November 4th, 1892 - Bartonburg
Elias Grimstone

Even with a huge basket of flowers and a large piece of wood in her arms, Daff rather thought it was bold of her to just show up at Elias' workshop without a chaperon and unannounced, but she had a whim and Daff had rarely been the kind to exhibit any kind of impulse control. Not to mention, he had of course, come back to the shop for a full tour the day after the opening and she had sent a little bouquet of carnations to him the following day. Perhaps it was a little bit much, but after months of avoiding him, she simply could not stand to be away any longer. Things like this made her happy, he made her happy and Daff was going to soak up as much happy as she could from here on out.

The bouquet in hand was of some large sunflowers she had been toying around with in the little greenhouse behind the shop. They were drastically out of season, but she thought they were cheerful any time of year. The slab of wood (that she had to magically lighten to get here) was another thing entirely and she needed his certain expertise so the flowers were just a way to butter him up. Not that she thought that necessary, but she wouldn't feel right showing up without something in hand either. She also had treats from the bakery up the street from the shop, which she had started to frequent after moving into her flat and needing actual sustenance instead of the snacks she had been trying to live off of. It was just a few pastries, but again, she couldn't show up empty-handed.

Knowing perfectly well where the entrance to his workshop was by now, Daff snuck around to the entrance, slipping through the gate and back around to the door. The chilly November air had a flush on her cheeks and her hair was a little wild from working all day, but that did dampen the smile on her face or the excitement in her heart. She would have knocked, but the door was ajar and so she peeked her head in cautiously instead, pulling the hood of her cloak back as she did so. "Knock knock?" She called out softly, hoping he was indeed in here. Otherwise she'd have to go around to the front and be polite. "I have need of the skills of a professional woodworker." She announced, pushing into the workshop a little more.

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“Is that so?” Elias contested with a tone of teasing suspicion, as he recognised Daffodil’s voice without having so much as looked up from the broom handle he was sanding. Not that he kept sanding long – he dropped his work uncharacteristically fast, about as soon as she’d poked her head in the door. Instead, a grin spread onto his face as he straightened up and sauntered over to greet her, his mood buoyantly light (as it had been all week).

As he got close, he did shoot her a reproving look, because she was alone – and so was he for the moment, which privately he was grateful for, because it meant he could have Daffodil’s company to himself – but she knew very well that she shouldn’t be. And he wasn’t unbending enough to shoo her away, either, in spite of wanting to do things properly, particularly if they were, as it seemed, doing things – but he left the workshop door open, anyway.

And apparently she was paying a work call, so.

“What’s all this, then?” he said, pleasantly bewildered by everything in her grasp – he’d have tried to greet her better, but her arms seemed full of sunflowers and a large slab of wood – so he opened his hands in a wordless offer to take something, anything, off her hands, still smiling guilelessly, glad to see her.

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   Daffodil Grimstone

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Breezing into his space came a little too easily but she felt that sense of contentment wash over her as soon as she saw his smile. She almost craved it, that relief she felt when she was in his presence, now that she knew their something was mutual. Not to mention she had some time to make up for from over the summer. Daff was determined to get past these issues lingering from her past because this right here was worth it.

"Is it so!" Daff chirped cheerfully, passing him the slab of wood as he reached for something. "These are for in here," She mused about the sunflowers, thinking they fit the workshop as well as she thought they would. Daffy knew her flowers though, so that was no surprise. "That is a project I would like some help with? And these are treats to help butter you up to get you to say yes." Daffy batted her lashes at him playfully, a cheeky grin curling her lips.

Gently she set everything else down on a spare space, which was surprisingly hard to find, turning to face him and wishing she hadn't handed him anything. She would have rather snuggled in herself, needing that contact, but instead leaned in towards him and poked the would-be sign with one finger. "But really I just came to see you." She admitted, grin fading more into a smitten sort of smile she simply couldn't get rid of.

