RP: Back from the Mountains

[tt_cecilia.insanejournal.com]

Date: 26. October, 2001
Characters: Cecilia Proudfoot and Sirius Black, mentions of Jamie Proudfoot [NPC] and other NPCs
Setting: Settlement 1, outside the Medical Center
Content: PG
Status: Open: Public, Complete


"...stasis will keep them as fresh as when we cut them," Cecilia informed Agnethe Seidelin, the Muggle botanist from Two she had spent the last four days with in the forest in the mountains just west of Mount Tongariro, gathering and doing the most basic of cataloguing. "You saw them. They're still fresh even after the drive." That Cecilia had chosen to drive back to One with the botanist was more for the company than for practicality. It would have been easier and faster for her to have Apparated both of them, or Agnethe could have driven them to Two from where Cecilia then could have Apparated home, but she got the feeling that the Muggle was fascinated with the Magic that was making One so different from Two. "Go spend the weekend with your family, and I'll see you back here on Monday. I'm sure this'll be what we've been waiting for!" Either they had found something reminiscent of what a lot of people had been longing for here, or they had found some difficult to obtain mosquito repellent. Either way, the expedition had been succesful.

With a small wave, Cecilia stepped back and let Agnethe drive off back to Two, before she walked across the street to the small paths between the vendors' carts. It was still too early for school to be over, so she had a bit of time before she would go pick up Jamie. For a moment she considered sending him a message on his datapad, but didn't when she figured that the surprise of seeing her back a day early was something she wouldn't want to spoil for him by having to sit the rest of the school day out. No, instead she would get everything ready to make him some of his favourites. Hopefully the fish monger had those... oh, she forgot the name, but there was no way she could miss the brightly orange flesh of the juicy fish that had taken over as Jamie's favourite food. Even before she got to the cart with the fish, she was certain that she would be successful in her endevour, as she spotted the purple bulbs that tasted not too unlike potatoes, especially when they were baked with a bit of oil.

Jamie was going to be thrilled, she figured as she reached out to start finding the best of the bulbs, only to find her fingers closing around the hand of another customer. "Oh, excuse me," she apologised and reached for the bulb next to the one she had originally intended to grab.

Comments

[tt_cecilia.insanejournal.com]

Surprised at the almost apologetic tone and the insistence that she take the original bulb, Cecilia turned to look at him, only to find that he had actually taken a step back as if he had burned himself. Sirius Black. There was no mistaking that face, and she had seen him around the Settlement a couple of times, had heard the talk and rumours about him, though had neither seen nor experienced anything from him that made her think him any sort of threat to any of them. That would require actual interaction, and since she had had none, she saw no reason in distancing herself from him.

"Don't be silly," she smirked and picked up the 'potato' in question, holding it out for him to take. "You were faster, and I have it on good authority that this one," she picked up her second choice of bulbs, "is every bit as good as that one." Tilting her head slightly she looked up to meet his eyes, trying to gauge his reaction, once again wishing that people were as easily catalogued as plants were. Unfortunately, they were not, and this one was one of the harder ones to read.

[tt_sirius.insanejournal.com]

She wasn't moving away or giving him shooting glares. Was she a Muggle? There were Muggles on Settlement 1 but the predominate population was Magical. That had to be it. Well, she'd find out soon enough if she was seen talking to him, which seemed unavoidable now. He had bathed in the ocean that morning but his beard was overgrown as was his hair so Sirius knew he looked unkempt.

"Good authority? Don't trust this one, he'll talk you out of every credit you have, if you let him," Sirius replied after a moment, nodding to the vendor who laughed at his words. It was clear that vendor knew he was making a joke of sorts but even Sirius felt awkward about it. He wasn't used to this kind of situation.

He returned back to the spot he'd been occupying. If she didn't like it, she could move on, he supposed but he certainly wasn't looking for that. Muggle or not, she was a pretty thing. "The riper ones cook faster," Sirius offered, not even sure why he was trying to talk to her. "Have you, um, been here long?"

[tt_cecilia.insanejournal.com]

Black's joke felt a little off, more due to the fact that he seemed uncomfortable than to the actual humour of it. Still, Cecilia couldn't help but chuckle as she winked at the vendor, before she looked down at her worn boots, shuffling her foot a little. "Ah, but when it comes to produce, I'm not taking any vendor's word for anything," she smirked and looked back up at him. "However, with this one in particular, I know he won't try to cheat me out of anything or he'll lose his main source of information on any new species here."

He was trying, though, she had to give him that. Just the fact that he had stepped forward again made it easier for her to just relax and keep up the light mood of this encounter. His advice on which one to choose was welcome, though she already was aware of that fact. It was still nice of him to offer, though, and Cecilia reciprocated with a smile, before she wiped any excess dirt on her hands off on the side of her already dirty shorts before she extended her hand to him. "Cecilia Proudfoot," she introduced herself. "Herbologist. Been here... coming up on 7 weeks. You?"

