Famous Last Words (Azalea)

Subject: Re: Famous Last Words (Azalea) Sat Aug 17, 2019 10:21 am

Jake listened to Azalea's explanation of not really remembering anything that had happened between them quietly. Was that her way of politely saying that she didn't want to talk about their relationship, or was that a genuine point? Jake wasn't really sure, but as she trailed off with the explanation that she vaguely remembered being unhappy in the end, Jake wondered if that was his cue...

For a moment, he thought about simply asking if she wanted to know.

But before he could decide upon the notion, Azalea was speaking once more. This time about Victoria and the work she was doing in America. The information was not new, but it reminded Jake he really did need to take the time to give Victoria a call and see how she was doing in the not too distant future, because he most definitely hadn't given her enough of his time as of late.

"She loves her work," Jake agreed. How else could you explain the manner in which she missed events with the family so frequently? "I just hope she's looking after herself as much as she looks after her work. She never seems to stop." He commented, but they both knew that Victoria would not rest until her work was done, even if it came at a personal cost to herself, she would keep ploughing on.

Talk turned to food, though, and Jake was quite happy to skip along with that as Azalea once again admitted to not remembering her old dieting methods. The man frowned at that statement, now truly realising that the first point she'd made earlier was one where she genuinely didn't know, or understand what had happened when they were teens, when they had been dating, all of it. Sipping his tea as Azalea got comfortable, Jake considered his answer for a moment.

"Well..." He started, trying to work out how to put in to words the things Azalea had done. "I'm pretty sure it was never an image thing, or a... girly diet thing? I don't think I ever really asked you specifically, it was just... you. Yeah, that sounds right.

"It's a good thing." Jake quickly added, before he continued. "When we were dating, and even before that actually, you were a big Herbology nerd." A smile touched Jake's lips because he'd never called her that at the time, but looking back, Azalea was definitely a nerd in that department. "You had a thing for cultivating plants of some more than... dark natures. I don't know how, but you'd managed to get plants to... well... live inside your body, I guess? Vines, more specifically. So, you always had a very strict diet of salads, and vegetables. Very rarely did you eat meat, and definitely no carbs like pizza or bread.

"You always had to cook two meals each day. Well, as much cooking as a salad will ever need, of course. One for yourself, and then my dinner which was always targetted towards my Quidditch training." Jake explained, looking to the witch to see if any of this brought back memories. "You'd named one of your vines Leafy. And Merlin knows I had way too many run ins with that plant."

A soft laugh left the man's lips before he sobered slightly, considering for a moment.

Did he tell her?

She said she didn't remember, but would it be rude of him to withhold such information?

"You said you didn't remember why you were sad in the end." Jake started, leaving space for her to stop him if she so wished. But, in the event she didn't, he would continue. "We were... quite serious by this point. I mean, you were twenty one, I was twenty two. We had our own flat together, my career was going great, you were doing well in your own field of study. We hadn't discussed it fully at that time, you... we were both scared of the future, but in a small moment of bravery, I'd suggested that, in time, we could maybe have a family and settle down.

"I didn't press that, though, because it was a big ask, we were young. But, for some reason, whilst you were working at the hospital, the Mediwitch you were working with, Healer Derwent... or something like that, did some tests on you because of the vines in your system." Jake paused, allowing time for the information to settle in. "She suggested that we wouldn't be able to have children because of the vines, apparently they had messed around with your... it was unlikely we would be able to have children.

"You were quite upset about it, obviously. I tried, I tried to make you see that it didn't matter. We could have adopted, or we could have gotten a surrogate, or... I don't know, there were options. But, I couldn't make you believe me.

"You left our flat on Valentine's Day with a note that said I deserved more than you could give me. That you were sorry, and that you were going home to your dad's house. I wasn't to contact you." Jake explained, his voice ever so soft now as he finally explained it all. "I did as you asked of me, because I was stupid enough to believe you really were going to go home. But... you didn't. You left not knowing you were pregnant with Mimosa, not knowing that what everyone had said was not true, and ended up... somewhere you shouldn't have been."

The last was said with uncertainty because Jake didn't know so much about that, and wasn't sure Azalea would wish to relive all of it, either.

"But... that's why I asked about your eating habits. You always avoided 'bad' food like the plague because of your vines." Jake finished, lifting his cup to his lips once more to show he was finished with his explanation, and if Azalea wished to ask questions, she could.

