August 20, 1893 - Greece

Quincey Honeyduke

It had been a perfectly wonderful day. In fact Dahlia could not envision a better day in her life - fireworks and all the chaos included. It just seemed so perfectly them. As perfect as it had been she was exhausted when they arrived by portkey in Greece in the middle of the night. Mercifully getting settled in was smooth and easy.

She grinned at Quin as a maid closed the door of the guestroom closed behind her. "I cannot envision a more perfect day." She gushed, wanting to bottle this feeling and keep it like perfume, something she could feel whenever she wanted from here on out. She had long since passed the exhausted state into something more giddy, combined with the champagne at the wedding well she didn't even realize there was something to be nervous about.

Quincey Honeyduke

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   Daffodil Grimstone

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Pretties by Bee <3

Quin was exhausted in a way he'd never felt before. He was also weirdly awake because he knew that the end of the actual wedding meant they were traveling for their honeymoon, thankfully only a short portkey away. He was keenly aware of a shift in his own energy, though Dahlia still seemed to be riding the wedding high. She was positively glowing.

"I'm glad it was what you wanted," Fireworks and all. His surprise hadn't gone exactly as planned, but she didn't seem put out by it, so he wasn't going to worry too much about it. Smiling softly, he moved their bags further into the room, setting them down on a nearby chair, suddenly feeling very aware of the late hour and what tonight was supposed to mean...

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"But was it what you wanted?" Dahlia found herself fretting as she followed him further into the room and perched leaned against the arm of the couch. She didn't want to be the only one so completely happy with their wedding day and she was mildly nervous that Quin might not be as happy as she was. Afterall she had found him tucked out of sight before dinner and he'd admitted to being overwhelmed. Perhaps she ought to have considered his happiness rather than just letting Mama and her sisters plan everything. It had been perfect for her, but she truly ought to have considered Quin more in the planning.

  

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Pretties by Bee <3

Needing to busy his hands, Quin lowered himself to the edge of the bed to start taking off his shoes. He undid the laces almost methodically and then leaned back to take off his jacket. It was much warmer here in Greece, even with the breeze coming off the sea right outside the wide open window.

Truthfully he had never put much thought into what his wedding day would look like. He'd stopped putting stock into it a long time ago and then Dahlia had seemed so eager to handle everything that he didn't need to worry about it. "It was a lovely day, I had no expectations, not really, but they were far surpassed." It wasn't that he hadn't enjoyed himself, after a glass of whiskey or two, slipped to him by his father, he had loosened up a little and stopped worrying.

He held out one hand toward her with a smile. "Truly, as long as you're happy, I'm happy." He assured her, hoping she knew he meant it.

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Quin sank onto the bed and she watched as he bent down to take off his shoes. The only man she'd ever watched take off his shoes was her own father. It struck her as intimately familiar. Coupled with him taking off his jacket and sitting on the bed she suddenly felt very aware that she had no idea what to do next. It didn't matter what her mother had said last night amid the wine and treats, Dahlia was out of her depth.

She relaxed a bit as she realized he hadn't hated their wedding, but that was only her original anxiety that was soothed. She could only hope this next part, for it was finally dawning on her just what this next part was, was as enchanting as the whole day had been. Dahlia took his outstretched hand and stepped closer toward him, hovering right before him.

"I'm happy." She found herself answering, looking at his eyes. He was so handsome. She had thought it over and over all day, wished she could step to the side and kiss him and, well now here they were. She leaned down and placed a kiss on his forehead. "Very happy." And she had absolutely no idea how to move this forward to continue on the path of happy - for if mother were to be believed it would be awkward but happy. And it was Quin, so it couldn't be too awkward, could it?

  

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Pretties by Bee <3

The air felt oddly electric, anticipation creeping along his skin, leaving him feeling a little hot and bothered already. Why he was so nervous was strange, he knew, but knowing what came next had him balking at how best to go about this. Still he was trying to exude some level of calm here and so as she stepped forward, he smiled slowly, squeezing their joined hands.

Gently he brought his free hand to her waist and let it sit there as he looked up at her slightly. "Are you tired?" Nervous as he was, Quin was exhausted and he knew she must be as well, so he wanted to make sure she knew there was zero pressure on his end.

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His hand was warm around her own, the pressure gentle and reassuring and he squeezed it. Then his hand came around her waist and she felt tingles all through her. "No." She answered quickly, but then just as quickly, "Yes. I mean I was tired before but then we said our goodbyes and well now....I'm very much awake." So perhaps she was a tad more nervous than she had thought. "Are you? Tired that is?" She could let herself be tired too, couldn't she. He could hold her like had the night of the bees and everything would seem okay, right?

