Thankfully she seemed to take the lead gracefully and after giving himself a thorough shake while her back was turned, Eugene followed to the pillow he'd occupied earlier. He settled himself down, laying in his side with his head propped up in his hand, eyes watching her closely.

"I should think so, the resort itself is pretty sturdy." Eugene had more faith in the larger buildings than this tiny little cottage. Fortunately their position was half-shielded from the wind, which should help. If he had to venture a guess though, much of the beach would be torn apart after this.

Remembering the discarded wine, Eugene reached over and grabbed the bottle to take a swig. He set it back between them, leaving it up Tilda if she wanted some or not. "Tell me more about your family." Maybe that would get her mind off of things. Eugene knew the basics, two brothers, both parents, he was pretty sure they still lived in the Highlands, but honestly he wasn't sure.

---

  

---

Tilda bit her lip as she contemplated his answer. There truly was no real guarantee that anyone at the resort would be alright after this. But she had to have faith that her family had their wits about them and would survive this; that she would end up seeing them after the storm ended. She swallowed, hoping to quell the uncomfortable turn in her stomach. Her eyes caught the bottle of wine that he took a swig of and followed suit, putting her lips to the rim of the bottle and tilting it to take a hearty swig.

There was a good chance he was only trying to distract her from thinking about what was currently befalling her family at that moment, but she smiled gratefully at him, curling the blanket tighter around her as she settled on the floor. There was no stopping the shiver that worked its way up her back and she shook herself. Merlin, even a blanket and fire couldn't ward off some of the chills that the cold air of the cabin brought.

"Well," She said, a smile working its way to her lips as she thought of her family. "I live with them in the Hebrides. Da still works with Dragons, and Ma patches him up when she needs to. You know Quill well enough - or at least enough of what he wants you to know." Tilda smiled, wondering how much she should disclose about her brothers. Neither of them would be very pleased with their situation, she realized, and her eyes flickered back over to Eugene as she pressed her lips together in an attempt to hide her burgeoning amusement.

As the fire heated up the blanket, Tilda wiggled her shoulders to edge it down to allow the heat to escape. "Lach is..." Lach seemed to have gone through a troubling time after his bludger had nearly killed her and then killed that other woman. He'd seemed a bit of a lost soul since then, though she knew when it came to the rumors of Miss Binns and him that she had nearly bitten his head off. "Well, I'm sure he's doing alright." She said quietly.

---

  

---

Eugene nodded along as Tilda gave him a bit more information. To say the MacFusty family was imposing would not be a lie, and frankly he was a little terrified to meet the rest of the clan, but at least he was already somewhat amiable with Quillian. Having seen him around the ministry a time or two, they at least had a working professional relationship. From what he could imagine, her father must have been quite the impressive man, given his occupation and rather large sons. It was Lachlan that Eugene couldn't get a read on, but of course he had zero intentions of pushing his luck there; the man had enough going on after the Quidditch World Cup, of that Eugene was sure.

"Quite the opposite in my family. I am surrounded by sisters, the elder two of whom are quite happily married and off living their own lives." Vera and Louisa were the family successes after all, though he knew sometimes his mother was not overly fond of where Vera had landed herself, she was happy and that was all that mattered. From him on down it was disappointment after disappointment. His marriage situation, Lena's insistence on working, apparently Helga's utter failure at the season, according to his mother were all less than stellar. Eugene didn't exactly share these sentiments, though he knew he himself had managed to screw up royally, he had spent years trying to take responsibility. Lena enjoyed her work and though he knew Helga wanted to marry, he also knew she would in time.

"Lena works in the Department of Mysteries and rather enjoys it." What they did down there he wasn't sure he wanted to know and she wasn't sharing. "And there's Helga," He shrugged. They must have been fairly close in age, right? Honestly he wasn't sure. "Well, she'll be alright too." Life sorted itself out, generally, so would it for their siblings. "My parents spend far too much of their time together, which is both endearing and annoying, as they can be busybodies." His mother more so than his father, but Alexander Scamander was not without his opinions.