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Subject: Re: Famous Last Words (Azalea) Wed Aug 21, 2019 12:03 pm

"She loves her work," Jake agreed.

A shudder went through the witch at the use of the word, the action more instinctive than anything else. The tea sloshed around dangerously at the rim of her cup as her fingers shook, bringing the vessel closer to her to hold. It must have been the cold, she reasoned because there as no other reason for her shudder. Taking another sip, she gave Jake the opportunity to expand on both Victoria and her own previous diet. As he spoke, images conjured in her mind, some foggy, some a tittle clearer. At the idea of plants living in her body, the witch looked up quizzically at the man. Sure Jake knew that if there was a time to prank her, now as not it?

Yet he seemed serious, even going so far as to give one of her vines a name. Azalea would have called him out on it if another image had not unfogged in her mind just then. The image of Jake hanging upside down in what was unmistakably her dorm room at Salem. The only source of his position she could gleam were the snakelike dark tendrils holding him up.

Perhaps it was worth taking another look at the notes Alexis Newbury had given her?

"Wait, I prepared two meals for two people?" Azalea asked, trying to introduce some humor into the serious conversation. "I must have been the best girlfriend ever?" Of course, there as no clear memory of that. Azalea remembered working in the kitchen fo the tiny flat but no specifics revealed themselves. She just remembered being... happy while she worked.

The mood returned to sober when Jake began to explain why she had been sad at the end. The cup of tea clutched between Azalea's fingers had gone unsipped since the initial two tries but now the witch could hardly pretend to be interested in the beverage when bits and pieces of her past were being revealed. It didn't surprise her to know she had wanted children. Despite all that had happened, she never once regretted Mimosa, only not being there for the child. And her son... the lost baby they never spoke of. The brunette was not aware of the circumstances he was conceived under nor who had taken him. But she never regretted having him either, even if all his existence did was add to her pain. Even now, to hear she had been told at such a young age that she could never be a mother made her want to curl in on herself with grief.

Finally, when Jake was done and her tea had grown sufficiently cold, Azalea nodded. "Thanks for telling me," She finally acknowledged the tale when she felt her voice was steady enough to speak. "It couldn't have been easy," the witch added, breaking eye contact to look down at her hands instead. The way Jake spoke, she wasn't entirely sure what he wanted. Was he seeking forgiveness for not foreseeing what would happen to her? If he was, could she give it to him?

In the end it didn't matter. If her forgiveness helped him sleep at night, then she could say the words. "It wasn't your fault," she managed, putting down her cup and raising her brown gaze to his light blue one. The universe had borrowed his eyes exactly to place on Mimosa's perfect face. "You couldn't have known I had a self destructive streak like that, no one could have."

It sounded hollow, but it was the best she could manage at that point. Even Josh who knew her considerably less than Jake presumably used to knew this about her. Even she who knew so little of her past self, knew this about the Azalea of before.

"Do you also happen to know why I can't sleep... normally?" she asked, the hesitation in ehr voice clear but the determinaton to find out as much as she can encroaching on propriety. They ahd time, if he really intended to stay with her and watch the children. Might as well dig up old wounds.

"Dad says I wasn't always like that, but then at Salem I became... dependent on Potions. Even now I can't sleep without them unless I'm with Josh." Or you, the words were left unsaid, but they might as well have not been. The implication hung uncomfortably in the air between them. Out of habit, Azalea reached for her tea once more, no intention of sipping it this time.

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Subject: Re: Famous Last Words (Azalea) Sat Aug 24, 2019 11:37 am

The joke provided by Azalea to lighten the conversation brought a soft smile to Jake's lips, and he nodded to show his agreement, but didn't voice it. It was something of uncharted territory that Jake didn't know how to reply in words without moving them in to a weird place. The best, therefore, was to quietly agree, and not overdo the moment.

The forgiveness that came as he finished was one that Jake didn't really accept. He hadn't done enough, he knew that, and he didn't deserve to be forgiven by the witch. Her words hadn't sounded sincere enough, either, but it was okay. How could you forgive someone who had not come after you when they had claimed to love you no matter what you were facing? But Azalea was at least trying, and Jake would be thankful for that.

