It's been a while (tag; Jessica)

Fionn stood under a tree, carefully blocked from the school, and looked at the stars, absentmindedly plucking at the cuffs of his gloves. there had been a lot going on, he wondered if Jess was alright. it had been forever since he'd seen her. he really, really missed her.

Jessica tugged her cloak around herself a little tighter. Stupid cold weather... She walked down the path, and though she despised the frozen temperature she revelled in the solitude of the evening. Absent mindedly, she walked towards the lawns, the usual spot she went to whenever she felt like taking a stroll. As she walked there, though, she noticed a figure standing under the tree. Once she realised who it was, she smirked a little.

"Boo," she said as she came close enough to be heard, grinning a little awkwardly

his eyes widened slightly and he turned to the voice. he grinned happily at her. "hey stranger. long time no see. I've missed you" Fionn offered a hand to her, gesturing she could stand by him. "you cold, Jess?"

"I'm always cold, I'm a perpetual freezer," she laughed, moving to stand beside him. "What the hell are you doing out here? Thought you had some work to catch up on"

“it both confuses and pleases me” he chuckled and wrapped his arms around her. “it gives me an excuse to hug you” Fionn made a face and then grinned at her. “I’m Fionn Causer. I do what I please when I please, remember? Besides, my head was about to explode from that blasted Arithmancy. Hate the stuff”

"No, you are Fionn Causer and you do as I please, when I please." She leant her head against his shoulder, folding her arms to warm up slightly. "It sucks, but you have to learn it. I'm not having you failing a class"

He pulled a face. “oh, come on! I do relatively well” still, it did mean a lot that she cared so much for him. “and what would you do if I failed a class, hm?” he continued looking at the stars, they were so bright that night. His breath plumed out and faded into the night air. “I wouldn’t purposely fail a class, Jess. I’ve got too many goals to do that”

"I think it'd be far easier just to pass it than to force yourself not to," Jessica pointed out. "And for your information, if you failed then you would be very severely punished. And it would be in a more painful manner than cute couple manner too, so study hard young boy"

He raised an eyebrow and looked down at her. “who you callin ‘young boy’ baby girl?” he grinned. “I pass, no worries” Fionn got a mischevious grin and he leaned over Jess, looking into her face. “oh? What does that imply? And you really think we’re cute together, miss Landon?”

"Of course we're cute together," Jessica said, laughing. "Though it's about a 90-10 split, I'm far cuter than you are. And my implication, Mr Causer, is that I quite enjoy experimenting with spells and potions and I'm not afraid to make you my test subject"

he laughed. "I have to agree with you, but isn't that a bit vain? saying you're cuter than your boyfriend?" he raised an eyebrow and laced his four fingers through her three. "well...I might not mind the experimenting, to be honest..."

[[I totally forgot I had less fingers XD]]

"I can't help it if you're weird looking," Jessica said with a grin, wrapping her arms around his neck and pushing up onto her toes to press a kiss to his cheek. "Well, if you don't mind experimenting then I'm going to have to think of something ten times crueller to punish you with. But I'll make it up on the day. The surprise is what makes it worthwhile"

((lol XD that’s totally ok XD))
He smirked and kissed her nose. “Miss Landon, it is bloody difficult to truly punish me, unless you resort to bodily harm” he pulled his collar down to show silvery scars, mostly invisible due to time. He gave her a gentle smile. “but no matter what you do, I’m sure I’ll have the worst time ever” he gently teased.

Jessica pulled back and blinked a couple of times. She hadn't noticed at first but the faintest sign of a scar was there. Faint, but enough to make her shiver a little.

"What the hell happened?" she asked, eyes wide

“ER….” Oops. He hadn’t meant to reveal so much, but….let’s see… the one he’d shown her on his collar bone….he was pretty sure that had come from the iron poker during one of gram’s more extreme bouts of anger, but he was a fighter so he could still squirm out of this without telling her the exact truth. He drew back and scratched his head. “umm…I think that one was from a fight with a Slytherin. He insulted my mum. But I’ve got tons of scars, see?” he pulled down his gloves a little bit, showing heavily scarred forearms. “I fight all the time, Jess. It makes sense some of my wounds are going to scar” he gave her a self conscious smile and shrugged. “I’m surprised, though. You didn’t freak out half as much when I met you that one time with a broken leg” in his opinion, broken bones were worse than scars. Scars showed you could get in a scrap and come out alive, broken bones showed weakness and vulnerability. He stuck his tongue out at her playfully to lighten the mood. “aren’t girls supposed to like battle scars on their men?”

"Battle scars aren't sexy when you get them from a school scrap with a Slytherin," Jessica said, still squirming a little from the sight of the scars. "You fly a lot, a broken leg's to be expected. You're not gonna get me to stop worrying just cos you poked your tongue out." She sighed, shaking her head. "Just try to lay off the fighting, 'kay?"

“but it was in defense of my mum! I was protecting her honor!” but he shrugged. He could lay off the fights a bit. No biggie. He just hoped certain people would lay off him. “fine, your point is made. I won’t fight, but I don’t guarantee no scars…quittitch is a very hands on sport, and I am a beater. Just…don’t freak when I’ve got new injuries, please?” it wasn’t like it annoyed him, but her freaking out freaked him out and if she could accept the scars and wounds, she’d be able to handle all of the truth. He ran a hand through his hair and smiled slightly. “I’m not used to people worrying over me like that. I’m Irish; even mum’s all for a good scrap now and then. It’s what we do”

[[DAMMIT I so replied to this, why there be no reply? Hopefully it actually hasn't showed up or I'm gonna be all spazzy with two random paragraphs]]

"I worry about everyone, so get used to it," Jessica sighed, resting her cheek on Fionn's shoulder. "But I guess I won't worry about Quidditch injuries. That's all your fault if you get hurt, and it's pretty entertaining viewing I'll have you know"

((D: that sucks! I can't se any double posting on my end btw))

he rested his head on top of hers. "I'm here simply for you to laugh at" he said with amusement and hugged her a little tighter. "don't get me wrong, I like being worried over by you, but it's just... weird. I'll get used to it though" he smiled.

"You better," she said, grinning a little. "I miss those Quidditch matches. Have you even been flying in a while? Is that where you've been?"

he grimaced. "no...the youngest twins were in St. Mungo's...they almost drowned in a well. I was taking care of The triplets….mam wasn’t doing so good either, and so m’ oldest sister was over helping there too, and gram’s losing lucidity…but, I was practicing in my spare time?” he really needed to get back on a broom, now that he thought about it.

Jessica furrowed her brow a little. "I didn't know they were in the hospital," she murmured. "But... I hope they're getting better. Sounds like a lot to deal with over Christmas."

he shrugged. "everyone was there for Christmas day, and we had fun. lots of presents this year, the triplets actually asked if the six presents each was all for them. so...since no-one's dead, the kids and mam are fine, I'm not going to let the bad stuff matter. I didn't get as much practice as I like for my broom, but that's life. so. how was your break?"

Jessica shrugged slightly. "Not bad, I guess. It's great having the common room to yourself once in a while. Someone stole a load of the Christmas crackers and let the white mice loose in the kitchens. Turns out the house elves are better with animals than I thought"

he chuckled. "that sounds like fun. bet they were good with animals, most house elves I've met have been really sweet creatures. if shy..."