Started in the strangest way
Didn't see it coming
Swept up in your hurricane
Wouldn't give it up for nothing

About Love - Marina

April 30th, 1890 —  Ashdown Property; Scotland Countryside
Arven Fisk

After having re-met Arven Fisk over a month and a half ago, Dove was still not quite sure he would write despite him having promised that he would. Her only other experience with inviting someone to write her was for him to promise to do so and then he had not written at all, after all. When she had arrived home, it had been under the assumption that she was unlikely to see him again.

She had gone to an event or two as Robin and generally went through her usual routines albeit full of daydreams she had not really had before. And then the first letter had come via an owl that had perched on her windowsill. She had stared at it like she didn't know what it was before taking the letter and writing back. Which soon became a bit of a regular routine that only deepened the blossoming feelings that had already taken root in the woodlands of Hogsmeade.

Dove was not experienced in anything related to this. Her first crush had been Jack Watson but this felt... different. She couldn't begin to adequately describe it if she were to be asked. It was something deeper, much more soul-stirring.

When the time was upon them, she saddled up Jupiter and set off. She was dressed 'properly' in a riding dress and was riding side-saddle but she had long ago found a way to make that work for her since Jupiter was a stallion that demanded to run. Since she was at her own home, her hair was in a simple braid that fell to the small of her back and by the time she had arrived at the point she was meant to meet Huck, it was a little windswept and her cheeks were pink from the ride.

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   Bragi Holm

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The tall, stately rogue slowed his horse to a trot as he withdrew Miss Dove Ashdown's letter and regarded the directions once again. He was almost there, the great old oaks of the Ashdown estate already well within view. Arven was not the shabby stranger Dove had met in Hogsmeade earlier in the Spring; today he looked a bit more like a Fisk should look, handsomely but not fussily dressed, combed and uncrumpled but not some polished prince.

Dove had come frequently to mind this past month. His first sight of her as she stood beneath her parasol in the pouring rain, angelic by happenstance. Her laugh as she bested him in a "fencing" duel. Her smile as she tossed a pebble up to Virgil. The feel of her lips, her skin, her eyes upon him. And Robin... what an odd connection. It had not taken Arven long to piece the family together once Dove had left, for the twins were starkly similar. And he'd left an impression on Arven when they'd met nearly a year ago, not just because of his Dove-esque yearning for adventure but because he was probably the most... beautiful young fellow he'd ever set eyes upon. A very odd thing to think about the brother of a potential sweetheart, but thoughts would be thoughts; uninvited or otherwise.

And all of his thoughts were devoted to Dove as she came into view, fair and free. Jupiter was, like his own horse, a stallion, but younger and more restless than Arven's steed. Dove looked like she'd been a rider her whole life. "Dove", he smiled, his gaze lingering warmly upon her. "It's been too long, you know." Six weeks was indeed too long to wait to see her again — frankly, a mere six hours had been long enough.

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   Robin Ashdown

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Dove had been somewhat expecting to find that maybe she had overblown her view of him for she was somewhat aware of her tendency to do such things. But instead, he looked as handsome as he had the last time she had been in his company. Though he was looking a lot more dry and was quite handsomely dressed. And yes, her heart still raced at the sight of him. This was probably the most daring thing she had ever done in her life. She had never invited someone so close to her home or even let them know where she lived - not even when she was Robin.

It was a major risk but one she rather thought worth taking.

She smiled as she made her approach. Jupiter was a bit jittery at the unexpected stranger in a place where they usually encountered no one. "It really has been," she said in agreement while patting Jupiters neck to soothe him. "I'm glad that you found the place all right - isn't it beautiful?" She loved the way the sun always peeked through the treetops which would cast a golden hue to the forest.

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   Benevolence Crouch

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Jupiter seemed understandably a little protective of his mistress, shifting at the presence of Arven and his steed. Luckily, his own horse was a gelding — a light bay named Justice. He was a rental from a nearby stable, for upon receiving Dove's directions Arven knew it'd be impractical to take one of the horses from Sanditon. Justice was faring pretty well at his hand, though generally the rider preferred to travel by foot.

"Beautiful indeed", Arven allowed his gaze to linger on Dove for a moment, making it quietly clear that he found her very enticing, then looked out over the tumbling woodland. "Care to take me for a tour?" he requested with a smile. He did want to dismount — all the better to talk with Dove, and touch her — but absence makes the heart grow fonder. Besides, despite the main reason why he was here, Arven did want to explore these verdant lands.

  

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Dove's skin flushed prettily as his gaze lingered on her making it clear to her that he wasn't just talking about the forest. "Of course," she said with a smile, somewhat relieved to shift to something she was more familiar with. Thanks to a lifetime of isolation to the property, she knew these woods like the back of her hand.

"Follow me," Dove instructed with a smile as she urged Jupiter into the woods. "This is the main riding trail I take and there is a creek a little further in that Jupiter likes to drink from and cool off in. Sometimes I do, too when the weather is warm."

  

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Arven watched Dove as she led the way, wondering to himself what her and Robin's father did that made the daughter so confident that her parents wouldn't wander into the estate and find her here. He searched his mind, for he had heard of the Ashdowns before meeting either twin, but he couldn't nail down a profession. He expected he'd heard the name uttered in passing at some dance or other. Perhaps a dance at which Dove had been in attendance, long before the two were fated to meet.

