She'd mentioned two potential obstacles, though one only vaguely: his shop and his family. Alfred could not imagine loving a shop, and he knew from experience that Jo couldn't, either — she'd told him more than enough of her feelings about the shop she'd had to watch for her sister that spring. A building, a collection of things, the daily exchange of money... none of it appealed to him in the slightest, and it all seemed so menial compared to the wider world that they both knew was out there. So he was having a little trouble empathizing with this sentiment of not wanting to force her bloke to choose between her and a shop. If it had to be a choice (he was not entirely convinced on that point yet), anyone ought to chose Jo. Without question, any time.

But he did love the Voyager, and he loved being out to sea. Zelda had never asked him to consider giving it up, but it did exist in the realm of things he could change about himself that might make him slightly more appealing to her father. Even so, he'd never considered leaving it... so maybe he could understand this sort of dilemma in that light, if he pretended it was at all reasonable to care about a shop, and that maybe it was just one of those things he'd never understand the way Evander would never understand what drew him out to sea.

"Well, if he wants to marry you and you don't think he can, it seems like he's already in a position of having to choose," Alfred pointed out. "Without your having done any pushing at all. He may just not realize it yet." He shrugged and took a drink. "But sooner or later you're planning to call it off, aren't you? And then he'll have to choose to let you leave or chase you."

  

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MJ made the most Alfredy of sets and then two years later she made it EVEN BETTER

Before Greece, Jo's answer would have come to her instantaneously. Any affair of hers never lasted longer than a few months at most, and those that did were more of a mutually beneficial arrangement. A scratching of an itch more than any substantial feelings towards one another. (In fact, if her relationship with Alfred had evolved into a physical one last year it likely would've been one such arrangement.) Love and all its confusions would never have been a factor if not for the adventures in Greece.

Jo looked back towards the star maps rather than try and address the accusation. Although she knew he didn't mean it to be a hurtful remark, it was a truth she wasn't yet ready to accept. Zach was still the person she loved most, he was still her support and comfort. That she was suffocating under the weight of the encroaching expectations was her fault alone. All Zach had ever done was love her, how could it be his fault that his dreams didn't align perfectly with her own?

"You make it sound so simple." Jo replied a bit defensively. She didn't mean to be, not really, but she suddenly felt as though she'd been backed into a corner without realizing it was happening. She reached for the bottle and refilled her glass. "Sooner or later I'll figure out a way to travel again, to escape this dreary misery of a country, and he'll still be here. He'll still own his shop and be a part of his family and I'll be gone. Choosing between the two isn't even really an option. More an obvious path neither of us are ready to acknowledge."

Q V X

  

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Dreary misery of a country, she said. This was taking a darker turn than he'd anticipated, and he considered trying to change the subject to something lighter, but there was still a nagging feeling that made him reluctant to move on. Compared to his relationship with Zelda, this all just seemed so... easy. And, granted, that was probably because he was on the outside looking in, and he was sure it didn't feel easy to Jo, but still. So they couldn't travel together — so what? It wasn't as though Zelda was going to move into his cabin on the Voyager and venture out to sea with him for months at a time, after they were married. So he had a shop — so what? So he cared about his family — so what? They'd get used to it sooner or later, and they'd learn to be happy that he was happy. Alfred had to believe that, anyway, since he was still clinging to hope that he'd someday work his way into the good graces of the extended Fisk family, and if he could do that surely Jo could endear herself to this bloke's parents, given enough time and goodwill.

"You come back to visit your family, don't you?" Alfred pointed out. "So the question is whether he'd be waiting for you when you came back. And whether you'd want him to be."

  

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MJ made the most Alfredy of sets and then two years later she made it EVEN BETTER

"No," she said with a shake of her head. "The question is how much will he resent me for never being around?" Letters only went so far, and the only reason she came home last year was because of a death in her family. "When I'm gone six months, a year, maybe even two, and all he sees are words on a page and his friends being happy." She took a large sip of her rum before fidgeting with the glass on the table.