[tt_sirius.insanejournal.com]

New species information. She either worked with the Ark or the herbologists. Judging from her appearance, it could have been either. Sirius didn't keep track of the portal groups. Never had. He knew his godson had a lottery entry but that was it. Either Harry wanted to come through or he didn't, Sirius hadn't had much of a choice - Kingsley needed him and that was it. As much as he had wanted to appeal to Harry himself, Sirius knew that his godson was a man now, with his own decisions.

The woman smiled at him and Sirius blinked when she extended her hand. He looked at her hand and then up to meet her gaze, finding it even and he found himself taking her hand, giving it a shake in greeting. "Herbologist," he repeated. So, she was a witch, after all. His heart sank a little. She knew who he was, then, and was being polite. He wasn't grateful for her politeness. It just made him more aware of his strangeness. "Sirius. Sirius Black. I came through with Kingsley, um, a bit over two months ago in the first expedition. I... scout for him."

[tt_cecilia.insanejournal.com]

For a moment Cecilia thought he wasn't going to accept her hand. She didn't miss the surprised blink or the look he gave her hand, but just as she was about to retract it, he took it and she returned his shake with a small one of her own. Even if she already was aware of who he was, it was still a little odd to have someone introduce themselves as 'Sirius Black'. But she had read the papers, knew of his exoneration, and for him to be here it meant that someone had vouched for him. From what he was saying, she could only assume that it was Kingsley Shacklebolt, and that was enough of a voucher for her to give him the second chance everybody here was getting. "Nice to meet you, Sirius," she smiled and released his hand.

"You scout for him?" she asked, curious about what exactly scouting entailed. "Scout, like... you stand in a watch tower or scout, like you find new places?" As she spoke, she began picking out the bulbs she wanted, one by one adding them to the basket.

[tt_sirius.insanejournal.com]

"And you, Cecilia," he replied, not quite sure what to make of her easy manner but Sirius had felt like a pariah since his return and he wasn't going to reject this woman's kindness even if he struggled with the sense that she was simply taking pity on him. His hand returned, Sirius pushed it into his jeans' pocket.

At her question, Sirius glanced to the left and up, to where the tower guard was looking out over the forest below, before giving a small shake of his head. "Not exactly, no. I don't do..." he nodded in the general direction of the guard tower. "that, no. I find solutions. Not like you do. I don't look for plants. I do my work on the other continent."

Sirius wondered if he sounded as ridiculous to her as he did to himself but he really was caught in a situation that hadn't happened to him before. No one asked what he did and Kingsley had told him not to make a big deal if anyone did ask. Sirius didn't think he was, though. At best, he was making himself sound like a crazy person. He noticed that she was picking out several of the bulbs. "You have family here?"

[tt_cecilia.insanejournal.com]

Cecilia glanced up at the guard tower when Sirius indicated it, then back to him. Her eyes narrowed slightly in light confusion and curiosity about his lack of ability to describe what he did here. Then again, maybe he was doing something that had yet to be defined? "That's... uhm..." she cleared her throat and tried to quell down a chuckle as she searched for the most diplomatic way to express what she was thinking. "That's very vague." Looking at him for another moment, she wondered about what he had meant by 'the other continent'. After all, there were seven continents to choose from, at least back when they had come from.

Picking out the last of the bulbs she needed, Cecilia took a step to her right searching out three of the most fitting, good, old-fashioned 20th century tomatoes. "Yeah, I've my nephew here. Jamie," she answered Sirius' question. "I just came back from four days in the mountains, so I figured I'd fix him his favourite tonight. We're having pre-historic fish 'n' chips, as he calls it..." Holding the three tomatoes in her hand she turned to look directly at him. "Would you like to join us?" Where the idea to invite Sirius over for dinner had come from, Cecilia didn't know, but she had asked the question before she had thought further of it.

[tt_sirius.insanejournal.com]

She was very expressive with beautiful eyes. It was easy to see that she wasn't sure what he'd said. Hell, he wasn't sure what he'd said. "That it is. My apologies. I don't really have a job description, like you do," Sirius amended, tilting his head in a half shrug. He was going to have to ask Kingsley about this woman because, Merlin, she was gorgeous, even dirty from being in the mountains for four days.

"Prehistoric fish 'n chips," Sirius repeated, arching an eyebrow. The fish he'd been eating was cooked over an open fire and the thought of real fish n' chips was very enticing. Made all the more enticing by the fact that a very beautiful woman was making the invitation but she wasn't on her own. There was a nephew. One old enough to have an opinion. "That's very kind of you to offer but I've only just returned myself. Perhaps another time," Sirius hedged uneasily. He still had to debrief Kingsley, after all.

[tt_cecilia.insanejournal.com]

"No, no, that's alright." Cecilia waved off Sirius' apologies, though she was still a bit confused as for why he was being so vague about what he did. At this point she chose to simply chalk it up to it being a matter of something that would become public knowledge when it was ready. As it was, rumours had a tendency to fly and grow in importance exponentially all depending on the level of secrecy they entailed. For all she knew, Sirius could have been looking for a place to start farming and in three or more steps something like that could be translated into free beef for everyone in a matter of hours.