He encouraged Justice onward, and rode beside Dove. "You'd make a good druid", he joked with a crooked smile. She'd wandered into the woods with him, lived in her own grand forest, and dreamed of jungles — if anyone was a creature of the trees, it was Dove.

  

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Dove laughed when Huck said that she would make a good druid. "How do you know that I am not one?" She asked in a faux mysterious tone before continuing to lead Huck further through the forest. "Where is Virgil?" She asked curiously as they kept riding. Not that she minded being on her own with Huck, of course. But she truly had missed the furry creature.

  

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At his name uttered in a familiar voice, Virgil stirred from where he'd been hiding — the saddle bag. "Speak of the devil", Arven murmured with a smile, and reached into the bag. The ferret wound sleepily around his arm. "The bag's enchanted to ensure it's comfortable for him. I don't normally take Virgil on long rides, but since you asked for him in your letter..." It was clear Dove had this man so charmed that there was much he'd do for her.

Arven carefully maneuvered his horse a bit closer to hers and passed the ferret across so he could ride with Dove. "It seems you summoned him with your voice. Maybe you are are a druid..."

  

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Dove watched in mild concern when it turned out that Virgil was in the saddle bag but her worries were soothed as Huck went on to explain that the bag had been enchanted to be comfortable. Not that she thought Huck would do anything that would harm his ferret but a saddle bag was not someplace she had expected the furry creature to pop up from.

She slowed to allow the ferret to be passed over to her and laughed lightly when Huck said that it seemed like she had summoned him with her voice. "I hope I have not disturbed his rest too much," she said as she stopped her horse for a moment to allow for a small kiss on the ferrets furry head before continuing to lead the way towards the creek once she was sure Virgil was secure. "We should be at the creek soon and Virgil can have himself a drink."

  

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Virgil gladly rode with Dove — and it did not escape Arven's notice that the ferret hadn't taken to any stranger as quickly as he'd taken to her.

They headed on, and Arv could hear finches in the branches and a river through the trees. "Did you grow up here?" he asked, wondering if she and Robin had spent a happy childhood playing hide-and-seek in these trees, or if the estate was a newer procurement.

  

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"Yes, I have lived here all of my life. For a while it was all I knew aside from the worlds I visited through books and sheer imagination," Dove said. Her parents had simply not known what to do with a gender-shifting, appearance shuffling child. And so had used their wealth to fake the birth of a second child, recorded her birth as being a twin one and hidden her away from society.

"My childhood is in these trees," Dove said, looking around with a smile before stopping to dismount. "We're close enough that we could go on foot from here, if you want."

  

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Looking around at the trees as Dove described them, Arven could not help but wonder how many of them had been named by the lonely, imaginative child. He noticed she tended not to mention Robin, but no doubt as the boy he had been taken off for schooling and seasoning, leaving his sister to wander the woods alone.

"If I'd had all this in my back garden, perhaps I wouldn't have been so quick to chase the horizon." Though the truth was, no amount of trees could stop Arven from turning the whole world into his back garden.

As they slowed to a halt, Arv smoothly dismounted and held out a gallant hand to help Dove down from Jupiter. Of course she could manage on her own; but that was hardly the point.

  

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Dove couldn't help but laugh in response to Huck's words. "Somehow I doubt that," she said teasingly. Dove imagined that there was very little that could have tied him into one location for too long. Especially in his younger years when he had known as little as she did. If there had ever been such a time in his life, that was. Perhaps during his Hogwarts days.

Dove smiled and accepted the help off of her horse despite the fact she had done it herself many times before. "You're the type to make the universe his backyard. And have judging from the articles I have read that you've written."

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   Benevolence Crouch

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For a second Arven could not help but be reminded of an old friend (and lover) of his, who'd gazed up at the stars and wished she could venture from Planet Earth and out into the universe. The world had not been enough for her; but it was for Arven.

Dove took his hand and nipped down nimbly from her horse, but Arven did not let go or move away when she was grounded. In fact he moved a little closer, thumb running lightly over the top of her hand, watching the forest's reflection in her eyes —

Only to be distracted as Virgil hopped down and started nosing at a clump of ferns. "Looks like our friend wants to explore, if you don't mind? Not to worry; he'll stay close."

  

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Dove looked up at Huck when the man moved a little closer. He is going to kiss me again, she thought to herself as he ran his thumb lightly over the top of her hand and gazed into her eyes.

But then Virgil hopped down and started nosing around which made Dove chuckle. "Of course I don't mind," she assured, knowing that the groundskeeper wouldn't be in the woods at this time of day anyway. And besides, even if he were to come across Virgil, he was likely to assume the creature to be one of Dove's - and would obviously be more concerned about Arvens presence than that of a ferret.

"I thought it would feel too strange to have someone else here with me," she confessed as she moved to her own saddle bag to pull out an apple for Jupiter to eat before pulling out another and offering it to Huck for his own horse. "But it doesn't feel that way at all."

  

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Arven smiled as they fed apples to the grateful horses. "I respect that this is your world, and I'm honoured you're sharing it with me", he said gently, looking over at Dove. Truly, she was as sweet as sugar cane.

  

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