November 12th, 1893 - Daffy's Flat

Daffy felt like she was on the verge of exhausting herself beyond what was wise. Between the Harvest Festival and another big All Hallows Eve party, she would only get this short respite before the holiday craze started. She loved it, but she was tired. At least she'd been sleeping better these days. Much better actually. She'd even slept in this morning after the blip the other night and thankfully, so had Winston. Daff had forgotten what it was like to actually feel rested. Perhaps that was why she was dragging a little bit, or maybe she was coming down with something after all these late nights.

The afternoon was a little dreary and cold and she had resolved to do zero work today, so she was curled up in her favorite armchair by the fireplace with a cup of cocoa. Now that Dahlia was blissfully married to Quin, there never seemed to be a shortage of his delicious brew. At least flowers and chocolate went so very well together. Tucked beneath her favorite old throw, she had a stack of books on brooms beside her on the table. She was slowly working through them in her spare time, evidenced by the bookmarks sticking out of the pages in several places. Some she'd flat out taken right from Elias, some were from the library and then she'd gone and bought a copy of at least three for herself, especially the one all about the different kinds of woods and trees. Daff liked to make notes in the margins and she was cross-referencing things thinking maybe she could start growing some on the roof when the weather turned... It was an honest interest and it was also a method of pushing her interaction with Noble last week far from her head. She hadn't any idea what he was thinking, but she couldn't be dragged back into that again.

It was with two books open in her lap and a quill between her teeth as she wound her hair back into some semblance of a chignon, that Elias found her. The hearth lit up green announcing his arrival and Daff had been so wrapped up in her reading that she had forgotten they'd agreed on a visit and apparently, what time it was. Luckily it hadn't been her responsibility to remember to go somewhere, otherwise she my have completely forgotten. Daff was better about being in his workshop these days, though it had taken her a little while to reach her previous level of comfort. Still, her flat was just as easy and she liked to take advantage of it when she could, especially when he wasn't working.

"Hi," she greeted with a warm smile, giving up on the twist of her hair, letting it fall back into the haphazard mess it had been when he'd arrived. "The kettle is still warm, if you'd like tea or cocoa?" It might take her a minute to unearth herself from her seat, but she could do it.

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Elias Grimstone

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   Elias Grimstone

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His smile was more of a grin, watching the way her hair fell; he paused on his second step from the fireplace to survey the scene better, Daffy all curled up and comfortable and a pile of books around her. Too comfortable to get up, certainly.

So Elias ambled over before she could move, leaning down to kiss her on the cheek and squeeze her shoulder in greeting. “Mm,” he decided, “I can get it.” He glanced at her cup in case she needed a refill. He was as comfortable taking up space at hers now as she was in the workshop; after dozing on a cushion pile on the floor, it was hard not to feel at home somewhere. (Perhaps a little too comfortable for propriety’s sake, but Elias had every intention that they would make a home together soon enough, so really...)

“You look busy,” he added, raising his eyebrows and nodding over at all the books she was burying herself in – in interest, but with a vague undercurrent that Daffy was always trying to do too much. The last thing she needed to do was wear herself out again. They hadn’t had much time together since the harvest festival, and even then they had both been run off their feet.

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   Daffodil Grimstone

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The warm greeting, the soft kiss on her cheek, the ease in which he moved around the space, all had Daff caught in a wistful moment of wondering if this was truly what their future would look like. What the end of a busy work day could settle into once they lived together. He would come in from the workshop, hopefully she'd already be home, doing just this, and then they would get to spend the whole evening together. She realized, just then, how much she was looking forward to it, how much she wanted it, this becoming their everyday. It left her feeling warm and fuzzy and too distracted to protest him getting his own tea. She was too buried and too content to argue and let him go with a smitten smile.

"It's not work, I promise." She assured him, not too caught up to miss that look on his face. "More like a personal project." Something she wanted to do and try for herself. Plants she could handle, and trees were plants after all, so by logical connection she could grow trees. It really was just a matter of where; she even had a bowtruckle on hand to gauge the quality of her work.

