Just Like Fire ** (MAGDALENA)

[Deleted]

@magdalena
<3

She didn't respond to him. He didn't expect her to, either. Nikolai doesn't have any older siblings, or even a brother. So having to tell them something like this wasn't what he was used to. Goodness, Niko still had tons of his own secrets hidden from his three younger sisters, and he didn't plan on telling them those things for a long time.

Magdalena asked him more about his wand and he had to think back for a moment. Was it hard? Did it not like him too much at first? He moved his head back and forth and then began nodding it at the girl. "I suppose so, yeah. It was a bit difficult to get it to work."

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Magdalena cleared her voice, realizing how much of a.... Well nerd she sounded. Setting his and back down on the table so he could take it when he was ready, she picked her mug back up and took a sip. She both liked and disliked the ability. It connected her with her family, and she knew that most people couldn't do things like that. But at the same time, considering recent events she didn'tt exactly want to be connected to her family. The man that had taught her that skill was in prison after all! All everyone told her was he'd done it. He'd killed her mother. He had to have done it. She didn't want to believe it, but no one would say that. "Well... It's a good wand." she finally finished. All Ollivander wands were good. But this one was particularly impressive. Stubborn as an ox, where only someone with the same will power could ever tame it. But it still worried her, that length. From what she'd seen, he had to be hiding something. Some intense drive, and key to his personality that had drawn the wand to him. That core in general would have been attracted to him. So why the 12 3/4 length?


@jill9

[Deleted]

@magdalena
<3

She placed the wand back down on the table and began drinking her coffee. Nikolai put his own mug down to reach for his wand and place it into his back pocket. It was a little unusual, having this girl know certain things about him just from the piece of wood he carried day to day, but he supposed it wasn't a terrible thing either. He sort of wished he had that knowledge about something other than a stupid sport.

"Thank you, I happen to think so myself." He wanted to ask about her wand, but he didn't want to be nudging too much into her personal life, he had offered that entry without thinking. Taking another sip of his coffee he glanced around her apartment. "Live on your own, yeah?" Nikolai also lived by himself, but his parents were constantly visiting, along with his three sisters. And he always had his ten week old puppy around, so that was enjoyable.

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Magdalena's own wand was still on the kitchen counter, right where she'd left it minutes before. If he had asked about it, she'd probably oblige his request, but not go as into detail. He didn't need to know everything did he?

She shrugged as he asked about her living arrangements. "Just me and my cats. They're hiding under the bed. " she sounded pretty sure about their whereabouts, even though she hadn't seen them that morning at all. Taking another sip of her coffee, she looked towards the small bedroom, wondering if they might come out after hearing her mention. Nope. "What about you?"

@jill9

[Deleted]

@magdalena
<3

Ugh. Cats. He grimaced. "I'm not a fan of cats. And you've got more than one?" Nikolai shook his head. He wasn't sure how people dealt with cats. They jump out at you, they scratch you, they're not very nice animals unless they're asleep, he's come to notice.

She then asked about him and his living arrangements and he glanced up at her eyes. "I'm on my own as well, but my parents visit often, and I've got three younger sisters, which I assume you know. I try to invite them over, since I've got the extra room." Niko makes a good amount of money, so he had bought a small house on the outskirts of London with three bedrooms and a pretty decent yard. "I've also got a ten week old puppy. She's a bluetick coonhound."

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Magdalena raised an eyebrow. He wasn't kidding when he said he wasn't a fan of cats, he sounded liked it. "Two of them." she answered with a shrug. She'd always liked cats. When she was little, they found out she had a deeper connection to them then most people. Her teachers had called in an affinity. She didn't know what that really entailed, she'd never thought much about it. All she really knew was they seemed to understand her, and she understood them. She couldn't really explain how. She just... Could. as he went on to explain he had a dog she finally, does the first time that morning smiled just a little. "Puppies are a lot of work." she personally didn't mind dogs. As long as they weren't chewing on her stuff. "no wonder they don't want to come out then. They can smell your puppy."

