19 Mar 2025, 10:45
Picnic Plans
Unexpected dinner plans for @AngelFyre McCubbin
19 March 2025
With a full day of classes finished and internships complete, textbooks and notes of parchment were returned to their dormitories. Simon and AngelFyre met back up in the Hufflepuff Common Room, his hand taking hers the moment she was close enough to do so. As he pulled her close, he led her into a twirl in a dance-like fashion and smiled when their eyes met.
"Oh, how I've missed you," he whispered and closed the gap between them, his arm moving across her waist and his lips found hers. Several fellow badgers walked past them, well used to such displays by the couple and this was a common occurrence within the Common Room by the couple. Simon hated imagining if his AngelFyre had been sorted into any other house, if they wouldn't get all the moments together they got in this room. Having a girlfriend in another house would not be impossible, no, but it was certainly beneficial to have one within the same house to share such a space. It was in that very room that they had first met.
"We're not going to supper tonight," he said as his lips pulled away from hers and he kissed just to the right above her chin and then brought his lips downward to her neck. "Well, that is - " he paused, brushing some of her long hair over her shoulder so he had more access " - that is, we're not going to supper in the Great Hall tonight if such is acceptable to you." His voice was at a whisper as he peppered kisses along her neckline.
He lifted his head, hoping he had maybe struck her curiosity and smiled widely to her and kissed her lips gently once more before leaning down to pick up his satchel. "I've other dining plans for us. Wouldn't you say this spring-like weather is absolutely perfect for a picnic? There's no better time than now and no one to do it better than us," but he knew he needn't convince her. She'd be on board.
The supplies were already packed in his enchanted satchel so he took her hand and they too followed some other Hufflepuffs out into the Common Room and into the corridors. They wouldn't follow them to the Great Hall though and instead continued to the cozy Clock Tower Courtyard, the perfect place to relax and unwind and while everyone would be at the evening's meal - a place the two could find solitude.
Simon stopped when he got closer to the Well of Four Beasts, a wishing well where students believed that a wish made there would come true. It was much more beautiful this evening than two days ago when he had scouted it out, because pink flower blossom petals had scattered the ground creating a magical feel.
He opened up his satchel and brought out a beige colored blanket first and unfurled it before placing it down. This kicked up a breeze which caused some of the pink petals to twirl onto the blanket once it rested on the ground but that was perfect. Next he pulled out some pillows and lined one side with them. A lantern came next and sat at the other side of the blanket's edge.
Resting his satchel on the blanket, Simon took her hand and began to sit down, guiding her along with him. "Join me," he said to her. "Join me for a picnic and never leave my side." Once they were both on the blanket, he would bring out other items that were essential for a picnic - plates, silverware - and of course - food and beverage.
Last edited by Simon Kincaid on 8 Jun 2025, 14:22, edited 1 time in total.
Be kind to one another. (*iNPC is Miles Thatcher)
4 Apr 2025, 22:42
Picnic Plans
A Countdown Showdown with @Simon Kincaid
19 March, 2025
Her smile broadened, if that was even possible, when he told her he had missed her. Hearing that from him always made her feel special. She knew, of course, that he meant he had missed her during the day. Wednesdays were one of their busiest days of the week, as internships (his and hers) were appended to their normal school schedules and took up a good deal of their once upon a time so called "free time". But AngelFyre loved to tease her boy any time she was given a chance, so she did.
"Missed me?" she asked, feigning incredulity. "How could you have possibly missed me? We were separated for less than 300 Mississippis," and she nodded emphatically while softly biting the inside corner of her bottom lip, trying to suppress her smile. "I know because I started counting them as soon as I kissed your cheek before racing upstairs to drop off my books. I counted only 248 in case it is of interest to you, coming nowhere close to my record of 216 Mississippis. Even so, this was almost like getting a mini broom practice in as I dodged and weaved between the unsuspecting badgers on the stairs. It was was very adeptly done, if I do say so myself, but God help anyone who ever gets in the way of me getting to you," and she gave up trying to suppress her smile, knowing full well the smile had been twinkling in her eyes the whole time.
