So this is love. (Irina)

[Deleted]

Dan chuckled. Of course he'd give her what was best, even if she was joking around. He nodded as she said she wanted to visit Germany, of course. "Okay, yeah. That's been a while, so," he agreed, but then she went on about how her grandfather used to teach her cuss words in German. He chuckled. "My parents didn't teach me accidentally. They were pretty open about saying whatever they wanted. Sports people," he chuckled, rolling his eyes.

His eyes widened a bit at the mention of her father, but then they relaxed. HE wasn't there, he didn't have to have that conversation... yet. 'Hey I'm secretly banging your daughter it's fine cause I love her so we're cool, right?' Yikes.

"Hmm... well, you have lived in Britain for a long time," he chuckled, "but you're right. My apologies. As for where I grew up, I guess that'd be fine," he said with a soft shrug.

Irina Rose Krum

[Irina Rose Krum]

Irina laughed as Dan admitted his parents didn't hide swear words from him. "I'm surprised my parents didn't, though I think my mother just always found it improper to swear in front of children. I'm sure when your mum and my dad got together there was plenty of cursing to go around," she told him, smiling at the thought of their parents swearing together over a pint. That must have been something to witness, that was for sure.  "I wonder how often they get together while we're at school," she mused.  Dan's mother was her fathers' best friend, just as Dan was Nikolai's.  It wouldn't surprise her at all if her parents went to visit or vice versa on numerous occasions; that way they could catch up without the children present.  Speaking of her father, the eye widening at the mention of Viktor did not go unnoticed, and she couldn't help but smile.  Viktor was physically rather intimidating, but he was a giant teddy bear when it came to his children, Irina in particular.  "He's not going to kill you for being my boyfriend, in fact knowing him and your mother they probably gambled on it when we were children," she said, laughing again at the thought.  Irina as a skinny little child would NOT have agreed to anything related to Daniel Hoh, that was for certain. Funny how things changed as one matured.

As the swing began to slow down a little, a beautiful waltz tune carried down from the castle; it was almost as if the orchestra knew there were people outside and wanted them to dance.  She timed herself and hopped off the swing, spinning around to face him.  "The music is telling us to dance, so get over here, lest I dance with myself," she declared.  She curtseyed to him with a giggle and started to twirl around to the music, her hands hanging in midair for her 'invisible' dance partner.


@daniel

[Deleted]

For a second Dan was really confused by Irina saying 'get together' about their parents, but then he realized she just meant hanging out as friends, obviously. He wasn't sure why his brain was all jumbled for a second. Maybe he was just thinking of 'getting together' himself. Yeaaahh, that was probably it. What, she looked amazing! And she was being all adorable talking about their life and stuff. Still, that made him want her more but just made him more aware of how inadequate he was. He didn't realize he had been silent for a moment while his brain wrapped around all that, and soon she was talking about dancing again, hopping off the swing, and he snapped back to reality.

He chuckled as she spun and giggled. "You look like you're doing just fine without me, my darling. Perhaps I should just watch," he chuckled, and then took a seat on the swing, raising an eyebrow at her as if in challenge.

Irina Rose Krum

[Irina Rose Krum]

Irina saw the look on Dan's face and she smirked; she'd seen that look before several times now.  It had been a little while now though since she'd last seen it; it was nice to know it was still buried in there.  She had taken the extra time, as she so rarely did to make sure every facet of her was perfect for the night, because Dan deserved a perfect night.  They both did.  

She continued to dance on her own, raising an eyebrow as he sat on the swing.  So he'd just sit there would he?  Well, two could play this game.  Irina twirled, allowing her emotions to come forth as more forward than she'd allow if they were on the dance floor in the Great Hall.  "Clearly I just dance so well on my own," she said as she brushed past the swing.  She let her fingers gently trail up his arm, around his shoulders, and down the other before whirling away again.  "Guess I better share my talents with other parts of this garden," she said coyly, and vanished around the corner of the hedges.