---

  

---

Though their siblings couldn't be more different, Tilda felt some semblance of relief at the mention of Helga. Though she would never be embarrassed by Lach, society's views of her family could be brutal, and it didn't seem that Eugene cared much about those sorts of things; just as she barely batted an eye at his youngest sister. It could be said Tilda was just as much of a failure at being a debutante.

At the mention of his mother and father, Tilda fixed her gaze on him, curious for more information on life at home. Were his family the doting kind, like her mother and father? Or were they distant? Had they been quite involved in raising their children, or was there a nanny? All of these questions had rushed to her lips, but instead she held her tongue and she only asked one, "Are Mr. and Mrs. Scamander fond of each other, then?"

Another shiver swept through her and she picked up the bottle of wine to take another swig.

---

  

---

"It's adorably obnoxious how in love they still are, however many years later." Eugene nearly rolled his eyes, but he had to say; they had set the bar quite high for what he wanted out of a marriage. He had proceeded to get none of that with Astrild, but had been more than willing to deal with it for Theseus' sake. Now it looked like she'd done him a favor after all, up and leaving the way she did. It gave him a second chance at finding such a union for himself and the reality of it was looking back at him over a bottle of wine in a cozy little cabin in the middle of a hurricane.

"Luckily it is not me they tend to focus on these days, so I have at least escaped their attentions in my own house, mostly on my own terms." Growing up fast had certainly put things into perspective and forced him to be more responsible. It worked out alright in the end, he supposed. As long as Astrild stayed gone.

Hearing the wind rattling the shutters outside once more, Eugene was reminded of the rest of the people over at the Sanditon with a slight grimace. As safe as they were at the moment, and he was selfishly enjoying himself against the odds, he felt guilty that there was an actual natural disaster happening outside and he could do nothing but stay here and make sure they stayed safe. "I do hope this lets up soon." He murmured, yawning suddenly, as he looked to the windows again.

---

  

---

So he had grown up in a loving household — Tilda smiled at this revelation, glad that he was able to experience the same sort of comfort that she had also been granted. A chill ran through her all of a sudden, and she shuddered, tugging the blankets around her even tighter. She surely looked a fright, and her hair was still rather wet. As she listened to him talk, Tilda reached up into her hair and began pulling pins out - a great number of them had fallen out after she'd plunged into the sea. She followed his gaze outside where the wind rattled at the window pane occasionally. The trees outside were still bent in an odd, unnatural direction, which only made her even more grateful they'd managed to find this cottage.

Another chill shot through her and this time her teeth chattered, and she realized it was the fact that she'd now taken all the pins out of her hair. It cascaded down her back, likely in a complete mess. If only her wand had functioned, she might be able to at least help tame it.

"Would -" She managed to stammer as she stiffened against another chill. "Would you come here?" She asked, moving closer to the fire as she did so - but now the blankets on top of her were thoroughly wet from her hair. Tilda glanced up at him - not only wanting to be nearer him because she liked being in his embrace, but because he was undoubtedly warmer than she was right now.

---

  

---

The request to come closer was both welcome and trying. Eugene knew that she was likely cold and he knew he wouldn't cross any lines tonight, but the temptation was there. Still, it was hard to say no in any case and so he obliged, pausing briefly to put another piece of wood on the fire, hoping to coax a little more warmth out of that as well.

Positioning himself beside her, Eugene leaned back against the wall and rearranged the blankets to accommodate the two of them as comfortably as he could. The enlarged fluffy pillows helped certainly, but the last thing he needed was to fall asleep and somebody find them here, half-dressed and all snuggled up. He hadn't any idea how long this was going to last though and even though the evening had been short, a lot had happened.

As they settled in, easily comfortable (a notion that was not lost on him), he wrapped his arms gently around her and tried to relax. "You should get some sleep." He suggested quietly, yawning again himself. Sleep was probably not in the cards for him, but the warmer they got, the more likely it would be.

---

  

---