Nathan Xavier
August 30, 2018 4:44 PM
[Hallways] It’s 3AM I must be lonely (tag Tabitha) by Nathan Xavier
Nathan clapped a hand down on the alarm and groaned unhappily at the prospect of getting out of the nice warm bed in Isis’ room and making the trek all the way from Pecari to Teppenpaw in the small hours of the night. But it couldn’t be helped. They were both Heads of House, and that came with the responsibility of being close by in case their students needed then. He gave Isis a kiss and dragged himself out of bed.He got dressed, hating the necessity when he was just got to go back to sleep - alone, unfortunately - in his own bed, but it wouldn’t do to be caught wandering about in just his small clothes in the school hallways. He didn’t bother doing anything about his hair, which was decidedly sleep tousled, but it was 3AM. If people wanted him looking well groomed they were going to have to wait until at least sunrise.
He gave his fiancé one more kiss and an apology for waking her, for needing to leave, then stumbled out into the Gardens and headed back toward his our rooms.
Normally, the halls were deserted at this hour. In the two years since he and Isis had been spending partial nights together, he considered it a busy night if he saw a prairie elf out and about.
Tonight he ran into Tabitha Hawthorne.
He knew how he must look. Hair mussed. Robes disheveled and the same ones he’d worn at dinner last night. He wasn’t even wearing socks or shoes, and while he wasn’t sure if his slippers were something she could even see in the dim light and the shadows of his robes, he was acutely aware of it.
Plus Tabitha was the Defense professor. He assumed she must have extra good perception and would instantly draw the accurate conclusions about what his night’s activities had included.
“We’re engaged!” he blurted out in a panic though he wouldn’t have had that excuse even last spring. But he hoped maybe it would help him not look so unprofessional now.
At 3AM. In his slippers.
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Nathan Xavier
[Hallways] It’s 3AM I must be lonely (tag Tabitha)
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Tabitha Hawthorne
August 30, 2018 5:07 PM
Or just a professor with a lot of responsibilities by Tabitha Hawthorne
Tabitha was smiling to herself, her cheeks still coloured a soft pink and her lips were still tingling from the kiss she and Mary - her girlfriend! - had shared in the entryway of Sonora Academy. It had been a wonderful night, almost like something out of a fairytale and Tabitha couldn't been in higher spirits as she made her way back to her rooms.She'd removed her high heels before going up the stairs as, admittedly, her feet were rather sore and the cool stone floors were soothing. She probably would not have done so if she'd have thought that she would bump into anyone but it was three in the morning and the only other person that would still be awake, as far as she knew, would be Mary and she'd gone in the opposite direction to her own quarters. For one night, Tabitha decided that she could let her professorial image slip.
She just turned a corner when she bumped into - almost rather literally - someone. She let out an 'oh!' of surprise and promptly dropped her shoes onto the floor, instinctively reaching for her wand when she realised that it was none other than Nathan Xavier. She let out a breath of relief and gathered her shoes before looking back at him, having to stifle a giggle.
Well, he did look a mess. Rather disheveled, robes creased and messed up, his hair not neat. It really only pointed to one conclusion. However, all of this just seemed to make Tabitha aware of her own state of dress. While she wasn't in such a messy state, she was very aware that she was still in her bold choice of clothing which included the one-piece, very low neck jumpsuit. It certainly wouldn't be appropriate for all her skin to be on show, not in this instance and not in front of somebody who wasn't Mary. She pulled her coat closer around her in a bid to cover herself up while the pink blush on her cheeks intensified to a much redder shade.
Nathan had clearly felt the need to explain himself, given the panic-stricken voice that he'd used and also that he'd completely forgone the social niceties of 'hello, how are you?'. This was terribly awkward and it made Tabitha feel as if she should offer her own explanation for her daring choice of clothing.
"Um... congratulations?" she ventured. "I was just on a date... with a woman."
If she could've facepalmed, she would've done because that was surely too many words.
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Tabitha Hawthorne
Or just a professor with a lot of responsibilities
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Nathan
August 30, 2018 10:04 PM
Bare feet and slippers by Nathan
Slowly, details about Tabitha’s appearance began to percolate into Nathan’s consciousness. As he had been entirely unconscious not ten minutes ago, he wasn’t terribly embarrassed it took him this long to notice that she was carrying-dropping-picking up her high-heels, and she was not dressed in a professorial manner. (Besides, he had plenty else to be embarrassed about just now, all things considered - thank Merlin Tabitha pulled her coat tighter so where his eyes wandered by accident didn’t have to be one of them.)Then she seemed to feel as obligated to explain herself as he did - he assumed it was the hour. Their brains wanted to be asleep but weren’t and were consequently making bad conversational decisions. Case in point. Nathan’s response back to her, which was, “Oh. Okay.”
