Seth had just recently gotten this job at Sonora-and he was thrilled. As he wasn't the most mature adult ever, he was still pretty goofy,he was rather attached to the place and remembered it fondly. Plus, there were two people here who were very important to him, his nephew Ryan and Lilac Crosby.
The former he wanted to watch out for. Seth knew Ryan had a rough time of it in general, though he seemed to be doing well and everything. Made friends and stuff. He'd even gone to one girl's house over the summer. Some of Seth's other nieces and nephews had teased Ryan about Sophie being his girlfriend. The Crotalus had been terribly embarassed about that. To Seth, it sounded more like Sophie was the sister Ryan should have had. The groundskeeper didn't exactly know his niece Carrie, but the way Ryan talked she sounded completely evil.
Like mother, like daughter. Seth had never gotten on with Pearl. None of them had. He'd even been the one to be sorted into the same house as her. He almost shuddered thinking about that . There was nothing wrong with Pecari in itself, just being around Pearl at school as well as home had been dreadful and as Ryan was treated much worse by Seth's older sister than Seth had been himself, he could see why his nephew never wanted to go home.
So Seth felt sorry for the kid. Not that he was going to give Ryan or any of his other relatives at Sonora-he knew there were quite a few here, children of his cousins, and the patriarch's great-grandaughters, Nina, Autumn and Hope, he thought-special treatment. Or at least, he'd try not to. It was kind of hard for him. Not that he wasn't kind of a softie to begin with. Seth never really got too mad and he was good with kids. The fun uncle, who took his nieces and nephews off their parents' hands for a bit.
As for Lilac, well, Seth had been writing to her for a bit and met her over the summer. She was...awesome. She was very offbeat, and Seth loved that. A pureblood woman-not that Seth was too picky on that, but his family could be-who wasn't...a typical pureblood woman.
His family would be pleased enough. Seth had heard that the patriarch, Clifford Brockert, brother of his grandfather Hugo, wasn't pleased with much that he did. He was seen as goofy, irresponsible, an overgrown child. Now, Seth was trying to grow up a bit. Settle down with this job and possibly Lilac and have kids of his own.
Not that he thought everyone would be pleased with his job. While his father, Otis the Tightwad-yes that was how Seth's family thought of his father-had impressed upon his sons the value of work (and his daughters the value of marrying wealthy), there were some that probably thought some of Seth's duties as groundskeeper-such as cleaning toilets-as below the dignity of a Brockert. He personally didn't care and eagerly awaited the day that Cousin Frank, great-uncle Clifford the Patriarch's son, took over. Not that Seth wished his great-uncle any harm, but Frank was a fun guy.
Seth had not told Lilac he had gotten the job at Sonora, as he'd wanted to surprise her. The groundskeeper had even sworn Ryan to secrecy. He entered the Transfiguration room, brandishing a bouquet of flowers. They were a mix of many different kinds, he would have done lilacs, but felt that might be kind of corny. "Surprise, Lilac!"
Operation Seth-Surprises-Lilac has been a success
by Lilac Crosby
Things seemed okay. Lilac was having a fair day, a fair existence, a fair life. It was all just okay. She was satisfied with her current life, although she could definitely have stood for more. However, by this age, she had begun to realize that pushing for more when what she had was enough to make her smile could just lead to false hope and disappointment. It was a sad realization, but true.
Okay, so maybe it wasn’t a “fair” day. The usually chipper professor felt drained, emotionally and physically. She was typically cheerful and positive, but today she felt…not. Even she did not understand why when she had so much to be happy about. She had a great job. Her siblings, nieces, nephews, and cousins were amazing. Her father loved her. She had marvelous aunts who she looked up to. On top of all that, her mother was on vacation and out of contact. It wasn’t that she didn’t love her mother, but Veronika Crosby’s pestering could be very stressful.
The brunette’s mother had been annoying her about Seth Brockert. The back of her mind told her that her mother did have the right to ask--even if excessively--as it was her who introduced her to Seth, but the more active part of her brain simply wanted her mother to butt out. She felt like her mother had no faith in her, terrified that just because Lilac was twenty-seven and still unwed, she never would and would never have children. Her brothers and sister had all been married and parents at twenty, but so what Lilac was different? She was a late bloomer, always had been. That didn’t mean she would never bloom.