Simon, who was now well versed in these spontaneous moments of nonsense from her, attacked the problem from, what she had to admit, was always the ace in his hand...kisses. Those she never bothered to count. Those she simply enjoyed. She knew at least one was coming when he spun her into his arms, but honestly, everything and everyone else sort of melted away when his lips reached her neck. In a Common Room full of badgers, there really were only two.
Her eyes remained closed, but she did smile at the mention of other dining plans. She said nothing, but tried to nod, which was a little less than successful given his head was taking up space between her own head and shoulder. She would have been happy to let him take up residence there, rent free, for as long as he may wish. "Oh, yes!" she said silently, meaning to answer his query regarding not eating in the Great Hall, but he could easily have mistaken her enthusiastic reply as a response to his lips on her neck. She was grateful in that moment for their Binding Mark. Binding Mark or no, everything about her reactions would have answered in the affirmative, if he knew how to read the signals.
He did.
He gave her that winning smile of his after pulling back, giving her time to catch up to the real reality bustling around them. "A Picnic? Oh, you know I love picnics. I agree. No better time than the present, and no better company to have one with than the one you love. And the one I love," and she lifted her hand to meet his outstretched one.
When they broke from the throng of badgers, and other students making their way to the Great Hall, AngelFyre began to get very excited. Simon led her out into the Courtyard, and there were beautiful pink petals freckling the the complexion of the cobblestoned area. She stood and watched as he did his thing, expertly spreading the blanket, which itself was soon enough covered in an array of lovely petals. Her eyebrow arched in approval as he pulled comfy pillow after comfy pillow from his satchel and lined them all up on the blanket's edge. Next he brought out the lantern. She looked up into the sky. It was starry, but there was not as much moonlight as they had had last week during the full moon.
Then he began to sit down and took her hand, guiding her down next to him. "Be careful what you wish for, Sugar Puff. If it were possible for me to never leave your side, I think there is a better than good chance you would find you had an AngelFyre-shaped appendage suddenly attached to your hip," and she sighed dreamily before leaning over to peck his cheek. He had been about to reach into his satchel for something else, likely the food and cutlery, but he stopped short at being called Sugar Puff.
His expression, not at all his normally unreadable poker face, was one of surprise and curiosity. "Yeah, that is right. I called you Sugar Puff. It occurred to me as we were walking out here that perhaps I ought to nick your nick and become the Count Chocula of this duo since I seem to be the one who does all of the counting. Like now, for instance. I am counting down the minutes... hopefully seconds... until those ripe, juicy, lucious, delectable lips of yours press once more against mine before we eat."
A mischievous grin was spreading across her face, and she was inching closer and closer to him, which to be honest, was more like millimetering closer and closer as they were already just about as close as they could be without inhabiting the same skin. In a low whisper, she started. "One Mississippi...."
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The magic is real.
6 Apr 2025, 21:46
Picnic Plans
Another promposal of sorts to @AngelFyre McCubbin
"You needn't count anymore," he whispered to her before his lips met hers again and attempted to reclaim his title in a efficient and enjoyable manner.The picnic could certainly wait and there was no one else in that deserted Courtyard that particular moment.
They did eventually break from one another and he smiled before placing the rest of the picnic things out. "What exactly is a Mississippi anyway?" he teased. "I've always used one-thousand.... like, one one-thousand, two one-thousand, three one-thousand.... If I think back to my hide and seek days, I've had friends that use crocodile for their time measurement counts and I've heard Aunt Maggie use "Piccadilly for hers but I'm sure she was just trying to be quirky. You know how shes can be."
Simon motioned, encouraging her to eat. This was taking place during meal time and she had a busy day. He already had his daily ration for the day and was fine, but by habit he often ate a little something at meal times due to the culture he grew up with all others around him eating frequently morning, noon, and evening.
So they ate, and when finished he used a cleaning spell before levitating some of the items back into the bag so now all that was before them was a comfortable place to leisurely spend the rest of their evening.
The two were near the wishing well and every-so-often one of the pink flower petals would float down around them. He sat with his back against the line of pillows and she sat with her back against him, cuddled up. When one of the pink petals fell on her shoulder, Simon picked it up.
