For the both of them, they were a team after all.

Jeremy waggled his brows at her, feeling confident and triumphant and still a bit buzzed from the alcohol coffees they had drunk earlier. He felt giddy, excited to be having so much fun with her, and super excited that she seemed to be having fun too. So far everything he had learned about her had amazed him. She was very impressive, and not just because she was ridiculously beautiful (which she absolutely was!) but also because she was so smart and kind, she was a healer, and she was funny, and had a great laugh. Jeremy reminded himself silently to send his aunt a big thank you once they had concluded their date. Which he hoped wouldn't happen for some time.

After he'd taken his shot and handed the gun back over to here Jeremy moved out of the way at first. And then she gave him a look, and he felt encouraged to help her again, this time maybe a little bit more than the last. He moved forward, close to her again, but this time he wrapped both of his arms around her side to help her square up the shot. His hands over the top of hers and his head peering over one of her shoulders he was glad to have quite a few inches on her. It was easy to see the target, but so difficult to focus because of how close he was. He swallowed, remained calm, and reminded himself to play it cool.

"Okay... right..." Whispering because their faces were so close together now Jeremy nudged their hands up a little, swaying a bit, and found the bullseye. "Now."

Montserrat took a bit of a breath as he moved his arms around her to help her aim better, feeling her cheeks redden just a little at the effect of the physical closeness. He was much closer than before and between her consensimency and the alcohol in the coffee, the effects of which she was finally starting to feel now, made her more aware of him standing behind her. But he wasn’t taking advantage of the fact that he was so close, though she wasn’t sure if it was again politeness or maybe disinterest, simply helping her as she had asked him to do so in the first place. Montserrat could only hope that she wasn’t reading too much into this date, but it was possible, it had been a while since she’d gone out with someone and it probably showed a little more than she was willing to admit.

When he said the word, she pressed the trigger, her expression changing from complete seriousness to one of utter joy when she came to the realization that they had actually hit the inside of the ring. That meant victory, the big prize, she would finally get her kneazle. Letting the gun fall out of her hand and fall on the floor, she should’ve been much more careful, but they looked a little beaten up already, she shouted in excitement, turning to hug Jeremy as she bounced around in excitement. “We did it! We’re taking that Kneazle!” she shouted in excitement.

As her brain suddenly caught up with her body though, she smiled, letting him go and feeling mildly embarrassed by her sudden burst of excitement. “Sorry about that,” she smiled, gathering her long hair only to bring it over her shoulder for something to do. “This is literally the first time I’ve ever won at something like this, you don’t mind if we get the Kneazle, right? Or we can get a smaller thing, each of us can take it home, for the memories,” she said, turning back to look at the prize options.

With his arms wrapped around her, Jeremy felt like he was on the top of the world. Montserrat was perfect, so so far out of his league, but still, here they were and Jeremy was smiling ear to ear. He tried to focus more on helping her shoot and less about how good her shampoo smelled as they aimed for the target. He was a little sad to pull away from her when it was time to make the shot, but he hoped he'd get another chance to hug her at some point today. Maybe even give her a good night kiss. Now Jeremy was never the sort to plan anything out, think ahead, or even realize there was a future in store but he was absolutely thinking about a possible good night kiss already. Mostly because he would love to, but also because if she allowed him to then he knew it had to be perfect. He hadn't kissed many witches before, but he tried not to let that cloud his thoughts too much.

He snapped back, thoughts of kissing her swirling around his mind when she pulled the trigger and the gun made the little air popping sound. Magical "bullets" shot out from the little plastic gun and he shouted when they hit the target. "Woohoo!" He clapped his hands together, bouncing some as she did and laughing as she dropped the gun to the ground. The wizard's face lit up when she moved to give him a hug and he returned it as they celebrated together. "Nice shot!" he exclaimed as they pulled apart and he bent to grab the gun she had dropped on the ground.

"Absolutely we can get the kneazle, anything you want, it's your prize to pick." He grinned at her, excited they had racked up enough points to win her the stuffed kneazle (and that he had been able to help!) and his cheeks felt warm from all of the commotion. The alcohol made him feel tingly but he was buzzed on a whole other level now, he was having so much fun with her, and his expression showed that. "One stuffed Kneazle kind sir!" He called to the gamekeeper behind the counter with his chest puffed out slightly, being silly again.

Montserrat had never really experienced this sort of childish excitement before but she enjoyed it. Her initial worries about how the date might turn out had all but vanished, he had exceeded her expectations and though it was relatively early to know if he felt the same or even if he wanted to go on another date with her, she realized how glad she was that she had gone through with this date in the first place. Montserrat honestly wasn’t quite sure what it was about Jeremy; it wasn’t as if continuous physical contact had somehow clouded her understanding of a good time. On the contrary, their time together had made her forget of the many worries that she often considered when dates and romance and relationships were concerned.