Maybe that was contributing to her uncharacteristically un-chirpy mood. Her bare left hand felt like a constant reminder that every day, she was letting down her mother’s expectations. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to marry, either, the opportunity just had not come up yet. Maybe with Seth that could change, but…
Lilac didn’t want him to feel pressured or anything, and maybe it was unreasonable to think so far ahead. After all, they weren’t even technically “dating” or “a couple” so maybe she was reading too much into their friendship. With a sigh, she leaned against one of the desks in the front of her classroom. The class had ended at least a half-hour ago, but she didn’t really have anywhere else to be and had remained in her classroom.
Her eyes closed, a familiar voice contacted her ear drums. “Surprise, Lilac!” She did not startle; little seemed random enough to frighten or shock her. However, a smile quickly spread across her face like a wildfire. It can’t be…. Can it? Slowly she turned to see Seth. In her classroom. At Sonora. With flowers.
At first she rubbed her eyes to see if she was dreaming, but when Seth was still before her, she realized it wasn’t a dream. “Seth! What are you doing here?!” she incredulously exclaimed. A light blush decorated her pale cheeks. “Are those flowers for me?” The half-Russian could hardly believe he was here! The heterogeneous bouquet of flowers just displayed how thoughtful Seth was, which was one of the reasons Lilac was so invested in him, but to be honest, just seeing him was enough. For all she cared, he could have brought her a bouquet of old toothbrushes if it meant he was there.
0Lilac CrosbyOperation Seth-Surprises-Lilac has been a success0Lilac Crosby05
Seth grinned. "What? These? I just like to randomly carry around bouquets of flowers. " He laughed. "Of course they're for you!" He set them down on the desk. It was a rather large bouquet and if it had been much bigger Seth would have been floating them rather than carrying them. "Who else would I get flowers for?"
He bounced slightly on his heels. Seth had always been an energetic guy. Which was why he felt he was well suited to the more physical job of groundskeeper as opposed to something like librarian. Seth would have been a terrible librarian. Books and being quiet weren't really him. Which was probably why he'd been sorted into Pecari.
Seth might have been a good teacher though, he was good with young people. Something his siblings joked was because he was about their level of maturity. Except for Pearl, because she did not have a sense of humor, so she never joked. Plus, Seth hadn't seen her in years (fortunately). Just his nephew and brother-in-law. He'd never even met Carrie and judging by Ryan's general reaction to the idea of being around her, Seth wasn't sure he wanted to.
He really didn't mind that his siblings-four of whom were younger than him-thought he was immature. Even though Seth now wanted to have a career-yes, as a groundskeeper-and get married and have kids of his own, he still didn't want to be too mature. Mature was boring. In this respect, Seth felt very sorry for his nieces Amity and Chaslyn. His sister-in-law, Jillian was the pushiest woman. Always enrolling those poor little girls in activity after activity-which his father said was a terrible waste of money and if they were going to do that stuff they should pick one thing and specialize. They never got a chance to play and just be kids .
Amity and Chaslyn might not have had it as bad as Ryan, but it still sucked. Seth liked taking them to do fun things where they didn't have to compete with other children and be perfect, little miniature adults. Which wasn't that uncommon among pureblood children in itself though the way Jillian did it was. It was as if being a Brockert wasn't enough, they had to be the best at everything too. Seth knew Amity, who was seven, hated it. She wasn't exactly shy about voicing her opinions.
"I just got hired here, as one of the new groundskeepers." Seth explained, grinning again. "I thought I'd come see you right away and surprise you." Part of the reason he'd wanted this particular job in the first place was to be around Lilac. "Actually, now that I'm here, I was wondering if you wanted to make things a bit more official." Seth hoped she would say yes, as it might make things a bit awkward now if she didn't.
A light blush decorated her light cheeks. Of course the flowers were for her. Duh. However, the situation was just so unexpected--so incredulously similar to her dreams--that she could not withhold the stupid question. Still, it was nice to hear him confirm it, even if he did so with a joke. But that sense of humor was one of the reasons that Lilac was so attached to him.
Okay, maybe “attached” was too subtle a word, but the stronger possibility, no matter how anxious she was for it to be returned, frightened her a little. Seth was great, and probably the best thing that ever happened to the twenty-seven year old was meeting him, but for some reason, the future scared her. Maybe, though, it wasn’t the future itself, but what it could hold.
It could hold heartbreak. The brunette was very confident Seth would never hurt her, but how would she know what the signs were? Lilac had very little no experience at all in the matter. Of course she had gone out with a couple pureblood boys in her time--what (unbetrothed) woman had no exes?--but none that really meant so much to her. All of them together meant less than Seth already did.
Grinning, Seth told her about being hired as a groundskeeper and deciding to surprise her. Smiling back, Lilac was glad he had. Knowing he was coming would have meant a less powerful reunion, whereas at the moment, she felt very connected to him. “Actually, now that I’m here, I was wondering if you wanted to make things a bit more official.”
