Restless hearts, sleep alone tonight (Victoria)

The next two weeks were somewhat of a mixed bag with Jackson learning that it was a lot harder to keep a secret when you were in a semi permanent living arrangement with someone else. Ever since the call a fortnight ago, Jackson had discovered an additional list of things he was no longer free to do, namely pace a hole in his living room floor or smash a plate across the kitchen counter out of anger. No, his fear and agitation had to be kept quietly confined to his room for when he was home, and to be reeled tightly in at work with only a few moments of unnecessary yelling at an intern here and there. Oh well, it would do the interns good to learn early on that a key part of being on the staff of an important person was to be-yelled at without doing anything to deserve it.

Jackson's workout routine had also increased in the days following the call. He now rose earlier than his roommate, getting in an hour of running furiously around their building before coming in for a shower, breakfast and a quick change o clothes, making sure he only had twenty five minutes to do it all so there wouldn't be much room for conversation. And whenever the Princess asked a question or sought an opinion, Jackson made sure to have something in his mouth which propelled him to give muffed, usually monosyllabic answers. And those were mornings.

Michael Bloomberg finally managed to see him a week into this mess, and Jackson had never been so grateful to open up to another human being. Michael was well associated with politicians and their habits and wouldn't have judged Jackson even if Jackson had intentionally done what he did. Their primary concern was to keep the blackmailer quiet, and since neither had an immediate solution, a further transaction of hush money took place. And though it was funneled through Bloomberg's associations and ventures, Jackson would have to pay back sooner or later, making the wizard a further ten grand short.

After the money was wired, Jackson came home straight from work for the first time that week (usually he stopped by the gym first to get in a better, more comprehensive workout than just cardio) only to find the little midget gone. Not having properly looked at his own living room in a week, he noticed the pink throw on his couch. Had she bought a pink blanket for herself? And matching pink pillows? What was wrong with using cushions as pillows?

Still, a great burden had been lifted off his chest so he couldn't feel too bad. Loosening his tie and uninviting the top two buttons of his white shirt, the man ventured into what was slowly becoming foreign territory - the kitchen. A quick look into the fridge and cupboards revealed that he could now easily host Martha Fucking Stewart in here. Jackson didn't remember giving the kid so much money... She must have chipped in with the groceries.

Reaching for the apron (thankfully not pink), the man tied it over his shirt and began what he had intended to do over a week ago, make pasta. He was just mixing the source and the pasta together when the Princess entered with several packages in her arms. She had probably been to Preethi Bhabhi's, he assumed, greeting her cheerily before sprinkling more shredded cheese on the dish. "Figured I'd make dinner," he offered in lieu of an explanation at her surprised stare.

Conversation over dinner was... easy and friendly with the witch recounting her trip to see Jim Sarbh's wife and Jackson had tuned out by the time she began speaking of dressing and color coordination and henna patterns. The way she spoke, she might as well be a Green Lake Girl, Jackson had heard those conversations way too often before. However it did get his attention that Preethi Sarbh had taken an interest in the midget's work and directed her to city council to give her something to do. The wizard offered to give her a ride the next day since, coincidentally, he also happened to work there.

Tuesday morning, the duo left together after breakfast, arriving at City Hall just before eight thirty. The young politician didn't ask where she would be or what she would going, in fact, she even rejected his offer to show her around, insisting she would find her own way. Now that she had a phone, she could simply text him to pick her up on his way back, which he did. The day slowly turned into two, which turned into three which turned into Friday. Whatever she was doing at City Hall clearly kept her busy and there was no noticeable drop in food quality at home which made Jackson happy enough.

Friday night, Jackson had to work late, past his usual six thirty clock out and the man had texted Princess Newbury (he really needed to find out her name - Varuca?) to not wait for him and eat dinner without him. When he had finally finished at eight, he had exited his office to see the childlike witch curled into one of the visitors benches with an impossibly large folder in her arms. How she could even carry a tome that thick was beyond him and Jackson had immediately reached to take it from her hands. She hadn't provided no explanation fro why she had waited and he hadn't asked - why mess with a good thing, right?

Both of them were too exhausted to cook that night so once again, Jackson was pulling into the pizza place he had brought her to on her first day at his studio. It was - by some miracle - once again buy one free one night and the ball pit was flourishing with noisy children while the pizzeria housed contented parents sipping on soda, keeping a lazy eye on their young ones.

"I am starving," Jackson announced, not even embarrassed when his stomach growled in agreement. "How about you, did you manage to eat lunch?"

