July 27th, 1893 - Smoke & Scale, Avalon Glen, Wales

Enid had a routine for her evening shifts; she walked to Smoke & Scale after an early supper with her family, took the floo in, and had time to flit around London for half an hour before she had to be in. It was the best way to make the night shifts tolerable. But today the line for the floo in Smoke & Scale pushed nearly to the door, and Enid had cracked all of the knuckles in her fingers before she moved forward one measly spot in line.

Things worsened — or bettered, she had not decided yet — when the door to the pub swung open and she was joined in line by Nigel Yarwood. Her heart quickened. She had to say something. What was she supposed to say to him?

”There’s a line today,” Enid said, frowning. It was a silly thing to say, which was half the reason for the frown — but it was also unusual.

She didn’t recognize everyone here. Were people trying to sight-see the dragons?

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Nigel had made it all the way home, through the floo, walked nearly half of the well-worn path to his house for a quarter of an hour, out of town and into the Glen itself, before he realized he had forgotten the brief he was meant to be proofreading and checking for statistical accuracy. It left him with two options; head home and use the floo there, which he hated to do, it always felt like some sort of intrusion, or head back to the Smoke & Scale for his normal travel method.

Technically he was close to where he started than where he was going, and so he'd turned around with a huff of frustration to made his way back to the pub. Wrong decision, clearly. "I was just here half an hour ago, it wasn't this bad." He said in response to Enid's observation. "I wonder if something happened. Will you be late for work?" He checked his pocket watch even though he didn't know exactly what time Enid's shift started, but was concerned nevertheless.

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Enid was slightly warmed by Nigel guessing that she was on her way to work, for all that it was an obvious one. "I have another half hour before I need to be there," she said, with a soft smile, "So if the line ever moves, it should be alright." If the line moved, which she had never before doubted. Where had all these people come from? Enid stood on her toes to try to get a better look.

"Can you see anything?" she asked, with a wave at herself meant to indicate I'm too short.

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Despite his height, Nigel couldn't really see much, the crowd just around the fireplace itself was pretty dense. The general demeanor was that of frustration and annoyance and frankly Nigel didn't want to stick around for it. "I wonder if someone is stuck." That would be unfortunate. Not to mention mildly terrifying.

"If we go quick, we can make it back to the estate and you can use the one there?" He offered, thinking that might be his only way of getting back to the office as well. "I need to head back to my office for a brief I forgot, so I'm going back to London anyway." Nigel didn't often use the family floo, he felt like it was odd to have the privilege when everyone else had to use the public one, but he would hate for Enid to be late.

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Enid smiled at Nigel Yarwood, elated by the offer. The offer betrayed some amount of intimacy that pleased her. She didn't want to convey how pleased she was, so the smile was moderated, and if there was a slight blush in her cheeks, then hopefully he would not read too far into it. "You don't mind?" she asked, "I would hate to impose."

It was important that a lady be hesitant.

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"Not at all," He replied, probably a little too quickly. Though he had known Enid for quite some time, her smiled still sort of disarmed him and he couldn't quite place why.

"I would hate for you to be late, even with extenuating circumstances." He followed up with, hoping the reasoning made him seem less eager. Nigel also didn't want to put her in any strange positions, a young lady walking unaccompanied up the road with a man probably looked suspicious. He had good intentions though, that had to count for something?

"If you're comfortable with it, we can head out?" Hesitant as he was (for propriety's sake only!), he knew it was likely their best option.

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Enid's heart was beating faster; she felt very aware of the ker-thump of it in her chest. She ought to be concerned about propriety, but really she was concerned that she would not manage to seem smart and capable for the entire walk over.

"Let's head there," Enid agreed, with another smile, "Can you lead the way? I've only seen the outside."

This was exciting! And terrifying.

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"Sure," Nigel supposed he shouldn't have been surprised she had never been in the manor but more separated them than Nigel liked to admit.

Using his height to his advantage, Nigel gently took Enid by the elbow to help guide her through the crowded pub, letting go as soon as they hit the door. He held it open for her and motioned to the right with his head, "This way." The evening air was much cooler than the stuffy pub and Nigel sighed softly in relief. "How is the hospital going?" They didn't get a chance to talk much, but Nigel was hoping it had been going well for her. Plus, he didn't know what else, exactly, to talk about with her sometimes.

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He was touching her elbow. He was touching her elbow. Enid felt as if she could have floated, and was doing her best to control her reactions — it dampened her ability to enjoy the moment, as she did not want anyone to see how thrilled she was just by the slightest touch from Nigel Yarwood.