Daff did start trying to organize herself and pile her not-work back onto the table. She tucked little scraps of paper in to the spots she'd been reading, hoping it would make it easier to find later, but she was all flustered and rushing now, trying to keep the books together and her notes from getting lost. "Just doing some research and cross-referencing on growing certain species of trees, that's all." Nothing terribly weird, not for her anyway. Transparent and obvious, but not weird. "I was hoping to plant seedlings in the greenhouse in the new year so I could move them to the roof," she was envisioning how it was going to go, but knew trees and pots could only work together for so long. "Or maybe your garden," which might also be her garden by then? She blushed a little at the thought, but it brought her back to her earlier thoughts with a smile, too. "In the spring." She finally explained, realizing she'd left off mid-sentence with a chuckle.

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   Elias Grimstone

He only raised an eyebrow at personal project, not prepared to argue about it but still mildly worried she was doing too much. Still, he hadn’t really been going to comment on it until she started tidying things and he couldn’t help but take a closer look. He recognised a few of the books; in fact, he had put together what specifically Daffy was researching just as she began to explain it. There was a pleasant thrumming in his chest, his heart picking up with a flutter, just a fraction, at the sight of her learning all this. For seedlings in the greenhouse – on the roof – for his garden.

That lingering pause in her sentence had left him planted there, having entirely forgotten about making himself cocoa or tea. It was as much in what hadn’t been said in that moment that had caught him – it was that conversation with Evangeline at the harvest festival all over again.

He grasped a couple of the books on Daff’s lap to help her move them, though his gaze hadn’t left her face. “My garden?” Elias queried meaningfully – and if he was teasing, it was only gently; his tone was too much tinged with hopes of it being their garden for that.

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In busying herself with the books, Daff had almost missed his proximity, thinking he had meandered off towards the kitchen. It wasn't until Elias was pulling the books from her lap that she realized how close he still was.

The blush on her cheeks deepened as she met his eyes, looking up at him curiously through her lashes. It was hard for her breath not to catch, would he always be able to do that to her with just a look? Merlin, she thought she would be used to it by now. "My garden?" She managed with a chuckle, one eyebrow raised in response, trying to keep the tone light. It was all well and good for her to think in eventualities, but to dare to breathe them aloud; it felt like she would jinx it, no matter how confident she was in their relationship. It was one thing to want it, with every bit of her soul, but another thing entirely to actually have it, which she didn't, not yet.

Still, maybe she ought to try and be brave, "Our garden?" This time ventured with a little more certainty. She had plans, lots of them, had no issues daydreaming about what it would look like when they shared a home, but for now, that's all they were, dreams. "You know, whenever you get around to asking me to marry you." It came out a little breathless, but teasing him was much easier than letting the weight of the implications bury her.

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She’d pulled no punches; he hadn’t expected to be talking about this today. But now that they were, and she was right opposite him and there was his favourite rosy colour in her cheeks, he could scarcely help himself.

“I have wanted to ask you to marry me for a very long time,” Elias protested, a little giddy about hearing the words and saying them now, so much more casually than he had anticipated. There were still books in his hand, he thought – he set them down on the floor without being much aware of the motion. “You were the one who wanted to take things slowly.” He was teasing her back now, although she had once been the one to first suggest they waited their turn – let Dahlia and Quin have their moment in the sun. And then they might’ve... well, if not for the events of June, which had given them both pause, one way or another. And after that, Elias was just pleased they had managed to right themselves from ruin, and keep the precious thing they had – but he supposed he had wanted them both to have those solid foundations again first.

“I’d have asked you the day of the dragon attacks if your mother hadn’t come,” he said, smiling in the manner of a joke. He wasn’t sure it was a joke – well, maybe if Dorset hadn’t been there either. And admittedly most of the time Elias had enjoyed being patient, and marvelling in the times they spent together without any hurry or expectation... but he was growing tired of wondering or worrying about Daffy and yet never being with her.

“So – our garden?” he repeated, hope blossoming fiercely in his chest and his tone now entirely serious. “If you’re sure.”

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Daff almost felt bad for springing that on him like that. Almost. He had started it, after all. Plus she loved the way his face lit up at the thought, so she didn't feel too badly at all. She felt confident, after everything that had happened, that this was exactly where she needed to be and obviously they were on the same page.

He was right though, she had asked to take things slowly for a little while at first and then it just seemed like one thing after another was stalling them. Then with their setback in June, she had wanted to make sure they were truly settled again. Which they were. "I would have said yes," she replied honestly, breathlessly. Daff wasn't sure there was a time it would have ever been no. Not in September, nor June, nor May after the break in at the shop, nor on her birthday earlier this year when her given her the broom.