Her next question, though, was one Jake didn't really know the answer to. It was just one of those things that was. It was Azalea. It was something they had dealt with. But... from memory, Jake couldn't remember if they had ever laid their finger down upon why Azalea couldn't sleep without him around.

Or Josh, as it would now seem.

"I don't know," Jake replied softly, before continuing on. "We never really discussed it. It was just... one of the quirks of our relationship. Perhaps you just needed someone around when you slept to be able to? I know I had to wake you up every time I got out of bed before you, to let you know I was going for a run, or heading to work, or... whatever it was. So that you wouldn't panic when you woke up and I wasn't there. But I don't know why you can't sleep without... without Josh.

"I remember... when I left Salem and you were going in to your final year, we were both quite worried about how things were going to work. We'd spent the last year sleeping in the same bed, you got the sleep you needed and it was going to be impossible to continue in the same manner. You took sleeping potions through the week, or worked on minimal levels of sleep. And then when I came at the weekend, you would catch up. But I don't know what it was that made you unable to sleep."

Jake paused, sipping his tea and avoiding saying anything further for a few more moments.

"How are things going with you and Josh? He makes you happy?" Jake asked. It was polite, after all, to enquire about Azalea's life given that she'd dropped everything to come and help him that evening. And... a part of him truly wanted her to be happy. She had suffered enough in the last decade, if she had a man in her life who made her happy now, that was all Jake could ask for.

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Subject: Re: Famous Last Words (Azalea) Mon Sep 02, 2019 4:29 pm

The way Jake described her sleeping predicament, it sounded as though the Azalea of back then had more trust issues than she did of sleep. She supposed it made sense tough, falling asleep in the presence of someone you trusted. Though did that mean she trusted Josh enough to sleep in his presence? Had so from the beginning? A more complicated question was if she still trusted Jake because her body apparently had no trouble shutting down near him.

But it would be beyond unfair to send any of those queries his way. How would he know the answers to things even she couldn't figure out about herself. The brunette had just assumed... he would have the answers. It was an unfair expectation to attach to the man sitting opposite her and yet she had been doing so unknowingly.

And the other question she wanted to ask, she could not work up the courage to. Not right now at least.

Luckily, Jake didn't leave her with much room to ponder new conversation topics, asking after Josh which made the witch instantly brighten up. The last thing they had celebrated together was Ethan's birthday and the memory was still fresh in her mind.

"He really does," she admitted, a fond smile on her lips. "He has a son, just turned two. I swear, he's the brightest toddler I've ever soon, pretty soon he'll be giving our Ivan a run for his medals." the witch stopped, realizing her mistake. "Your Ivan, i mean. Sorry, I didn't intend to overstep." Though truth be told, she knew the mishap would happen eventually, it just simply felt all too natural to refer to Jake's children as... a part of her life.

"And speaking of Ivan, he's almost old enough to start at a magical school..." she began, searching Jake's eyes to see how the subject made him feel. Azalea had no idea if the children's father intended to keep them here or send them to America or home school them, but now seemed as good a time as any to ask.

"Does he have a particular preference or...?"

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Subject: Re: Famous Last Words (Azalea) Mon Sep 02, 2019 6:42 pm

The safer conversation was easier in mere seconds. Azalea's body language relaxed considerably, and the smile upon her lips as she spoke of Josh told enough to Jake in that moment. Yes, she was happy with the man, and apparently the son, too. It was good, in Jake's opinion, that Azalea had found someone to spend her free time with, especially seeing as he had a small child that Azalea seemed to be enjoying too.

For a moment, at least.

As Azalea denoted Ivan as 'ours' the man couldn't help but look momentarily flustered at the idea. Another moment brought the smoothing of Jake's features, and then a smile upon his lips as Azalea apologised for overstepping. "You didn't," Jake assured her, his tone portraying exactly that because it had been a simple mistake and nothing more. Well, it showed that she thought highly enough of the children to consider them her own, and that could only been seen positively by the man.

The question that followed was one that made Jake grimace, stealing a moment as he finished the last of his tea and deposited the cup down by his side. "Truthfully, I'm having a hard time with it." Jake admitted to the witch. "I would have liked my children to have attended Salem. All of them." He explained, making sure Azalea knew that he didn't discount any of his children even if he had no say in Mimosa's education, or... anything now. "But, I've settled her in the UK, and getting in to the US is becoming harder and harder with each day.

