May 15th, 1888 - Walsh/MacKay Residence, Swallowbury

It started out as a feeling / Which then grew into a hope
Which then turned into a quiet thought / Which then turned into a quiet word
And then that word grew louder and louder / 'Til it was a battle cry
I'll come back / When you call me / No need to say goodbye
- The Call, Regina Spektor

Eva had never, in her entire life, made dinner, by herself. For herself, certainly, but not for someone else and not without a little help from Mrs. Sweeney here and there. The woman was a godsend really, without her they would certainly be lost. She was not however, the most fond of Eva having a gentleman over for dinner without someone else home and it had take quite a bit of persuasion on Eavan's part to get the woman to stay out of the kitchen and out of the dinner itself. Mrs. Sweeney wasn't taking no for an answer and so Eva had to agree to let her stay in the house somewhere just in case. In truth, Eva hadn't put up much of a fight. She knew Mrs. Sweeney had no kids to call her own and liked to keep and eye on the three crazy Americans under their roof, so as long as the older woman agreed not to interrupt, she could remain in the house.

It didn't take long for Eva to regret that.

She was not a natural in the kitchen by any stretch of the imagination. Sure she could always manage to pull something together for herself, but she was not the most picky when it came to eating. Apparently, she was picky about what she served to a guest; especially when that guest was Fletcher. Not one to ever feel like she was out of control of a situation, Eva was slowly losing her grasp on the meal, and was already flustered. How did Mrs. Sweeney do this every day? The roast and vegetables were in the oven (the last thing Mrs. Sweeney had been able to do before she was ousted from the kitchen) and Eavan was supposed to be making something for dessert, but the soda bread she had planned, was not like she remembered making with her mum...

A knock on the door had her squeaking in surprise and glaring at the clock; was it really that time already!? Eva flung off her apron and smoothed down the skirt of her pretty blue dress and tucked a stray strand of red hair behind her ear before taking a deep breath and answering the door. Hopefully she didn't look as frazzled as she felt.

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Fletcher had been a bit surprised when Eavan had invited him over for dinner but had happily accepted. They'd done a few things together, but always out in public surrounded by many others. This dinner sound much more intimate, perhaps even just the two of them. It was exciting... And nervewracking all at the same time. So much so, he'd even stopped by his family's home there in Irvingly before heading over just to get a bit of a pep talk. Abigail had gushed about the prospect of Fletcher possibly on the verge of settling down but his mother had seemed to pout some. Whether because she hadn't plotted the romance or because he had yet to meet Eavan, he wasn't sure. Though, he was fairly certain it was a mixture of the two. Regardless, seeing them and their smiles helped him and bolstered his step as he made his way to the lovely red head's home.

He soon found himself knocking on the door and that very door opening shortly afterward. He was greeted by a lovely sight, not noticing the frazzled state she was in in the slightest. Instead, what he saw, was a woman who was quite seriously stealing his heart away and the very sight of her caused him to smiled brightly at her.

"'Lo Eavan," he said, still smiling and completely forgetting propriety and calling her by her first name though didn't seem to even notice he'd said so, "You look lovely this evening."

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Flustered as she was, Eva was beaming when she opened the door. "Give it time." She had never been very good at accepting compliments, why start now? For a girl who was always covered in dirt, or animal fur, or some kind of mess, she typically didn't look lovely. Even when she took the time to tidy up, she still didn't feel like it mattered much. That was neither here nor there however, as she ushered him into the house and toward the kitchen itself.

She hadn't bothered to set the nice dining table they had, preferring the little kitchen table to it as she'd never actually eaten a real meal at the other one. It felt kind of formal and stuffy- two things she was decidedly not, so she had a little vase filled with wildflowers and some wine on the little round table in the kitchen instead. Much more intimate and casual. Better. Plus she could keep an eye on the dinner as it finished up and not have to run back and forth.