Slowly her smile faded into a grin, cheeks still flushed, heart racing. "And so I'm saying it now; yes, I'm sure, our garden." Planting trees, setting down roots, growing a garden and a family. Anything and everything as long as it was with him.

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   Elias Grimstone

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Her grin was infectious; she was sure; his cheeks already hurt from the smile stretching across his face. “So am I,” Elias said gratefully, sure; he was so sure about it it had as good as started spilling out to other people when they asked about Daffodil already, because he could hardly hide his intentions or his convictions about her, down to the marrow as they went.

“It’s your garden already,” he amended seriously, because it was, it might as well have belonged to her the first time she’d set foot in it. “It’s all yours.” Everything he had to give – which was hardly the possession of material worlds, but he couldn’t imagine Daff would have paused to care. He leant forwards and curved his arms around her to try and pull her upwards, to lift her right out of the armchair if he could; he too elated to resist now, even though she’d looked so comfortable there. But he wanted her in his arms, if he could – and if the months of practised patience were finally coming to an end.

“I left the ring back at the workshop,” he remembered, a beat too late; he had made a little handmade box for it, and had tucked it away for safekeeping there, not expecting any engagements to happen today.

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   Daffodil Grimstone, Rosalie Hunniford

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Daff exhaled slowly, a soft sigh, unable to do anything but grin helplessly at him. She felt the reality settle into her chest, the sensation spreading through her like a wildfire she had no hope or desire to contain. This was just the beginning of something wonderful.

The garden. Still on about the garden. Daff did have plans for that garden, she absolutely did, but little did he know (though he might), all she wanted was him. She laughed as he pulled her up, already moving in that direction herself, throwing her arms around his neck. "You already have a ring!?" Her disbelief turned into another laugh as she leaned back to look at him. Knowing that kindled the warmth in her veins. Elias had always been so incredibly patient with her; that he was so sure as to buy a ring and simply wait, demonstrated a level of grace she could never possess.

"I love you," she reminded him, smile softening slowly. Blue eyes searched his as she stood on her tiptoes, holding on tight, one hand wandering to his hair to smooth down what she had ruffled in latching onto him. "And I can't wait to marry you." She didn't want him to have to wait anymore, would do it tomorrow if it wouldn't look terribly suspicious; Now that things were moving, her impatience would show through and she was going to have to dig deep to last a few months.

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   Elias Grimstone

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“I’m not entirely as patient as I’ve pretended to be,” Elias said, half-amused and half-abashed, as he tightened his arms around her and Daffy’s laughter brightened the room. It was a relief to know she was sick of waiting too: that might be just enough to get him through however long was appropriate before they actually married.

“I love you too,” he returned, smiling just as softly as she reached up to un-muss his hair.

“I don’t know if I’ve been hiding it all that well, either,” Elias added sheepishly, about being in love with her; being ready to marry her – Merlin’s sake, he had said as much to Evangeline back at the harvest festival. “I’m sure everyone I’ve spoken to about you has guessed.” Elias had always been honest at the core, but he had never been so open a book before, so Daffy’s presence in his life must have helped that: she was the most open person he knew. But he felt sure his feelings and his hopes and his intentions were as good as emanating from him now – and if it had not gone to plan now he wasn’t sure he would know what to do with himself.

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"Well, your patience has been noted and greatly appreciated," Daff mused, now just running her fingers through his hair out of self-indulgence. She didn't want to have to wait very long at all to jump from this step to the next, but she supposed it would have to wait at least a little while, to be considered appropriate. Early spring at the latest. That would do, certainly. Plus they could be afforded quite a few more freedoms while she was wearing his ring.

Her mother was going to absolutely go through the roof. Taming her ideas for a wedding was going to require a lot of effort. It would be worth it though. After all, it was just one day at the beginning of the best adventure yet.

She had to chuckle quietly at his admission about not being able to hide it. "I don't think I have either," Daff didn't get to talk about it much, outside of her sisters, but she supposed that at least Dahlia was in a similar state of mind and Zinnia was a hopeless romantic, so they were the perfect audience. "Been talking about me though, have you?" She waggled her eyebrows playfully at him. It wasn't surprising, she supposed. She babbled on about him at the drop of a hat to anyone who would listen; but she was pleased to hear he did the same. It made that warm, fuzzy feeling grow even bigger.

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He had to grin, though it was rendered half-sheepish still by her hands in his hair and her teasing look. She was warm in his arms, and he couldn’t help but think she fit there perfectly, that if he tucked her head against his chest he could be perfectly happy holding her here forever.

