more than a spark [Renfri/Ri]

[Deleted]

January 2, 2026

Normally, January was a hard month for for Ri. Filled with painful memories, and anniversaries that he would rather forget. Often consuming large amounts of strong alcohol during the time. This year had been different. Ri had met a woman, Renfri, on New Years Eve, and with heavy amounts of alcohol, and a general connection, the two had an intimate encounter. Fate intervened by bringing the woman on to the ship that Ri worked on. They had spent yet another night together, passionately enthralled, intoxicated by one another. But they also had taken time to get a deeper connection. The two had spent the morning in bed, enjoying each others warmth.

Ri had heard from his captain and boss that he was not needed for the day, and that the ship had left him behind. He was alright with that. After a nice shower, Ri was dressed, putting on a extra change of cloths that he had brought with him, ensuring that his flask and ocarina were in his jacket pockets, he placed some of his throwing knives he had brought, hidden around. As Renfri was getting ready, there was a tap on the window. Opening it up, feeling the January air, a coupled of birds flew in and dropped a parcel and a card on the counter before retreating out into the winter air. "Expecting anything?" He wondered allowed, closing the window.

It was hard not to notice the brightly colored card. He moved to Renfri, helping her with her sling, then gently wrapping his arms around her, he put his chin on her shoulder. "Is there something that you forgot to mention." He said, moving to kissing her neck, with the potential of leaving yet another mark on it.

@renfri

[Deleted]

January 2, 2026
@cashel

It was a late start to the day. She and Ri had slept it after getting the news that he'd been "abandoned" by the ship for the day. Something she was definitely not complaining about. She liked to think that Ri's boss had seen Ri leave with her and decided to let the pair have the day. It might be silly to think it, or maybe it was 100% what happened, she didn't know. She didn't know Ri's boss, after all. She was merely happy at the turn of events.

While they had no actual plans, they did eventually get up. Ri got up first, taking the chance to use her shower and get ready. After he left the bathroom she begrudgingly got out of the warm bed and went to shower and get ready herself. She would have been perfectly content spending the day in bed. She had no obligations today, though technically speaking she did have work she could do, if she chose to do it. Like finish grading the essays she'd made the students turn in before the holiday break. Though, that would wait, as she knew she'd need a few shots of alcohol in her system to get through those.

Renfri had gotten out of the shower, and was getting dressed when there was another tap on the window. She ignored it this time, as she spotted Ri out of the corner of her eye going to take care of it. Apparently her apartment was popular today. Dressed, she brushed her damp hair onto one shoulder and struggled through braiding it. Though, she stopped when he spoke."I don't think so," She answered, before resuming the one handed braid. She'd gotten pretty good at it over the past few months.

She finished the braid and stepped out into the main living area, working on slipping the sling on. Ri, bless him, stepped over to help her, getting the sling over her shoudler before pulling her close. His question made her raise an eyebrow. "What?" She answered, confused. What was he referring to? She tilted her head as he leaned in to kiss her neck. Dear heavens, she would have to heal all the hickies he'd given so her students didn't see in a few days. Though, with her head tilted to the side she finally saw waht he meant. A package and card. A very bright card that was glaringly obvious even from here. "Ah. That." That? Well. That was one way to admit it was her birthday.

[Deleted]

No matter what the reason for being left on shore, though he could still see the smug look on Bjorn's face. The owls came in swiftly, and then left right after. He asked if she had missed something, but she denied it. He understood that. From the colorful look of the card, it seemed to be claiming that it was, or at least close to, Renfri's birthday. Honestly, his birthday was coming up too, but he hadn't celebrated it since his banishment.

Ri came to help with her sling. He was drawn to her. Every touch was electrifying. As she tilted her head, she seemed to have noticed what the owls had brought in. Though she didn't seem to excited about it. He pulled a little, just to look at her with a little smile, one he just couldn't get rid of. "So, what should we do today?"

@renfri

[Deleted]

January 2, 2026
@cashel

Renfri wasn't against her birthday. It was simply that she didn't think about it. She'd always been working so it wasn't something she'd really stopped to celebrate. She'd actually completely forgotten that it was her birthday, as she'd been rather... occupied since New Years eve. It had sneaked up on her. He didn't push it, instead just asking her what they should do as he flashed her that smile. She'd noticed that since that first night he'd been smiling just a little bit more and more. It was a nice smile. One that made her smile back. She leaned into him, wrapping her arm around his waist. "Hm....." She put on a thoughtful expression. "I supposed staying in bed all day is already out the window," she started. Though what should they do? It was definitely too early to go drinking.

The only idea that came to mind... "When was the last time you explored Hogsmeade?" She offered. It was, after all, the current village they were in. Perhaps they could just walk until they found something interesting?

[Deleted]

Ri didn't spend a lot of time off the ship, and when he did, he was usually still working. But he would occasionally take some time to reconnect with nature, finding comfort in a near by forest. Spending time in towns wasn't something that he did often, and usually it was only to get wasted at some pub. In other words, he would have no idea what to do. This was Renfri's flat, and the town she lived in, so he figured she could decide. She took a moment to think, wrapping an arm around his waist. He welcomed her weight, and held her closely. She mentioned that staying in bed all day was out, but Ri simply shrugged. It wasn't entirely out. They had both showered and dressed though, so perhaps it would be best to do something else. After, perhaps, they could revisit that idea.