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Well, the piece of wood would have been a good prop for her visit if it had only been a prop, anyway – although Daffodil did seem to have a real project in mind, something besides flustering him by showing up with an armful of sunflowers.

Not that he had come to expect any less of her.

“Ah, but if you knew me better, you would know I’m a simple man, and don’t need any buttering up at all,” Elias teased, returning her last sentiment and conspiratorial smile. Her presence was enough of a gift without anything else (– though he probably wouldn’t have said no to an unusual woodworking project, regardless). Still, he shifted the sheet of wood onto a side of the workbench, shifting away paint jars and pots and a heap of rags with an awkward sweep of his arm to make enough room. He ran a hand pensively over it, and then dipped briefly into the box of pastries – not to take one yet, because his hands were a mess – just enough to let the pastries’ smell waft into the room, to take the edge off sanded wood and fumes of varnish with the freshly-baked sweetness of them.

As he turned back to her, he wiped down his hands on the front of his apron to clean them a bit, and then lifted his hands to the fastening of her cloak to shrug it off her. It might be cold outside, but even with the door ajar, he couldn’t feel it in here even with rolled up sleeves, what with all the warming charms in the room and the graft of the work – and since Daffodil had stopped in, he was hoping she would stay a while. And if helping her out of her cloak was an unnecessary gesture to that end, at least it gave him an excuse to step a little closer. “But thank you anyway,” he added warmly.

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"I knew that, I planned to stay a while," She pursed her lips to keep her smile from reaching ridiculous proportions. "If allowed. And snacks never go amiss." When was the last time she'd eaten anyway? Something around midday just to stave off the dizziness probably. This whole running a shop business really was a lot of work. She'd been expecting it, of course, but the reality was here and she was thankful for it.

Their banter came far too easily and she was relieved by it. After everything that had happened between them, and to her before that, she needed that comforting familiarity at the end of a long day. Not to mention his workshop had quickly become one of her favorite haunts. There was just something so warm and inviting about it, it had him written all over it, she'd seen that in her first visit and even now she knew she would learn something new this time too. If she played her cards right, got her head together, her visits could become a regular thing. Everything before this had always been so difficult, calculated meetings, hurried moments and secrets. She shouldn't be here in his shop alone with him, but at least if this got out there was nothing that could really ruin anyone. Daffy could actually tell somebody about Elias, it didn't have to be a secret and that was a huge weight off her shoulders.

Pleased by is reaction to what she'd brought with her, Daffy's breath caught in her throat as he moved closer, unhooking her cloak. She felt the heat rise to her cheeks as she tucked a strand of wild waves behind her ear. "My pleasure," She managed in a breathless sort of laugh, looking up at him curiously, letting the cloak fall away by taking half of a step toward him.

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   Elias Grimstone

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Elias rather thought the pleasure was all his, actually, but he was in no mood to argue. Well, except... “If allowed,” he repeated, with a slight shake of his head to express how ridiculous she sounded saying that; she was welcome to do whatever she liked, anything, she could stay forever. Certainly she shouldn’t be here like this – unannounced and unaccompanied – but evidently she had some excuse up her sleeve and, even more evidently, he couldn’t quite bring himself to mind.

It would do no harm in the end, he reasoned; not this time. Besides, nothing improper had happened between them, not really – not yet. Elias had always sworn to himself that next time, this time, he would do things properly. Not put a single foot wrong.

But that was easier said than done when he was faced with the temptation of being so close. He let his hands fall to lower the cloak behind her, draping it over the stool beside him, but didn’t step back or look away. No, everything else fell away too naturally when they were alone, and still like this: Elias felt suddenly allowed to look, to drink in the sight of her like she was a work of art, herself. The rosy smudges on her cheeks, long eyelashes framing the blue sky in her eyes, every wisp of hair around her face that told him she’d been hard at work all day. He traced the motion she had made a moment later, toying with the strands of hair Daffodil had just tucked behind her ear; he glanced down at her mouth.

