Evelyn Stones
August 03, 2020 11:45 PM
Can we try something new? [Heinrich] by Evelyn Stones
Valentine's day was coming up. Their first Valentine's day was coming up. Evelyn was well aware that being silly about it was unnecessary. She also wasn't convinced it was worth it, as she had yet to see a whole lot of happy loving relationships so far and the balance she and Heinrich had struck of friends and significant others was a good one. But ever since break and her talk with Ness - not to mention the shenanigans Ness got up to - Evelyn had been thinking more about dates and she wanted to make sure she and Heinrich had one. Just . . . not necessarily for Valentine's day because that seemed like a lot of pressure and she was sure there were others in the school who would take over MARS before they could anyway that night.She'd asked him at dinner a few days previously. Heinrich, what do you think of going on a date with me? Would you like to? Like . . . Saturday? Direct as she was, she wasn't too comfortable with this romance stuff. It was hard and she had the constant feeling that if she screwed it up, Heinrich would think she'd be better off as just his friend. She had high hopes of keeping him around and of getting to stick around, so she wanted to take advantage of the fact that they had literal magical rooms that could take them almost anywhere and have a stinkin' date.
At first, she'd tried to think of another movie location for them to visit. That had been difficult to sort out both in terms of one that would be reasonably well-suited to a date and one that wouldn't be weird. And one that MARS could do. So she'd looked instead to DnD. While a dungeon wasn't the best place for a date, she thought there were other places that might be. Unfortunately, that hadn't turned up much for her either. Sure, there were some options, but it wasn't right. If they could have gone to Tumbleweed, that would be easier; find a restaurant someplace or something. But they sat together and ate together all the time. They went to boarding school, after all. Evelyn knew Ness and Lyssa had gone to art museums and she knew Heinrich liked museums but that one didn't feel right. She needed something perfect.
She thought that she'd rather like to dance, but she wasn't sure Heinrich had enjoyed that foray, and a concert seemed rather difficult to actually get to talk to each other through. A Quidditch game might be alright, but it seemed weirdly hollow to sit together and watch brooms and balls fly around in a mock game without any real players or anything there to cheer for. Someday, maybe they'd go to real game.
Beaches were another option. They'd started on the beach, after all. But that one was linked to Oregon, and that wasn't going to work for Evelyn. She'd thought of using one from Germany, but that seemed like dangerous territory.
It was the art room that held the answer after all. It seemed to Evelyn like the most flexible room. While the water room was generally her favorite and there was a pretty insane number of options available there, including some that were entirely impossible in the real world, maybe even with magic, the art room was meant to be a muse as much as anything. There were a lot of things in the world that could speak to an artist and most of them were available here. So Saturday evening, although it was only just beginning to get dark outside Sonora, Evelyn stepped onto a grassy field under a starry sky.
She'd brought a picnic basket with some basic snacks and a blanket, the latter mostly for the feel of it since the grass here was as dry as she wanted it to be and there weren't any bugs to crawl on them or anything if she didn't want, which she didn't. Hopefully, this would be okay. It was also close to where they'd started. Years ago now, they'd begun, laying near each other in a MARS room, with the sound of waves crashing nearby. Now, it was the hum of crickets and breath of wind that would keep them company, and they could lay out under the stars, counting the constellations together. Hopefully Heinrich wouldn't think this was entirely ridiculous, or else uncomfortable or something. She really really hoped that wasn't the case.
Since the MARS room depended on user preference for things like temperature as well, Evelyn had settled on something warm enough that she could wear a simple dress - deep, royal blue, with scalloped sleeves and a lacy A-line hem - and pair of matching flats for their date. She'd done her makeup in something conservative but still pretty (hopefully) and it was a sign of intentionality in this case, after months of exhausting herself sometimes beyond the point of bothering with her usual efforts in cosmetics.
Maybe, just maybe, this would be perfect.
Hoping for the best, Evelyn spread out her blanket, set the picnic basket down, tucked her dress modestly around her legs, and sat cross-legged near enough the edge for her to reach out to the grass and begin construction on a daisy chain while she waited for Heinrich. The usual nerves whirled around in her stomach as she worried whether he would come, but they were assuaged by a strong feeling of confidence and happiness. Contentment, she thought it was called. However this date went, she got to be the lucky one to be with Heinrich, and that was already perfect enough for her.