Outside was, therefor, a disappointment as well as an escape. Enid took a large breath of the clean summer air.

She smiled up at him once more when he asked about the hospital. (The Glen was small, but — it had to mean something that he knew she worked at the hospital.) "It's really great," she said brightly, "I have one more year as a junior in the department before I'm a full healer, and I just feel so close."

She was talking a lot! Was she talking too much about herself? Enid added swiftly, "How's the Ministry?"

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Taking care to keep the pace reasonable as his legs were much longer than hers, Nigel felt into step beside her easily. He smiled at the way Enid lit up when she talked about her work. She seemed like she would make a good healer and her enthusiasm was contagious. "I'm glad to hear you're enjoying it, which ward?" There were so many the he could see her in.

"It's alright, busy as usual." His department wasn't all that fast-paced, but it always seemed in general that the ministry was moving at a rate that seemed unrealistic. "I've got some traveling coming up to some other countries to check in on their dragon sanctuaries, do some measurements and research." It should be a good trip, he enjoyed getting to see the other breeds of dragons, but liked to keep his distance.

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Their paces matched nicely; Enid was, obviously, pleased with this.

Enid laughed. "Creature-Induced Injuries," she said. "I never really considered anything else — it's the Glen." Sure, other creatures attacked people — but they needed someone here for when their dragons hurt people.

"The traveling sounds exciting!" she added. "Which countries?" Their careers were sort of similar — he researched the dragons, and she fixed people who were hurt by them.

  

Fair enough, he should have seen it coming. "Good, I'll have somebody else to see when I get on the wrong side of a Horntail." Nigel, despite growing up here, didn't like to get too up close and personal with the dragons themselves. In fact he avoided it at all costs if he could help it.

"Just traveling to the different reserves, Hungary, Sweden, probably checking in on the Chinese fireballs too." He truthfully didn't mind going. It was really interesting how other countries were handling their specific breeds of dragons. The collaboration between the ministries seemed to help keep some of the regulations similar. They got some good ideas and were able to strengthen some of the international relations.

"Write up reports and the like, not the fun part, but I do enjoy the travel." He shrugged, looking ahead of them as the manor came into view. He checked his pocket watch and thought they would be there in plenty of time to get her to work.

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He was looking at his watch. Was he bored? Enid worried — after all, Nigel Yarwood got to travel and have the adventures afforded to him by his class, and Enid — did not get to have those things.

But there was his manor, and they were almost there, and it was exciting that she'd see the inside with him instead of just for Glen-wide events. Besides, she had to keep trying to entertain him, didn't she? Merlin only knew when she'd next be alone with him!

"I went to Ireland once," Enid admitted, waiting for Nigel Yarwood to open the gate, "For work. But I know that's much less exotic than Sweden!"

  

Nigel quickly tucked his pocket watch back in his pocket and turned his attention back to Enid. "I really enjoy Ireland." He admitted with a smile. "The people are friendly, the coasts are beautiful. Where did you get to travel to?" He'd been to many parts of the island, but had always enjoyed the Northern coast with the Causeway.

"Unfortunately I don't get to do much outside of work when I travel, but I would like to take some time for a personal trip sometime." He had gone straight to work after school. The focus had been to get right to it and he somewhat regretted not taking the opportunity to travel before really getting into work.

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Enid beamed; he was very charming when he was talking about things he found beautiful, and she could not manage to contain her reaction. "Cork," she said, "There was an attack by some pixies so I did a house call. But it was easy, so I got to explore the city a bit afterwards. The quays they use for the river are so interesting." Enid had never lived in a city, obviously, but she found the way they were designed to be intriguing. Even Hogsmeade was interesting, with all the winding streets and the new architecture.

"I want to travel someday," she echoed. It would be nearly impossible for her to do so, unless she found a way to save a great deal of money — but perhaps she could do so for work sometime. She cleared her throat. "You'll have to tell me how your trip goes!"

  

"I've never been that far south, we should compare notes sometime." Nigel said it absentmindedly, already trying to picture the waterways she described. "Make a list of all the places to go." He wasn't sure where else Enid wanted to travel but he had ideas for himself.

As they reached the gate to the manor, Nigel held it open for her before resuming their trek up the walkway. "I'm hoping to have time to see some of the country while I'm in Hungary, but I doubt it." He would read up just in case.

As they approached the manor, Nigel detoured to the right side, the fireplace connected to the Floo was in the sitting room in that side. Plus it was still nice out and faster.

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