She smiled as the gamekeeper reached up to pull the Kneazle down, hugging it tightly to her chest when he held it out to her. “It’s so cute and cuddly,” she commented, patting its head as if it were a real magical creature. Montserrat was intent on keeping it safe, the young witch surprisingly didn’t have many of these sorts of things in her modest home, often feeling a little foolish for wanting plush toys as decoration rather than something one might find in the pages of Witch Weekly. If anything, the Kneazle would remind her of the fun day she spent at the fair with him and that was enough to earn the cute, push toy a place on her pillow.

“Where to now?” she looked up at him excitedly, holding on to the toy as she considered what they might do going forward. Montserrat had no specific plans but also didn’t want to make him feel responsible for planning everything. “Another game perhaps? Or, we could try the fruit stand we passed by earlier if you’d like?” she smiled, “Unless you’ve got a curfew or something, of course,” she said playfully.

Watching her cling to the stuffed animal and then pat it on the head Jeremy beamed at her, a little chuckle escaping his smiling lips, she was so cute. Jeremy had been worried she would be too serious, that whoever his aunt had set him up with would be just the exact opposite of him and no fun at all. He loved having fun, being goofy, remembering what it was like to be a kid, he didn't have a serious bone in his body. When his aunt had described Montse as a 'nice witch who had her life together' he had nearly written off any chance of them having chemistry. He was so glad he hadn't! While she absolutely had her life together (she was a healer!!) and she was super nice (and so pretty!) she was also charming and cute and funny and fun to be around. Jeremy was really starting to like her, he always felt things quickly though.

Hearing her words he crinkled his nose for a moment, enthusiastically thinking about what she had asked, before answering. "How about we hit up that fruit stand, I am a little hungry, how about you?" He returned her question because honestly, he would do anything she wanted right now. Laughing at her teasing he shook his head at her and then shrugged his shoulders dramatically. "Well mum does like me to be home by nine, but we still have some time." He joked back with another loud laugh.

He waited for her to answer before they started talking and as an idea crossed his mind he felt a whirl of butterflies in his stomach. "Could I hold your hand?" He asked her sheepishly, a nervous smile on his face. He was an adult wizard but Merlin if he didn't feel like a silly teenager right now.

“Perfect, now I can show you what a courgette is,” she added proudly, though she was sure that he was well aware of what that was and how to eat it. Either way, he had shown her a good time so far that she felt obligated to return the favor and things like fruits and vegetables were a specialty of hers. She was a healer that dealt with children, after all, knowing about nutrition had always been at the top of the list. “But if you’re real hungry we can always get a bite to go before I send you on your way to mum,” she teased. Montserrat was well aware that he had roommates, in fact she realized that in the span of the time they had spent together, Montserrat had learned so much more about him that she had initially imagined that she would.

And that in itself was a nice change of pace, made the idea of getting to know him something she looked forward to rather than something that made her nervous. She was a little consumed by her thoughts, so much so that she almost didn’t hear him speak. But she had heard enough of what he had said to turn to him with a bright smile. Without answering his question directly, she grabbed on to his hand as they continued on their journey to the fruit stand. “Don’t ask silly questions,” she said softly, but confidently, feeling slightly shy about how she had said it but regretting none of what she had said. If their date continued as wonderfully as it had thus far, Montserrat was certain that he’d be leaving with a little more than just hand holding.

“I wonder if they’ll give out free samples,” she added as they walked together hand in hand, “the little artisanal shops sometimes give out bits of bread and cheese and by the end of it, you’re relatively full,” she joked. It was a past time of hers and her mother, to visit open markets and shop around, indulging in the samples as much as possible before making a few purchases.

"A courgette?" He asked slowly, having no idea what that was. He wasn't even remotely sure they were still talking about fruit. It was just as likely it was a muggle contraption that it was something edible. Jeremy had never heard of it, but he wasn't deep into the whole 'healthy food' game, so it wasn't surprising. Chuckling Jeremy shook his head at you, "Mum appreciates that," the wizard replied and laughed once more. Montse knew he wasn't the sort to be still living with his mum, they had just talked about it, and that made it fun to joke about.

All of his nerves seemed to float right on by when she slipped her hand into his, and he beamed. His cheeks felt warm, a little blush creeping up as neck, as he squeezed her hand gently. Jeremy wasn't great at flirting, but he thought this might be considered that. "I'll try to remember that," he teased back, but there was very little chance he didn't say or do anything else that was silly before the night came to an end.