"He might be fine with it now, but he'll eventually resent me for it. Eventually the few moments together won't be worth the distance."

  

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beautiful set by mj

Alfred wanted to protest that he wouldn't resent her, if he really cared, but he hesitated. He knew first hand how different it was trying to navigate a relationship with someone when all you had to work with was letters. He and Zelda were — fine, allegedly, but actually not great, and he was sure that if he could have just seen her this all would have been resolved by now. So it wasn't as though he could ignore the difficulty of it. Resent was still a strong word, because he couldn't imagine ever resenting Zelda for the situation they were in — but they'd only been dealing with this a few months, not years, and they still got to see each other every now and then even if it was under close supervision from her family.

"Well," he finally said, unsure how he wanted to respond. He'd been trying to champion this thing from the start, because he thought Jo would be happier if she had someone consistent by her side instead of these little liaisons she typically got involved in, but this did seem like an obstacle with no easy fix. He took a long drink. "That's tough," he admitted, with a shrug.

  

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MJ made the most Alfredy of sets and then two years later she made it EVEN BETTER

She shrugged. "It'll work itself out eventually I'm sure." Until then she would try to enjoy what time they had with one another. The pain of separation had to be eased by something, right? Why not joyous memories to look back upon.

Taking a long sip of the rum, Jo eyed him as if deep in thought. "We once talked about potentially planning an expedition." More like she had championed it, but they had discussed it. "Which, obviously cannot be done while you're suffering through the horrors of courting. But what about a few days? Or a week even? Won't make it far, of course, but it could still be fun."

  

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beautiful set by mj

Alfred smiled wryly, glad for the change of topic even if it felt a little strange to leave the last one so unsettled. "It wouldn't be much of an expedition if it's only a week," he pointed out. The search for Avalon was about as close to home as someone could get while still keeping in view that search for the unknown, and even that had taken several months. The farthest they could get in a week was the Mediterranean, and that was if they had the winds in their favor and used a little magic to speed them along when it wasn't. And that would just be traveling, not looking for anything — so not much of an expedition, but still.

"It could be fun," he said with a grin. "Did you have somewhere in mind, or want to spin a compass and see which way it takes us?" He had a compass in his room, because of course he did. They'd have to talk logistics, of course — if it was just the two of them, it wasn't as though they'd be going underway on the Voyager, but smaller craft were easy to rent if needed — particularly at this time of year, when the waves were too rough for most leisure sailors to bother.

  

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MJ made the most Alfredy of sets and then two years later she made it EVEN BETTER

"Two weeks? A month? I'm not the one with social obligations to upkeep." She grinned. At the very least, sailing would be a fun adventure. Though, Jo did fear she wouldn't be of much use with such a bum hand. Her wandless magic was still developing, too. In all likelihood, Alfred would end up doing the bulk of the work while she tried (and failed) to be useful.

Another sip of her rum down and Jo's cheeks were beginning to flush from intoxication. "I've always enjoyed leaving things up to chance. Which would be the easiest direction to sail at this time of year?"

  

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beautiful set by mj

Two weeks or a month would be a stretch, and it wasn't just because of social obligations. Nothing was happening at this time of year, anyway, so he could have taken off until May and only missed seeing Zelda a handful of times, probably. He did have other obligations, though — like this need to make an income — that would make such a lengthy trip unfeasible. He made his own schedule with the type of work he did, but he did need to actually do it if he wanted to keep getting paid.

But this probably wasn't going to happen, anyway, and he recognized that. They were drinking, and talking, and probably what they were both really doing was taking their minds off of their complicated romantic lives, which was fine.

"Depends on if you want to go somewhere or just out to sea," he said with a shrug. "Most people want to go somewhere — so south around the European coast is the most likely route. North gets — well, there's a lot of ice up that way, especially this time of year. Might be too much to manage in a small craft," he continued. The sort of sailboat that could be easily handled by one or two people wouldn't stand a chance in the North Sea in February, and getting shipwrecked on an iceberg wasn't anyone's idea of a good time.

