Nathan Lee
Hogwarts Staff
Groundskeeper
Posts: 105
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Post by Nathan Lee on Jan 17, 2009 19:54:10 GMT -5
Nathan groaned internally, not wanting her to pull back but letting her go anyways. He was reluctant to let her lips leave his but he knew it was for the best. A lot had occurred in the short time he'd been in the library, but it had all seemed so...normal. He wasn't sure if he should feel that way or not, but he did. Brittany had made him feel secure enough to spill his past to her and now she made him feel secure enough to just kiss her. When she offered to just talk instead, Nathan couldn't complain. He actually didn't mind just talking to her and even enjoyed it. Their conversation at lunch had been a little choppy, but he'd still learned a lot about it and it had made him like her even more.
"Is there something in particular you wanted to talk about?" he asked, leaning his elbows on his knees and he stayed bent forward to talk to the woman.
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Post by Brittany Garland on Jan 17, 2009 20:05:06 GMT -5
Brittany was glad to see that he didn't react badly to her pulling away from him. Not that she expected him to, but after all she didn't know him very well. The fact hit her like a ten foot wall had just appeared out of no where and she wasn't looking where she was going. She didn't know him very well at all. Quickly she did a review of what she had found out: he had a son, his wife died, he was from California, he worked at Hogwarts. Holy crap. That was it. She was out of things that she knew about him. What the hell had she been doing? Oh yeah, fantasizing. "Idiot."
"Well, I don't really know you. You don't particularly know me either." Brittany pointed out the facts she had just reasoned out in her mind.
The more she thought about it, the more she did want to know about him. She wanted to be able to supply full details when she told Shay about this later on. The thought of that conversation made her want to laugh as she anticipated her best friend's reaction. As Nathan leaned forward, she resisted the urge to lean forward too so that she could be eye level with him. But she knew if she did that she would kiss him again.
Instead Brittany stayed in her chair, leaning against the back of it.
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Nathan Lee
Hogwarts Staff
Groundskeeper
Posts: 105
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Post by Nathan Lee on Jan 17, 2009 20:47:45 GMT -5
"Well, I'm not very good at this whole 'talk about yourself' thing," Nathan admitted with a slightly embarrassed chuckle and he nervously scratched his head again. He had never been good at talking about himself, not because he didn't like to but just because he wasn't good at it. Nathan never knew where to start and considering Brittany already knew the two biggest parts of his life, there really wasn't much else to say.
"You could...ask me things and I can answer," he offered, "I really don't know where to start. It's easier to answer specific questions than the broad 'tell me about yourself' statement."
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Post by Brittany Garland on Jan 17, 2009 20:57:14 GMT -5
"Okay," Brittany said.
He asked for it. So she began to think of things. Of course, fifty different questions came to mind at once. However, she figured that his favorite color was something that she could ask as a last resort. The same went for his favorite meal, favorite sport, or anything else that involved the word favorite. There was a question that had often popped into her mind the day that they had first met. Again, it was there peaking her interests. It was a completely valid question since they had just made-out in the middle of the library.
Brittany cleared her throat and asked, "How old were you when you got married?"
The question was a little personal. Alright, it was a lot personal. However, she hadn't asked exactly the question that she wanted to. Nathan seemed so young, close to her age. Cooper was almost five though, which would have made her around sixteen when he was born. She was hoping that he would catch on to what she was getting around to and save her the trouble of actually asking it. Brittany didn't want to be rude or pry, especially when it dealt with such a tragic subject.
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Nathan Lee
Hogwarts Staff
Groundskeeper
Posts: 105
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Post by Nathan Lee on Jan 17, 2009 21:20:02 GMT -5
"We were sixteen, just turning seventeen," he explained to her, not minding that she'd asked about it, "In our last year at school. It was just before graduation that...Haley found out she was pregnant with Cooper." Nathan realized he'd answered a little more than she'd asked, but he figured she was going somewhere with the question. There was something else she was trying to figure out without asking it and he was doing his best to answer it for her. "We were together for a couple years before we actually got married," he continued, hoping he was on the right track of what she wanted to know, "But...we weren't married for very long. Cooper was three when...when it happened."
Nathan looked down at his hands that were clasped together between and hanging just past his knees. He cleared his throat, trying to get rid of the lump that had started to grow in it. Nathan hated crying, especially in front of other people. It was the worst when he lost it in front of Cooper, but Brittany was quickly become a close second. "It was just fast, you know?" he told her softly without looking up, "We didn't...we didn't have time to plan anything or...say what needed to be said..." Nathan trailed off slightly, leaning back in his chair. The lump had grown too big and he felt his eyes start to burn. He jaw clenched in protest, but it was too late. He kept his gaze down and sniffled slightly. "I'm sorry," he whispered, "I didn't mean to get...I'm sorry." Nathan couldn't talk anymore.