His smile had mostly faded in that pull of contemplation, but as he tilted his head a fraction further down towards her it came back, just at the corner. “So...” Elias said slowly, at least half to tease her (and half in hope she wouldn’t answer him seriously at all), “what exactly can I do for you?”

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   Daffodil Grimstone

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It was as if time slowed down, stood still, to the point where she forgot how to breathe. In the quiet warmth of his workshop, Daffy was keenly aware of the hammering of her heart in her chest, and how she felt frozen herself as she met his gaze. She wasn't sure anybody had ever looked at her like that. It was almost as if he saw right into her and she felt the blush on her cheeks intensify a little bit as a shiver ran down her spine. She couldn't even make a quip about him laughing at her, she was too mesmerized by the moment to cheapen it by saying the wrong thing.

Peering up at him through her lashes, Daff tried to use the moment to her advantage. She wanted to be able to take a good look at him, to commit his features to memory, from the delightfully disheveled tousle of his hair to the line of his jaw and the hint of a five o'clock shadow; but she was too distracted at the feeling of his hand in her hair and it was impossible to miss that little downward flicker of his eyes. Nearly every fiber of her being was screaming at her to just lean in, but there was some tiny, infinitesimal hesitation stopping her. Maybe it was his expression and the seriousness behind it that had her questioning if she was ready for this. She was starting to drift into her own thoughts, which was dangerous.

Thankfully he was able to ground her with little effort, that quirk of a smile and teasing line keeping her from letting her thoughts run away from her. Time started to move again, though her breath was still caught in her chest. She was not going to let her head get in the way of her heart, not this time. She opened her mouth to reply, still breathless, lips parted just slightly as she tilted her chin up toward him. She realized she couldn't think of a good reply, very rarely was she left speechless. Eyes intent on his, she brought one hand to brush her fingers along his jaw, pushing up to her tiptoes to close the gap between them. That had to be answer enough.

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   Elias Grimstone

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He caught the slight parting of her lips, imagined she had some answer up her sleeve... but the look in her eyes was too intent for that. Instead, he caught himself holding his breath, too conscious of her hand on his jaw to move for a moment, until her mouth met his. Elias hadn’t actually expected her to kiss him – he had been considering kissing her, of course, but then he had wanted to kiss her for a very long time. He was almost surprised by the weight of that want, realised in him now there was no distance left between them.

Because he could have kissed her the other day on her rooftop garden, if only she hadn’t been tearful and still talking about heartbreak; he might have kissed her the next day, if he hadn’t wanted to give due attention to the tour, all her accomplishments, to give her time to set the pace. And if Elias thought hard enough about it, he’d been alive to his feelings for her back at the flower show – if Irene hadn’t unwittingly chosen her moment, he imagined he might have kissed her that evening. Or the first time Daffodil had set foot in the workshop, the year before – and had at once been so at home here, had known him so clearly, already saw him right through. He might’ve even known it then.

But perhaps caution had served them well and the waiting had been worth it. Now she knew better how he felt; now they could be completely honest with each other. And if this really could go somewhere, then this was just confirmation – a kiss was just the start.

So there was no worry and no doubt. Elias rested the hand in her hair at the back of her neck, left it there even when he drew back for breath. “Daffodil,” he said, and that too felt like the beginning of a sentence, like there was something he needed to say – you know, don’t you, how much I care about you – but for now, he just leant in again instead.

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   Daffodil Grimstone

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Daffy felt a spark ignite in her chest, the warmth washing over her the instant her lips touched his. It felt like gravity pulling her in, like how the moon moved the tides or the seasons changed with the year; inevitable and overwhelming. How she had felt any hesitation was beyond her now.