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Restless hearts, sleep alone tonight (Victoria) Rsz_mi10

Restless hearts, sleep alone tonight (Victoria) Rsz_ja12

Restless hearts, sleep alone tonight (Victoria) Rsz_rs13

After the phone call that had come, things had been... different. Jackson didn't treat her unkindly, the man had not done such a thing truly since they'd been in this unconventional arrangement. But, he had not spoken as often, and Victoria was almost sure he was avoiding her as much as possible.

The reason for it, Victoria could not lay her finger on. She had guesses, but they were nothing more than that. Jackson might have received a telephone call from some big sponsor who'd pulled out, and he was stressed. The mystery lady from his laptop might have rung him and upon finding there was another woman in Jackson's home, had shouted at him down the phone until he felt so guilty he'd decided not to talk to her. Perhaps his mom had spoken to him of the bad repute having a woman in his house might bring, and had warned him to keep his distance. Perhaps, it was just work being busy. Perhaps he just wanted his own space.

Whatever the case might have been, Jackson Blake had not told her.

Which led Victoria to the conclusion that the problem was not her.

Victoria had, therefore, stuck to what she knew made Jackson happier. Food was prepared for him for each meal, she sent him to work with a lunch made, and whilst he was gone she cleaned the flat -- which took less and less time each day -- before perusing the internet in search of jobs, and things to do, as well as talking to the friends who made contact with her in her extended hiatus from the UK. The UK seemed to be being blessed with good weather, if the photos from her mom were anything to go by each day. Alexis Newbury was nothing short of proud of her grandchildren, and showing them off on film was something that she adored. The smiling features of her niece and nephew brought a saddened smile to Victoria's lips each time, but it was nothing compared to the tears that had fallen when she'd received the video.

"Aunty Tor-E-Ah, when are you coming home?" Ivan asked the camera, his sister Adrienne looking at him curiously before looking to the camera. "We miss youuuuuu!"

Adrienne's hands had grabbed for the camera, and it turned off, Victoria had curled up in a ball on the sofa as she watched it more times than she could count that day. The remnants of her breakdown had been hidden and sealed away before Jackson returned that evening, he did not need her own problems on top of whatever was worrying her, she knew that much. It had been the same day that Jackson had given her Preethi Bhabhi would be able to help her with the traditional dress she would need for the wedding. After getting the number from Jackson, Victoria had arranged a meeting with Mrs Sarbh the following day to find something that would be appropriate.

And to say she'd been blown away by the experience would have been an understatement.

The wardrobe of Mrs Sarbh -- Preethi Bhabhi as Jackson insisted she was called, but Victoria had referred to the English manner of respect a couple of times when she was talking with the older woman -- had been beautiful. The colours were out of this world, the fabrics so vastly different and yet wonderful... the jewellery that completed each outfit... The two women had spent many more hours than were necessary picking out the right outfit, altering it, and then accessorising it. Victoria had been stunned with just how... beautiful she'd looked in the mirror by the time Preethi Bhabhi was finished.

They had made arrangements for it all to be sent to Jackson's apartment once Preethi Bhabhi was happy with it all over tea, in which Victoria had been asked curiously about her relationship with Jackson. Victoria had let out a soft chuckle as she tucked her hair gently behind her ear. "Jackson and I are just friends. He... he helped me out of a tricky situation a couple of weeks back, and I'm trying to repay his kindness." Victoria had explained, but when Mrs Sarbh had pointed out that it had been nearly three weeks now since the time Jackson had helped her from the club, Victoria began to realise that she was, perhaps, outstaying her welcome at Jackson's home.

She hadn't said as much to Preethi Bhabhi, though, instead finishing their drinks over conversation of the City Council, and then finalising arrangements for the wedding. Victoria had headed back to the apartment deep in thought, wondering what to do about her current lack of will to move forwards that was abundantly clear to a stranger.

These thoughts stopped, though, when she let herself back in to the flat to the smell of pasta cooking. She stopped in the doorway, taking in the moment, before appearing in the kitchen, looking quite shocked to find Jackson Blake home already, and in the kitchen. A place where she hadn't seen him once in their time together, except to do... one... round of washing up.

After his explanation, Victoria had moved off with an amused expression, explaining where she'd been all day, and... well, the younger witch recounted it in quite a lot of detail, not noticing that Jackson had switched off completely from everything she was saying about her dress for the wedding.

Jackson's conversational skills grew as she spoke of heading down to the city council, though, and Victoria was happy to explain to him. Happiness that only grew when he offered to drive her there and back, if she wanted. Accepting the offer graciously, Victoria had gone off to shower after dinner feeling much happier than she had in weeks. Not only had she had an amazing day with Preethi Bhabhi, Jackson seemed in a better mood too and from tomorrow, she was actually going to be useful!