When the sound of someone entering - the door disguised as that of a small woodland cottage nearby - she turned and grinned, pushing herself to her feet so as to better greet her date.
22
Evelyn Stones
Can we try something new? [Heinrich]
1422
1
5
Heinrich Hexenmeister
August 06, 2020 10:50 AM
Yes, please by Heinrich Hexenmeister
Heinrich had been mildly surprised when Evelyn asked him to go on a date with her on Saturday, mostly because he had thought 'dates' were things you 'went' to and there wasn't really a lot of 'going' anywhere when you both attended a boarding school. But he'd been game, if a bit confused, and when she designated the MARS room, that made it easier to understand since MARS could mimic just about anywhere.As he entered the Art Room, though, his eyebrows rose as he looked up and took in the painted starry sky above them. A masterpiece landscape hadn't exactly been a destination he'd ever really considered.
He smiled at Evelyn as she stood and drew his attention from the paint swirls above them. "You certainly do know how to introduce new things to me," he said wryly. Heinrich moved to close the distance between them, then held out his arms in an invitation to hug. "Would you like a hug in greeting?" he asked properly for consent. He considered asserting that he would, so she would not have to ask in return, but decided initiating the offer probably sufficed to indicate his willingness, and he did not not want to force pressure on an affirmative, though he did not expect that Evelyn would turn it down. He had noticed that she seemed to enjoy hugs, and he'd become more adept at them over the past months since they started dating. These days, it was easier to hug Evelyn than it was to hug Hansel.
Though, truthfully, Hansel getting older and the brothers being separated from each other for most of the year had a fair amount of influence on that changing dynamic. Heinrich just wasn't as close to Hansel now as he used to be, and that was a bit sad to realize.
Still, his ease with physical contact, particularly around the person of Evelyn, had been improving, and he found himself eagerly anticipating the moment when his arms had the requisite permission to close affectionately around her.
1
Heinrich Hexenmeister
Yes, please
1414
0
5
Evelyn Stones
August 06, 2020 11:20 AM
I'm glad you agreed. by Evelyn Stones
The fact that Evelyn had been aiming for normal stars and gotten Van Gogh stars instead made her happy, and even happier when Heinrich entered and seemed amused by them. She smirked at his comment and nodded. "That was an accident," she admitted, pointing at the sky. "But I thought it was a happy one."She took a big happy breath, feeling inflated as Heinrich asked for consent. It was more comfortable now to be together and she was very very glad for that. He had closed the distance between them and the world felt right. She nodded with a grin and slid her arms around his waist, pressing her cheek against his chest. It was literally her favorite thing ever in the universe. She was perfectly happy to hold on as long as he was, and usually pulled away after a few moments so as not to overstay her welcome. In this case, though, she decided to follow his lead and only let go when he did.
"It's nice to see you," she murmured from her happy place. It was pretty impressive that Heinrich managed to be warm and smell good literally all the time.
For a moment, her mind flitted to Ness and Lyssa. What would it be like to date someone that was your own height, or within a few inches? Ness was quite a bit taller than Evelyn now, but most people were, especially if they were their age. Professor Brooding-Hawthorne was about the same height, and some of the younger students were her height or a little shorter, but she couldn't imagine that she'd ever have ended up dating someone literally her height, even if she dated a woman, had she not been with Heinrich. That was just as well, because he seemed like the perfect height.
When Heinrich did let go and Evelyn stepped away, she looked up at him with a big smile. "You're real handsome," she told him, her expression slipping into something more mischievous as she did so. "Care to join me on a picnic under the stars?" she asked with playful formality, gesturing widely at the setup she'd done. "I've got snacks and juice," she said. "I don't know how good it is, but I got strudels," she added, blushing a little. The first time they'd ever spoken was mostly about a strudel, but she was sure that an authentic German food cart would have better ones than the elves had been able to whip up when she begged. At least they were fresh this way.
22
Evelyn Stones
I'm glad you agreed.
1422
0
5