Challenge: Person A helps Person B hide from Person C. Awkwardness ensues. Any pairing. Must include holding hands at some point
There are others participating in this challenge - if you'd like to see some of your favourite writers come up with amazing stuff, go to tumblr and search for 'kouw's challenge 2013'
In a sleepy little village like Pepperinge Eye, tongues wag furiously and the sounds can be heard from the other side of town if you prick up your ears.
Eglantine was well aware of things said about her and Emilius - the children were enrolled in school, so of course they spoke to the other children about how Mr Brown would come to the house for Sunday lunch or how he helped them with their homework. She couldn't very well stop that.
Not that she really wanted to. She and Emilius had an understanding - one where she had made it very clear that courting was alright, but she would not promise him anything as long as he didn't have a job. Or at least searched for one (it wasn't easy finding a job after coming home from the war and it obviously wasn't easy for an amateur magician to find 'regular' employment, but he tried very hard and she loved him for it).
Unfortunately, the telltale signs of a woman being seriously courted had not been noticed by the vicar.
Mr Jelk was a bit oblivious to things happening in the real world, just like you'd expect from a clergyman, but he did get a bit too close for comfort as well - always popping up at inopportune times. Like when Carrie was sobbing her first heartbreak or when she was bandaging up Paul's knee. Charlie wasn't very taken with the vicar in general.
Thankfully the man had not shown up when they were on their way to have an adventure on the bed.
Mr Jelk always managed to corner her when she went into the village, to get supplies from Mrs Hobday's (Charlie worked there on Saturday morning, sometimes providing his siblings with some sweets or her with very welcome eggs - rationing was very stressful when you had three strapping youngsters to feed, Eglantine found) or to check on the exhibits in the castle.
Most of the suits of armor had been restored to former glory.
Some of them wore obvious signs of 'battle'. When nobody was watching, she would slide her hand over the scars - dents and scratches that made her feel slightly proud. Her efforts had not been for nothing - even if the Colonel had claimed it had been his men who managed to fight off the invasion.
She let him.
After all, who would believe she was a witch?
Well, perhaps Mr Jelk - he did get waylaid by her nightgown when they had mastered Substitutionary Locomotion (no, not mastered, they had got it to work and it had gotten terribly out of hand). Was that why he seemed so relentless in his pursuit? She felt she was quite clear in her dislike for him - not as a vicar (she took the children to church more out of a sense of duty than because a deep settled faith), but as a man. A suitor.
Emilius would bring her flowers, chocolates for the children, sometimes a book and he was lovely to talk to. He was knowledgeable and he was kind. He liked to flirt. Of course he could have her temper raised in no time, but he - dare she say it? - excited her. The vicar however would drop by, have a cup of tea, have three biscuits and then he'd pop on his bike. Without having an actual conversation with her.
He did have a lot to say about the children.
While she didn't find them rude or ill-behaved, Mr Jelk did manage to evoke the worst in them. Maybe she should be clearer: they were never rude to her, nor to Emilius, or anyone in the village. They did manage to be frighteningly ill-behaved when the vicar came over.
Setting up the poor cat to jump on the man had not been their finest hour.
Though she had laughed when they had been out of earshot.
When she saw him from the corner of her eye - she had gone to the village to get her groceries and a hearty dose of gossip from Mrs Hobday, hoping she would avoid the vicar since he would be working on his sermon, it was Saturday afternoon and since his sermons were rarely inspiring she suspected he normally worked close towards his deadline - she had looked around to find refuge.
She had not expected Emilius to grab her hand and pull her into a narrow alley.
It was highly unusual and she wasn't altogether sure she liked it. Though she had to admit her heart was pumping rapidly and she felt a rush of excitement. He blocked the vicar's view by standing in front of her, pressing her against the wall.
She bit her lip, but didn't loosen her grip on his hand. Warm and soft, but dry, everything just right. She had listened very carefully to hear the telltale creaking of Mr Jelk's bicycle. Emilius was so close to her and she flushed a bit when she could feel his warmth. She shuffled her feet a bit.
Of course they had kissed before - he was a very good kisser, in her, limited, view - and she liked being close to him. Though he had said he was a coward, she did feel safe with him. She liked that he needed her to be strong and brave. That she could provide that for him.
The vicar passed the alley, mumbling that people these days were irresponsible and that the country was going to the dogs - just out of a war to be covered in filth.
She had bit on her lip to stifle her laughter. Layers of tweed, gloves and middle age hardly were signs of wreck and ruin, she thought, but when she looked up, she almost stopped breathing. Emilius was looking at her intently, his eyes boring into hers and her heart sped up. She licked her lips, their eyes still locked, their hands still holding onto the other.
"I think perhaps we need to get back to the street…" He said. He sounded hoarse.
She could only nod.
When they stood in the shop, ordering soap and flour and a roll of biscuits (Emilius had gotten his ration book out for that, had put down the coupons with a flourish), she felt oddly at peace. After Mrs Hobday had put everything in Eglantine's basket they all had a little chat about Charlie and how he might put in a few extra hours over the coming weeks, they left.
"Lets go home." She said to Emilius. He smiled, nodded.
As she paddled beside him she took a stealthy look at him.
Maybe home would include him sooner than she had predicted. The thought made her feel warm and content. There was more magic in the world than spells and poisoned dragon's liver.
Sometimes magic was in the simplest things.
Like love.