The newness of the moment was not lost on her; this was not her first kiss, but there was still something monumental about it and everything it held. There was rush of excitement at the potential, the promise, and at realization of the depth of her feelings. She'd known how she felt about him, deep down, for a long while and that was almost as terrifying as it was thrilling. Daff had written herself out of her own love story after everything that had happened, even with her best attempts to keep it alive and so she had to lower her expectations and focus on herself. Little had she known, the universe was hand-delivering exactly who she needed straight into her pumpkin plants that warm spring afternoon.

So this was no ordinary first kiss and she was pretty sure they both knew that.

Her free hand had come to join the other, framing his face gently as she pushed closer, melting against him. Everything about this felt so right that when he pulled back she hadn't even realized how lost in the moment she truly was. Her lashes fluttered open at the sound of her name, another shiver running down her spine. Blue eyes searched his for a moment, waiting for him to say more, but when nothing followed, she was all too eager to meet him in the middle once more.

Daff felt her heart shift, something about the flurry of emotions and the weight of the moment almost overwhelmed her. The tone of the kiss had started out light, but she knew herself well enough to know it wouldn't stay that way for long and she didn't want to ruin it. Sighing, she managed to lean back in an impressive show of self-control, breathing quick and smiling softly up at him. She could certainly get used to that.

"Not exactly what I came to do, but a welcome addition to the itinerary." She teased breathlessly, sliding her hands back to loop her arms around his neck. Just because she needed a quick break, didn't particularly mean she wanted to move.

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   Elias Grimstone

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It perhaps wasn’t the first time he had ever felt this way, and presumably wasn’t the first time for her either, after what she’d said about being a mess – and it definitely wasn’t the first time she’d done that – but Elias still hadn’t quite believed he would ever fall into this kind of feeling again. Even if he had, he’d been almost certain nothing would come of it after her silence over the summer, but... here they were. Any residual hurt or disappointment in that had melted away in a moment, though, and maybe thawed away the rest of his fear.

This was still new, though; still delicate. Maybe that was why he was conscious of not saying anything else, of not going too far too soon – so when Daffodil drew back a little, he let his hand slide downward, more lightly, to the small of her back. “Well, I’m glad you could spare any time for that,” Elias admitted with a small grin, because Daffy’s days had seemed wildly full since her shop had opened, so who knew how crammed her itinerary was. Really, she must be run off her feet – as much as Elias would happily keep holding onto her, he was also half-convinced he should make her sit down and eat her way through the pastries she’d brought. (She had come here on an errand, after all, he thought to himself in jest.)

Eventually, he straightened up, loosening his hold on her a little more and tilting his head towards the sheet of wood she’d brought. “But go on – tell me about this project, then.” Some small part of his mind had been itching to know that the whole time, so he supposed she ought to colour him sincerely intrigued.

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As perfect as that moment was, Daffy knew that she needed to take it slow and he mercifully also seemed to recognize that. Neither one of them moved, however, which she was alright with. Daff had always been a touchy sort of person; she enjoyed the physicality of it, especially when it meant what this did. It made her feel secure in some weird way. "There's always time for that," She teased. The seriousness of the moment hadn't been lost on her, but it had settled nicely into the next moment. This little series of moments was all she really wanted; that heart racing, flushed cheeks, breathless sort of feeling that never really went away when she was around him.

Without moving, she followed his gaze to the slab of wood on his workbench. She sighed softly and reluctantly loosened her arms and stepped back, moving toward the bench to run her hands over the wood toward the edges. She used one hand to push her hair back out of her face again as she looked down it. "I was hoping you could make me a new sign for the shop. I painted one, but it I don't love it." Painting was not her forte, but she also thought something carved would last a little longer. She also, after leaving him out of everything before this, wanted him to have some sort of part in it. If things went the way she wanted, the shop would also be his some day after all.

Gently she traced her fingertips over the grains of the wood, the swirling patterns always mesmerizing to her. She cast a look over her shoulder at him, smiling slowly, wild hair falling with the movement as she did. "If I wrote the words and maybe drew a flower, could you do something with that?" Daff wasn't really sure how far his skills extended, aside from the brooms of course, which were works of art on their own. Taking all of the pieces and crafting a complete, useable broom, that also looked beautiful, still flabbergasted her. She took things that were already pretty on their own and put them together with other pretty things, but he created things from scratch into something much more. It left her in awe of him.

