Alas, it was a thing the roguish Fisk had been known to do — lead inquisitive ladies away on adventures, and more. A few times he had been mistaken for a ticket to a better, wilder, more interesting life; but he couldn't be that. He lived too autonomously, from moment to moment. But this was different. The girl with the parasol was not asking to tag along with him every time he stepped beyond the threshold. She was asking for a taste of the wild side. And he could give her that. He'd already begun.

Arven could explain all this in words, accept her alluring suggestion with some broken-up soliloquy. But instead he responded by sliding his fingers gently through her silken brown hair and kissing her beneath the wild green canopy.

  

---

Dove hadn't quite known what she was expecting considering how close Huck had been but she was somehow still somewhat shocked when Huck kissed her. His fingers in her hair dislodged some of the long strands and they fell around his fingers. This was her first kiss so she had no clue what she was doing and so was acting on pure instinct and what felt right.

"I do believe you have earned yourself my name," she teased softly. "My name is Dove."

  

---

He kept her in his closeness, and his hand slid down lightly to the small of her back. A faint smile. Dove. Being dainty, beautiful and peaceable, Arven felt the name was apt — but he'd seen another side of her today. Something more akin to a hawk.

"Arven", he replied gruffly. "... or Huck."

  

---

Dove smiled up at him as his hand slid to the small of her back, feeling a sort of tingle on the path that his hand had taken. This was over her head, if she was being quite honest. But even this puzzling feeling she took to with a sort of curiosity. Most especially because she didn't understand it but it seemed to come with some sort of natural instincts.

"Arven suits you quite well but I think Huck shall be my name for you - do you mind it?"

  

---

"I gladly accept anything you wish to give me", was his smooth reply, and it all too true. A sword-fighting lesson, an adventure, a name — a kiss. Dove had flown into his life holding other things than an olive branch.

  

---

Dove chuckled at that. "Huck it is then," she murmured fondly as she brushed stray strands of his hair away from his face. "Has it stopped raining?" She asked, realizing that the soft sound of rain had dissipated and the sun was starting to peek through the woodlands trees instead.

  

---

Arven glanced skywards, and squinted as a sunbeam escaped from the canopy, giving a golden sheen to Dove's russet hair. "So it has", he replied, and returned his gaze to her face. This made him want to kiss her once again, and perhaps he would've done, but something told him that she was perhaps — finally — feeling a little out of her depth. Despite her devil-may-care approach to life, Dove had still found herself alone in the woodlands with a man she'd only just met. Not even romantic heroines found themselves frequently in this position.

So he adjusted his hand on the small of her back, instead using it to turn her gently in the direction of a certain ferret currently licking some rain from a puddle. "Would you like to meet Virgil properly?"

  

---

Dove thought he was going to kiss her once more and she knew that she would have more than likely been receptive. Instead, she was turned towards the ferret and she laughed softly at the sight of Virgil partaking of rain water. The niffler seemed to have disappeared into the woodland much to Dove's mild disappointment. "Of course! I came all this way just for the chance to meet his elusive self."

  

---

Arven extended his hand towards the ferret, motioning with two fingers that he come forward. "Come on, my man — bow to the lady", he commanded jokingly. Of course, Virgil did not bow but he did come forward obligingly; Arv scooped him up and offered him to Dove. The ferret was quite damp at this point, but he was a very cute little thing regardless.

  

---

Dove smiled in delight as the ferret came over and she took him from Huck when he offered him to her. He was adorable and Dove was not immune against such things so did not mind the dampness of his fur. "It looks like you managed to stay out of the worst of the rain unlike us humanfolk," she chuckled as she gave the top of his head a little caress.

  

---

Arven watched fondly as Virgil wound lightly through Dove's hands, sniffing briefly at her fingertips. "He's taken to you already. I wonder if you could teach him any tricks..." he pondered. "Other than sword-fighting." Dove reserved that one for the Hucks, not the Virgils.

  

---

Dove smiled as Virgil sniffed at her fingertips and seemed to be observing her as much as she was doing so to him. "Don't relish being at the end of his sword?" She asked teasingly, smiling at the idea of Virgil with a tiny sword. But yes, best not. "You're a smart one, aren't you Virgil? I bet you already know many of your own tricks."

  

---

Arv chuckled at the thought of Virgil brandishing a tiny sword; or perhaps he'd be better suited to a parasol.

"Come on, both of you", he gestured with his head that Dove join him, Virgil still in her hands (though he would shortly decide to prowl up onto her shoulder). "We'll show you a trick or two as we head back to Hogsmeade." For despite the danger and scandal he'd recklessly plunged Dove into, Arven was still responsible enough to note that all such adventures must at some point come to an end.

  

---

Dove looked over at Huck as he gestured for her to join him. Virgil settled onto her shoulder and before moving, Dove made sure he was well situated since her shoulder was much more dainty than his usual ride. She was sorry to have to leave this forest that had been witness to her first kiss but she also knew she better head home before they realized she wasn't where she was supposed to be. Before that, though, she came close to Huck and chanced another quick kiss before beginning the walk back. "I'm looking forward to seeing these ferret tricks that you're promising."

  

---

It was funny to think that when they'd first met, only a couple of hours ago, Dove had looked more the type to shirk from a ferret; and now said ferret rode happily on her shoulder as if the two had been friends for years. Arven was impressed; it was rare for Virgil to take to another human so promptly.

The kiss was welcomed, and he might've pulled her in for a longer tryst... but hindsight beckoned. So they started their walk back through the woodland, away from the sunlit clearing where they'd kissed under the canopy, through where they'd found Virgil and the niffler in the tree, and then past where Arv had abandoned the stick-sword.

"He'll catch something for you, even as we're walking. Something small, like..." Arv reached into his longcoat pocket. He rarely knew what was in there, and sure enough he plucked out a smooth white pebble he'd found on the lakeside somewhere. "This", he passed the pebble to Dove so she could attempt the trick with Virgil.

  

---

Dove took the pebble from Huck and rolled it between her fingers for a moment. She tossed the pebble into the air and smiled in delight as Virgil indeed caught it and gave it back to her. She did it again and he repeated his pevious actions. It reminded her a bit of a dog and she wondered what other dog-like traits the ferret might have.

  

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