Jackson had driven her in, as promised, and Victoria had been positively shaking with excitement that morning. The offer to be shown round was politely declined -- that was half the fun! -- and with a promise to text Jackson later, Victoria had disappeared in to the building to find the contact Preethi Bhabhi had given her.

The first day was a lot of protocol, getting Victoria set up in the system, finding out what she might like to help out with, explaining where everything was, discussing the departments that were around and, of course, letting the witch know who was who. By the time Victoria had been left alone with some small task that was not going to break any records for excitement, it was almost time to meet Jackson again. It didn't matter, though, the young witch had an idea of what was going on in the city now -- only an idea, not an understanding -- and a number of things she thought she might look in to.

That was, of course, until they got home. Victoria had sent Jackson on up to the flat when they'd gotten to their post boxes -- she had to check for the packages from Preethi Bhabhi. Jackson had gone on up, and Victoria commenced with what she had been doing for the last four days, collecting the post and opening it. It had become apparent from Jackson's lack of of hurry to reply to his niece. Victoria had responded to Dominique on Jackson's behalf yesterday morning before leaving for Preethi Bhabhi's and had decided to take on Jackson's post for him too. Men really were incapable of keeping on top of things -- especially something as important as managing children's expectations.

There was only one letter that looked of interest. From Dominique, Victoria guessed with the handwritten card. Though the handwriting looked a little more grown up... perhaps she'd asked an older student to help her. Victoria tucked the letter in her bag to read later, and collected the bills before heading upstairs to get on with dinner for Jackson.

Dinner had been spent with Victoria explaining what she'd done for the whole day, and what she might do with her time. Jackson looked somewhat interested, for the briefest of moments, and Victoria changed tune, asking him how his day was. This got Jackson talking more, until he went off for his gym session. Victoria hadn't been worried, telling him she had bits to look up from the city council information she had, anyway.

Jackson had left and Victoria had pulled out the letter from Dominique.

Except... the letter was not from Dominique at all.

Victoria's body ran cold as she read through the letter that she should not have opened at all. The letter from... Victoria thought to the picture that was Jackson's screensaver and the redheaded witch that had stood beside him. Whilst she'd looked younger than Jackson, Victoria would not have... The witch had sat numbly for some time, just looking at the paper and trying to piece everything together from what she had. If what this letter said was true... Victoria carefully folded the letter back up and put it away, taking a deep calming breath.

If what the letter said was true, her friend was in a lot of trouble if people found out.

The witch had done the only thing she knew how in that moment, she'd hidden the letter back in her bag, not discussing the contents with anyone. Not even Jackson. It was her turn to go quiet when they were in the same room, now. She was polite, but she didn't insist on conversation, and for the next three days, Victoria Newbury did what she did best.

***

Friday evening came around, and Victoria was exhausted. The last three days had brought forth the need to use every single piece of legislation, precedence, and similar case she could find. The file she'd started with, a simple ring binder, had been exchanged for a lever arch folder that was now being forced closed with each piece of paper that the witch added. The case she'd put together was not quite finished when she'd managed to lug it to Jackson's offices, but it was as close as she was going to get it before they headed off for the weekend.

Victoria's small frame clung to the legislation in her arms as she curled in to the chair, almost too exhausted to do anything more in that moment. She could not, however, let go of the folder that held her friend's biggest secret inside. No, she would not betray him in such a manner.

When Jackson had emerged, relief had flooded her system -- she might have been imagining it, but she was quite sure the security guard was inching closer to her every ten minutes or so on the guise of checking the hall, but still being a lookout as he was supposed to be. The same guard had moved quickly back to his starting position when Jackson had emerged from his office, but Victoria's eyes were not on him anymore.

The offering to take the folder had been one Victoria had hesitated upon for the briefest of moments, but had relented a few moment's later, knowing Jackson would not look in it, if his attention to conversation was anything to go by. Victoria's hand had slipped in to Jackson's arm as they walked towards the security guard, her small frame staying just close enough to the Republican to make a statement, but not so close to bring too much attention to herself. Only when they were out of sight did Victoria move away, letting out a small sigh of relief to herself as they continued to Jackson's car.

Neither of them spoke of that, just like neither one of them spoke of the folder.