"Then, there's the factor of Veronika. She went to Hogwarts, so I feel it would be... wrong to send them anywhere else. Then there are Veronika's friends who have insisted that Beauxbatons is an excellent school -- though how you can believe that when we have hosted, and are hosting a number of French students I would never like to say." He said, letting a rueful smile be known in that moment. "I would imagine they'll both end up at Hogwarts, due to living here, though.

"Plus, Victoria keeps telling them both how wonderful Hogwarts is, so I'm quite sure Ivan is going to follow hers and his mom's footsteps."

A pause was allowed, before Jake continued. "I didn't think you'd ever go for dating a student..." Jake posed gently, because it wasn't really his place, but he couldn't help but be amused. Upon seeing Azalea's confused expression, though, Jake elaborated. "Josh. You used to teach him. We both did." The man supplied, not realising that Azalea... might not have known.

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Subject: Re: Famous Last Words (Azalea) Mon Sep 02, 2019 7:26 pm

The brunette wasn't expecting a long, well thought out and honest answer, which immediately made her feel guilty when Jake launched into his explanation of the children's education. He spoke openly about his concerns and they were valid. Travel to America was becoming difficult for some people though her own Dad was probably not among them. Nether was Victoria, it would seem. But Azalea kept up with the news, she knew the masses had it worse than her own immediate circle.

"I don't think the French choosing Hogwarts over their native school is reflective of Beouxbaton's quality," she interjected with a hint of a smile. The witch couldn't help it, she had to defend her friend Jacques whenever she could. Besides, everyone knew the Clement children would have thrived wherever they were, itw as probably Hogwarts' good fortune to be able to boast having them as students.

Plus it cleared the way for Mimosa to attend the Scottish school, and for that Azalea would always be grateful.

"Besides, Ivan is clever enough to do well anywhere, even if you send him to Ed's Learnin' Hole," she added, a proud glint in her eye. Ironically, Azalea found herself wishing Veronika was here, so she could see what wonderful individuals her children were becoming. "You did good with them, you have a lot to be proud of."

The witch picked up her tea once more so she wouldn't have to look at him as she said so, feeling slightly embarrassed at complementing his parenting skills. The cup was now cold, as was the liquid within it. The woman contemplated taking a sip anyway but decided not to. She would go make herself some coffee later if Jake decided he wanted to get some sleep after all.

"I didn't think you'd ever go for dating a student..."

Azalea looked up, surprise clearly written all over her face as she processed his statement. "Who?" she barely had time to speak when Jake went on to explain that Josh.... had been their student.

"Are you sure," seh asked quizzically, her drink all but forgotten as she focused on the Auror. "Joshua Murray, lives in Wales..?" And seems to own a lot of it, she kept herself from adding. Perhaps Jake had never seen her Josh and so was making a mistake. It was a common enough name she supposed.

If Josh had been a former student of hers, he would have told her so. The wizard was honest to a fault... "No, we first met when he knocked on my door, at Furz Croft. He'd just bought a nearby property and his agent was late so I offered to show him our place for a good comparison."

His agent hand't shown up at all, she recalled now. A very unprofessional attitude for selling units in that neighborhood.

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Subject: Re: Famous Last Words (Azalea) Mon Sep 02, 2019 7:39 pm

"Well, it always makes me wonder why they didn't go to Beauxbatons." Jake replied to Azalea's defence of the French students. Not that he minded, of course, students were students no matter where they came from, but it did lead to the question of why they were not going to their own school. But the man dropped it, not wishing to cause an unnecessary argument between the two of them.

"You did good with them, you have a lot to be proud of."

"I've had a lot of help," Jake countered almost on auto-pilot, before catching himself. "But, thank you. I try very hard, with both of them. I'm proud of both of them." How could he not be? Both of his children were amazing in their own way, and they were, on the whole, good kids.

It was as Azalea asked him if he was sure that Jake looked across at the witch once more. Nodding his head to show he was sure, the man could only pause for thought as Azalea explained how she had met Joshua Murray. The notion of them 'first' meeting at her home in Furz Croft... felt very much off.

"If I wasn't sure, I wouldn't have... you know, said anything." Jake replied, feeling somewhat awkward now because he was... what? Catching Azalea's boyfriend out? No... that hadn't been his intention, but... it somehow felt like that was what he'd inadvertently done no less. "He definitely went to Hogwarts, and we definitely taught him. You... probably would have taught him for a number of years, whereas I only taught him for... maybe two?"

