March 26th, 1891 - Noble's Workshop

Daffodil had been to the workshop before, on a secret visit when Noble still lived alone and had wanted to show it off. This meant that she could apparate in as long as Noble lowered the anti-apparition spell he had cast on the workshop itself. That took a bit of doing, but it was well worth preserving the secrecy they had. Noble had gone to the lengths of locking the door of the workshop thirty minutes before she was due to arrive, too — it was unusual for him to lock the workshop when he was in there, but he'd rather people think he was unusual than catch him with Daffodil.

He had tried to create the illusion of everything being normal all day, had spent most of it in his workshop as if he was absorbed with something, and made the requisite appearances in the house to clarify that he was around and alive and was not about to faint. After dinner, he took off the jacket for his outfit and headed out into the yard, and waited.

He had a bottle of wine in here, too, and nothing brewing. Noble had a sense of — trepidation? — that he did not usually have when Daff was coming. He hadn't seen her since Clem had caught him flirting with her at the Teapot Transfiguration Trials. Normally, this would have inspired him to be more careful to avoid her — certainly to avoid being alone with her, when being caught would be disastrous for her — but he couldn't avoid her and fight with Ford and deal with his potentially having poisoned someone. Something had to give.

Noble had already poured two glasses of wine when she arrived with a loud pop! (And if anyone heard that distantly from in the house, then he was just going to have to deal with that, too.) "Hello love," he said, smiling at her despite himself — there was something soft around the edges.

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   Fortitude Greengrass

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set by Bee

Her recent exchange of letters with Noble had left her a little uneasy. Daffy had expected things to have to ease up for a little while, restricted to owls for now. Truthfully she was quite relieved at his invitation to the workshop, knowing it was testing a boundary they shouldn't right about now, but she also wanted to make sure he was alright.

The following week was a long one, Daff didn't want to pester, obviously, but she worried. After dinner on the agreed upon evening, she excused herself, saying she was headed back into the shop to take care of some last minute orders, which wasn't unusual, especially for her to apparate there and back.

Her arrival left her a little disoriented, wobbling a little at the landing. She could apparate, but it wasn't always easy for her. She was just a bit too much of a scatterbrain to be able to focus like she was supposed to and though she had never splinched herself, it took all of her concentration. The last of her plait fell out as she straightened up, hair falling loose as she shook her head to clear the fuzziness. A single white blossom fell to the floor from the few she'd had woven in this morning, a full day of work and business catching up to her appearance, though she hardly noticed.

Once she could see straight again, she smiled softly back at him. "I'm terrible at that." She chuckled quietly, taking him in. Something was off, but she didn't know what just yet.

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Noble watched her steady herself, nibbling on his bottom lip while she did — he reached out once she was settled to touch her elbow. "Well, I'm glad you made it," he said, with another slow warm smile. Her hair was all undone, now; he usually did not get to see her when she had her hair undone, and had an impulse to tangle his fingers in it. But just because everything was all fucked up didn't mean that he should act exclusively on impulse.

"There's wine," he added, "If you want."

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set by Bee

"Of course," Her expression was a mix of fondness and worry. It wasn't like him to suggest such a risky meeting, usually it was her asking him to indulge her. It made her both a little anxious and relieved all at the same time. They so very rarely got to be truly alone. Even the last time they'd tried appropriately chat, his sister had caught them and now they were forced to extremes like this.

Daff stepped closer, turning wide blue eyes on him in a careful appraisal. Gently she reached out to cup his cheek, brushing her thumb along the curve gently. "I'm worried about you, what's wrong?" He and his brother never fought. Daffy couldn't remember a single instance in the entire time she'd known him, in which he'd disagreed so harshly with Fortitude that it could be classified as a fight.

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   Fortitude Greengrass

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He could tell her the truth or he could shrug it off and just try to spend this time with her, but Noble didn't think she would let this go, and he owed her the truth, besides. He swallowed and leaned against the workbench, reaching to touch Daffy's elbow gently, as if to steel himself for the conversation they were about to have.

"A potion I sold sent a woman into a coma," he said, the first time he had actually admitted this out loud, "So I made it again and tested a much smaller dose on myself." He watched carefully for her reaction, to both parts — it was, Noble knew, not impossible that Daff would freak out like Ford had.

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   Fortitude Greengrass

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set by Bee

Stepping forward as he leaned back, she looked up at him curiously, tilting her head to the side just a little. She wasn't sure what it was that was bothering him, or if he wanted to talk about it, but he had to know she'd listen if he did. Then he came out with it.

Well that would do it. Daffy could easily understand why that would throw him off. She knew he was a perfectly capable potioneer and took pride in his work, just as she did. Unlike her however, something gone wrong with a potion could have disastrous results.

"Is she alright?" Daff was not one to panic, unless it was an obvious immediate emergency, but in this case, the situation was in the past, it didn't make sense to get out of sorts now. "Are you alright?" She didn't think testing it on himself was the answer either, but she'd circle back to that.

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She didn't immediately freak out and did not look as incredulous as Ford had. Noble slid his hands down to rest on her hips, because if she was here and he could get away with touching her then he did not see any reason not to.

"She's alright," Noble said, more because he assumed that Mr. Crouch would have come to punch him in the throat by now if she wasn't than because he had actually had the nerve to check. "I can't figure out what's wrong with it."

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   Fortitude Greengrass

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set by Bee

Well that was a relief.

