WHO: Cameron Montgomery & Nicola Scarpin!
WHAT: LAMB CHOPS!!
WHEN: now!
WHERE: outside!


Cameron adjusted the bag on his shoulder, waiting patiently for Nicola to come to the door. She probably wasn’t prepared to receive guests so was rushing about the house to make sure she was presentable. The thought that she wouldn’t take kindly to him just showing up at her door unannounced didn’t cross his mind. Well, it did, but he found that he really didn’t care all that much. It amused him, how concerned she was about etiquette.

Not that he was ignorant to proper etiquette, he just didn’t bother with it in day to day life. He was much too fond of his denim jeans and boots to give them up for fancy dress robes and dinner parties.

“Hello,” he grinned brightly when the door opened, holding out the haphazard bouquet of sunflowers he had gathered from an overgrown garden bed in the park he walked through. He couldn’t just walk past them when they reminded him so much of home. Just the flower to brighten anyones day. “I was hoping to steal you away for the afternoon, if you're not too terribly busy.”

Nicola cooed at the flowers, their beauty immediately erasing whatever mild leftover vexes she may have had prior to opening the front door. They weren’t hydrangeas, of course, but flowers were flowers after all, and any token of Cameron’s affection Nicola would not turn away. Or, at least, material affection.

Her brows popped up at the mention of an impromptu afternoon, and she felt herself lucky that most of her face was hidden behind her bouquet. She wasn’t incredibly busy for the rest of the day, that was true, but more importantly it was a bit, well… improper to drop the rest of the day to do who knew what. It wasn’t very ladylike was it? Get togethers, they had to be planned in advance, with both parties privy to the event being shared in question.

But Cameron had brought over flowers, and even though she was keenly looking at his face, Nicola had glanced at the bigger bag under his shoulder with interest. He had obviously planned for something. It would be rude to turn down a planned surprise.

Plus, even as quiet as she tried to keep it within, Nicola really could not deny that she had been wanting to spend more and more time with Cameron. Him showing up at her door made her heart race and her eyes gleam wide.

“I may be available for a bit,” Nicola responded coyly, and leaned in again to smell her new flowers. “Do you have something in mind?”

“I do.” Cameron allowed vaguely after a small hum. He didn’t let himself be too pleased with the the small victory of her not being busy. The tricky part was convincing her to come along with him without revealing what his plans were. Leaning slightly, he tried to get a view of her expression behind the flowers.

She seemed pleased enough with the gesture, at the very least she hadn’t closed the door in his face. Giving her a small smile, he swung his bag around to his front, opening just enough that he could see inside, but Nicola could not. He did his best not to smirk as he purposefully shifted items around for no reason at all, other to garner the girls interest. “Sorry, I thought for a moment I might have forgotten something.” he said innocently as he zipped up the bag and shifted it back over his shoulder.

Cameron looked at his watch quickly before holding his arm out to Nicola. “I do have this spectacular adventure planned, but time is of the essence. Would you like to join me?”

Nicola clutched her flowers tight, honestly torn about the decision before her. Cameron had showed up at her door with a bag full of surprises asking to whisk her away onto an unknown adventure. And she wanted to go, she thought, but a loud booming voice in her head said that doing so wasn’t proper, what would her peers think? It wouldn’t be right.

Winnie no doubt, Nicola thought sourly, would give her a cauldron’s full of judgement if she ever caught wind of an impromptu escape.

Then again, at least Nicola could say she had a proper suitor unlike other certain people who had none at all…

She watched Cameron dabble into his bag greedily, hoping it would give her a sign as to what exactly he was planning. Maybe, perhaps, if she had a bit of a better idea then she could more easily make a decision. Inclining her chin up ever so slightly, she didn’t pick up her gaze enough before he swung the bag into place. The slightest hint of a pout formed on her lips, though it was quickly washed away by his final offer.

Her eyes jumped from his face, to his extended arm, and then back to his face. If anything Nicola knew it would be incredibly improper to make him wait even a second longer, so taking a leap of faith, she slipped her arm around his. “I would,” she smiled brightly, taking only a second to swish her door shut with her wand. “But you must give me a hint about where we are going, I insist!”

“Must I?” Cameron teased, his dimples deepening as her arm slipped in with his. This was his grand success, he had her out the door, closed behind her. She may be insisting on a hint, but he knew he had her. “Well, you could say I’ve already given you one.” He offered tapping the head of a sunflower in his bouquet.