  

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MJ made the most Alfredy of sets and then two years later she made it EVEN BETTER

Jo hummed. There wasn't much to explore out to sea, at least not with someone who was as romantically attached to someone as Alfred was. If it were Zach Jo wouldn't have minded spending a week on a boat in the middle of nowhere.

"Somewhere is likely our safest bet then." Southern European was the least exciting, though. "I just visited Greece in August. Wouldn't mind a second trip."

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   J. Alfred Darrow

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beautiful set by mj

"Greece it is, then," he said decisively, with a wide grin. "Just the two of us, hm?"

He raised a glass as though toasting. It wasn't so far-fetched, actually. A small sailboat could easily cross the channel, and if they hugged the coastline tight enough the waves wouldn't be too much of a bother. And the Mediterranean Sea was peaceful, for the most part, so they could cut from Gibralter to Greece without much trouble.

"Have you been sailing in the Mediterranean?" he asked, with another smile. "Have you seen the way the water glows in the wake of the ships there?" It only happened there, as far as he knew — something to do with algae in the water that was stirred up by the crossing ships. Sailing at night there was a magical experience, even for Muggles, as the path behind the ship lit up pale, luminescent green.

  

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MJ made the most Alfredy of sets and then two years later she made it EVEN BETTER

A visit to Greece without Zach (and with another man for that mattet) would be strange. It was, however, also a necessary trip if she was to stop feeling as though she was crawling out of her skin with the normalcy of it all. Greece, Italy, hell Jo would even take her chances with the icy North if it meant having an opportunity to escape.

She sipped on her rum. "I've only done a few crossings, and those were on magical ships." The glowing algae was barely noticeable from the flying ship, though she also hadn't known to look for it. "Is it truly that spectacular?"

  

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beautiful set by mj

"Oh, it's incredible," Alfred responded with an easy grin. The Mediterranean had a mystical feeling to it, from the sea. At night, the wake of the ship glowed, and during the day tiny silver fish jumped out of the water and 'flew' a few feet before diving back in. The way the sunlight caught them, they sometimes looked like pixies — it was easy to see why that part of the world had such fantastic legends, even without all the old magical influences. And, of course, they had sirens down there.

"Everything's prettier in the Mediterranean," he joked. Sirens, at least, were much more appealing to human tastes than the mers of the Black Lake or the peat bogs.

  

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MJ made the most Alfredy of sets and then two years later she made it EVEN BETTER

"Now that I knew," she laughed. Even the architecture was more beautiful down by the sea than anywhere in England. The towering, spacious temples existed in a realm of their own there, as did the food and every other important aspect. Jo reckoned she could breathe easier there, too, though that was likely a consequence of the heavy London smog.

"If there was ever anywhere I would dream to exist permanently it would be Greece, Corfu specifically." She sighed.

  

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beautiful set by mj

Alfred frowned at her, sitting back in his chair. She probably didn't want to revisit the subject of her relationship with the shopkeeper, but he couldn't help thinking of it when she had opened the door to it like that by talk of settling down. Not that she'd used those words, but still.

"Have you told your man that?" he asked. "I'm no expert, but I do think people read books in Corfu."

What he meant was that he still didn't think this was insurmountable — particularly if it was just England she was so dramatically opposed to.

  

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MJ made the most Alfredy of sets and then two years later she made it EVEN BETTER

Jo shot him a look as if to say drop it. Her mention of Corfu was in relation only to her love of the island, not any particular desire to commit herself to any one place for any length of time. "My man —" which was a ridiculous term to refer to Zach as if Jo had ever heard one, "— avoids confrontation as if his life depends on it. So, no. We've never discussed any of our ... plans at great length."

Draining the remaining rum in her glass, Jo sat back in her chair and folded her arms across her chest. Alfred had his time to explore the world (if one ignored the shipwrecked part of it, anyway), so Jo could understand why he was ready for such commitment. What she didn't understand was why he was so convinced she needed to be, too.

  

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beautiful set by mj