@daniel

[Deleted]

Oooh, it seemed they were playing hide and seek now! Dan chuckled, pushing off the swing in order to silently pursue her. "I mean, if the hedges are better dancers than I am, I can't blame you," he said softly, slowly moving toward where she had disappeared to. "I doubt they can do much else that I can, though, so you may be on your own in... some departments," he didn't mean for that to sound so dirty, but it did, and he laughed, louder than he meant to.

He quieted, turning the corner of the hedge and jumping out, hoping to catch her. "Aha!" he shouted, hoping that he had the victory...?

Irina Rose Krum

[Irina Rose Krum]

She heard the swing come to a halt and knew he had joined in on the little game. "Solo dancing maybe, but they are a bit prickly as dance partners," she called back teasingly, tiptoeing slowly down the path, breathing as quietly as possible so he couldn't just jump out at her.  Then Dan made his next comment, and Irina couldn't help but let out a gasp.  She wasn't sure if he'd meant it to sound as risque as it did, but Irina found it rather endearing.  "I suppose then I'll have to let you catch me...eventually, won't I?" she suggested, then laughed with him and took several long strides down the path. 


She was at the corner when he jumped out; while he was too far to actually catch her, an idea sparked.  Irina ran forward a few steps and planted a kiss on his lips.  "Keep up the good detective work," she challenged him coyly, dashing back down the path and turning the corner, her long dress whipping out of sight.  Realizing she'd go faster without these heels, she bent down quickly and unfastened her heels.  She stepped out of them and gathered them up in one hand, keeping an eye out for her boyfriend the whole time.


@daniel

[Deleted]

Dan laughed at her calling them 'prickly' dance partners. She said she'd have to let him catch her eventually, and he nodded, even though she wasn't looking at him at the moment. "That would be preferred," he teased, chuckling a little.

Then, after he jumped around the corner, he could see her but she was still pretty far. She challenged him and dashed off again. He followed after, seeing her take off her shoes up ahead. "Hey, woah, it's cold out here," he reminded her. He had an idea... one he'd never thought of before. Maybe, if she got far enough or hid well, he could use her emotions to find her... as a sort of hot or cold game.

Irina Rose Krum

[Irina Rose Krum]

Dan catching her would be Irina's preference too, but she knew she didn't have to say that out loud for him to recognize that; he could feel what her emotions were and they spoke for her in ringing clarity.  "The cold doesn't bother me!"  Irina called; she was getting a bit of a workout dashing down the paths, and her heart rate was up for more than one reason.  The snows from late November had melted, and the wind had not picked up, and thankfully it was not a frigid temperature outside.  "Though I suppose you can just help with warming me up if you catch me," she added teasingly.

Irina turned a corner and came to a fork in the path.  She didn't want to get so far ahead in this place that she lost Dan, but she could hear the rustling of his footsteps and knew  he wasn't far behind.  Gathering up her skirt, she went left.  She spotted a crevice in one of the hedges; if she got in far enough perhaps she could fool him into going the other way, and then she could turn the tables and sneak up on him.  She stifled a laugh at the idea, throwing a hand over her mouth.  She had to calm her emotions; though she was pretty sure he didn't have a thermal radar on people and their emotions, Irina couldn't be sure Dan wouldn't pinpoint which way she went based on the intensity of her emotions currently.  So she took three calming breaths, still smiling and tried to muffle her feelings.


@daniel

[Deleted]

She said the cold didn't bother her and she laughed. Then she said he could warm her up when she was caught, and that was an even bigger clue that she'd let him soon. When he came to the fork in the path he took a deep breath, reaaching out for her... awe. He grinned, "calm is an emotion too, my angel," he reminded her softly, sure that she would be able to hear him wherever she was hiding.

Still, he chose to take the other way, Right, in hopes of buying into whatever trick she had planned for him. What? Tricks were fun! At first there was nothing, so he turned around and prepared to head toward the other path. "Alas, apparently you are good at blending in," he admitted.