The last time he had explored Hogsmeade? He thought about it. "I haven't been here since seventh year, but I'm not sure how much exploring I actually did in the village. Probably spent more time in the forest near Hogwarts." It was commonly known that Druids and magical creatures and animals had a different relationship. While Hogwarts students were forbidden to enter the dark forest on the school grounds, Druids were not.

@renfri

[Deleted]

January 2, 2026
@cashel

Hogsmeade was a very "touristy" village, in a sense. If only because of the students. It drew quite a bit of business, but not really things like grocery stores, apothecaries, etc. No, it drew in sweets, and other goods that students would spend their gold on. As such, it was a nice spot to do some browsing if you weren't really looking for anything serious. Perhaps she'd even take him up to the castle. As long as he stayed with her visitors were welcome, though only if he wanted. Also, being a teacher she was also allowed to explore the forest without reprimand. As he answered, admitting he hadn't been back since his exams she smiled. "I'm not surprised." She answered, leaning it to give him a quick kiss before finally pulling away from his arms.

She walked over to the table, where the package and card had been left, she curiously eyed the sender. Ah, one of her brother's. She'd deal with that later. "Well, there is a great coffee place. We can stop there first?" Heaven above, she needed coffee. Despite sleeping in she was still feeling tired from all their activity. She turned back to him, grinning. "Then we can just see where the wind takes us."

[Deleted]

During his time as a druid student, Ri did live a could of months for his OWL and NEWT exams for each respective years. Even so, he didn't do much exploring. It was nice, but he never had a lot of coin to spend, and he much preferred to fly about, or explore the forest. This wouldn't come to much of a surprise, because most druids ended up doing the same thing. It seemed as though Renfri wasn't surprised about his answer. She was observant, and seemed to know more than the average person about the druid society. Well, she did teach History of Magic.

Renfri mostly ignored tha package and letter, but did check them out. Ignoring them, she suggested Coffee. He nodded. "Great place to start." Ri much preferred alcoholic beverages, but it was early for most. Plus, he wasn't on the ship, and because of that most of his "normal" activities seemed obsolete. There were still things he could do, but all he wanted to do right now, was spend time with Renfri. This was her flat, the town she lived in, near her work. So he was fine going along with whatever she wanted to do. Playing "Tourist" didn't sound like a bad idea either.

Ri strapped on his heavy boots and with that, they had left her flat and made their way to get some coffee, it was late, but it seemed as though their day was just getting started.

@renfri

[Deleted]

January 2, 2026
@cashel

Ri agreed to coffee and she grinned. Considering how they'd been going at it, they both could use the extra caffeine and energy boost. Plus, coffee was just nice and casual. Renfri didn't really know what this was between them, though she doubted he knew yet either. They'd just been enjoying each other's company as much as they could, no rhyme or reason behind it yet. She just wanted to keep spending time with him. As much as she could, and he seemed to feel the same. They could figure out what this even was later. She stepped away from him to get her own shoes on, and slipped on a warm, fur lined cloak. It was still winter after all and Scotland could get quite cold. Plus, it had clearly snowed overnight. She pocketed her wallet, keys, and phone before following him down the stairs to leave the flat.

The entire village had been blanketed in a thick layer of snow, all fresh. Most the paths had already been cleared though as witches and wizards went about their daily business. Renfri fell into step besides Ri, the pair heading towards the cafe. "I didn't think to tell you," she finally said, referring to her birthday as that was something that should be addressed. "I was always working, so it wasn't something I really celebrated or gave much thought to." He knew her curse breaking history. Plus, with her birthday so close to Christmas, her family had always just combined the two festivities when she was growing up.

[Deleted]

Coffee wasn't Ri's drink of choice. But after the night they had had, it didn't sound bad. Their, whatever this was, had seemed to have started hard and fast. Some nice easy, slow times seemed long overdue. It was casual, and they could use some of that. Honestly, Ri didn't care what they did. His since of a "normal" day had gone out the window with a cheeky message from his captain. But he was happy to spend his time with Renfri, glad that he didn't have to lave early in the morning to board the Jolly Rodger. As she grabbed her shoes, he strapped on his boots and put on his leather jacket. It didn't seem like much, especially for a the cold outside, but he didn't need much to keep him warm. He made his way down the stairs, unlocking, and opening the door for her. Just like that, they were out and walking around.

This seemed strange. Most of their time together had been behind closed doors. This was new. It felt different. But he wasn't going to worry himself with semantics now. He only had today, and so he was going to enjoy it. They could figure out what this was later. The two made their way to a small cafe when Renfri spoke. He could only assume that it was about what the day was. Her birthday. He didn't expect much, they had met less than 48 hours ago. It wasn't long enough time to really, truly, fully, get to know each other. On top of that. they hadn't don't a lot of talking to begin with. Ri wasn't talkative to begin with. He met a few eyes as they walked, noting a few odd looks. He nodded at her explanation. He hadn't done much celebrating in years past either. "Druids believe January birthdays to be unlucky." He pointed out. It seemed they shared a birth month. Ri wasn't going to think about stars and alignments now. All that went out when he was banished. If there was any truth to it, he and Fae would be together. Tied as astrological twins, and perhaps starting a family. But no, he was banished, and she was still on Hy-Brasil.

He held the cafe door open for her, letter her first enter the warm cafe, the scent of coffee and confections flooded outside.

@renfri