Friendly... Natty wasn't sure that was the right word for the vine now slithering slowly around the young man's fingers. "Hm... careful, Winny", said the Groundskeeper, stepping aside to check out the source of the vine.

  

---

"I never was the best at Herbology," he admitted freely as he was warned to be careful. "What about you? Are you familiar with plant life?" He was well and truly in the plants grip now and his usual cheerful face fell into a bit of a frown. A frown was not an expression that suited Winny at all.

---

  

---

Winny has heterochromia. His right eye is blue and his left eye is green.

Given Wnny's experience in dangerous and far-flung places, Natty expected a bit more wherewithal — but then, it did seem to be his way to simply flit through life like a joyful spirit.

As Natty's eyes followed the line of the vines, what he saw threw a theory rapidly into his head. Devil's Snare. Thankfully, Winny was already characteristically calm. "Don't struggle against it, we'll just get some sunlight in here", said the older man, whipping out his wand to cast a spell on the thick canopy above — so the great leaves shifted and a narrow beam of sunlight was allowed to spill into the heady darkness below.

  

---

Winny nodded to show he understood. It was starting to hurt and he didn't like it. Luckily for him, Natty knew what to do. The beam of sunshine was enough to have the vine releasing and retreating back into the darkness. "That hurt," he informed the other in a cheery tone as he rubbed his reddened wrist. "What was that anyway? I've heard of it but can't recall the name at the moment." Likely because other places had different names for the same thing and so sometimes the knowledge Winny had got all jumbled up.

---

  

---

Winny has heterochromia. His right eye is blue and his left eye is green.

"Likely Devil's Snare", he replied as he watched the vines retreat in the sunlight, relieved as it did so. He didn't know the Latin name.

"Come on, let's keep to the sunlight", he beckoned Winny over to where the canopy was a little lighter. "Are you alright?" he extended his hand to inspect the young man's wrist, large hand gentle.

Winny had become... precious to him. He didn't like that he'd been hurt.

  

---

"All right," he said in easy agreement as he followed the older man to the canopy.

He smiled at the others concern. "I'll be fine. Perhaps I'll put a balm of some sort on it when I get home," Winston assured as he held out his wrist for the other to inspect. "It didn't get you, did it?"

---

  

---

Winny has heterochromia. His right eye is blue and his left eye is green.

"I'm okay", he replied almost dismissively, inspecting Winny's wound with a slight frown, before accepting he was fine. On they walked — this time in what dappled sunlight the canopy could offer. Natty kept his wand drawn.

"Promise me you'll be careful whenever you come out here, Winny. Or I'll worry."

  

---

Winny's skin tingled a bit as Natty inspected his wound. And it wasn't because of the wound either. There was a little more sunlight coming down which meant that Winny could see his surroundings a little better.

He turned to the other with an elfin smile when he was bid to be careful. "I will be," he assured. "The forest is so vast, it reminds me of the Amazon though plant life there was quite different. And it was so hot, I felt like I might melt." How he had not died there was likely a mystery for the masses.

---

  

---

Winny has heterochromia. His right eye is blue and his left eye is green.

Winny turned to him with a beatific smile, and suddenly Natty could once again feel the light kiss the younger man had pressed to his cheek earlier.

Merlin, he felt so troubled.

But in an effort to distract himself, he focussed his mind on the subject at hand. "You know, I write from time to time." That was an understatement. "Perhaps you'd let me write about some of your adventures?"

  

---

"I do, too," Winston said as the older man said he wrote from time to time. "Oh, that would be fun. I've included some of what I have experienced in my published papers and books but a lot had to be left out." Sanitized by editors to make things more palatable for the prudish British crowd, for the most part. That and Winny tended to get up to so much. Though another potential problem was that Winny had a memory like a sieve. Sometimes he didn't remember until well after publication about an anecdote he had meant to include.

"Or you could take what I've lived and use it to make a fictional adventurer series. What kind of things do you usually write?"

---

  

---

Winny has heterochromia. His right eye is blue and his left eye is green.

Natty immediately regretted saying what he'd said. On one hand, he wanted to share his interests — and his truths — with Winny. But on the other hand... he lacked confidence. Especially compared to this much younger man, who spoke with perfect confidence about his many travels and many publications, making Natty feel woefully inexperienced — despite technically being a very successful and prolific author. He wished he could have Winny's effortless self-belief.

He scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "All sorts", he said dismissively about his own work. "So, you have a whole series of adventures up your sleeve, hm?" he encouraged his friend; "how about... give me a summary of your top three."

  

---

Well, that was not much of an answer. Winnys curious eyes shifted from scanning the forest to peering at the Groundskeeper. "Well, there was those Romanian vampires I lived with. Or when I gathered up the tales of different ghosts in different areas. Ghosts were considered to be especially sacred to this Brazilian tribe I stayed with. They gave me this amulet for protection," he held up his wrist to indicate the bracelet that was settled there. "Or when I almost died while researching Lethifolds. Don't go near those... but that happened before I had this protection amulet." From his tone, it was clear he felt he would have fared a little better if he'd had it when he had been dealing with the Lethifolds.

"I want to know more about what you write, though."

---

  

---

Winny has heterochromia. His right eye is blue and his left eye is green.

Frankly, Natty could listen to his voice all day. And he was a good audience, making a hum of interest at various points; and giving a glance of approval at the amulet, though noting it hadn't been much use with the Devil's Snare...

He hesitated at the question, but could not lie to Winny. "I write fiction. Mostly adventure, mystery, romance... I've had around forty novels published. But not under my name. I'm a ghost writer. So maybe it's destiny that I should be befriended by a ghost expert..."

  

---

"Forty! That's a lot more than me," Winston said, clearly impressed. He was privately confused at first as to what Natty meant about being a ghost writer. The man was living... right? And ghosts couldn't write solid missives without human help. He briefly reached out to poke the mans arm. Very solid and not at all ghostlike. Besides, ghosts were translucent. Then the not under my name part made sense as his brain finally connected the two statements.

"I wonder if I have read any of them," he mused. "I think it is destiny that I have met you as well. Will you ever write anything under your own name?"

---

  

---

Winny has heterochromia. His right eye is blue and his left eye is green.

"Well, I'm a lot older than you", he pointed out with a chuckle when Winny went straight for a comparison. "And my books require less research."

But he was distracted in his thought as the young man, er... prodded his arm. He was bewildered for a moment before he realised, with amusement, that Winny most likely had never heard the term Ghost Writer before.

"I tried", Natty admitted. "In the beginning. I tried to get published as I am. But it turns out this name, my name — is no name at all."

  

---

"Are you?" Winny asked, genuinely not having really made notice. "Less research perhaps but they also require worlds more imagination." Besides that, it sounded like Natty also put research work into his fiction.

Winny stopped to look at the other. Privileged upbringing made it hard to imagine not being able to do something because other people thought he wasn't worth the risk. "Well, I like your name. These people you ghost-write for. They have never thought to allow you to put your name to at least one of your own works?" Granted, he didn't know how all that worked since he'd done his own writing. But it seemed so unfair.

Wanting to comfort the other because the image of a young Natty trying and being turned away simply due to circumstance of birth, Winny wrapped his arms around the others torso and lay his head on his chest. "It could still happen. A book under your own name, I mean."

---

  

---

Winny has heterochromia. His right eye is blue and his left eye is green.