“Ready?” he asked waiting for a nod before turning on the spot. Taking a moment to make sure that his date had adjusted to the sudden change of venue, he gestured vaguely to the large manor behind them. “The Scabior Estate. Not where we are going, but I figured I’d point it out since it’s technically mine.” He shrugged a shoulder lightly. He didn’t live there, in fact he’d only been here a handful of times. But the last time he had been here, he had stumbled across something worthwhile in his wandering. Leading Nicola down the street away from the house, he talked about how the only nice thing about this area was how the houses tended to remind him of the plantation homes back home, except not quite as grand. Finally they took a sharp left walking through the yard of a house a few down from his. “Let’s move quickly, shall we?” he murmured quietly. Keeping one on eye on the building until they were far enough along that they were out of sight, stopping only when they reach an ivy covered wall.

Pulling the ivy away, he revealed a cast iron door he chanced a look back at Nicola. Pushing on the door, he had planned for it to swing open in a grand gesture to show her what was on the other side. Instead, he nearly walked into it, as it didn’t budge from its spot. Locked. Of course it was. He started digging through his pockets sheepishly. “Oh, er, just a second. Sorry.”

Her mouth dropped open slightly at the grand manor, glancing back at it over her shoulder as Cameron led her away from it. The estate certainly lived up to its namesake; it was beautiful and domineering, but also incredibly cold. She supposed that could have been from the lack of people inhabiting it, but something told Nicola that wasn’t the case. The Scabiors had never had a pleasant reputation, and from what Cameron had told her of his treatment of him, it did not surprise her that their house looked uninviting as they had.

“I do quite like English architecture, it reminds me of---” Nicola began, thinking she would bring up how it reminded of ancient buildings when Cameron unceremoniously cut her off.

“Whose house is this?” she asked immediately, noting how uniquely grassy their path had become. “Do you know this family?” Nicola pressed further, glancing over her shoulder at the far away manor. But Cameron kept her at a quick pace, and before she knew what was happening, they stopped before an ivy-covered door.

“Cameron,” she pleaded for an answer, now feeling significantly less positive about her decision to let him sweep her away moments ago. Now she had no idea where she was, what she was doing, and was possibly breaking onto private property.

“Cameron!” Nicola squeaked, and her hands flew to her mouth. The sound of his body hitting the iron made the door clang significantly, and she tried her very best not to break out into the sweats. Did he even have the key? “What is going on? Where are we? Are you---”

He couldn’t help the corner of his lips quirking up as her voice quickly rose octaves, cute as it was, he really didn’t want to get caught. Holding a finger to her lips, he shushed her quickly as his fingers finally found purchase on what he was searching for. “Don’t worry, I have a key.” Cameron said confidently, letting the key swing from its chain in front of her before turning his attention back to the door hoping that having a key would ease her concerns.

Nicola certainly didn’t need to know the key was technically stolen. Though stolen was such a harsh word. What did you to expect to happen if you left keys hanging in a tool shed? And the state of the ivy covering the door when he first found it, Cameron assumed that it had been unused for years. Which was a crime in itself, really. Sheer dumb luck had him finding this place, and a bit thievery, but it was worth it.

After a few moments of fiddling with the key, he finally got the door to swing open squeaking on its hinges. “Tada!” Cameron gestured pretending he hadn’t just walked into the door moments before. With just the slightest of coaxing he got Nicola to walk through the door, trailing closely behind. To say the garden was a bit overgrown was an understatement. But it was overgrown with wildflowers everywhere, and flowers that had been planted yet survived despite being neglected for so long.

When she stopped moving, he walked past and tried to find a spot with the least amount of flowers before dropping his bag to the ground and pulling out a blanket, spreading out carefully before settling down. “Hungry?” he asked pulling items out of his bag creating place settings in the middle of the blanket.

“I don’t think---” she protested straightaway, attempting to dig her heels into the grass as much as possible without potentially ruining them. “We probably shouldn’t--- I don’t feel comfortable---” But her voice of concern was lost, and soon she was walking through the gate they were clearly trespassing and inside within which was---

Entirely beautiful.

Nicola stood stock still, overwhelmed by the image before her. There were so many flowers everywhere, and as if apart of it all, she clung significantly to her own flowers in her hands. This was--- she really---

Was he expecting her to sit on that blanket?

