be confident, have patience and paint (Xanthippe)

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Originally Hugo was kidding about letting Xan paint him but that joke had turned into something different now. It was something awkward, for a moment at the Hospital, but since she was back at the school he was going to make it a reality. Sure, maybe it was a weird thing to some people, but Xan was a painter and Hugo was hers, so why not?

He had set up the painting supplies in a classroom not too far from the Hospital Wing. He was nervous at first about getting her out of the wing, but he sent a letter to one of the nurses explaining that he just wanted to take her somewhere to paint, and the nurse suggested the classroom nearby so that she was as close as possible. He didn't tell them she'd be painting him but.... well, they didn't need to know all the details, right?

He arrived in the Wing around four o' clock in the afternoon, after his classes had ended, and crossed to the bed that had been her home since she got back. "Hello there," he said in greeting, leaning forward to kiss her cheek when he arrived at her side.

@xanthippe

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It was a nice day out. Xan knew, not because she had actually been outside, but because she could see it out of the window, and it was one of those days that you could just see the niceness in. She had been lamenting the fact that she wasn't able to go outside nearly all day, in between catnaps and attempting to learn spells without actually performing them. She knew the incantations and the wand movements by heart, but she knew that just knowing a spell wasn't helpful. She needed to be able to practice it, and that was out of the question. That, combined with the niceness of a day she'd never get to experience, put Xan in a rather foul mood. She hadn't snapped at any of the nurses - she was too nice for that, even when she was grouchy - but treated them instead to silence. It was the silence in the hospital wing that allowed Xan to hear the door open with stunning clarity, and she perked up. She was the only one in the hospital wing at the moment, so if someone was coming through the door, it was definitely a guest for her, and more often than not - "Hugo!" Xan greeted happily. Her boyfriend leaned over to kiss her cheek, and Xan let him, pressing a kiss against his cheek, as well. "How were classes?" She asked, trying not to be envious of the fact that Hugo was allowed to go about his day as he pleased.

@hugo

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Hugo melted at the way she greeted him with that happy smile. She kissed his cheek, as he hoped she would. He sat on the bed with her as she asked how his classes where. "They were fine. Nothing to exciting," he wasn't just saying that to make her feel better or anything. Hugo wasn't one to lie, especially not to Xan. "How was reading up on stuff? Were you just working on something before I came in?" he guessed, looking at the materials around her. He thought she was incredibly brave for being at the school instead of at home during all this. Seeing all the others doing magic... that couldn't have been easy.

"I have a surprise for you," he introduced, ready to get onto his plans.

@xanthippe

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Xan nodded when Hugo said that his classes hadn’t been all that interesting. She felt bad that that actually made her happier – Xan didn’t like to derive pleasure from other people’s suffering (or, in this case, boredom). Hugo asked if she had been reading, and Xan lifted her shoulder in a half-shrug. “I’ve been trying to, but since I can’t actually practice the spells, it’s kind of rubbish.” Not to mention she was far, far ahead of where the class probably was for that same reason.

“Ooh, a surprise?!” Xan asked. “Are you going to tell me what it is?” That kind of ruined the purpose of surprises, but Xan thought it better to ask and be rejected than not to ask at all. She couldn’t imagine what Hugo could have gotten her, especially since his hands appeared to be empty, and she wasn’t allowed to go many places to do anything, so Xan was stumped.

@hugo

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Hugo nodded as she gave a mini shrug and claimed that her reading was kind of rubbish because of the lack of magic. He frowned slightly, but knew what she meant. At least, he thought he had an idea of how hard this was for her. "Well, I give you props for trying," he said, trying to sound encouraging.

He was glad that his mention of the surprise seemed to cheer her up a bit. She asked if he would tell her what it was and he nodded, "better, my love. I'm going to show you," he stepped up off the bed and held a hand out to her, "we're not going far. I got permission, promise." He was kind of bouncing on his toes by this point. Whether that was due to nervousness or excitement, he didn't know.

@xanthippe

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Xan offered Hugo a smile when he said he gave her props for trying. That was more than enough for her; Xan didn’t actively seek Hugo’s approval, most of the time, but it was nice to get it. It was nice to know that someone saw how much she was struggling with being in a magical school when she didn’t have magic. Maybe when he left she would keep trying. She could get ahead in Muggle Studies, maybe…

The Ravenclaw raised her eyebrows when her boyfriend said she was going to show her something, rather than tell her. “I can’t believe they gave you permission.” Xan said dubiously. The nurses had gotten to know Xan relatively well in her time in the hospital wing, which could make them more than a little overprotective at time. “Lead the way, then.” She said, swinging her legs out of her bed so that Hugo could show her way to go.

@hugo

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Hugo chuckled as she said she couldn't believe they gave him permission. He shrugged, "well, I could be lying in an attempt to coerce you into coming with me," granted, Xan knew well enough that Hugo wasn't the type. She moved out of the bed and encouraged him to lead the way, to which he smiled even wider, if that was even possible. His cheeks seemed to hate him whenever he was with Xan because he was always overusing them.

He led the way out the door and to two doors down. He opened it and stepped inside, stepping back to hold the door so she could get in as well. Once she stepped inside, he'd shut the door and lock it, not that a lock would stop anyone from getting in but it would at least give them some warning.