They arrived at the pizzeria shortly after and Victoria was quite relieved that her cooking skills were not going to be necessary that evening. As they sat and ordered -- Victoria sticking to a small pizza, but this time going for the Meat Feast rather than a margarita, and ordering a coke -- Jackson enquired over her hunger. "Oh, no, the ladies down at reception have been looking out for me so much. We had cake today, chocolate fudge! Didn't they bring you any?" Victoria asked curiously. Perhaps it was an admin thing? Or perhaps the women just looked after Victoria because she was new, and a guest, whatever the case, the witch was sure it wasn't on purpose that the man before her had been missed out.

"Don't you have a secretary who could go out and get your food?" Victoria added, polite confusion upon her features on how the man before her could be running for office without someone there to make sure all the trivial things were done for him.

"How was your day, anyway? You were working on something important, seeing as you were so late?" She asked, not in any way accusing him of anything. It was, as always, curiosity of what the man before her did.

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Once they had settled into their booth, their orders given (his exactly the same as her except in a larger size), Jackson truly began to relax. No matter what the situation, this place could always lift his spirits. And the princess didn't seem to mind it either, at least she hadn't once mentioned wanting to go somewhere swankier. "I got no cake," he pretend groused before breaking out into a grin again. There were a couple of twins fighting over the exact same colored balls and it made Jackson sorely miss all the kids back in Green Lake. "Though now that I think about it, I did see the remains of something fudge like on Margie's plate - the traitor," he gasped dramatically, alluding to the fact that his secretary had helped herself to the cake meant for him.

As their waiter arrived - all smiles to see a regular customer return - with the drink, Jackson spoke up once more. 'Actually, I don't usually do lunch. I only started it when you started packing me some," he confided, reaching over for this glass and taking a deep swig. One suck of the straw later, half his glass was empty. Thank fuck for free refills. "Usually if I'm out of the building, I get like a pretzel from a cart, but there's no proper lunching, most of the time we're all either on the pone or huddled around the TV or laptops trying to keep up with the twenty four seven news cycle." It was no joke running the campaign offices of a senatorial candidate. Almost every few hours his phone started ringing off the hook, demanding a statement for one scandal or the other, one disaster fo the other, and his speech writer was run ragged crafting genuine, meaningful comments for every tragedy that took place around the world.

"There was a school shooting yesterday," he continued, his tone somber now. "Third one third month, up in Colorado. Could have been a lot worse because it was only the summer school kids and staff who were around but..." The man didn't know who to continue. He didn't know how to explain that two dead kids and a severely injured janitor was good news these days.

"The casualties weren't as statistically bad as usual, but it took a while to get everyone out. Our office was monitoring the situation closely, had to make and send out testaments, thoughts and prayers, the usual." Because if the witch across form him had learned anything in ehr few weeks back in the States, she would know that less guns were never the answer. "I'm trying to draft a legislation to for Magical Congress, maybe if each school had a wizard stationed at it..."

The conversation was cut short as their waiter arrived concerto, carrying one tiny and one large pizza. He also took Jackson's coke away to refill it, not needing the hint by now.

"Anyway, that's just work stuff, tell me, are we all ready to leave tomorrow morning?" Seeing that his extended house guest was much better at the sort of thing than he was, Jackson had wisely handed the Princess the reign of the Greenwitch visit. "We won't be taking the car since we can't bring it into the village itself, but I got us covered." What she didn't know was that Jackson kept a bike stashed away for such journeys. "If we leave before ten, we can get your wand and get its paperwork done, then rest and change at the Devil. The wedding festivities start from six in the evening and go one till... forever." She might have thought he was joking, but the Goblin would soon see that Indian weddings were no joke.

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Victoria couldn't help but giggle at Jackson's faked grievance with his secretary about the cake, glad to see he was in good spirits that evening. The thought that he'd missed out on the cake was amusing, but Victoria was not about to let the man know as much. Instead, her attention turned to the fact he never normally lunched, and her fussing over him had meant he'd been eating solidly for the last three weeks.

The fact she'd forgotten that morning in her haste to get to the city council offices made her feel deep regret, and she made a mental note to not make the same mistake twice for the man before her. "Sorry..." The witch replied softly upon finding this information out, her eyes lowering from his to find that he'd drunk half of his drink in one go.

Men. The witch thought upon seeing that. Jake was much the same, but thankfully their mother had pushed him to being slightly more well mannered than Jackson. Though, only slightly.

Jackson moved on to the news, something Victoria kept up with from her phone upon returning to the country. News of school shootings always, always made the witch feel sick to her stomach. Children killing children. Children who needed help being let down by society because they couldn't see the problem right before them. Victoria might be American, she might understand the Second Amendment's purpose, but she did not condone the government's inaction on the subject. Jackson's view had been made clear, though, in the weeks she'd been back in the country.