"Wine?" She was already distracted, wondering how she was going to save the soda bread at this point and wondering if she could scrape something else together. Both were unlikely, but what on earth were they going to do for dessert? Mrs. Sweeney had to have something hiding somewhere. "Sorry, I've never cooked like this before, I'm all over the place." She smiled sheepishly as she moved to pour them each a glass of wine. Maybe it would help her slow down.

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Fletcher chuckled in response, taking note that she perhaps wasn't as composed as he'd thought her to be. Regardless of her inner turmoil, she did look lovely and he was quite glad to be there. He allowed himself to be guided into the quaint kitchen with the little table set up within, barely enough room for the two of them from the looks of it. It caused his smile to widen. It was far more intimate and personal than a larger more formal dining table. He found himself quite glad for it and happily accepted the glass of wine as she finished pouring it.

"You don't have to go all out on account of me," he said with a grin before raising his glass to hers, "But here's to the first of many." A small clink of the glasses was all that was needed before he took a small sip of his wine then set it to the table and looked around. "Is there anything I can do to help?" he asked, ready to lend a hand wherever it may be needed. He had spent just over a decade as a bachelor in his own home so he liked to think he at least knew his way around a kitchen somewhat.

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Eva merely shrugged and raised her glass to his before taking a sip. Looking around the kitchen she realized she didn't really have an answer to his question. "Honestly, I don't know." With everything in the oven and the soda bread unlikely salvageable, Eva really didn't know what else there was to do until dinner was done. Even then it would just be take it out of the oven and serve... or so she hoped!

"I was trying to make soda bread, but I think I've ruined it somehow. Guess we're not having dessert." She shrugged her shoulders and smiled sheepishly at him over her wine glass. The dough she'd managed to come up with was not what she remembered it to be, so unless Mrs. Sweeney had thought ahead and hidden something in the ice box, they were likely to be raiding the cookie jar for an after dinner sweet.

There was no point in dwelling on her failed soda bread- had she been on top of her game, she would have made it ahead of time at least once so she knew how to do it, but had wanted it fresh from the oven and so hadn't thought about practicing. "How was your day?" She asked- and suddenly realized that this could become a regular occurrence, if things progressed naturally; dinner in the oven, a glass of wine, asking about his day. Eva found it surprisingly appealing, though she had never envisioned it before.

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Fletcher watched her with a smile as she pondered how to respond to the question. She was clearly deciding what, if anything could be done. He did, however, feel a bit of disappointment at the mention of no dessert. He did tend to have quite the sweet tooth. He could surely survive though. Being in her company was treat enough, after all.

"Perhaps another time I'll get to officially try this famous soda bread you talk of," he said with a nod though he hoped it didn't cause her to feel guilty over not being able to manage it that night. He sincerely hoped there would be more times like that one where they could enjoy dinner together.

"My day was.." he paused briefly as he reflected on it. Things had been rough since Miss Scrimgeour's disappearance and the more he heard about it, the worse things seemed to get. "Hectic," he finally said with a shrug, "I'm sure you've heard of Miss Scrimgeour's initial disappearance? And now they've just reported her father was arrested for assault. My department's already been a bit of a mess but now it seems to be the only thing anyone talks about." He smirked then. Just like he was doing in that very moment.

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Eva had been thinking about other possible desserts, but was not well-versed enough in the kitchen itself to know what was even possible. Mrs. Sweeney always kept some kind of cookies in the jar on the counter though, perhaps that would have do do. She could cut up some fruit to go with it? That would be an after dinner problem, she supposed.

What she hadn't expected was to hear that Fletcher had such a rough day. Truthfully Eva hadn't heard that Miss Scrimgeour had gone missing; she was very out of touch with news or gossip in any form unless Una passed on information she'd read and even then it couldn't be counted on that Eavan was listening fully. Regardless, she could see that it was impacting Fletcher more than she would have anticipated, but then again as the head of his department, she knew he felt some kind of responsible for the young intern.

