A/N: See you back on February 8th. :)
Ellie looked at Al and then over at the table.
"Who was here?"
"Uncle Ron and Uncle George," Al stared at the fireplace where the two had disappeared.
"And…?" Ellie waved her wand and sent everything on the table back into the kitchen.
"They want to sell the phone case."
El plopped down next to him. "I take it you aren't thrilled."
"It's not ready!" Al felt like a broken record at this point.
"So tell them your answer is no." El pulled his arm up so she could snuggle against his side.
"I did," Al pulled her closer, willing her proximity to help him understand more clearly what had happened.
"Are they deaf?"
Ellie's voice had an edge to it that cut through Al's emotional confusion. He looked down to see that grizzly bear ferocity in her dark eyes.
"What do you mean?"
"I'm sorry, maybe it's different over here, but where I grew up if someone says 'no' it's not an invitation to ignore their wishes."
Al found this new side of El both intriguing and rather alluring. He'd seen her bear-like determination before, but never in this protective manner.
"I'm pretty sure it means the same here as well," Al couldn't help the smile that ghosted his lips.
"So what's wrong with your uncles?"
Al's smile came full force and his brain shifted gears. "Not sure, but I'm far more interested in your reaction to this at the moment."
Ellie huffed, "Am I not allowed to be protective of you?"
Al chuckled, "On the contrary, I'm rather fond of it."
He leaned close and kissed her gently.
Ellie smirked against him, "So if I told you I want to yell at your uncles what would that do?"
Al started to kiss along her jaw and down her neck to her favorite spot near her collar bone.
Ellie moaned, "I should be protective of you more often."
Al grinned up at her before kissing her again.
It wasn't until much later that they managed to return to the conversation that had started their distracting activities.
"So what are you going to do about your uncles?" Ellie asked as they cleaned up dinner.
Al sighed, "They made some pretty logical arguments. Ron pointed out that the case in this iteration makes a great base model."
El nodded as she waved the plates back into the cupboard. "So why do you keep coming back with the argument that the case isn't ready?"
It took Al a moment to sort through to the source of his anxiety, and Ellie waited patiently as he tried to find the root of his resistance. But once he found it, he rather wished he hadn't.
"That was a grimace if I ever saw one." Ellie wrapped her arms around his waist. "Talk to me."
Al sighed, "It's fear. I'm afraid of what happens if I don't ever figure this out. What happens if the case will never be more than it is if I'm not the one who figures this out if it never evolves to where I hope? What then, El? Do I spend my life with Goerge and Ron pestering me for something I was stupid enough to think I could do but in the end can't? Do I waste their money and Dad's and my life chasing the next iteration only because the business says we need version 2.0?"
Al shoved a hand in his hair.
"This quest, this ambition to unite magic and Muggle technology is as much a part of me as my wand hand, El. How do I live if I hate my wand hand? How do I function if I create a scenario where I'd rather cut it off?"
El rested her head against his chest and silently held on to him for a few moments.
"I worry about that with my art." She finally spoke.
"Really?"
She nodded against him.
"I've been painting for more than half of my life. What happens if I take a job that makes me hate it? How do I function if suddenly tomorrow one of the core parts of who I am is gone?"
"So how do you handle the fear?"
"For the most part, I push it away. I try and stay positive and remember that I always have final say over what I do with my art. But…" she trailed off.
"But?" Al tilted her chin up to look at him.
"But it doesn't always work," she sighed. "Sometimes the fear is paralyzing."
Al leant down and brought a gentle kiss to her lips. The thought of anything paralyzing El threatened to make this blood boil. She was everything that was good and amazing in his life and he hated that anything could dampen her spirit.
Ellie pushed up, deepening the kiss and moving her arms from his waist to his neck. Al spun them around, picking El up and setting her on the counter, pulling a giggle out of her as they kissed.
"You're amazing, you know?" He murmured against her.
"I always enjoy hearing it," El tangled her fingers in his hair.
And Al had a bit of an epiphany in that moment; as his body worked from muscle memory, Al's mind seemed to have the chance to realize that if the Potterbox sold well, he could support a wife on the income, a wife who could paint whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted. If it never became more, if this was where the buck stopped, if magic and technology never came closer than this, it would be worth it if it let El keep painting.
"I'm going to let them sell the case," Al pulled back to smile at her.
Ellie blinked up at him, "What changed?"
Al rested his forehead against hers, "My priorities came into better focus just now. It's helping remove that fear."
Ellie chuckled, "So the secret to crushing fear is priorities?"
Al kissed her and laughed, "In my case right now, yes."
"And what are your priorities, Mr. Potter?" El placed breathy kisses along his jaw and Al nearly lost the ability to speak.
"You," was all he managed to say before giving in to the part of him that wanted to simply feel and not think; to lose himself in Ellie in that way that made his mind quiet; to the part of him that knew she would always be it; to the little part of himself that admitted he would never ever be able to let go.