"I saw that one," Victoria replied softly to his words. Though she'd turned off the news function almost immediately because it was a distraction to her case, and the thought of children laying dead in a school had made her shiver deeply. "I thank Merlin every day that Jake chose to settle in the UK with my niece and nephew. Nothing like that happens over there..." She said, quickly looking for a piece of wood to touch. A quirk she'd picked up in the UK with their 'touch wood' ideologies that this would stop the bad thing happening.

The legislation idea that Jackson had, though, brought Victoria's attention back to the idea. "How's that going?" Victoria enquired, curious to say the least about the whole idea of getting the children more protection than they had. "Perhaps I might be of use..?" She added, only for that line of conversation to be cut off when the waiter returned with their pizza.

Victoria was about to press for more information when Jackson quickly changed route once more.

"Yes, everything's ready. I just need you to pack your toothbrush and your deodorant in the morning and then we can head off. Everything else is waiting in your bag. I'm going to have to ask you to complete the anti-crease spell on our outfits, though, to ensure they get to Greenwitch. I really don't want to have to try to steam creases out of them." She explained, because even though Victoria was quite sure she wouldn't go wrong, she did not wish to ruin the dress that Preethi Bhabhi had loaned her for the event.

Victoria's lips twitched up at the idea of going on for 'forever'. "I'm sure we'll be fine." The witch amended his statement, tucking in to her pizza, chewing carefully for a few moments before she continued on. "I was going to ask, though... I don't know how... I've never been to a wedding like this. You won't... we'll stick together, right? And you'll explain the whole service to me? Oh... and... stupid question... will it be in English? The ceremony I mean? I don't mean to be rude, but I wouldn't know..." The witch trailed off, not wishing to sound rude in any manner. She wanted to understand, and enjoy the whole thing as much as possible, but she was going to be heavily reliant on Jackson for that much.

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When the witch admitted that nothing like that ever happened in the UK, Jackson raised an eyebrow. His disbelief was obvious from the action but he said nothing, only returning to his meal as they changed topics. He could sense she wanted to portray the UK in a good light but to say that there was a country where no school shootings happened, well that was just preposterous. Or at least it was something Jackson could never wrap his head around, he had seen shootings since he was a kid, they were a part of life now.

"Blegh," the man mouthed around a large bite of pizza. Swallowing the thing whole, he gulped, reached for his now returned and fully filled glass of coke and took another gulp, this time polishing a quarter off. "Just take my wand, I don't know all those fancy spells." His suits were usually kept crease free by... someone on his staff. Probably Marie. She was always asking him to remove his shirt at random times so she could straighten it out before an appearance.

When she spoke of not knowing about he Indian wedding, Jackson let out a short laugh, his slice of pie dropping from his hand and back into the plate. "Oh no," he hurriedly tried to assure her as he belatedly realized he may have come across as rude. "I'm not laughing at you, not at all. I'm laughing at the notion that anyone would feel uncomfortable at a Desi wedding." Holding up a finger in the universal gesture of "one minute please", he picked up his dropped slice and took another bite, chewing it carefully to give himself time to think on how to explain the myriad of ceremonies that tied an Indian wedding together.

"Okay, so i guess we start with the beginning - we aren't going to attend the entire wedding," he finally began, making sure he had her attention. "Desi weddings usually last from three to seven days. This particular one has already started, we will only be attending on the fifth day." Slowly, Jackson explained the different functions, the engagement, the mehendi, the sangeeth, the mayun and finally the reception which they would be going to. He did his best to explain the significance of each event but added that Preethi Bhabhi would do a much better job of explaining that particular bit.

"You see, everyone is made to feel included in these affairs," he explained, steadily demolishing the large pizza and imparting information at a similar pace. "Treated like family which means everyone is given a small but important job to do as well. So say they might ask you to sort out petals to shower on the bride and groom during the ceremony, or ask you to come dance with the family children, or hand out plates. Don't get offended, its their way of saying everyone is family and therefore everyone contributes to the couple's new life together. I was once put in charge of guarding the groom's shoes." Not that it had helped much, a pretty redhead had come along and well, the groom had to caught up fie hundred dollars for a pair of cheap sandals. He had not forgiven Jackson easily.

Explanation of the wedding carried them all through dinner until every last bit of their pizza was gone and Jackson was on his fifth glass of coke, feeling more contented than he had in a long time. in fact, he would have sat there longer had he suddenly not noticed that the area was much quieter than normal. Sure enough, one look at the ball pit revealed that only half a dozen tired children now swam around in the balls and most of the place was empty.