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Post by Brittany Garland on Jan 17, 2009 21:56:26 GMT -5
Brittany listened to him supply the answers to her spoken and unspoken questions. She thought about where exactly she had been when he had been going through everything. She would have been in her sixth year, dating Sora Blake, not even thinking about anything that Nathan was having to deal with. Marriage was not a subject that she even encountered in her thoughts back then. She could not have even imagined going through any of that. However, Nathan had and she focused back on his story.
As Nathan continued, his features became darker when the story came around to the accident. It was another moment of weakness for him. She could tell that by his snipped off apologies. Brittany wasn't exactly sure what to do. They were talking about his wife, the one he had a child with, a love that he had lost. There was no way that she could possibly relate to that. Her heart sunk into her stomach at the sight of him. She had known that her question would most likely lead back to this, but had not known exactly how badly it would hit.
"Nathan," Brittany's voice was soft and quiet.
A look of concern masked her face as she leaned forward. Brittany moved to lean against the table edge coming up right beside his chair. She wanted to touch his cheek and turn his face towards her but she couldn't bring her self to do so. They were talking about his wife. So she placed her hand lightly on the top of his shoulder. Brittany decided that talking about her self for the moment was probably going to be the best route.
"I don't think I could have done that. I mean, me at sixteen was not exactly my most level-headed time. Even though it seems to be a very thin change to nowadays." Brittany offered with a half-hearted smile.
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Nathan Lee
Hogwarts Staff
Groundskeeper
Posts: 105
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Post by Nathan Lee on Jan 17, 2009 22:13:25 GMT -5
A smile finally graced Nathan's features when she felt her touch of his shoulder. He reached up slowly, taking her hand in his and giving it another light squeeze. His eyes reached Brittany's gaze and he blinked to hold back the tears that he so desperately wanted to release. He just nodded in response, unable to find his voice just yet. He wished he could tell her how much he appreciated the fact that she hadn't run away, flailing her arms as he sat there and talked about his wife. There was a chance, a real chance for him and Brittany to really start something, yet she was asking about his wife. It meant a lot that she was genuinely interested and concerned.
"Anything else you wanna know?" he chuckled, figuring the worst of it was over and he could handle whatever else she wanted to throw at him.
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Post by Brittany Garland on Jan 17, 2009 22:23:00 GMT -5
"What's your favorite color?" Brittany asked.
Okay, so she had resulted to her first instinct questions. Her question before had really been the biggest one that she was curious about. He had answered all of the corresponding questions in his response. She figured that that was all she wanted to chance for that night. Her heart skipped a beat at the thought of more nights to come with Nathan. It was more extended planning than should be on her part, but she liked to think of the future. After all, the future was all that was left when it came down to it.
Brittany made no move to take her hand away from his. She simply leaned against the table and laughed a bit at her random question.
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Nathan Lee
Hogwarts Staff
Groundskeeper
Posts: 105
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Post by Nathan Lee on Jan 17, 2009 22:42:57 GMT -5
"Blue," he chuckled in response to her less intimidating question. Why couldn't she have lead with that one? He shook his head, twirling his fingers with hers in the hand that still held her. She didn't seem to mind that he'd grabbed it so he took that as a hint that he could hold it as long as he wanted. Nathan liked this unspoken thing they had going on and the fact that he could actually read it. He didn't understand this chemistry that they had but he enjoyed it.
Smiling at Brittany, Nathan leaned forward on his knees again. He looked up to her, sighing softly when he let his eyes focus on hers. Every time he looked into them, he realized how beautiful she was all over again. The man felt his cheeks turn pink and he was cursing this school girl behaviour he'd developed. "Keep going," he encouraged.
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Post by Brittany Garland on Jan 17, 2009 22:55:51 GMT -5
Brittany scrunched up her nose at the color. "Ravenclaw," She thought wildly. She could definitely peg Nathan for the Ravenclaw characteristics. He was smart and silent like many that she knew, but had that fun and entertaining side that seemed to go along with the birds. She had ruled out Slytherin within the first five minutes of meeting him and Hufflepuff by his calm personality. For a while she had entertained Gryffindor, but had decided that she was just being prejudiced because it was her own house. That was her official Hogwarts evaluation of him. Of course, she was usually wrong at the whole house-guessing game.
She laughed at his encouragement and tilted her head to the side playfully saying, "Alright, let's see."
Teasingly, Brittany put her free hand to her chin as if she were thinking particularly hard about her next question. The next second she dropped her hand back into her lap and looked down at him. "I'll ask in groups of two and then you can ask me some. We'll go back and forth. But! You can't ask me the same ones I asked you beforehand. You'll have to wait." She told him, explaining the rules of the game. It was fun, finding out the mindless details. The tension had seemed to disappear after her first question and now she found that she barely thought about what she said.
"First group: Favorite sport and food." Brittany raised her eyebrow, a grin gracing her lips.
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Nathan Lee
Hogwarts Staff
Groundskeeper
Posts: 105
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Post by Nathan Lee on Jan 17, 2009 23:05:48 GMT -5
She was good. This was going to make it extremely difficult for Nathan but he'd give it a try all the same. Her first questions however, were exceptionally easy. He wondered if she felt bad for starting with such a harsh subject, but he didn't have much time to dwell on it. "That's easy, basketball and pizza," he answered right away, his thumb absent-mindedly stroking the back of her hand. He looked down at his involuntary movement and smirked. He hoped she wouldn't mind that either.
