May 1st, 1893 - Grimstone Residence
Elias Grimstone

Everything was still a bit of a blur and Daff felt numb for it. Even now, tucked away safely in her childhood bedroom, she couldn't process everything that had happened in the last few hours. It all sort of came in jumbled bits and pieces. She'd stayed up late working on the flower show displays, because apparently this was an annual thing now, and had barely climbed into bed when she heard the first noise. Winston's ears had perked up as he lay on the foot of her bed, but it was with the resounding sound of breaking glass that he was up and barking and Daff was actually alarmed. She'd heard voices, a pair of them, male, talking in hushed tones, more breaking glass. Frozen, she stared at the doorway to her bedroom, but then Winston made to jump the bed and it forced her into action. She grabbed her corgi around the middle as she heard footsteps crashing up the stairs and then reached for her wand to disapparate.

The rest of it became a slurry of questions and rooms all starting with Jack. Jack made sense. Jack was a constable, Jack was safe; he needed to know, even though he was in Hogsmeade and her shop in the Alley. He could take care of it. Of course when she'd shown up on his doorstep at midnight in nothing but her nightdress with a struggling Winston under her arm, that was not his first concern. Daff had held it all together surprisingly well, getting through Jack's questions and then the chief constable's.

It was early morning by the time Jack had taken her home and more break ins had been reported, both along the High Street and the Alley. She'd been force-fed some tea and toast and sent up to her room to sleep it off, but as Daff watched the sunrise come up over the neighbors' houses, she knew there would be no sleeping. There was frantic, frenzied sort of energy along her skin and Daff tried to shake it from her limbs, but she could only pace her bedroom so many times before she needed to escape.

The house was still after the quiet uproar she'd caused and so in her bare feet and an old blanket wrapped around her shoulders, Daff stole to the fireplace in the sitting room and stepped in without a second thought. She spilled from the hearth in Elias' living room with a shaky breath, hands trembling as they clutched the blanket around her. Her hair was an untamed mess of waves tumbling over her shoulders and her eyes were equally as wild. "Elias?" She called out softly, voice weak, feeling the night's troubles settling on her shoulders uncomfortably. This was quite the overstep of their open door policy, but she couldn't think of anywhere else she could possibly be.

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   Elias Grimstone

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Elias had stayed up late working too. There was something tranquil about being up in the early hours alone, a pensive darkness erasing the rest of the world. When he found the right rhythms, the work was meditative too, sketching shapes and refining charms and being unable to step away until something was just right.

When he’d fallen into bed, he’d slept steadily, and late – he’d gone downstairs for some toast and then retreated upstairs again to shave. There was something to be said for getting into better habits these days, with his routines and his house and himself – because he was courting now, and although he couldn’t imagine Daffy really minded how dishevelled he looked, if he happened to see any of her family he didn’t want to seem in too much disarray. He didn’t know if there was any merit in it, but in case anyone wondered if he would be able to take proper care of Daffy when they married, he wanted it to at least seem that he could take care of himself.

He was still at the washbasin when he heard a muffled sound from downstairs. It was still early for visitors, wasn’t it? And no one had warned him they were coming. Frowning, he tossed down the towel and pulled on a shirt, and – hearing a familiar voice call – took the stairs down two at a time.

“Daff?” he started, bewildered. Stepping in to find her standing there, his confusion became concern. If he still looked half a mess this morning, she was in a state: nightdress and blanket, bare feet, hair loose and expression tremulous. Something was very, very wrong. “Daff,” Elias repeated, face creased and heart lurching in his chest. “What’s happened, what’s – ?”

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Clearly he was surprised, as he should be, but just seeing him opened the flood gates. Daffy had held herself together until she'd actually felt safe, which hadn't happened until just now. She surged forward, the tears starting, her whole body shaking with the pent up energy. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," She burrowed her head into his shoulder. "I didn't know where else to go," She couldn't be alone, even in her parents' house: Daff needed him.

She knew she had to explain, but the panic and the exhaustion were so overwhelming. After a few deep breaths, Daff shook her head trying to find a coherent stream of thought. "The shop was broken into last night," she finally managed, stumbling over the words. The more times she explained, the more real it felt. "I've been at the constabulary all night," there wasn't much more to it than that, just a constant stream of questions and concerned looks and thinking back on it she squeezed her eyes shut again, trying to block it all out.