He and the Princess had been talking for over two hours.

"Oh, we should get the bill," he finally admitted, gesturing the waiter over and sending him off again with a credit card. Ten minutes later, they were back in his car, Jackson behind the wheel and the kid clutching her file as if it contained the country's nuclear codes.

"Something important in there?" he asked casually, not really interested but not averse to finding out either as he pulled out of the parking lot. One perk of staying out late was less traffic on the way home. They drove the roads in scarce conversation and companionable silence until they reached his building. George - good man that he was - let them in without hassle, nodding politely to the witch as Jackson dropped her off to get into the studio as he moved on to park the car in the garage. They would be away for the weekend and it was best not to leave the vehicle exposed to the elements in that time.

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Jackson's carefree attitude to her just 'using' his wand as if the world of wands worked like that made her roll her eyes a little bit at his silly reaction. After a soft assurance that she would show him -- to which he was, of course, dubious -- so that their clothes remained pristine, the conversation moved on.

The idea of the wedding working to involve everyone was one that brought a light hint of surprise to Victoria's features. That wasn't... normal to her, when you went to a wedding, unless you were part of the bride or grooms main party, you just got to drink and enjoy yourself. And, though this idea was new to Victoria, unusual, she found it quite endearing. Especially, she thought to herself, the idea of having to look after the children, that job would be one she would be much too happy to take on.

But the explanations didn't stop there, and as Jackson worked his way through the different days, and patiently tolerated her questions when he used words she wasn't familiar with, slowing down so that she could get the word and try to remember it for the wedding the next day. He was patient with her, too, which helped when she thought she might be asking something silly, only to be reassured that it hadn't been silly and given an answer. The large volume of information was overwhelming, though, and even Victoria was starting to feel that she was out of her depth for the next couple of days.

By the time Jackson had finished both his explanations and fielding her questions of the wedding, the restaurant had almost emptied around them. Neither one had noticed this much, and when Jackson mentioned it, Victoria looked round to see the kids remaining had burned themselves out, and there were only a few families left. The witch was ready to pull out some money for the meal, but before she could reach the new purse and bag she'd bought herself, Jackson had sent the waiter off with his card. "Thank you," Victoria told the man before her softly. "For dinner, and being so patient with your explanations." She added in lieu of explanation for the two words she'd uttered.

But, as always, the thank you was so much more than just this evening.

Once they were back in the car, Victoria pulled her file back in to her lap, holding it close to her to keep it safe from anyone who might try to take it. She still wasn't sure what to do with it, truthfully, when to bring it all up. Jackson was in such a good mood, she didn't want to bring him down from that high. No, a happy Jackson Blake was much more fun to be around. But, wasn't that a selfish way to look at the situation?

"Something important in there?"

Victoria looked up with a small start at the question, before quickly shaking her head. "Not really, I've just been reviewing a case I found in the council. It probably won't amass to much in the end, hopefully, anyway. But there are a lot of things I need to consider before I can be sure it won't blow up. I'll tell you all about it when I'm done, I promise." Victoria explained, knowing that talking about a case would bore Jackson away from the subject because he hadn't ever taken her work seriously.

The rest of the drive was in gentle conversation, and when they arrived back at the studio flat, Victoria went up before Jackson with her file held tightly to her chest. With a brief conversation with George -- he was a lovely man, and definitely didn't earn enough for what he did -- Victoria hurried upstairs, and hid the folder behind the sofa.

The pair spent the rest of the evening packing -- Jackson rather reluctantly aiding Victoria with spells he'd never seen before, and Victoria fussing through the list of things they needed. By the time Victoria fell on the sofa for sleep, she was exhausted from everything going on.

At seven o'clock the next morning, Victoria was up once more, hurrying around to get herself ready for the day and triple checking their bags. Breakfast was pancakes that morning, oozing with maple syrup and a cup of tea for them both. Victoria went over and over the lists again, fretting that she'd forgotten something, only to have Jackson assure her that he'd seen that item packed last night. By quarter to ten, the young witch was ready with their bags expertly packed down in to a rucksack that wouldn't swamp her small frame. Her tummy was alive with butterflies at the prospect of the wedding, she was both nervous and excited for it all, and the time was hurrying along to the point where they had to leave.

Jackson had headed down before her, denoting he had to get something -- what, Victoria hadn't been told -- before they left. She was to meet him downstairs in ten, he'd said.

Victoria had followed the man's instructions, and at five to ten, she emerged from the building, looking around for Jackson, curiosity heightened because she had no idea what he was up to.