A snap of distasteful reality hit her, and for the first time one of Nicola’s brows rose in aversion. She most certainly could not sit on the ground. “I can’t sit on that,” she stated primly, most certainly turning her gaze up and away from the food Cameron was setting out. Whether it looked delicious or not was irrelevant, sitting on a thin blanket with these robes would simply be impossible.

Cameron quirked a brow back at Nicola, looking from her to the blanket and back again. “No?” He asked simply taking a bite of a strawberry. He waited her out a moment, and when it was clear she wasn’t making any move towards joining him, Cameron pushed himself to his feet and made his way to stand next to Nicola. He looked to the blanket wrinkling his nose trying to figure out the real issue.

“Strawberry?” he offered holding the container out to her, looking to her from the corner of his eye. Pulling out a berry of his own he turned his attention back to the offending picnic. Eating his fruit, he put on a sincere act of trying to figure out what the issue was and how to fix it. Chewing thoughtfully, Cameron hummed. “Is it the fact that its a blanket? Or is it the fact that its on the ground? If it is the fact that it is on the ground then--”

Cameron pulled out his wand, looking up as he tried to recall the spell. He wasn’t so great at transfiguration, but charms. Charms he could do. With a quick swish and a flick, and he had the blanket hovering just above all of the flowers. He couldn’t help the cheesy grin that crossed his face, pleased with his charmwork. “--Then I can do that. Does that work?”

Nicola graced one lone gaze down toward Cameron’s floating blanket. It was an improvement, definitely, but she still wasn’t sure about the whole thing. Whose garden was this? Had she just unknowingly trespassed on private property? Cameron had offered her very little answers, and while this effort was very sweet and thoughtful, she still wasn’t quite so sure about how proper and official it all was.

“Whose garden is this?” she asked suddenly, turning to face him. Nicola looked up at Cameron with a determined resilience. “Did they give you the key?”

She twirled, deciding she had become far too close to him, and moved away to further inspect Cameron’s improvements. Poking the floating blanket inquisitively, and deciding that it was in fact sturdy enough, Nicola promptly perched herself on the edge of it. Crossing her arms over her chest (and tucking her ankles underneath each other), she looked at Cameron expectantly.

“The charm is very nice,” she offered, though her extended chin and strict tone didn’t lend much forgiveness.

Cameron hadn’t even realized how close they were standing until she was staring up at him demanding answers. Answers that weren’t even important, honestly he couldn’t think of anything to say. He was too busy just looking at her, standing there clutching her sunflowers in a garden full of wild flowers. And how perfect did that sight look. Nicola certainly belonged in such a surrounding. Now the only thought that crossed his mind was how just maybe, if he leaned in ever so slightly, he could---

And then she was gone. It took a moment for him to catch up to what had happened, that she was now over by the blanket and no longer standing right next to him. Cameron should have know better than to expect that to be easy. “Thanks, sometimes I surprise myself,” he grinned taking up a seat next to his date.

The silence stretched on, and he could tell that her stubbornness wasn’t going to let her questions go without some sort of response. He kept her gaze though, his smile growing with each passing moment. Until finally, he couldn’t help himself anymore. He had reached the point where he just had to know how she would react. Leaning over he stole a quick, gentle kiss. “Don’t worry,” he said as he pulled back from her, giving himself a moment to let his gaze linger. “I won’t get you into any trouble. Not today anyways.”

Leaning back on the blanket, Cameron reached into his bag to pull out the rest of their picnic. “I wasn’t sure what you liked, so I brought a variety. Help yourself to whatever, though I’m going to have to insist you at least try the sweet tea. It’s the most refreshing drink you could possibly have on a day like today.”

She didn’t--- she--- she--- she didn’t know what to think first! Focus on Cameron’s nonchalant manner, the fact that he had quite suavely stolen a kiss from her, that he wanted her to try cold tea, or the indirect confirmation that they were, in fact, breaking and entering on private property! This was far too--- she absolutely wasn’t--- how in the--- it felt like she was going to pass out.

And don’t think she’d forgotten about his pressed finger to her lips either!

Nicola’s stick-straight back stayed thus, as she felt quite frozen in shock. She had growing affection for Cameron, she did, but this was most certainly not how one would treat a high-society lady such as herself. Her face turned redder by the second, and she was thankful she had something to hold onto to steady herself. He wouldn’t let her get into any trouble? Oh, well then, he most certainly should be worrying more about himself. Only her eyes moved as she glanced over at Cameron, only his lower torso in view. After a few moments, she covered her mouth with her hand and stood up.

