May 1st, 1891 — Sanditon Terrace; Prosper's Residence, Exterior

Zaid greatly enjoyed his job. Working for the Sanditon came with a lot of perks, some of which included a seemingly endless supply of people to flirt and - if he was lucky - have a dalliance or two with. It was a bonus that he also genuinely liked his job. Part of his daily routine was planting new things or watering existing things. Zaid personally took great pride in his work and had quiet ambitions of perhaps becoming the Head Gardener one day.

The Cresswell's gardens had looked in need of some sprucing up so he had spent part of his workday sprucing up the tulips in their garden and fixing up the enchantments that kept them fresh for longer than it would without magic. Hearing the sound of the door opening, he stood up and smiled in greeting. "Good day, Mister Cresswell. Just finishing up here unless there is anything else you need," he said, a bit of a flirty lilt to his words.

Mister Cresswell was the best friend of his employer and was a long-time resident so Zaid was fairly familiar with him. Not as familiar as he would have otherwise enjoyed but he had gotten certain vibes in the past that made him think it was not entirely out of the realm of possibility.

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Prosper Cresswell / Cassius Lestrange

  

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The cute gardener was in his flowerbeds, and Prosper was hoping that this was an opportunity for the cute gardener he spoke to flirtatiously to become the cute gardener he kissed. This was also risky — it was very close to home and he did not think Herbert would necessarily endorse homosexual affairs — but there were only so many times Mr. Ragge could flirt with him before Prosper assumed it was on purpose.

He opened the door to, at the very least, chat with him, and stood on the front stoop. "Oh, thank you, Mr. Ragge," Prosper said, smiling back at him and using the same tone. There was the flirtatious lilt again, right there, he could hear it. "And everything's in order in the garden now?" He was stalling, trying to decide — or, trying to conjure an excuse to have Mr. Ragge come inside, where he could test and see if there was truth to the flirty ambiance.

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Mister Cresswell had a very nice smile. It was at least partly what attracted Zaid to him in the first place. Zaid was a sucker for a beautiful smile. "It should be," Zaid said as he looked over his handiwork. He took quite a lot of pride in his work. "It's thirsty work though, especially in the sun like this." He hoped Mister Cresswell would bring him out a glass of lemonade or water just to complete the fantasy images in his head. Better yet would be getting an invite inside but Zaid was handling this carefully.

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Thirsty work, sure. It wasn't an answer on its own — it was hot outside — but it was something. So Prosper said, "Perhaps you should come inside for a few minutes, then. Take a break." It would be easier to solve this question inside — easier and more risky, but he had always been willing to take a bit of a risk.

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Zaid did an internal happy dance. This was going pretty well, so far. "That would be very kind of you, Mister Cresswell," he said as he took his gardening gloves and apron off and set them aside his tools. He made his way up to the steps of the mans residence.

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Prosper let the front door click shut behind them, and slid one hand over the gardener's upper arm. He said, "The kitchen is this way," but made no actual move to walk towards the kitchen yet.

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Zaid's good feeling about this grew even more when the man slid a hand over his upper arm. He made sure to subtly flex the lean muscle that his outdoor work had created. "Your kindness is greatly appreciated, sir," Zaid said, boldly holding eye contact for a little longer than necessary.

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The eye contact was meaningful, Prosper suspected. He put his hand back on the gardener's arm, with the muscle underneath, and led them towards the kitchen. There were glasses out already, and Prosper poured water from the jug with deliberate slowness, making eye contact again.

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Zaid was now absolutely sure that he was reading the signals right. He took one of the glasses and kept his eyes on Mister Cresswells as he drank the water. "Refreshing," he said as came closer, still testing a bit as he slowly closed the distance. At the first sign of confusion, he had an excuse prepared but he didn't think that would be the case here.

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This was far too obvious to be incidental.

"I have an idea for something else that would be refreshing," Prosper offered, leaning forwards.

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Zaid smiled as the older man leaned forward. He was pretty positive by now that things would go the way he hoped.

"As do I," Zaid said, leaning up to press his lips against those of the other. He hesitated after, lingering against the older mans lips. Waiting for either acceptance or condemnation. It tended to go one way or another in these situations.

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Prosper smiled into the kiss, and reached up to tangle his fingers in the fabric of the other man's shirt. "Come upstairs with me," he requested.

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Zaid was utterly delighted that this was happening, that he hadn't read the vibes wrong. "Gladly," he replied, letting the older man take the lead.

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