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Elias hadn’t had enough time to jump to any conclusions, beyond that whatever it was was bad, but he folded her into his arms nonetheless, shaking his head gently at all her sorrys. And perhaps she shouldn’t be here like this, alone, early in the morning, but – no one else was here to see it, and he couldn’t possibly care about how it looked when she was crying like this, anyway.

All he could feel was a tearing ache in his chest at her desperate face, and although he wanted to know what had caused it, she felt too fragile to push for anything. So he settled for holding on, one hand against her hair and his other palm brushing up and down her back in a silent attempt to express I’m here, I’m here, I’m here.

But he inhaled sharply when she eventually stammered out the words. “At Wildflowers?” Elias said in horror, and in the back of his mind there was another jolt of horror at all night. All night she’d been in trouble, and he was only hearing about it now. He’d had no idea; he was as good as useless. He tightened his grasp around her, tightly enough that he could have lifted her off the floor if he’d wanted to – but now he just really didn’t want to let her go. At least she was safe now, he told himself, but his throat had gone dry. “Did they hurt you?”

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Words were difficult as she struggled to control her breathing. She nodded at his first question, shook her head at the second. No she hadn't been hurt, but she shuddered to think what would have happened if she hadn't still been awake. How much closer could it have been. She didn't even know the condition of the shop, though Jack had assured her they would clear it and make sure it was safe.

"I was up late working on the flower show," the tight grip around her was working wonders to calm her down. The shaking slowed a little, but she had zero intentions of moving. She had waited, unfortunately for him, to unload it all now that she felt like she could breathe. "And I heard glass breaking and voices and so I grabbed Winston and apparated out." Her voice was hardly more than a whisper, hoarse and shaky, muffled by having her face pressed into him.

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Not hurt, she said, but she certainly wasn’t well. Perhaps he ought to be relieved it hadn’t been any worse than she described, but instead his heartbeat was picking up, a rush of anger the more he thought about it, at whoever had broken into Daffodil’s shop, her home, her whole independent, love-filled dream... But indignation wasn’t what she needed, not now.

Forcibly, Elias shoved the feeling back down, kept himself fixed firmly in the present and all his attention on her breaths. Reassurance, consolation, comfort: those, he knew, were more sorely required here. “You did the right thing,” he assured her in a murmur, pressing a kiss lightly onto her hair to stifle another flash of fury.

Eventually, he loosened the embrace just a fraction, just to see how much she was still trembling. “It’s alright. You’re okay now.” He was just glad she was safe.

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It was harder than she would like, to try and calm herself down somehow, but Daff was trying to focus on Elias' arms around her, the steady (if quick) beat of his heart against her cheek, his hand on her back. It was working, this was exactly what she needed, but she was far from better.

He started to loosen his hold and she panicked, snuggling in more, shaking her head. Somewhere deep down she knew they couldn't stand here in his living room all day, somebody would notice she was missing sooner or later, but right about now, she couldn't focus on anything else. Daff was in survival mode; it was one minute at a time. "I was so scared." She wasn't shaking as much, nor was the flood of tears unbearable. The exhaustion was starting to win out; she hadn't slept in twenty-four hours now and something told her, she wouldn't be sleeping much in the coming days either. This would certainly trigger a bout of sleeplessness like she had experienced last summer, possibly worse.

It took her a few moments longer, but Daff finally felt like she was hardly trembling anymore and he probably wanted the use of his arms back. Leaning back slightly, Daff ran her hands over her face, trying to swipe away the remnants of the tears, though she knew the dark circles under her eyes couldn't be helped. Peering sheepishly up at Elias, she sighed slowly, finally feeling some of the frantic panic dissipating. She didn't know what to do now, but she certainly didn't want to leave.

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They couldn’t stand here forever, but he was loath to let her go in a state like this. He wanted to be with her for as long as he could; he knew he’d be able to think of nothing else all day, be too worried to concentrate on anything.