@jill9

[Deleted]

@magdalena
<3

Two cats? He was surprised she didn't have scratches all over her body. Which...he had seen last night. Coughing, trying to get that part of last night out of his head, he sipped his coffee. He hoped she hadn't minded, or was feeling invaded. Niko just wanted her to be comfortable and not sleeping in that...outfit she had worn at the club. He couldn't even imagine sleeping in something like that.

He finished eating his breakfast and he stood up and walked over to the sink. Nikolai began washing the plate and fork. He wasn't about to let her clean up after cooking for him; it was disrespectful. And she had a rough night as it was, she probably wasn't feeling the best. He wiped his hands off on his jeans and glanced at her before walking back over to the table. Nikolai grabbed his mug and put more coffee in it and sat down. Her mug was still pretty full so he didn't offer.

"They are a lot of work. But she's a good pup, as of now. She's still pretty small, doesn't cause too much of a ruckus." His eyes glanced down the hall to the bedroom where the cats were. They either wouldn't come out because of the smell of his puppy, or because he was an animagus. Not only just an animagus, but a dog animagi. Niko smirked to himself, glad the cats weren't sniffing him.

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Magdalena had already pieced together that he'd been the one to change her into pajamas. She hardly wore them anymore, so it hadn't been herself. She'd chosen to ignore that though. She wasn't that shy about her body. Not after working for a Nightclub for several months. You got over those sort of insecurities pretty quick. So, as he coughed, looking surprised, she raised an eyebrow. She said nothing though. If he wanted to bring it up, he could. If he didn't, that was his decision. She didn't care either way.

He was getting up to take the dishes to the sink, and she moved to try and take them away... But he didn't even acknowledge the motion, handling it himself. This time when her eyebrows raised it was in surprise. Then that small smile came back. It was... Sweet. In this short conversation she'd learned more about Nikolai then seven years of school together. Mostly from his wand, but then quite a bit from how he handled himself. She'd also forgotten what this sort of kindness and respect felt like. Quickly she looked back at her mug, forcing that smile to disappear back into her usual calm but rather still expression.

"Don't Coonhounds get pretty big? She won't be small for long." She didn't know dogs that well, but she at least knew that 'Coonhound' wasn't used to describe a purse puppy. Her gaze followed his to the bedroom door. The cats still weren't in sight. They'd come out eventually. When they felt like it. They were snobs like that.

@jill9

[Deleted]

@magdalena
<3

Nikolai had become quite good at keeping a good distance from people. Not liking being touched was something that even his family had learned from a young age. His sister's weren't sure why, but his parents knew. So when Magdalena reached forward to grab his dishes, he had advertently moved his body in a way where it looked natural, but she still wouldn't have been able to grab his dishes or touch him. Also, being a seeker gave him the skills to move and see things when others may not.

Nikolai rose an eyebrow at her and smirked. Nodding his head, he spoke, "Yes, they get a fairly decent size. But they're sweet dogs, very caring." Just what he needed, a caring animal in his life. Granted, Niko knew his family cared for him, but his parents for instance, cared mostly about his career and not what he wanted. But he supposed that's what happens to you when you've got a famous last name.

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Magdalena nodded as he explained that they were sweet and caring. Most dogs were, from her experience. Her parents had just been older in years, so they hadn't wanted to deal with puppies. They were too much work for her aging parents. After all, they'd been in their forties when they'd had her. She was the accident child Not intended. Her brother was almost old enough to be her own father, to put it into perspective. So they never would have been able to take care of her and a dog at the same time. So cats it was. "I wasn't allowed to have a dog growing up." She mentioned absentmindedly. Realizing she'd spoken allowed, she looked away, slightly embarrassed. She didn't want to mention her parents age as a way of explanation. Thankfully there was another pretty solid excuse. "Didn't want them going after the wands, you know." Dogs couldn't distinguish between regular sticks and wands. And sticks? Well, they liked to chase them. A lot. They'd had far to many customers come back into the shop, needing minor repairs on their wands because a dog had gotten a hold of it. Thankfully damage from dogs was usually repairable.