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Jackson woke the next morning to the sound of his house guest fusing, for there was really no other way to describe the tiny creature that ran this way and that, taking advantage of her small frame by fitting into corners he imagined even children could not and making sure all was in place. He had never seen a more finicky personality than that of the witch currently sharing his studio and it amused him greatly. The man considered telling her to take a chill pill but then the smell of pancakes wafted into his room and he forgot all about it.

Breakfast was good in that he had two helpings and bad in that two days of gym were now down the drain. Oh well, he would go run some other time. The wedding too would have no shortage of food but it would be balanced by the bhangra dancing which every guest would be required to participate in so that was no problem. Secretly, the man couldn't wait to see his midget companion's face when she saw her very first display of Indian dance.

At nine thirty, he figured he couldn't do much to keep her from fretting so excused himself o check up on the bke, grabbing his blacl leather jacket from behind the bedroom door where he'd hung it last night. The mountains could be cold, especially when riding at the speeds he rode at. Telling the kid to come out at ten, he adjured to the garage, doing final oil checks and shield meters before giving the bike a once over. It looked brand new even if he'd purchased it back in his college days - all credit to George of course who routinely got the shiny black vehicle cleaned and polished without being told to do so.

At ten, the man finally climbed aboard, his jacket now firmly in place over his pale blue turtleneck and fitted navy jeans - one of his "campaign jeans", the ones that looked and felt like fifty dollar jeans but for some reason cost close to three hundred. Jackson ah stopped trying to understand style years ago, only knowing that he had to wear the things his campaign runners told him to.

With a soft purr, the bike shot forwards, making it out the garage door even before it had fully opened. Some men were fond of loud, roaring motorbikes, Jackson preferred his baby to purr like a happy post coital panther, gliding smooth and deadly between his knees. The bike came to a stop in front of the witch who had just finished looking up and Jackson couldn't help a smug smile as her jaw dropped.

"Beautiful, isn't she?" he asked, unable to keep the sheer joy of riding his bike at breakneck speed halfway across the country. "Runs like a dream too. With all the modifications and shields I added, we should be in Salem before noon." It was clear in the way he spoke how proud he was of his vehicle.

"Well, climb aboard, she won't bite," he invited the witch with another grin, gesturing for her to get behind him. The machine underneath purred in anticipation, ready to go from zero to one ten in under a minute. "And hold on tight."

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Come Plot With Me <3

At the sound of an engine coming closer, Victoria's eyes moved towards the noise, taking in the machine with little and less interest. Jake had had some kind of super bike when he was younger, a bike that many people had loved, Victoria, though, had never understood people's love of machines. They were just... metal...

No, the reason why Victoria's mouth fell open was because Jackson expected her to ride that all the way down to Greenwitch?

Not to mention she did not find the prospect of being upon such an... unsafe mode of transport the most unappealing idea in the world. At Jackson's question of the machine being a beauty, the younger witch's eyes moved to his, raising an eyebrow at him slightly in that moment. "You're kidding..." She managed, but only a moment later, Jackson Blake was urging her upon the bike as if this was normal.

Victoria didn't move forward right away, apprehension controlling her from moving forward in that moment. Unlike her brother, Victoria had something of an apprehension for the fast and furious. Riding on brooms was not something she found overly joyful, apparition made her feel quite sick, and the thought of getting upon a motorbike and swerving through traffic much too fast was not something that she entirely wished to do. But, after a moment, she stepped forth, picking up the helmet and carefully pulling it in to place and securing it closely.

Mounting the monstrous bike, Victoria wrapped her arms around Jackson's waist, her small frame clinging to him tightly as she rested her head against his back. The boy didn't wait very long before he kicked off in to action, and Victoria closed her eyes tightly not daring to look as they weaved in and out of traffic.

All the witch was hoping for in that moment was that they would somehow get to Greenwitch unscathed, and that they would do it as quickly as possible so that she could get off of the bike and be in control of her safety once more.

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Her lack of enthusiastic gushing over the machine Jackson took to mean the witch was still in awe of the behemoth in their possession. More than one person had gone silent at the sigh of Jackson's road crusher. From its sheer horsepower to the smooth engine to the sleek and durable build, his baby had left many an audience at a loss for words. He almost wanted to laugh when she approached cautiously, as if she couldn't believe this was real.

Who knew the kid was such a Top Gear nerd?