"Even so, do you think you should have tried it yourself?" Daffy wasn't trying to chastise him, not really. Everything about this worried her, because she knew him. When something didn't go as expected he would focus so intently until it was solved, but how was he to solve it if he was the one who was knocked out because of the potion? Sometimes there was a reckless side to his stubbornness and that was what truly made her anxious. She was sure he was tearing everything apart trying to figure it out and wouldn't rest until he had.

Leaning into him as his hands came to rest on her hips, Daffy curled into him, tucking her head against his shoulder. "You can't do that to me." While Daff had no room to overreact now, she could certainly understand now why his brother may have reacted and prompted the argument. 

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   Fortitude Greengrass

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His hands stilled on her hips. Not because of the first thing she said, (that was — fair enough, everyone had established that they did not agree with him here, but Noble was not going to stop,) but because of the second. "Yeah," Noble said, "That's what he said, too." Or — had not said. It had been implied — I can't do this without you. Neither of them could, except — Noble did not understand why everyone was so convinced he was going to die when he hadn't yet.

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   Fortitude Greengrass

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set by Bee

Sighing softly, Daffy leaned back to look at him. She searched his eyes for something, anything that could give her something to convince him. Gently she slid her hands up to frame his face, holding his gaze. "I mean it." Daffy could only assume his argument with his brother had gone a little more intensely than this, but all she had was quiet assertions in the still of his workshop.

"You can figure it out, but not like that." She had to have faith he would be able to solve the potion problem without trying it on himself. "You need to be able to see the effects, not something you can do if you're the one who's unconscious." Daff tried to reason gently; she didn't want to fight with him about this, but she had to find a way to make him see that he could be trying out potentially dangerous potions on himself, by himself. "I'd rather you, well, maybe use me instead or at least make sure somebody is with you." Then at least he could see what was happening, plus she trusted him.

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   Fortitude Greengrass

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Noble frowned and listened to her, hands still frozen in place on her hips. "I'm not using someone else," he said, "It's my mistake." He did not think anything dire would happen — he was very careful with dosages when he did this, and the fainting had been the worst thing to happen to him.

"Nothing bad is going to happen, Daff," he said, sounding more tired than exasperated — this was the same conversation he'd had with Ford, essentially, but less emotionally exhausting because he was not trying to shove any anger down. Instead he was — disappointed? — that she didn't agree with him.

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set by Bee

Daffy pursed her lips, holding in the mounting frustration. Normally she was the kind of person who wouldn't hold back, she said what was on her mind, take it or leave it, but with Noble it was different, it had always been different. Maybe because she never wanted to upset him or push him away, but she was always incredibly careful with her words to him. It wasn't always easy, especially in moments like this, but she did what she thought she had to.

She had better arguments to use, but thought better of using them right now. He'd already fought about this with his brother, he didn't strictly need to hear it again, however, "I don't like it," She said it quietly, tone similar to his, tired, somewhat resigned. That much had to be known. "Will you at least tell me beforehand next time, please, just for my peace of mind? Just in case?" she turned wide, pleading eyes on him once more.

Daffy knew his reputation was on the line and she knew he was an extremely competent potioneer, but if the potion had gone awry once, she hated to think it could happen again.

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"Yes," Noble said, although he already knew he didn't properly mean it. He wasn't going to tell Daff because she would worry. He wasn't going to tell Ford any more than he already had because he would worry. Their shared nervousness chafed on him, like they didn't trusthim — or, like work was the only thing properly left to him now, the only thing left largely untouched by the reality of his father's death, and now they were trying to take that away, too. "I'm not going to try it again, anyways. I'm just trying to figure out which ingredient is off."

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set by Bee

Her smile softened. The last thing she wanted to do was spend their precious little time together at odds. It was likely not why he had invited her over tonight either, so it was time to move on. "Thank you." She meant it too. She knew how much his career meant to him and she would support him no matter what. Testing potions on himself was coming dangerously close to her limit though. She was close to making him promise her, but thought that was enough for now, she had no reason not to trust him.

He would figure it out and for now, she would find something else to take his mind off it. She had half a mind to ask about Clementine again, but that was a conversation they had already had once and could have any other time by owl. Now was the time to get away with what they couldn't nearly often enough. Who knew when they would get this time again and so she did what she always did when they had the time to themselves, she slid her hands back from where she still gently held his face, into his hair and kissed him.

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Noble made a pleased sound involuntarily as Daffy's hands slid into his hair; he tightened his grip on her hips and returned the kiss, deeply. He was a little more passionate than he usually was, a little less measured and steady and thinking about the ways they could get caught — because they wouldn't get caught and because this week had been hard, and because it was so rare that he had her here, in his workshop.

He was lying to her. He was lying to her and maybe she would find out, or maybe she would guess. He was lying to her and he was lying to Ford and everything was so close to falling apart, and Noble quieted that thought by running one hand up her back.

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set by Bee

Their true alone time generally followed the same pattern, chat for a few minutes, get gradually closer until she couldn't take it anymore and that was how they ended up here.

Though tonight appeared to go in their unusual routine, the discussion was not what she'd expected and it left her feeling a little off. Daffy couldn't quite put her finger on it, but something was different. She was not normally so observant, her head was most often in the clouds or daydreaming, but with Noble she rarely missed anything. Just like she watched what she said with him, she also watched him more closely than anyone else.

The tone of the kiss was different too, a little sharper, more desperate, which had her returning in kind, body pressed tight against his, trying to keep up. She leaned back ever-so-slightly, needing to catch her breath for just a moment, eyes searching his in the pause.

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