@jill9

[Deleted]

@magdalena
Be Okay by Oh Honey
<3

When she spoke, Nikolai looked up at her. She immediately turned her face away from him, and his eyes narrowed. Why was that such a horrible thing to say? She seemed to be hiding something, but he couldn't exactly spot what. Tipping his mug back, Niko drank the rest of the warm coffee, figuring two would be enough for him. He set the mug down on the table and crossed his arms over his chest as he leaned back in the seat.

"You do know you can train dogs, right?" Sarcasm was dripping from his words. People who thought dogs were just destructive and horrible weren't people he wanted to be around. He absolutely loved dogs, and could be one himself. Dogs were smart animals, much smarter than some humans he has come across. "They don't just ruin everything in their path."

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His sarcasm was back. Magdalena shot him a rather hard look, obviously not happy with the quick tone of voice change. "I know that." She retorted. It wasn't like she was ashamed of her parents. Well, technically at the moment she was. But it was weird. Saying that your parents were the same age as, say his, grandparents. How did you tell someone that? It was just..... It wasn't exactly common. Nor was having a brother in their thirties when you were still a teenager. She looked away again, never seeming able to keep eye contact for long and finally finished her own cup of coffee. Her head was still pounding, but the tonic and coffee were helping. "My parents didn't have the time to train one." She finally admitted. Vague, but at least specific enough to be considered an answer.

@jill9

[Deleted]

@magdalena
<3

Nikolai moved his head backwards slightly and gave her a look, his nose scrunched up. "Don't look at me like that." He knew he was being an ass, but he couldn't help it. He felt like he was sharing too much information with her, being too personal and he didn't want her to think he wanted to be friends. Niko definitely didn't want to be mentioned in the same sentence as someone who seemed to be an alcoholic.

"Well you or your brother could have raised it and trained it. But hey, I guess cats are good for lazy people." Nikolai glanced out the window. Why was he still here? He had let his guard down for a bit, and that wasn't normally like him. He had to put it back up, make her not like him. There wasn't really anything to like about him anyways. Glancing back at her, he rose an eyebrow.

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Magdalena scowled a little as he practically ordered her not to give him the look she'd had a moment before. Demanding wasn't he? Well, She had read his wand, did it really surprise her? And to make matters worse, he'd given her his own look, nose scrunched up as if in disgust. "Then stop looking at me like there's something foul under your nose." She retorted. He wanted to be a jerk? Fine, be a jerk. Don't expect her to play nice though if you weren't willing to.

Pursing her lips together, Magdalena looked back at him as he accused her and her brother of being lazy. "Yeah,, because having to raise me was pretty lazy on his part." She might not be in contact with her brother right now, but she wasn't going to tolerate Nikolai basically insulting him. As much as she loved her parents, her brother had taken care of her when she was little. Her parents just hadn't been able to keep up, and her brother had moved back home just to help take care of her. She stood up from the table, crossing back to that spot on the wall she'd occupied earlier in the kitchen. And then, as if out of spite (since he'd been the one to put her hair up) she pulled the elastic out of her hair, letting her long hair cascade over her shoulders in dark waves.

@jill9

[Deleted]

@magdalena
<3

Nikolai couldn't help but smirk at the girl. Like her ordering him back offended him. There was plenty worse in his life that he'd dealt with than a silly little girl. She was quite the amusement for him. "I'll make any face I please, sweetheart." Niko sat back in the chair and crossed his ankles, raising an eyebrow at Magdalena. She didn't seem as amused as he did, but that didn't bother him. The less she enjoyed his company, the better.

"Never said that was lazy, now did I? Don't know why you enjoy putting words in people's mouths, but that doesn't give a great vibe for you." Niko tilted his head. Magdalena then stood up with a fast speed and walked over to lean against the wall she had been previously. Really? Was that supposed to anger him, her moving away fast? And then she ripped out her ponytail and Nikolai let out a chuckle, a smirk forming on his face. She was kind of cute when she was angry, but he wasn't about to say that. He would just let her continue her fit.