Moving down the road he began hoping for the free samples as she spoke about them. "Really?" Jeremy asked, making a mental note to remember that for later. If they gave out samples for free, and there were enough shops that you could get full, that would be pretty useful the next time Danny and Jere spent their grocery money on squirt guns and holiday lights. (Half Christmas was coming up, after all). "I like bread, and I like cheese," he offered because he didn't have anything useful to add, but then he turned to give her a curious look. "Do you have a favorite food?"

“It sort of looks like a cucumber squash type thing,” she attempted to explain, not really sure how to describe it without looking at it directly. “It’s quite good though, fried or roasted or however you normally eat your veggies, very flexible as well,” she continued, intrigued by the idea of buying some for dinner along with whatever else she had at home. Montserrat tried to refrain from eating meat at least one meal a week, more if possible, so the thought of having a good courgette and some strawberries for dessert sounded appetizing.

When he squeezed her hand, her smile widened, the warm feeling that initiated from the gesture traveling along her body and settling comfortably over her. It wasn’t painful to touch him, not like it had been with others in the past, and that made her feel relieved. Although Montserrat had worked hard to control her abilities, she felt it had more to do with Jeremy and who he appeared to be thus far.

“Oh Merlin, I love a delicious dessert,” she said rather dramatically but had always felt strongly about food, even if she mostly tried to stick to a healthy diet when consuming it. As a Spaniard, Montserrat had an affinity for food but that normally didn’t sound too good if she said it out loud. But having spent most of her childhood eating meals at home, the witch had developed a palette for specific types of food. So when he said he was a fan of bread and cheese, Montserrat was almost immediately curious about what exactly he meant by that and if he had a favorite type or brand of cheese. “What sorts of bread and cheese?” she inquired, “Is that a weird question? I’m very picky about these things so I must know, this time I can surprise you next time,” she added with a grin.

A cucumber squash, sure Jeremy knew what both of those things were... but not really. He nodded and smiled, but the lost expression was clear as day on his face. He didn't try to hide it, better to be authentic than to accidentally give her the impression that he ate healthily. He laughed outright when she said however you normally eat your veggies, giving her a mischievous little grin and speaking. "Does smothered in nacho cheese count?" He asked, faking a serious tone as he tilted his head to the side.

For a short moment, Jere started to worry that maybe they didn't share the same taste in food. If she knew what all the fancy vegetables were, and she looked this good, she must have been a healthy eater. Worrisome thoughts of her having more in common with his roommate Greg crept into his mind. And then her next statement calmed him down. "Ah, dessert, one of the main food groups." He spoke with conviction like he actually believed that to be true, and Jeremy sort of did.

The redhead gave her a little shrug when she asked what sorts of bread and cheese he liked because really he wasn't picky, but also there were more than just two kinds of cheese? (nacho cheese and the kind they put on pizza, right?). "I like them all," he told her with a nod and another little smile. "Nacho is my favorite, but that white kind on pizzas is pretty good too." Jeremy loved food, like really loved food, but he was so far from a foodie it was ridiculous. He knew nothing about fancy cheese or vintage wine or any of those things. "What is your favorite?" Eyes glancing to her as they neared the stand, hoping she'd enlighten him a little.

She couldn’t help but to laugh out loud at his question, “Oh I haven’t had proper nachos in a while, but I suppose for the sake of the argument, sure—” she nodded in agreement, the smile staying on her face as she considered what other sorts of foods he enjoyed. Montserrat could already tell that if this, they, became a thing, they’d spend much of their time together introducing each other to their favorite foods. The witch enjoyed a good meal when she could get her hands on one but tended to shy away from certain foods because she’d always worry they were much too unhealthy. If her boyfriend encouraged it, however, she might find it hard to resist.

Montserrat considered how the title of boyfriend fit Jeremy very well, and wondered if the other people who they passed assumed they were friends or a couple. But she didn’t want to become fixated on the thought of a relationship when it was only the first date. Either way, Jeremy was incredibly fun to spend time with and that was enough to make Montserrat never want their date to end. “Only on occasion,” she reminded him softly, “I can’t very well tell my patients to eat better when I don’t take my own advice,” she continued.

“I’ll have to take you to my favorite pizza place,” she suggested. It was a nice, hole in the wall sort of place that never skimped out on the vegetables and meat, her favorite type being an arugula and prosciutto one on the softest dough she had ever had. Just thinking about it made her want to eat it. Approaching the fruits stand she looked at the array of fruits and vegetables, “Oh look, they’ve even got dragonfruit,” she noted, the woman at the stand offering a plate of freshly washed strawberries to try. “Want one?” she asked, taking one of the strawberries by the stem and offering it to Jeremy. “The look delicious.”