  

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Pretties by Bee <3

He understood, a second wind, it felt unavoidable. There were expectations tonight and while he was anxious, he knew it was the next logical step. "I'm alright," He assured her, tilting his head up just a little bit to take a good look at her. From where he sat, she was only a little taller, and incredibly close.

Quin realized they could in fact, be close without prying eyes, or worrying about anyone else. That was a relief at least. It wasn't like he hadn't kissed her before, either. "Do you ah, want to get ready for bed?" Though they had both said they weren't tired, bed was still the expected place for them to go. Maybe turning down the lights and crawling under the covers would help ease some of the anxiousness he was feeling surrounding the whole ordeal.

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And that was when it hit her, what this all meant. It wasn't just tying to life to Quin's. It wasn't just the wedding and how much she absolutely loved him. There was the expectation of what this night and many nights would hold. Dahlia felt herself flush, her body warming, her spine feeling as if it were on fire. But she nodded, "Y-yes." She tripped on the word.

When Mama had spoken on the subject last night Dahlia had been embarrassed, and perhaps a bit prideful. She had figured it would be so natural and easy with Quin. Afterall, Mama said kisses started it and well, Dahlia loved kissing Quin. But now faced with it in the moment she felt that perhaps she ought to have spent less time wishing she were elsewhere and more time listening to Mama. What had Mama said? Wine. Mama had said wine might help.

Which had Dahlia saying quite out of the blue, "Perhaps a glass of wine?" And glancing around the room in search of a bottle. Surely, someone would have thought to leave one in the room.

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   Basil Foxwood

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Pretties by Bee <3

Wine right, that might help. Quin had gotten in trouble with whiskey in the past, but wine should be safe. Just help to loosen up the awkwardness a little bit. He had no idea why he felt so awkward, this was perfectly normal and expected, but still hard to navigate. He hadn't had the forethought to have some wine sent to the room, but clearly somebody had, as he quickly found one on the table near the door, having been too preoccupied on their way in to notice it. Standing carefully, so as not to jostle her in the process, he padded across the room to find a familiar script on the card beside the bottle. He nearly scowled at Percy's unmistakable scrawl inside. He didn't even bother to read it, instead tossing it into the fireplace unceremoniously; it was probably more crass than he wanted Dahlia to see.

"The Adlards send their congratulations," he went with instead, as he popped the cork and poured two glasses. "Cheers," he added as he handed her one of the glasses and took a healthy sip after raising his own. "This is awkward, isn't it?" He knew he had to break the tension somehow, but couldn't think of a way other than going straight for the truth.

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Had she said something wrong? Dahlia wondered as Quin gently stood, disentangling himself from her. But then he had padded across the floor, his socks ssshing on the floor ever so slightly, the fire crackling, casting light on them beyond the candles of the room. Dahlia's body turned, following him, like a flower to the evermoving sun. Ah, wine. She realized as she noted the bottle in his hand. The paper next to it flying into the flames of the fire before she could voice her objections with the sudden rush of sentimentality she felt for the crisp paper of the note.

"Kind of them." Dahlia gave him a small smile, watching as the pale yellow liquid splashed against the sides of the glass. Moving forward as the glasses filled she came up beside him and accepted her glass with a shy smile. "Cheers." She echoed and took a small sip. The wine was cool, likely enchanted to be so, and for a moment she considered it instead of the situation before her, but then Quin's words brought any attempts to ignore this awkward feeling between them to the forefront of her mind.

Looking up from the edge of her glass she nodded solemnly, a nervous smile beginning to tilt the edges of her lips, "Just a bit. It shouldn't be, should it?" And then she was babbling. "It's just kissing and I've always liked when you kiss me - I mean I know it's more than just kissing but..." Her cheeks were flaming red now, her whole body feeling hot. "I've always felt so comfortable with you and I don't know why this should be any different. It's just I feel so... I don't know." Her hands had begun to wave with the words and the barely drunk liquid sloshed over the sides of the glass. Dahlia was quite certain she'd never felt more mortified in her life.

  

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Pretties by Bee <3

Phew. He wasn't the only one feeling the awkwardness in the air. She was right, it should be that way, but he knew there was something a little heavier to it than what they had dabbled with in the past. Just kissing didn't quite cover it and was relieved to hear that she knew that. Having to explain it tonight might have put him over the edge.