"Don' worry," he showed off as she climbed up, immediately reaching for a helmet. "This thing's reinforced like Satan's puss- Passover Bridge," he hurriedly amended. "It can go toe to toe with a truck and still come out the victor." The words were meant to comfort her but they only managed to make her hold around him tighten as they sped past the gates and into traffic in less time then it took to finish the sentence. Whether his travelling companion heard or not, he couldn't say. the young wizard was having too much fun with his face arm under the sun and his raven locks flying back from the wind.

"Since the country's so huge," he began, trying to keep up some kind of conversation when it became clear the princess was not going to emerge from her huddle anytime soon. "The Ministry made portals at relatively accessible areas, portals that work as apparition but they need to be activated when you're nearby. The nearest portal from where we are is in Madison." Which was their current destination. From Madison, they would be transported to another state from where they would take a second portal to arrive in Massachusetts and from there, a third portal to Salem and Greenwitch just nearby.

It took them only ten minutes or so to leave the traffic behind at their current speed and soon enough, they were on the highway, Jackson amping up the speed even more. It was a four hour journey from their studio to Madison and he intended to make it in one. The Madison portal loomed into view just over an hour later, posing as a humble, unassuming gas station and McDonalds.

"ant an ice cream, kid?" he asked, attempting to cheer the witch up seeing as she still wasn't relaxed despite the safe and comfortable ride they had undergone thus far. Not waiting for a response, he steered the bike over to the drive through section of the McDonalds and spoke into the speaker. "One... Umm..." His eyes scanned the special menu quickly before he continued. "Banana Split McFlurry, nuts on the side please."

"One Banana Split McFlurry, nuts on the side," a mechanical voice repeated and Jackson revved up the bike once more, aiming it full title towards what looked like a solid brick wall.

Except it wasn't a wall at all and a few moments later, they were exiting a McDonald's drive through in Massachusetts. "See how that works?" Jackson grinned, turning around to note the expression on the Princess's face. "These special McDonald exist all over the country and open portals all across the states depending on your order. They're relatively new though so I figured you wouldn't have known about them from the UK."

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Come Plot With Me <3

Jackson kept talking through the whole ride, in which Victoria remained tucked in to him, reciting under her breath the case law that went with Jackson's current case she was working on to busy her mind away from what she considered to be her impending doom by ensuring she knew the case front, back and inside out, keeping her heart from hammering past a level that was safe for humans in general.

And Jackson remained oblivious to her distress of being on top of the bike until they slowed at a McDonalds and he asked if she wanted an ice cream. The witch shook her head, keeping her grip on his waist tight even as Jackson ordered something. The witch didn't move from her position of safety, though, instead remaining stock still, and going over the precedence of her case instead in soft whispers against the foam of the helmet that was a little bit too big for her.

Out of sheer luck, Victoria had not opened her eyes, which was probably the best option in the world. She had not seen Jackson turn the bike straight for a wall, and had not therefore seen the possibility of a crash that would never have been. No, instead the witch remained tucked up to the man, holding on tight as he explained something she couldn't quite hear over the sound of the engine and the beating of her heart inside her rib cage.

Nor did she see any of the other similar cases on the way down to Greenwitch. Only when Jackson told her two hours or so later, that they were in Greenwitch and the bike had slowed as they entered the village had Victoria's head moved from it's rested position against Jackson's back, her eyes opening to the scorching midday sun.

"We made it..." Victoria breathed softly, all to glad to be off of the contraption when Jackson told her to get off. Her legs were like jelly from the exertion of gripping so tightly with her thighs, but Victoria paid that no mind as she pulled the helmet off and straightened her hair with her fingers carefully, looking around at the village that she hadn't seen in over a decade. So much had changed, and yet... nothing felt different, either. It was an eeiry feeling to say the least, but it was also comforting, knowing that shortly, she would be in possession of a wand again, and that comfort could not be put in to words.

Victoria waited for Jackson to lock the bike up, and then they checked in to the Devil, depositing their bags which Victoria pulled out their attire to ensure it hadn't creased, hanging it up for later before turning back to Jackson.

"Do you mind coming with me to the wand store?" She asked, not sure if he would, but thinking it better to ask. "I don't think we need anything else. Preethi Bhabhi helped me pick out a present for the bride and groom, we have our clothes for this evening... If you want to get something for lunch, I'm sure we can find something on the way..."

Victoria just didn't want to go on her own, though if Jackson said no, she knew she would have to simply get on with it and meet him back here later.

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» Hearts of Glass (Elenore -Clement Ball)
» Eat, Study, Sleep, Repeat (Clara)
» It's enough for this restless warrior just to be with you (One Shot & Trigger Warning)
» Meet Up with Victoria (Victoria and Adaline)
» Let's Dance Tonight (OPEN)