And then, before she could think much more of it, with a quick flick of her wand, the hovering charm Cameron had placed on the blanket was gone. She only heard his body hit the ground with a heavy ‘oof!’ for immediately after casting the spell she had closed her eyes and stuck her chin up into the air.

“I do not appreciate your forwardness,” she sniffed, and with a couple of seconds, peaked one eye open to make sure that Cameron had not broken his back or anything of the sort in the fall.

The sudden drop to the ground was the last thing he had expected, the mason jar of tea he had been pulling out his bag shattered as he dropped into the other one. Well so much for tea. Brightside, he had found just where ‘too far’ was. Though he wasn’t quite sure how to recover from here.

“Sorry,” he said sitting up, holding out his hands innocently, before quickly shoving his left one into the blanket with a small wince when he realized he was bleeding. He supposed broken glass would do such a thing, though that was not what was important at the moment. “Sorry, I wasn’t thinking. Actually, I was. Thinking, about you, and how pretty you are. And nice, I just--- it’s really distracting, you know. Who’d of thought I’d be so lucky? I forgot this was only our second date.”

He navigated the broken glass carefully, pulling a thermos out of his bag. “Please forgive me? I have hot tea too?” He offered holding out the charmed container. “I had a cup but I have a feeling it may be broken now, too, as I kind of fell on my bag.”

Both her eyes opened at the sound of breaking glass and Nicola lowered her inclined chin. Her brow furrowed at the quick glance of blood, her disgruntled nature quickly disappearing to make room for unadulterated remorse. She most certainly had not meant to hurt him, just bruise his ego. And maybe his bum. But even that she was beginning to regret, for he had a very nice bum that hadn’t really any part in her egregious attack.

Pulling out her wand, Nicola approached Cameron. Sitting down on her knees, she placed her flowers on the ground beside her so that she could take his hand. “I’m sorry,” she apologized, her face still flushed from his words. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.” Her words came out quiet, and she tried her very best to clean and patch up his hand.

Content only when it was as good as new (perhaps at one point she had Healer aspirations), Nicola rested her palms on her knees and was surprised to look up and see that he was still holding out a large container of presumably hot tea. Her lips pressed together in an amused manner.

“You Americans,” she sighed, and took it from him. Her face still felt hot, so Nicola lowered her chin to help hide her blush. “Eternally pushy.”

After a beat, she quietly confessed, “I don’t remember the charm to fix broken things.” The fact that she usually left those kind of problems to her cleaning witch was besides the point. Nicola continued in a low tone. “But when I do I’ll fix your cups.”

Cameron smiled when she took the tea from him, thanking her for healing his hand. He took a moment to admire her spell work. Much better than he would have managed. "An unfortunate side effect of being taught from a young age that you can have anything in the world as long as you try hard enough for it."

Waving off her offer to fix the broken cup, Cameron leaned back on his elbows enjoying just sitting in the sun. "Don't worry about it. I didn't like 'em much anyways
. Got it from the manor because I thought you'd like to have your drink in a proper cup."

Looking inside his bag, he deemed most of it a lost cause. Not that it matter, he didn't have anything of value in there. His whole goal was to spend time with Nicola so as far as he was concerned, nothing had been ruined. "Its fine," Cameron assured her when she still seemed a bit unsure. "I'm having a great afternoon. I hope you are having one too?"

She clutched the container close to her chest and nodded. Of course, of course she was having a nice afternoon. Her recent actions may not explicitly convey otherwise, but she always enjoyed spending time with Cameron. Perhaps they had to a bit of adjusting to do to take into account their cultural differences, but that didn’t mean she didn’t enjoy being around him.

In the sun, Nicola rose her hand to shield her eyes. Down on the ground the wildflowers were quite high, high enough that if you laid down they would most certainly tower over you. Pressing her lips together, she found herself secretly wishing to do the thing she had so vehemently been against moments ago.

The American Effect, that’s what that was.

Continuing to keep her tea close (with no intent at the moment to actually drink it), Nicola quietly shifted off her knees. Without so much as an indication, she easily curled to the ground, resting mostly on her side but making sure to prop the back of her head against the side of Cameron’s chest.

“I am,” she said, and looked up into the flowers and the sky. Nicola let out a content sigh, cradling her tea like it was the most important thing in the world that Cameron could have given her. It was, wasn’t it?