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Elias followed her lead and let go, watching her move towards the workbench – and trying to pay at least some attention to what she was saying, and not just to the way she tucked another loose piece of her hair back again.

He smiled wryly at her request. He hadn’t seen anything wrong with the sign she already had hanging – not that he had looked at it too closely – but he suspected he wouldn’t see anything lacking in it if he looked again either, if she had made it herself. But he was gratified and flattered by the request, too; of course he wanted to contribute, if he could. It was just – an extension of trust from her he hadn’t necessarily expected. It had been Daffodil’s show of independence, after all; that shop was her sole invention and her child. And that she would want any sign of him somewhere in all that work, even the slightest suggestion of it, meant more than he could quite explain. “I’d love to,” Elias agreed simply. “If you’re sure.”

His hand settled on Daffy’s arm for a moment, lightly – almost absently – as he stepped nearer, standing alongside to peer at the blank wood and envisage what she was envisaging. After a moment, though, he drew up a stool and propped himself on it, raking a hand thoughtfully through his hair and then scratching under his chin with a little more seriousness. “I’m happy to try,” he added, sure that he could do something he’d be satisfied with along those guidelines, particularly if she was doing the drawing. He considered the depth of the wood, at the sort of layered engraving he could manage with that much space. “You could have a whole field of flowers in the background, if you like.”

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   Daffodil Grimstone

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look ANOTHER beautiful bee!set <3

Daffy had switched into creative mode, head tilted to one side as she contemplated her wooden canvas. She had always been pretty good with composition, but this was not as easy as she would have liked. It would hang in the alley for everyone to see and she wanted it to be just right.

The sign was a good distraction though, as her heartbeat returned to normal and the color on her cheeks lessened a little; Daff could have easily spent her entire visit curled into him in some capacity, this was also a good use of her hands. Even now, she leaned into his touch at her arm subconsciously, as gentle as it was, she couldn't help but to seek it out where she could.  "Of course I'm sure," She cast him a look; now who was being silly?

The focus on the wood had her drawing an idea with her fingertips gently, trying to imagine what she wanted. As Elias joined her, she settled into his space without even realizing, leaning a hip against his stool while she thought this through. It was incredibly easy to feel at home in his workshop, as if it were her greenhouse, or even her own new workshop beneath the shop. "Do you have any scrap parchment I can sketch on?" Daff probably should have thought this part through beforehand, but she also wanted his input. He'd probably get sick of her asking after this, as she considered including him in shop things a requirement now.

Feeling her stomach rumble, Daff remembered the pastries she'd brought and reached for the box, plucking a pan au chocolat for herself, leaving the lid open to let out the delicious aroma. Gently she pulled it apart and brushed her hair from her face once more, still thinking about how she wanted the sign to look.

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He had known she was sure, in all honestly, because she wouldn’t have asked him if she hadn’t thought it over thoroughly first – but that didn’t mean it wasn’t nice to hear it said aloud. So Elias just grinned back at her when she gave him that look.

And she might be pondering the composition of her sign, but he couldn’t quite concentrate on following the shapes she was tracing with her finger. Most of his attention was on her and her maddening closeness, and the easy way she leaned in, like they’d been together far longer than they had and she’d been in the workshop a thousand times before. (He wasn’t opposed to Daffy making a habit of these visits, although he was also beginning to wonder whether he’d have the concentration to ever get any work done at all if she was here regularly distracting him.)

He certainly wasn’t going to get anything useful done for his brooms today, so maybe it was a blessing that she’d given him something practical to do with himself. “‘Course,” Elias commented, leaning sideways and reaching an arm just beyond her to snatch up some parchment and sketching utensils for her from the next bench over. “You’ll have to choose the colours you want, too,” he remarked, trying to picture her existing sign again for its colours scheme. If he didn’t have enough shades in wood paint, he could probably get Irene’s help in mixing some – but that probably didn’t need mentioning, not today.