He held it up, examining it and it's nearly translucent quality. "You know what I wish? I wish that your love always be a beacon of light in my life," and Simon tossed that petal into the well next to him. It sort of took some air and spiraled down but landed perfectly in air. He picked up another petal close to them, "and I wish that we have a lifetime of love and happiness together," he tossed that one in too.
"And I wish that you will accompany me to the Spring Soirée," and he tossed in a third. It was then, after that petal made its way to join the others in the well, that he gently brushed back her hair and kissed the side of her face softly as he nuzzled close to her. In a whisper he asked, "Do you think these wishes can come true?"
Be kind to one another. (*iNPC is Miles Thatcher)
12 Apr 2025, 05:39
Picnic Plans
Beacons of Light and Wishes in Wells with @Simon Kincaid
19 March, 2025
She chuckled after he worked hard to nick his nick back from her. "Tell the truth. Was that little marathon session a full-on pedal to the metal, kissing your girlfriend because you wanted to be kissing your girlfriend OR was it because you simply wanted your nick back?" She eyed him happily, knowing full well it was both, but he leaned hard into the kissing, so she was content to tell herself it was more the former and a little (or a lot!) less the latter.
"Glad you showed up prepared," she stated matter of factly as he began to, once again, spread out the picnic before them. "For some reason, I seem to be weak-kneed and famished. Good thing I was already sitting down or I may have fainted dead away," and she sighed dramatically. She got tickled all over again as he asked her what a Mississippi was anyway. Again, an opportunity for more teasing presented itself. What was a girl to do?
"Why Simon Ezra Kincaid, I am shocked at such a question. I know you believe London to be the center of civilization, but the Thames is not the only river in the world, ya know. There is this nifty country waaaaaay across the pond," and she was openly grinning at him as she held her arm out, with her palm down and her fingers flat and lined up side by side, while she swept her arm at the elbow, like a human compass needle, only less frenetic, and with a whole heaping lot less rotational range. When she had finished the elbow arc, all fingers were pointing in completely the wrong direction. That was on purpose. He was now in the midst of an impromptu geography quiz. Could be one question. Could be many. AngelFyre had failed to prepare a lesson plan, so who knew? Was up to her boy, but she knew he had an arsenal at his disposal for shutting her silliness down when or if he was of a mind to do so. Turns out, it was her own mind that did the shutting down.
"Daddy likes to tease Mom about it and calls it 'Amurrica'." AngelFyre stopped all of a sudden. The teasing had been forgotten and momentarily supplanted with thoughts of Grandma Ruth. Whenever she thought of her father saying that, Grandma Ruth was always attached to it because he always said he could not believe he lived under a roof, in Scotland, with three 'Amurricans'. AngelFyre used to delight in his saying that, quickly reminding him that he technically only lived with two, and the moment she thought it while sitting on the picnic blanket, her nose began to sting and her eyes watered. Now he only lived with one, and she gulped before finishing in a softly audible, "You know I only sound like one, but I am as Scottish as you, laddie!" which was said in what passed for her abysmal Scottish brogue.
She looked back Simon's way, smiling a little abashedly and shrugged her shoulders as he continued to set the scene, keeping an eye on her all the while. "Sorry, love. That was a Grandma Ruth memory that just sort of snuck up on me. In answer to your question, she always used to say it, so I got it from her. I never thought to time it to see if it is actually close to a second or not, but they are fun to say. I do like Aunt Maggie's use of Piccadilly though. That is so her. May try that one day."
He looked to be almost done setting everything out, but she really was hungry and reached over to pluck a couple of juicy grapes off the bunch and popped them into her mouth. It was a good reset for her thoughts and probably a welcome break from her jibber-jabber for him. "Delicious!" she said approvingly.
He had a large selection of her favorites, and after the blessing, she set about to enjoy his efforts and his company. "We should start a daily tradition," she said as she spread some sun dried tomato and basil flavored chevre on a sourdough slice. "It is something I thought we could do with our kids when they are older, but there is nothing that says we cannot do it for just the two of us." She knew she had his curiosity piqued, so she decided to take a bite of the sourdough right then, smiling innocently at him. She was glad when she saw him go for some roasted potatoes and steak, because that meant she was not going to be chewing away in front of him all by herself.