Eva reached out her free hand to lay it gently on his arm and give it a reassuring pat. "I'm sorry to hear it's been difficult. I do hope she's alright." The one encounter Eva had with Miss Scrimgeour had been... odd to say the least, but a mooncalf was involved and frankly while that was normal for the redhead, it had certainly not been for Miss Scrimgeour. Sliding her hand down his arm Eva tangled her fingers in his and squeezed lightly hoping to exude some comfort.

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Fletcher couldn't help but to smile at the woman before him as she reached out to pat his arm and then even went so far as to lace her fingers within his own. It was comforting and quite pleasant. He could get used to that. He wanted to, really. But he also didn't want to rush anything and risk frightening her away. He'd already acted abysmally in the past so who knew what it would take to truly frighten her off. Honestly, he wasn't exactly willing to test those waters. He liked their happy sort of calm and understanding. It worked for them and hopefully it would stay that way.

"I hope so, too," he answered honestly though he didn't plan to dwell on it, especially if it would hinder their evening together. "And how was your day?" he asked, gladly changing the subject, "Everything well at the zoo?"

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Eva's smile was admittedly a little smitten and she tried to hide it behind her wine glass. It was obvious he cared about his staff and his patients, his work clearly benefiting from his attention and it was endearing to her. "I was home today, attempting to learn how to cook in a crash course from our dear housekeeper, Mrs. Sweeney. It was very eye-opening." Eva had never been the best at potions, passable if she paid careful attention and good enough in a pinch, but was not her best subject by far.

"I daresay it'll be alright, but it's still cooking so something could go wrong." She tried to wave the hand that wasn't holding her wine glass dismissively, but realized she was still holding his and it ended up in a bit of a flail that had her stifling a laugh. "Sorry." She bit her lip to prevent a full laugh from erupting as she nearly spilled her wine all in one fell swoop. "If nothing else I'll be dinner and a show." Now that was closer to the truth. Now if she could just avoid making a huge mess that would be great.

Swinging their joined hands, on purpose and much more gently this time, Eva let out a little hum of thought, "It's got a few more minutes, what shall we do with our time?" She was terrible at sitting still even as an adult.

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Fletcher's smile only widened as he listened and watched Eavan speak. Then the subsequent flailing of their hands had him chuckling lightly. It was really quite nice and fun. Just the two of them in her little kitchen waiting for this experiment of a dinner she'd made to be done. He was certain it couldn't be all that bad, especially if the Mrs. Sweeney had helped in the beginning. The woman, though he'd only met her briefly, certainly appeared to be the formidable sort.

Her question, however, caught him a bit off guard and he found his mind racing with all the things he would like to do but probably shouldn't do. It was hard to keep himself in check though. Her smile was just that enticing and the way they were alone didn't help matters.

And so, he ended up acting on instinct. He didn't say anything but instead gave her hand a pull slightly to find them both on their feet. Then with his free hand he brought it up to gently cup her cheek. He smiled down at her before gently leaning forward and kissing her. It was a soft and simple kiss though not completely chaste as he lingered a bit longer than was probably proper. "I couldn't resist," he said softly, not exactly apologizing but he would if she was offended by his quite abrupt action.

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Of all the things Eavan had imagined coming next, that was certainly not it. The tug on her hand and her heartstrings had her reeling and she nearly dropped her wine. They weren't doing things by the book, but that was a little bold!

But she hadn't minded.

She wasn't exactly experienced with this, but that lightheaded feeling  and catch in her breath wasn't entirely unwelcome either. Letting out a little sigh, she chuckled when he didn't exactly apologize for it either. Eva could feel a little thrill, that little bit of adrenaline, the newness of it and she was torn between what to do about it.

Carefully, lest she drop the wine, Eva set it aside on the nearby counter and turned back to eye him carefully. While that hadn't been what she'd had in mind originally, it was certainly all she could think about now and so cautiously, Eva closed the distance between them, pushing up to her tiptoes to kiss him again.