In the meantime, though, Elias brushed a hand indulgently over her shoulder where a stray fleck of pastry had caught her – or it could have been sawdust, there was no shortage of that in here – and, scolding himself internally, quietly set about gathering some of his chisels and gouges and marking tools, and seeing about sanding that sheet of wood a little smoother. There was no real urgency to any of his motions, though. He was perfectly willing to find ways to slow things down and have her stay all day.

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look ANOTHER beautiful bee!set <3

Nibbling on her snack, Daffy was preoccupied with trying to figure out the best way to go about deciding what she wanted. She knew how she wanted the words to look, but the rest, well, she wasn't so sure. At the hand on her shoulder, Daff felt a little unexpected shiver run down her spine, funny how something so casual could do that to her. She cast a smile at him over that shoulder, but he was busying himself getting his tools out, which amused her just as much. The exhaustion of working a full day already was wearing on her, but she was far from ready to go and Elias seemed more than apt to start her little project now, so she was content to stretch her visit as long as he would humor her. Truthfully she hadn't intended to start it tonight, but it was a good way to both prolong her stay and keep things light.

Daff straightened up and dusted her hands off as she finished the pastry, taking the offered drawing supplies to lay them over the wood itself. The shape was rough, a live edge that she sort of enjoyed, and it was mostly oval in shape, with a few juts here and there. Slowly she traced a rough outline on the parchment so she could have an idea of how much room she had. It took her a minute, looking around the shop itself for a flat surface to sketch on, but there really wasn't much space to lay the parchment down on. He had things stashed everywhere, she realized, some organization she surely didn't understand yet, but it sort of looked like stages of the brooms in different spots. Some day she'd just come and observe, instead of interrupting.

Finally, she decided the floor was just fine and moved a little ways away (so as not to be in his way) and dropped down gently in a pool of skirts and sawdust to lay out the parchment. Daff knew that she wanted to words to flow in a script across the middle so that part was easy. She wound the charcoal across the parchment in wide loops and swirls, keeping the letters neat and legible. Tucking her hair behind her ear for what felt like the thousandth time that day, she accidentally and without realizing, brushed charcoal onto her cheek, but was too lost in thought to pay it any mind. "I don't know exactly what to do with it beyond this," She chuckled, looking up at him. Colors were the last thing on her mind as she ran the possibilities through her mind once more.

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He might have picked up a tool or two, but the most Elias had really done with them was dust them off a little on the knees of his apron and reorganise a little without actually looking – because giving himself something to do with his hands was all well and good, but once again Daff was the most interesting sight in the room.

Especially on the floor like that – he wanted to sigh at her for choosing there, as if she couldn’t have rearranged anything she liked – but the thing was she looked perfectly comfortable there, all the same, entirely lost in herself. But she looked at ease almost anywhere, he supposed, and could make anyone feel at home in her company, was too unpretentious and unaffected to care.

Still, he cared a little, however much he was enjoying watching her and picking at a pastry of his own as she drew out looping letters and caught charcoal on her face. Down to earth as ever, Elias thought with a burgeoning smile, remembering first meeting her with soil on her cheeks. “You don’t have to decide now, anyway,” he qualified, peering down at her first idea. “I’ll try a few things first, we can see how they look. And –” he added, leaning forwards slightly to impress this better on her, “I can clear you a space of your own for next time, you know.” Not that she didn’t have her own shop and her own space now, but it wasn’t just about working on the sign. Elias hoped she would visit him here again, with or without an excuse, because he wanted to spend all the time he could with her – and that one day, hopefully, they might move past visits entirely, and all their spaces would be shared.

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   Daffodil Grimstone

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look ANOTHER beautiful bee!set <3