"My turn then, huh?" he asked rhetorically, "Hmm, let's see...favourite animal and favourite day of the week."
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Post by Brittany Garland on Jan 17, 2009 23:20:34 GMT -5
Brittany's hand tingled as he began to stroke the back of her hand. The two, she imagined, were a sight to look at. She was pretty sure that if anyone walked into the library at that moment they would be a bit confused. Not to mention, that all of the candles were still lit up because she had not taken the time to turn them down yet. No one would notice the light coming through under the door unless they decided to try and get into the library. Which, was not likely at that point in the evening.
His answers didn't exactly surprise her. Cooper had mentioned loving to play basketball so she had figured that Nathan played it a lot with him. "I like leopards and yes I know how that sounds like it's from out of no where. Favorite day of the week would be Wednesday. Just because it's in the middle of everything."
Sliding off the table easily, Brittany slipped her hand away from Nathan's for a moment. Untying the front of her robe, she slipped the black covering off of her arms and laid it across her empty chair. The robe had been bothering her and she found it to be a bit too hot since Nathan's arrival. Taking a seat back on top of the table, she pulled her legs up with her and grabbed Natan's hand back before she asked her question.
"Okay, I'm better," Brittany explained quickly. "What's your favorite time of day and what's the first thing you notice about someone?"
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Nathan Lee
Hogwarts Staff
Groundskeeper
Posts: 105
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Post by Nathan Lee on Jan 17, 2009 23:40:33 GMT -5
It took all of Nathan's strength to not snatch her hand back when she took it away, but he was slightly distracted by her actions that followed. He watched as she slid out of her robes, his body going slightly rigid. He tried to shake those bad thoughts out of his head, but Nathan couldn't stop his eyes from doing a quick glance over her body. She had taken a seat on the table now instead and with a smirk, Nathan stood and copied her. A moment later, their fingers were laced again.
"Fair enough, I suppose," he agreed to her day of choice with a nod. He was more of a fan of the weekends, but that wasn't her question for him so he couldn't answer. Her and her damn rules. "My favourite time of day if twilight," he answered rather quickly, knowing the answer off the top of his head, "The day's ending and there's the promise of a new day a few hours later." He thought his answer was cheesy, but it was the truth. Nathan always loved the promise of a new day, especially when the last one had been crappy. "And I notice eyes first," explained the man, "I noticed yours before anything. And they're beautiful." He let himself look into hers again and he smiled playfully.
"Favourite movie and when is your birthday?" he asked, changing up the game a little.
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Post by Brittany Garland on Jan 18, 2009 0:01:01 GMT -5
"Thank you," Brittany smiled at his compliment of her eyes.
It was strange to have a compliment on them. Her eyes, in her opinion, were a dull brown and not fascinating at all. Brown eyes could go two ways. People loved them or they didn't. She was glad that he was one of the people that liked them though. The young woman didn't agree with his answer of twilight. She thought it was all kind of sad really. The sun going down and the day ending, it was all kind of sad really.
Brittany had noticed his attention as she had taken off her robe. She liked it more than she should have. The worst was yet to come though. Nathan also felt the need to remove his robe and she returned the favor of watching. The robes had not done his body justice. Her eyes traced the muscles that she could see through his collared shirt. As he asked her his next set of questions, she reluctantly tore her eyes away from his body and looked up into his face. No disappointment there at all.
"Favortie movie is hard." Brittany whined and thought for a moment. "I like a lot of them. Mostly gushy chick flicks. My birthday is September twenty-first." Brittany stated the last bit matter-of-factedly.
Her next round of questioning threw back to the loophole in her rules. "What's your favorite day of the week and how many times have you ever actually gone up the stairs in Hogwarts?" The last of it was thrown in for her own entertainment.
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Nathan Lee
Hogwarts Staff
Groundskeeper
Posts: 105
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Post by Nathan Lee on Jan 18, 2009 0:13:51 GMT -5
Nathan hadn't meant to make her gawk, but he appreciated it all the same. He smirked smugly and did his best to make sure she didn't see it. But he had to make a face and let her see it when she mentioned mushy chick flicks. He had never really been a fan of them and had suffered through his fair share already. Not something Nathan enjoyed or wanted to do again. Frowning, Nathan was certain she'd just broken her rules, but he let it slide, thinking for a moment about his answer.
"I would have to say Saturday," Nathan concluded finally and then laughed when she questioned him about the stairs, "Including this time? Once." He chuckled again and shook his head. "No, I've actually been up a few times to the higher floors and once down in the dungeons. Creepy place, down there. Almost lost Coop." The groundskeeper remembered when Cooper had wandered off and the panic he'd been in when he realize his son wasn't there anymore.
"Middle name and...favourite book."
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