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The little sigh and chuckle was like music to Fletcher's ears. There wasn't a stinging slap to his cheek or a scowl on her face which were all good signs. He hadn't really expected either of those things but there was really no knowing. This was foreign territory to him as well. Of course, he'd been with other women but none that had meant anything more to him. Not like what Eavan had started meaning to him. He'd never even gone down the roads of courtship before and though he knew they weren't doing things by the book he was quite glad with the way they had progressed.

He watched as the glass was set down and felt the smile spread on his cheeks as she got to her tiptoes to kiss him again. He kissed her back, his hand snaking around her waist to hold her against him a little tighter as their kiss lasted a little longer than before. Once it came to an end, he didn't pull away and instead pressed his forehead against hers. "I don't think I've ever enjoyed a dinner quite like this before," he said softly, a bit huskily as the emotions and feelings really ran rampant through him.

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This overwhelming feeling of being close like this was almost intoxicating. Eva was the novice here, just trying to keep her balance through the haze and flurry of sensations and emotions. Her hands had come to rest on his shoulders to  help balance herself, but as he pulled her in tighter, she wound them behind his neck as best she could, given their height difference.

Out of breath as he pulled back, Eva sighed softly again, lashes fluttering open to look at him. The intimacy of the moment was not lost on her and it startled Eavan to realize, despite all of their careful considerations, just how easily she was falling for him. It wasn't as unwelcome as she thought it would be, for an independent girl who'd never thought she'd even get this far in a relationship. "Well, I didn't make appetizers." She teased with a breathless laugh.

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Fletcher had honestly fallen for Eavan long before that moment but that second kiss was perhaps the nail in the proverbial coffin for him. He'd fully lost himself to her and the thought of losing her was almost crushing. He sincerely hoped it wouldn't ever become a reality. He wasn't quite sure if he'd be able to handle such a thing. And that, was the scariest thought of all.

Her words and laugh, however, had him laughing. A deep and hearty chuckle as he hugged her close to him briefly before taking a step back so as to not scare or overwhelm her. "Well, I'd take kisses over real appetizers any day," he said with laughter in his voice, "Much sweeter than anything else that could possibly be made."

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For a girl who rarely blushed, Eva could feel the tinge of pink creeping into her cheeks. Maybe it was the activity at hand or simply the close proximity that had her all flustered or a mix of everything all at once, but there it was she she didn't altogether mind. His words had her chuckling, corny as they sounded, she could feel that girlish little flutter of excitement in her stomach.

Every fiber of her being protested when he started to step away. As improper as it was, with Mrs. Sweeney just down the hall and able to pop in at any moment, Eavan, though very new to all of this, wasn't quite ready to be done just yet. Fortunately with her arms looped around his neck, she simply held on and prevented him from moving much further. It felt like a little fire had been lit and she had no way to extinguish it other than to rush in and let it take over.

Closing the distance again, Eavan cast him a mischievous smirk, biting her lip to prevent the quip on the tip of her tongue from actually being said. It was wholly in appropriate to even think, let alone say, but it had to deal with what could be for dessert, but even she wasn't bold enough to say the words aloud. "Dinner's still got a few minutes..." She murmured and kissed him again, pressing her body flush against his in the process. She hoped she wasn't getting too ahead of herself, but he had started it after all.

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Fletcher hadn't really wanted to step away but he hadn't wanted to make her upset either. What he hadn't expected, however, was for her to hold tight around his neck preventing him from going too far. And even more unexpected was the feeling of her body pushing flush against his own as she initiated a kiss once again.

He felt his lips part this time, nearly dying to get a taste of her but he didn't let it get pushed to far. Or at least, he restrained himself from getting too carried away. It was hard though. The feel of her body and the taste of her lips was intoxicating. But this time, he'd wait for her to break the kiss.

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