It was a good place to start though, (the just kissing) and Quin could feel some of the tension leave his shoulders. The wine certainly couldn't have done it yet, but with the realization they were on the same page, at least it was less awkward already. "I know how you feel," he let out a breathless sort of laugh over his wine and reached out his free hand to hers before she could knock anything else around. Giving it a gentle squeeze he added, "We can start with what we're familiar with," he gently pulled her close, trying to find some semblance of courage here and gently pressed his lips to hers.

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His hand was reassuring against her's, his look so tender and kind. Gently he pulled her toward him and his lips descended as he spoke. "Okay." She whispered between their lips in the breathe before they touched. The moment she felt his wine sweetened lips on her own her body reacted the same way it had every time before, every time they'd stolen kisses since Christmas. The warmth tingling and delicious, pulling her closer to him as she pressed her lips more firmly into his. It was reassuring to know that feeling wasn't gone.

Dahlia tried to press closer but was dismayed at the wine glass still in her other hand. Trying to be quite like a heroine in a novel, Dahlia attempted to move the glass to the sidedboard discreetly, but only managed to slosh the wine on the both of them in the process. Her heated cheeks were firmly in the "fires of hell" realm, she was quite certain as pulled away, the wine having splashed on both of them. "I'm so sorry!" She hastily put the wine to the side and began to turn around the room looking for reticule, her wand stored safely there. She couold charm this whole mess away. She was quite certain of it. And the sooner she did then sooner he could go back to kissing her.

  

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Pretties by Bee <3

Quin had perhaps overestimated his own grace in trying to balance the wine and the kiss, but clearly not quite as poorly as Dahlia had. He chuckled as she blushed scarlet and immediately felt bad that she was so embarrassed about it. He followed her lead, setting his own wine down beside hers, still chuckling.

"Dahlia," he tried to intercept her in her panic, catching her by the elbow this time as she turned, looking for something. "Dahlia it's fine, it just a little wine." White wine, unlikely to stain. He spilled things every day. The clothes were coming off at some point anyway, he assumed, so they could worry about it tomorrow. His own wand was in the pocket of his jacket, which he slid from his shoulders as it had sustained the worst of it, and he vanished the little that had gotten on the floor. He tossed the jacket over the nearest chair and set his wand down beside the wine glasses.

Gently he pulled her toward him, now that he had both hands free there would hopefully be less room for error. This wasn't off to a great start and he was determined to turn it around somehow. Distraction usually worked. Smiling down at her, he slid his hands around to the small of her back and pulled her more firmly against him, leaning in again to capture her lips.

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The gentle sound of her name on his lips and the warms of his fingers on her elbow stilled Dahlia. "But-" She tried to object before he spoke her name again. He was right, of course, but it did little to help her embarassment. He'd likely think her some clumsy foolish girl now - not the beautiful poised lady he had thought he was marrying. Alright so maybe he had known she wasn't exactly poised, but she rather thought he hadn't known what a foolish girl she was. At least she wasn't clumsy generally - only when she got grand ideas in her mind like this apparently.

Dahlia watched as he calmly cleaned up her mess. Her eyes catching on his jacket-less shoulders. She could see through the white cotton of his shirt just a bit, it hinted at more than she'd seen before. She wondered what it would feel like under her bare fingertips and the thought did nothing to cool her embarassed heat. To distract herself she peeled off her traveling gloves and placed them next to his wand and the abanoned wine glasses

Could it be, Dahlia wondered, as his gaze settled on her and he stepped closer, that he didn't think any less of her? Dahlia didn't have time to be concenered about anything else because his lips were on her's again, pulling her into him to press her in tight. It was just an intimate embrace but as their lips met and she was aware of every spot they touched, Dahlia found it - calming and crazying. Her body relaxed into the kiss, sinking into his embrace, her fingers touching his neck as her arms wrapped around him, her fingers reaching into his hair. There was no more time for thoughts, concerns, or advice, it was just Dahlia and Quin. And for the moment she reveled in that feeling.

  

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Pretties by Bee <3

Relieved that she seemed to relax, Quin thought they were finally trending in the right direction. Well, he hoped. Though he wasn't often the one to take control, he might have to here. Still, he was going to take things slow, very slow. Neither one of them had any experience beyond where they were now and at least they were comfortable with this (maybe he did have a little more experience in the kissing department).

It was hard not to get carried away though as she leaned into him and tangled her fingers in his hair. Quin felt a little jolt run through him and he changed the angle just a little bit, leaving her lips to trail down her jaw. He could feel the air heating up and his hands on her back tighten. Quin was sort of leaning into intuition, experimenting almost casually, hoping if he went to far or erred in his judgement she would stop him.

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