Irina Rose Krum

[Irina Rose Krum]

Irina stifled another giggle as he reminded her calm was another emotion, but wasn't sure how to speak without giving her position away.  Calm was a good emotion though, especially to Daniel; that she was certain of.  "It certainly is," she called, her voice just above a whisper.  She pressed herself against the bushes and slowed her breathing; one could barely see the whisps of clouds that formed from her exhales.  

He took the bait and went down the other way and admitted she was good at blending in.  A smirk spread across her lips; blending in was something she did not want to do for an extended duration of time.  She remembered the beginning of their relationship; when he told her that when she'd almost fainted after hearing of her brothers' attack.  He said it was like feeling like everyone else; that he wanted to feel her emotions.  But, he didn't have to feel her coming from behind.  So she emptied her mind of everything, closing her eyes and focusing on the nothingness in front of her eyelids.  She was quite relieved no flashes came; she had other matters to attend to.  She waited until he had walked past her and opened her eyes.  Taking a breath, she darted out from the hedge and bolted down the lane; relieved that years of running around the woods both at Hogwarts and at home had given her a quickness and light footed step . She didn't think he felt her coming; so she jumped and landed on his back like a monkey.  "Still think I'm blending in?" she spoke softly into his ear, locking her arms around his shoulders.


@daniel

[Deleted]

He was still listening, when suddenly she was tackling him from behind. He let out a small yelping sound, which caused his face to turn bright red. He laughed, one of those loud laughs again, and shrugged, reaching back to lock his elbows under her knees to hold her on his back. "Not even a little bit. But now you are stuck here," it was difficult to get his arms around her with that magnificent skirt in the way.... but he managed to lock her in place.

"Let us traverse into these hedges..." he said in mock suspicion, walking forward. "Where were you hiding...?" he asked, raising an eyebrow and slightly turning his body so he could attempt to look at her.

Irina Rose Krum

[Irina Rose Krum]

Irina cackled a little when he let out that yelp; it told her plainly that she had succeeded in surprising him, which she knew was incredibly difficult to do. She didn’t say anything as he locked his elbows under her knees and declared her stuck there; he probably already knew she was perfectly fine with that. She gently bumped her nose against the side of his forehead and smiled. “I’ll never have to walk again, what a tragedy!” she said mock dramatically, closing her eyes in fake disdain for a second then laughed.

At his suggestion of traversing into the hedges; Irina just smirked a little and gently squeezed her knees inwards. “Onwards, my noble steed,” she called, and he moved forward towards the hedges where she had been hiding just moments before. “A little to the left,” she instructed, then reached out her left hand to point at the opening in the hedge. “Here, you can barely see the opening because of the hedges directly behind them, but there is the small opening; you go in just three steps and the double hedge creates enough of a wall so that you can’t be seen,” she explained. It had been complete luck that she had discovered it of course; as she looked in she noticed her shoes were still lying in the dirt.

@daniel

[Deleted]

She spoke with faux dramatizing about never having to walk again and he laughed. Then, he called her a steed and tightened her group on him. He followed her instructions to her hiding spot and nodded as she explained them to him. "Wow, well aren't you some kind of magician. The only issue with you being stuck on my back is... I can't kiss you," he frowned, and then turned his back away from the hedges in order to extract her from his back and instead swing her around so she was in his arms. "This is a pretty good hiding spot, isn't it? I think two people could fit in there..." he smirked devilishly at her and slowly set her on the ground before backing her into the small opening between the hedges.

"Now, what was that reason I got you off my back again? Oh, yeah," he smirked and then kissed her, wrapping one hand around behind her neck and cradling her head gently. Soon they had disappeared into the greenery, and he was not sure when they'd return. He almost didn't want to ever go back, because that was the world where things were darker and in here, here, there was light.

Irina Rose Krum
(THE END)