“You have come up, once or twice,” he said, squeezing her back lightly in jest at that fact being surprising at all – as if his mother didn’t ask about her every time he saw his parents, as if Quin didn’t now have a front row seat to the Potts family’s goings-on; as if Evangeline hadn’t read his face for what he felt at once. “Did you know you’ve been called perfectly lovely?” His mind had gone back to that conversation with Evangeline; she had only met ‘his Miss Potts’ for a few minutes, it sounded, and yet she had been perfectly right about that.

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   Daffodil Grimstone

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Perfectly lovely. That was amusing. Daff was never quite sure how to describe herself, but that would certainly not be the first thing that came to mind. Scatterbrained, spacey, talkative, annoying, those things all floated through her thoughts as she thought about it, but perhaps that was her sisters talking; or Cliff.

"Curious to know who I have fooled enough to think that," she mused with a chuckle. Though she supposed if it was his mother, that was good. Daff had a hard time getting a read on Lucille Grimstone, but was trying not to read too much into it. Nothing had ever given her pause in her few interactions, but Daff was still unsure. Maybe it was just nerves, because of course she wanted Mrs. Grimstone to like her, especially now!

"I was lucky enough to swindle you at least," she chuckled, hands sliding to loop up around his neck. She could very comfortably stay put right here forever.

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He could only shake his head in helpless amusement – and fondness – at her, because of course there had been no luck and no deception involved. Daffy was far too earnest, too honest, a person for that. She could not have pretended to be any less than she was.

“I’d like to see you try and trick anyone for long,” he countered, because she wouldn’t be able to, however hard she tried – she would always go out of her way to be generous and compassionate and kind. It was why anyone she met would have liked her, he was sure. But she had said she was curious, and he paused, considering.

While they were on the subject... he supposed, if they were certain to be married one day now, that he should tell her. Evangeline was happy for him, after all, happy for them both – and it seemed right that Daff should know all there was to know about him. He wasn’t hardly worried, but he wasn’t quite certain how to broach it, either. “I think it was at the harvest festival – you met Evangeline,” Elias didn’t know precisely what they had talked about, precisely; she had said just the festivities, but he wasn’t sure how well Daff would even remember it. “Evangeline Rowle?”

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   Daffodil Grimstone

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look ANOTHER beautiful bee!set <3

Daff was a terrible liar, that she would admit, because not to do so would be a lie and she would laugh her way through it or not be able to contain the truth regardless. She had never been any good at it, even as a child and found the truth to be far more freeing anyway. What was the use in lying?

Unable to keep still for very long, she toyed with the collar of his shirt, fingers sliding along the edge idly as she listened to his explanation. Mrs. Rowle, yes of course. They'd chatted very briefly about the festivities; Daff had been delighted to know that she and her children had enjoyed the day.

"Indeed, we had a lovely chat about the day's events. She went to school with Thistle." Daff hadn't known that she knew Elias too. Small world. Perhaps since Daffy also considered the conversation lovely that was a fair assumption of Mrs. Rowle to make. "She didn't mention knowing you though, otherwise I would have made sure you got to say hello." Clearly they hadn't needed her help in the long run. And to think that they'd talked about her, well that was something else. Daff was much more curious now.

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She was fidgeting with his collar; Elias might have smiled at it, but he was a little too focused on the conversation to manage doing anything else. Evangeline hadn’t mentioned knowing him – which was probably for the best, because it was best to tell her himself. Thistle might have remembered, then, the events of Evangeline’s earlier life, the rumours of the time – but Daff surely had no patience to spare for gossip, new or old.

“That’s alright,” Elias said, because they had bumped into each other eventually, regardless. “She’s... she was Evangeline Asperhand, back when we knew each other,” – and born to the upper class, to strict pureblood parents, to expectations she had not wanted and standards that he had certainly not met. Would Daff understand what he meant by knew her, without him needing to say that he had loved her? “A long time ago. I was – younger than you are,” he said, managing a wry smile at the fool he had been at twenty-one, or twenty-two. He had just found success, just found his feet, just been propelled upwards, unprepared, in society. And Eva had been rebellious, newly out of school and believing herself deserving of some, any, kind of freedom.

He watched Daff’s face, careful, for her reaction. “As you can probably tell,” by her being Evangeline Rowle; by his being here; by the obvious state of the world and the wildly disparate worlds they had lived in, “– it didn’t work out.”

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