She would see her paints in the room, plus some that weren't part of her collection. There were paintbrushes and airbrushes but no canvas. He turned to Xan and raised an eyebrow.

@xanthippe

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Xan shook her head, amused at Hugo. He wouldn’t lie to her, and he definitely wouldn’t make her break a rule if it was at all possible to avoid it. He knew that she was one of those people who couldn’t help but follow rules – it probably had something to do with her mother being a professor. The room that Hugo led them to wasn’t that far away, and Xan was thankful for that. She was having a pretty good day fever-wise even if her mood hadn’t been the best, and she didn’t want to throw anything off by overexerting herself.

Xan’s eyes widened when she saw the inside of the room. There were paints everywhere, and she knew that she definitely didn’t have this many. Xan turned and threw her arms around Hugo, beaming. “Thank you thank you thank you!” She shouted. “But where are the –” If there isn’t room for an easel, you can just paint me. Xan’s jaw dropped. “Really?” She asked, not even having to get the entire question out. Hugo would know what she meant.

@hugo

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Hugo caught Xan's waist as she threw her arms around him to thank him. She started to ask about the canvas, he was sure, but then she stopped- her jaw dropping. He couldn't help but let his lips form into a mischievous grin as she guessed it. He nodded, "yes, really," he confirmed. He gently pushed on her waist to make some space between them before letting go of her and moving his hands to the buttons on his shirt. He was trying to ignore the fact that they were shaking. "Don't laugh," he said softly as he started to unbutton further.

@xanthippe

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Xan was trying really, really, really hard not to blush right now. The idea had been mortifying enough, but now that this was actually happening, she felt like she was about to explode with nerves. It was something she needed to get used to, since she and Hugo were going to end up married and all, but this was – wow. “I won’t laugh.” And if she did laugh, it would be at herself, more than anything. “You know, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you…shirtless.” Maybe Xan had and she didn’t remember it, but none of the joint family vacations they had been on together had involved beaches. It had been winter in New Zealand and everything, so there wasn’t time to get shirtless and go swimming. Xan had half a mind to offer to undress, too, but she figured that would make everything more awkward, instead of less, so she kept her mouth shut.

@hugo

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Hugo shivered as she said she wouldn't laugh, half way through the buttons at that point. She mentioned how she'd never seen him shirtless and he nodded, a smile trying to take place on his face instead of this awkward look that was most likely there. "You haven't. It's a lot of skin. Never wanted to accidently bump into someone," he admitted. Even if there was a beach or swimming involved, he wouldn't have revealed that much of himself. It was bad enough seeing Winnie die one hundred different times. He had never wanted to expose himself that much.

He finally finished with the buttons and shrugged the shirt of his shoulders and then off his sleeves. He finally stopped looking at her in order to fold it up and put it on a desk beside him. Then he turned to her again and swallowed nervously, "is that enough?" he offered, holding his arms out to his sides. "To paint on, I mean."

@xanthippe

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Right – Hugo didn’t like having his skin exposed. It felt like so much time had passed since they had discovered that they could touch each other without bringing on any visions, but Xan had to remind herself that it had only been since June. “Right.” Xan answered, chewing on her lip. That sobered her up a little, and the blush that had crept up on her despite her best efforts began to fade. Xan watched, a little awestruck, as Hugo peeled off his shirt, trying not to make any of the noises that were currently running through her head. “I would always err on the side of caution.” Xan said without really thinking of what that suggested. “Er – if you want to, I mean.” She was going to die before this was over, Xan was certain, because she had just asked Hugo to take off his pants. Maybe Uncle Ron had been right about them after all…

@hugo

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Hugo didn't realize what she meant at first, but then the blush on her cheek and the muttering of if he wanted to helped him catch on. She was saying it might not be enough skin. So, he nodded. "Yeah, that's fine," his voice was higher pitched than normal again and he cleared his throat, willing the tone to go back to normal. "I mean, wouldn't want it to be to hard for you," he nodded again before going forward with her request until he was just wearing his under drawers. He looked up at her again, "good enough?" he hoped. "I don't care if you get paint on these," he muttered, though he didn't gesture to anything since it was pretty obvious.

@xanthippe

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Xan wasn’t sure if she was dreaming or not. None of her dreams had ever gone this way before, so she was pretty sure it was real, but this was so strange. And even stranger, she liked it. When Hugo spoke again, saying he wouldn’t want anything to be too hard for her, Xan couldn’t help it. She began to laugh, and laugh, and laugh. Even as she was laughing hard enough to make tears stream down her cheeks, she felt bad for doing so – she had promised Hugo. When she was finally able to breathe again, Xan managed to eke out an explanation. “You said – hard – and!” Once again, she didn’t bother explaining it any further. It was better to laugh about it and let her laughter dissolve the tension.

@hugo

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She was laughing. She said she wouldn't laugh! Hugo found himself pouting, taking a step back and reaching for his shirt on the desk. But before his fingers could clasp around it she explained, sort of, but he understood. He turned bright red and one of his hands flew to cover his mouth. "Oh, my gosh," he said softly, before he started laughing as well. Soon he actuall felt a lot better and way less awkward. Laughter had that magic.

"Xan, gosh, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to say that," he said through the laughter.

@xanthippe