Oh Merlin yes. Of course, she could hardly answer like that. She had to be calm. Usually the Teppenpaw Head of House was slightly naïve and didn’t catch on to hints, but in this matter, she was fully aware of what he was asking. The scenario had played so many times in her head before that she could hardly believe it was happening before her eyes. A deeper crimson factored into her pale complexion, and she tucked a stray brown strand of hair behind her ear.
“I’d love to,” she said shyly, quieter than usual because happiness was choking her, and joyous tears were threatening her eyes. “I want nothing more than to make things ‘a bit more official’.” Her grey eyes stole up into his and were captured, unable to avert no matter how hard she tried. She was tempted to kiss him, but as things had just become “a bit more official,” she didn’t want to go too fast or make him think she was desperate. Instead she gazed into his eyes, so utterly happy that it should hardly have been legal.
He grinned wider. Seth had been hoping she'd say yes. It would have been really awkward working here if she hadn't and Seth didn't want to start out his job on such a poor note. He planned to work here for a long time.The groundskeeper had never been the most ambitious fellow so he didn't really aspire to anything more than groundskeeper at Sonora. Despite his father's tight fisted ways, Seth knew he still had money (possibly because his father hoarded it)and he didn't really feel the need to aspire to anything more prestigious and higher paying. He was still a Brockert and still wealthy. Why push himself into something that he wouldn't enjoy?
Besides,people who were a bit too ambitious were off putting anyway. Like his sister-in-law Jillian. Seth didn't really like her much. She wasn't as horrid as Pearl, but he still immensely disagreed with how she pushed her daughters into so many activities. Especially considering that Amity hated it and Chaslyn was only three. Seth would never do that to his children.
Also, he just plain would have been disappointed if Lilac had said no. Seth really liked Lilac. He absolutely loved how unique she was. So many pureblood women never really outgrew that whole princessy stage. They were the types who wanted to snag him because he was a Brockert, and only that. Seth believed that Lilac actually liked him .
It was something he felt the need to warn his nephews about. Seth could easily see Ryan in particular being taken advantage of by some little pureblood princess who wanted him for all the wrong reasons. His nephew was the type who was desperate to be liked, so it would follow to Seth, that Ryan would also be desperate to be loved. Seth hoped his nephew would find someone who liked him for himself as Seth thought he'd found someone that liked him for himself as he did her.
So when Lilac said she'd love to make things official, Seth absolutely beamed. He took Lilac's hand, and leaned over and kissed her gently. Seth had had the urge to do so and went with it. He wasn't the kind to worry and fuss over a decision, to worry about how someone would react. Besides, Seth was pretty sure Lilac wouldn't mind at all. She was now his girlfriend after all.
When he was done with the kiss, he asked. "So, how are your classes going?"
Cute kittens. Rainbows. Unicorns. Magic, but the kind like witches and wizards used. Happiness. Joy. Excitement. Thrill. Summer rain. Autumn’s colored leafs. The first frost of the year. Snowflakes on her eyelashes. Spring flowers. Bouquets. Seth.
Fireworks.
It took a moment for Lilac to completely comprehend what hat happened. It had all been so fast. She started at the beginning to make herself make sense of things. Seth had showed up with flowers, saying he had gotten a job at the school. He asked her out--a very pleasant part of the memory--and she said yes. Now he was kissing her. Well, duh, she returned the kiss, her eyes fluttering closed.
It was over way too soon for Lilac’s liking, followed by the question, “So, how are your classes going?” The brunette blinked a couple times. “Classes?” She didn’t remember anything before today for a moment, until reality caught up to her. “Oh, right, my classes! Fairly well, actually,” she smiled with a light blush on her cheeks. “I rather like all of the kids, and I think they’re almost all doing well.”
Of course, she could guess he wasn’t interested in all of the students. “Ryan’s doing well too,” said the Teppenpaw Head of House. “Over average.” She wasn’t exactly sure how directly Seth was related to all of those Brockert kids in her classes, so she decided not to mention the rest of them unless he asked. Even then, it was a bit hard to keep track of all of the students’ grades. She only knew how Ryan was doing off-hand because she paid specific attention, in case Seth was going to ask sometime. A good idea, she now supposed.
“So how is, um, grounds keeping?” she asked in return. He had asked about her job, so it was only polite to ask back. Any conversation with Seth was totally fine by Lilac, and her smile would not fade. She just wanted him to stay around her, so much so that she took his hand in hers without even realizing it.