"Yeah, 'prehistoric' is a new favourite term of his," she sighed with a small nod. "It just means something different from where we came from." When Sirius turned down her invitation, she made a small regretful smile, though she nodded. "That's completely understandable," she did pick up her datapad and started tapping in her contact information. "Another time, perhaps?" Something about Sirius was calling to her, and she wanted to get to know him better. If nothing else, then because she was of the belief that everybody needed friends in their life, herself included.

[tt_sirius.insanejournal.com]

He wasn't sure what was all right about it but, then again, Sirius was grateful that she didn't press the issue, not when he wasn't at liberty to tell her what he did. Kingsley had his reasons for wanting to keep Sirius's explorations a secret and he didn't question that, not exactly. He didn't really see the need to keep it a secret but again, Cecilia was the first person to actually ask him much of anything.

"Well, different from where we came from perfectly describes this place," Sirius attempted humor, though his normal humor tended toward the darker side. Something that came out when he was drinking with Kingsley. The witch was tying on her datapad and Sirius couldn't help but notice the slender, graceful line of her neck, wondering vaguely what it felt like. "Yes, another time," he added almost too quickly, though he doubted he'd be around the settlement long. But if this woman really wanted to have dinner with him, maybe the kid wasn't a big deal.

[tt_cecilia.insanejournal.com]

"Yeah," she chuckled, though she wondered why, since again, it hadn't been that funny. Maybe it was Sirius or just his company that made the light conversation as entertaining as it was. "Well, for the most parts, at least." Glancing up at him as she spoke, she looked down to finish her writing.

A beep confirmed that she had just sent off the message she had been working on, and she figured that the similar beep from Sirius' datapad meant that the message had been delivered. "I just sent you my address," she informed him. "So let's make that offer of dinner a standing offer, for a when you have time for it, or perhaps just a cup of tea." Holding out the basket for the vendor to see, she watched her datapad to see that the right amount of credits were withdrawn.

[tt_sirius.insanejournal.com]

Well, she was polite, he'd give her that much. She made the effort to acknowledge his 'joke', mild as it had been, so she was, at the very least, a very kind person. Sirius was watching her type on the datapad and, when his beeped, he blinked in surprise as Cecilia told him what she'd done. Without thinking, he tapped open the blinking square and saw the message from her.

"That's kind of you," Sirius stated, at a loss for what to say in that moment. While Cecilia settled with the vendor, Sirius realized he should reciprocate and he managed to get the floating keyboard to work. A moment later, her pad beeped. "I'm not much of a cook but I do have a few bottles of wine that I liberated from the future before I left. You are welcome to drop by."

[tt_cecilia.insanejournal.com]

This time it was Cecilia's turn to blink in surprise, when suddenly her data pad beeped and a small square with Sirius' name appeared on the screen. That she hadn't expected, considering how genuinely surprised he seemed whenever she had reached out to him, in a manner of speaking. It was a good, surprise, though, and once she had made sure that his information had been properly saved, she nodded before she smiled up at him. "Thank you," she told him, "I'll do that some day."

Then she looked down at her watch. "I hate to just leave you like this, but school's out in a few. Jamie doesn't know I'm back yet, so I'd like to catch him before he heads off in the opposite direction." Once again she held her hand out to him. "It's nice having met you, Sirius, and I hope to see you again soon."

[tt_sirius.insanejournal.com]

So, the kid was old enough for schooling and having a mind of its own. Well, that was more promising and equally more troublesome but that was a bridge Sirius wasn't considering crossing anytime soon anyway. He waved his hand vaguely. "Completely understandable," Sirius replied after a moment, glancing down to her hand but taking it almost immediately this time.

Shaking her hand, he resolved to mention her to Kingsley again, if only to find out more about the witch. "The pleasure was all mine. Until we meet again, then, Cecilia." He watched her go, until her figure disappeared into the milling crowd and then he turned back to the vendor himself.

[tt_cecilia.insanejournal.com]

Cecilia smiled at Sirius before she let go of his hand, and set down the path towards the school. She was excited to see Jamie again, but also a little loathe having had to end her chat with Sirius. The little time she had spent in his company had made her want to get to know him better and even she would admit to feeling a sort of attraction to him, though where that attraction came from, she didn't know. It wasn't as if he had a stellar reputation, after all, nor was he the stereotypical gorgeous male specimen that could make girls and women (perhaps even some men) swoon and blush, but he had unique beauty about him that was difficult to both define and describe.

As she turned the corner and knew that she was completely out of his sight, she stopped for a moment, chuckling softly as she closed her eyes for a moment. It had been years since she had considered taking a man up on his invitation, but now she knew that she would take Sirius up on his offer. Not tonight, or tomorrow, or even this week. But soon.