She had congratulated him, so it only seemed fair to return it. “Congratulations to you, too.” Dating a woman was was something he enjoyed very much, so he was glad Tabitha was getting to do that if that was what she was interested in doing.
“I mean,” he added, quickly, “assuming it went well. You had a good time, I hope?”
Merlin, what was wrong with him? That was a very prying question to ask somebody he barely knew, and it was, as he noted earlier, 3AM and he was in his slippers. And she was barefoot. They should both be asleep.
“Sorry, you don’t have to answer that.”
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Nathan
Bare feet and slippers
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Tabitha Hawthorne
August 30, 2018 10:43 PM
I think your feet are warmer than mine. by Tabitha Hawthorne
Tabitha's good feelings, while they were still simmering under the surface, were slowly being smothered by the awkwardness of this interaction. She couldn't seem to be able to get her blush to disappear and she was almost absolutely certain that she would never be able to look Nathan in the eye ever again without either blushing furiously or dissolving into uncontrollable giggles.Then, Nathan asked about her date.
And all the good, wonderful feelings came rushing back and Tabitha couldn't help herself. She started to giggle, the sound bubbling from her lips. She realised she probably looked and sounded like a lunatic but it was three in the morning, she'd had the most wonderful night and she was exhausted and couldn't help herself.
"I'm sorry," she laughed before breathing deeply, trying to compose herself. "Yes, it was wonderful. One of the best nights of my life."
She took another deep breath and nodded to herself. They were clearly both knackered and it was a ridiculous time in the morning and she didn't know about Nathan but she could kill for a cup of tea. She looked at her surroundings, getting her bearings and realised that they were close to the staff lounge. She looked at him and pointed in the direction.
"Seeing as we're both up... do you maybe want to get a cup of tea? I could murder a cup myself."
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Tabitha Hawthorne
I think your feet are warmer than mine.
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Nathan Xavier
August 31, 2018 10:12 AM
That seems likely by Nathan Xavier
He was glad that prying or not, his question seemed to break the awkward heaviness of the conversation so far, as she smiled brilliantly and confirmed that she had had an absolutely wonderful time. Oh, that was good. He was glad to hear that, in part because it made the conversation not so horribly defensive, but mostly because he was a Teppenpaw through and through and it made him happy when other people were happy."Oh, thank Merlin, one of us has sense at this hour," Nathan breathed out in relief when she invited him into the staff room for tea. It wasn't the bed they probably both needed, but at least it wasn't standing around chatting awkwardly in the middle of the school’s deserted hallways in the middle of the night. He wasn't sure he'd be able to fall asleep right now anyway after this unexpected encounter. That first rush of adrenaline and panic needed time to settle down and a cup of tea would help tremendously with that.
They entered the staff room and set the - uncaffeinated; they did need to sleep tonight eventually - tea to brewing. While they waited, Nathan sank onto one of the couches and rubbed his eyes. "Let's start over. Hi, I'm Nathan."
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Nathan Xavier
That seems likely
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Tabitha Hawthorne
August 31, 2018 2:29 PM
Oh, it feels nice to sit down. by Tabitha Hawthorne
The staff room was dark when they entered it as there was obviously nobody else in there at such early hours. While Nathan busied himself with the tea-making, Tabitha made herself comfortable on a squashy armchair that also had a comfortable foot rest and it felt wonderful to put her feet up. She'd removed her coat to use it more like a blanket, laying it across herself. She withdrew her wand and shot an incendio into the fireplace and it came to life, providing much needed warmth.She smiled just as warmly at Nathan as he sat himself down on the sofa opposite, admittedly looking rather tired before still with it enough to introduce himself properly. She laughed lightly. He seemed to be quite funny. "I'm Tabitha," she told him. "It's a pleasure to meet you, despite the hour."
Tabitha didn't feel much like moving when the tea was done and with another idle flick of her wand, she summoned two teacups with their matching saucers as well as the teapot, milk, sugar and spoons, all of them coming to land gently on the coffee table in between them. With a smile, she leaned forward and began to pour herself a cup of tea.
"So tell me, Nathan..." she began, the corner of her lips twitching up in a smirk. "That was, uh... your fiancee's room you were leaving when we bumped into each other?"
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Tabitha Hawthorne
Oh, it feels nice to sit down.
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