"That is so sad," Jeremy said, freehand on his chest, pretending to be fully choked up about the fact that she hadn't had enough nachos lately. He ate nachos more than a person should, and the little pouch on his gut where muscles from Quidditch used to be was starting to show it. Jeremy had always been thin, fit even because he was constantly running around doing dumb things or playing Quidditch back at Hogwarts but it was very different now. Aside from pushing a mail cart (which honestly he charmed to roll any time he could remember the incantation) he rarely did much of anything active. He was nothing like Greg and his abs, and he probably never would be. Exercising wasn't high on his list of priorities, getting high was though.

Nodding his head to either side he considered her statement about eating healthy if she was going to set a good example and then answered with a shrugging laugh. He knew she was right, it was logical, and he really respected that she wasn't a hypocrite about it, but on the other hand, he still had no idea what a courgette looked like so he wasn't like fully on board.

"That would be great," Jeremy said quickly, almost too quickly, completely giving away how eager he was to see her again after tonight. This date was going so well he didn't want it to end, but if he was going to, he was already looking forward to the next one. Hoping that there would be one. When they got to the stand Jeremy took a minute to count how many things were displayed on the table that he had never heard of or see before. There was a lot, too many to finish counting before she was turning toward him. He was going to ask what a dragon fruit was but assumed it was the magical pinkish one hovering above its basket with little green wings.

Turning to face her he saw the strawberry she was holding out for him to try and he got super nervous. Another warming sensation ran up his neck and flushed his cheeks as he leaned in to take a bite out of it. It was one of the biggest, reddest strawberries he had ever seen. He was used to seeing them when they were kind of brownish and fuzzy in the back of the icebox back home, pushed to the back to make room for various day old take out containers, of course. Careful not to bite her fingers Jeremy too a small chunk off the edge and chewed it before nodding. "Oh that is good," he told her, reaching for the rest of the strawberry and then taking another quick big bite. He tossed the leafy part into the little bin the stall keeper had set at the edge of the stand and then reached for another one.

"You want a try?" He asked, trying to keep the immature part of his brain from reading too far into this situation and holding the strawberry steady for her.

Montserrat had never considered using the words sad and nachos in the same sentence but it spoke to his priorities about the food and she found it ridiculously endearing. While she was unsure of whether Jeremy was serious or not, the ease with which he expressed himself made it easy for her to want to engage in conversation with him, to laugh about silly little things, to feel freedom in what she said rather than to feel the need to impress him with her knowledge or her understanding of the world around her.

She was enthusiastic about what she assumed to be his agreement to go to the pizza place with her as that could only mean that he was interested in seeing her again. Montserrat didn’t want to heighten her expectations though, the last thing she wanted was to feel disappointed if things didn’t work out or if it turned out that she was imagining all of these things while he was simply being polite. That sounded like something she would do. It wasn’t too long ago when she had read into most of her relationship with Prosper only to feel absolutely heartbroken when she realized that they were on two completely different pages in regard to their level of commitment to each other.

But Montserrat didn’t want to think about that for now, she just wanted to focus on the fact that here she was experiencing something new with someone she had just met, and it was fun.

She was a little surprised that he actually took the bite from the strawberry, realizing after she held it up to him that he might find the gesture a little too forward or something. Montserrat had been raised to be expressive, but she also knew that the English tended to be more reserved. But she had already started and there was no point in backing out now. She smiled when he complimented the taste, almost immediately leaning forward to take a bite from the one he offered her. It tasted deliciously sweet, much better than she expected. “Amazing, I’ll take two bins of strawberries,” she said to the woman, “And a few of those courgettes over there,” she pointed in the direction of the vegetable.

Jeremy's mind threatened to go to the wrong places for a first date when she took a bite of the strawberry, but he was a gentleman, so he calmed down quickly. When she leaned back and agreed that they were great he smiled, tossing what was left of the strawberry into the bin and turning back to her. "Oooh that's a courgette, hm." Jeremy said, leaning in to see exactly where she was pointing and then making an understanding sound with his nod.

"And I'll be paying for them," he said with a great big smile, happy to buy her more things even though he had very little money to do so. Jeremy had always been the generous type, he'd give everything he had to make another person happy, honestly with his appetite and friendliness it was a wonder he hadn't been a Hufflepuff.

"If that's okay?" He reached into his pockets, because he fully planned to, but slow enough that if she wanted to she could protest. As much as he wanted to treat her right and all of those chivalrous things he'd grown up learning about he also didn't want to make her uncomfortable. She worked at St. Mungos for Merlin's sake, she probably made three times as much as he did, he knew that she could take care of herself. And he respected that, and her choice, but still, he totally wanted to buy the strawberries for her.