After swallowing and taking a drink, she wiped the corners of her mouth but was already speaking again before the napkin made it back to her lap. "I thought we could, each night at dinner, tell each other something unique about our day, whether it be something funny, insightful, hurtful, spiritual, or joyful. We do this pretty much already, but I read somewhere once that it is a good way to get kids to communicate with their parental units and with each other." Noticing he had pretty much had his few bites and was done, she nodded at him. "You go first and I will sit here and and chew my food while you regale me with something about your day."
His smile widened immediately and he told her he had received an owl from Aunt Maggie, with all kinds of news about baby Maeve. Apparently she was introduced to a baby bouncer and is delighted by the vertical motion as Porter, Mark's dog, jumps up and down on his hind legs to match her movements. She laughed as she pictured it in her head, and knew though he loved her to the moon and back again, he was dying to get home and spend time with the little bundle of joy. He never complained at all about it, but she knew he was sad to be missing so much of her day to day changes.
"She will be a whole new person by the time you get to see her in April. Good thing I know you love me or I might get jealous about you pining so and running off to be with some other girl. That is my interesting intel for the day. That and the fact that I do know that west is in the exact opposite direction I was pointing towards earlier, but it does have me wondering if you actually know it," and she giggled a little. She then leaned over to him and rested her head on his shoulder. Everything had been put away and he got himself into a more comfortable position against the pillows before getting her into a more comfortable position against his chest.
It was a beautiful evening and they sat quietly for a moment, her concentration focused on the very slow, but steady rising and falling of his chest against her back. AngelFyre suddenly became aware of something landing on her shoulder, and at first she thought it might be his feather soft lips, but it was one of the myriad pink petals performing their mid-air ballet. Simon reached for it and studied it for a while in front the both of them, twirling it this way and that between his thumb and forefinger. From her angle, she could see the softly diffused orange-ish pink light of the lantern through the petal. "How lovely."
And then he told her a wish and then another. Her soul then reminded her heart why it was him that she knew so early on she wanted to spend the whole of her life with, through the good and the bad. "I think your wishes will come true, Simon. My first wish ever for you, not a prayer, but a wish, was in the dragon effigy. Remember that? At our first Ball? I wished then that all your wishes would come true." She took a deep breath and moved closer to the well.
"I never made a wish in a well with a flower petal before; I have only ever used coins. This seems sweeter... gentler... so Simon-like." Her hand moved to the side and found a couple of petals almost immediately. She looked at him before dropping hers into the well as he had done two times before her. "I second your two wishes, and am fairly confident given I have some inside intel on the subject, that the odds are better than not that you and I, Mr. Kincaid, shall live a couple of lifetimes in one blissfully happy lifetime together, well and truly, forever in love." She latched onto his dreamy gaze before leaning over to drop her petal into the well.
Turning to look back at him after the petal disappeared into the darkness of the abyss, she told him, "Shortly after our first night in the Rehearsal Room, I came upon a quote that said everything I was feeling for and about you before I could ever tell you at all, but I can tell you now." AngelFyre looked down and reached her hand out for his as she remembered.
"Once upon a time our two hands accidentally grazed against each other on the piano keys, and life forever changed for me in those moments when our eyes met immediately afterwards. The quote I mentioned finding is 'When your eyes met mine, my soul pointed at you and whispered to my heart, "Him"'." She lifted his hand up and turned it over, exposing his palm where she gently planted a kiss.
He stared at her for a few beats in silence. Not in his flirty way or his teasing way. He was thinking... maybe right then feeling more than thinking. And then he wished a third time and dropped another petal. She watched him closely as he did so, certain she could see the pulse point at his neck thumping slowly, but strongly. As he moved closer and swept her hair to the side, she just so felt all of her love for him had to be overflowing. It was another one of those moments where there was just not enough of her to contain everything she felt for him, but somehow her heart always managed to surprise her and find room. Then a thought she did not want to keep to herself burbled up, but waited patiently at the door to be expressed. Instead, she smiled ecstatically and said the only thing she could ever say to him in reply to such a wonderful offer.
"Yes, Simon. It will be my honor to accompany you to the Spring Soirée."
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ReducioOOC: Simon and AngelFyre have longstanding permission to godmod one another's characters.
The magic is real.