“Here, why don’t you sit,” Elias said, his hand trailing down until he found her hand, drawing her over to the couch with him and flopping down too, an arm still half around her. He ought to ask if she wanted something – needed anything – food, another blanket, some tea – but he hadn’t worked up the will to be out of reach just yet. That said, maybe that was selfish –

He glanced at her again, still concerned. “Does your family know?” What happened, he meant, though she must have gone to them in the night when she apparated; but also where you are now? She’d tumbled out of the fireplace in her nightgown, so he wasn’t precisely sure where she had come from. But everyone she knew would be worried about her, that much was obvious.

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The exhaustion was seeping deep into her bones now, but Daff knew she wouldn't be sleeping any time soon. Even as Elias tucked her into the sofa next to him and she could feel her eyelids drooping, the instant she relaxed it all came flooding back. She curled up, drawing her knees to her chest and wrapping her blanket tighter around her. She leaned into him, grateful for the contact and the distraction.

"Yes, I came from home. Jack dropped me off a little while ago. I was stuffed with tea and toast and expected to go to bed, but I couldn't be alone." It truly had been twenty-four hours without sleep at this point and she was beginning to feel a little delirious. "I snuck out, and I'll probably have to sneak back in soon." Just the thought of it had her chest tightening, constricting like the tightest of corsets, leaving her winded again.

"I don't want to go home," She sighed softly. She wanted to perch herself in her little corner of his workshop and stay there all day where it was warm and safe and she wasn't alone.

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Jack had dropped her home – Jack, Elias considered for a moment, confused, his brows knitted in spite of himself. Maybe there was a funny knot of jealousy, maybe it was only the tension of all this that was making him feel that way, maybe because he wished he’d been there for her sooner; but Elias forced himself to reason out that it probably made sense. That he was a constable and dealt with break-ins and crime, and it didn’t matter if he worked in London or Hogsmeade, he had been a comforting face for Daff, and probably of some use.

Brow unfurrowing, he offered her a slight smile of sympathy at the comment about tea and toast, though he had just had much the same urge as well, to make sure she was alright, warm and fed and rested and safe, because what else could anyone possibly do?

His arm tightened a little around her again; protective or possessively, he wasn’t sure. That last sentiment of hers... well, he could relate. “If I could, I’d have you stay,” Elias said, casting her a serious look, though he knew they couldn’t. But if he had his way, they would share the same space from today on, and he would never have to see her so shaken and she would never be entirely alone again. “I really wish you could.” One day in the near future, hopefully – but she was right, not today.

“Promise you won’t go back there alone,” he added with some urgency, thinking of her going back to Wildflowers as if nothing had happened, as if it might not happen again. “At least not until we’ve – made sure it’s safe.”

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Merlin she wished she could stay. His arm wrapped around her was the only thing keeping her sane at the moment and she laid her head on his shoulder, sighing in defeat. Just a few more minutes.

"No, I won't, I can't. It's a... crime scene." The constables and the law enforcement officers had to go through it to see if they could find anything of use to their investigation. Plus she wasn't sure she'd be able to go back just yet. She would have to, to see how bad the damage was, to start picking up the pieces, but she wasn't sure she was ready to see the shop all broken. She'd worked so hard to get it up and running, looking nice and cozy with all of her wares on the shelves. She hoped Beatrix and Hector were alright.

Closing her eyes, she tried to focus on the quiet of the room, the feeling of safety she currently felt, in an effort to ground herself, trying to keep her thoughts from wandering too far. "Will you come by the house later?" It wouldn't be quite the same, they certainly couldn't sit here like this, but it would be nice just to have him there.

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He nodded, very slightly reassured, at least for now.

“Of course I will.” He breathed out slowly, an echo of her sigh. He tried for a smile that she wouldn’t see, because she was still resting against his shoulder, and he thought her eyes might have closed. “I’ll stay until you’re sick of me.”

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Daff yawned, pulling the blanket around her more securely around her, snuggling into him though she knew she shouldn't. There wasn't a lot of time for her to truly fall asleep, but with her eyes closed and the feeling of finally feeling safe and secure lulled her into at least some sense of peace. It wouldn't last, in his absence she would be jumpy and unable to truly settle, but at least for now it would have to do. "Impossible, best be ready to move in then," she assured him quietly, knowing that she could never be sick of spending time with him, a ghost of a smile tugging at her lips.

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