But as Jake finished explaining, he couldn't help but feel... well, tense.

If he'd told Azalea this.

Josh hadn't.

And that... wasn't right.

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Subject: Re: Famous Last Words (Azalea) Mon Sep 02, 2019 8:12 pm

Jake seemed adamant in his position that Josh had been their student, and since Azalea had no reason to believe Jake would make something like that up, she had to move forwards with the assumption that he was telling the truth.

But that only lead to the impossible, that Josh wasn't being entirely truthful. Of course Josh had never outright said he wasn't her student, he had even mentioned going to Slytherin and playing Beater - the same position Mimosa now played. No, Josh would never keep soemthing this important from her.

Still it might be beneficial to look up his school records, they wouldn't exactly be hard to access given her position at the school...

"You know what," the witch concluded when no other option made sense. "I'm the weakest link here, memory wise. So it's very possible you're both right and I heard and remembered something wrong." Yes, it made more sense to believe her poor memory was once again to blame here."I swear, I keep mistaking things even now."

Which reminded her of the question she had been wanting to ask for him for over a year now. "And by the way, does the Headmaster know about us and... Mimosa?" she asked, this time her soft brown eyes thoughtful as she contemplated him. "Like, did you ever say anything because the first time we met... when I gave my interview..."

What was it Professor Kessler had said exactly? No, he hadn't mentioned Mimosa but he had known about Azalea and Jake, which had been startling to begin with but was even more so now given recent events.

"He asked if my husband was well, I thought he meant..." The brunette trailed off again, letting Jake piece it together without her having to say the words.

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Subject: Re: Famous Last Words (Azalea) Mon Sep 02, 2019 8:22 pm

The resolution Azalea came up with was to blame her memory of the situation, but Jake... wasn't quite so easily waylaid as the witch. Yes, her memory of things may be foggy back before she'd resurfaced... but as far as Jake was aware...

It wasn't his place, the man decided, leaving that subject be because he'd already put his foot in it with what he'd said. The intention had not been to muddy the waters between Josh and Azalea, of course not. He'd simply wanted to know what had happened there. That topic, though, was safely buried with Azalea's statement, and Jake was quite happy to leave it there.

The next question, though, was confusing, and took Jake a moment to try to work out what the witch was on about. Had he told the Headmaster about his position with Mimosa? No. He hadn't told anyone outside of his family about Mimosa because he'd been asked to keep the whole thing from Mimosa, the best way to do that would be to let as few people know as possible, and so the man had.

"No, your dad asked me not to tell Mimosa. I took it to mean not to tell anyone, save mom dad and Victoria, so that it... well, so that Mimosa couldn't accidentally be told by someone else. The Headmaster doesn't need to know... so..." Jake trailed off, frowning to himself at the notion of being called Azalea's husband. There was nothing Jake would ever have said that would have suggested Azalea and he had been married. Merlin knew that anyone who had been at the school long enough would have known about Veronika and himself when they had first started dating, then with the wedding, and then the children. No, Professor Kessler, Andrei would not have confused them.

"Most of the staff knew Veronika. So..." Jake motioned towards the children's bedrooms to show that most people knew about the whole situation here. "I... don't think Andrei would have meant me?" He finalised, though who the Headmaster had meant... Jake would not be able to tell the witch.

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Subject: Re: Famous Last Words (Azalea) Mon Sep 02, 2019 8:52 pm

Once again, far from providing clarity, Jake's answers confused the witch even more. If the Headmaster hadn't meant him, basing his own assumption with Jake in the capacity of Mimosa's father, than who else could her fictional husband be? Jake continued to say that the staff knew Veronika, which seemed at odds with the timeline he had first given her of Ivan and Adrienne's mother's disappearance.

But perhaps some of the staff at the school had been around longer than she thought they had. Though Professor Kessler didn't fall into that category, he had started about the same time Azalea did. In fact, the witch was certain she was meant to meet with an Adelaide Goshawk for her interview and had been lucky enough to get the new Headmaster instead.

Perhaps the former Headmistress had known Veronika? Perhaps Grayson had? How weird would it be to ask? Very weird, the brunette decided, closing the door on that line of thought.

"Speaking of the kids," she went on, indicating her head to the door in a silent question of should they check on them. It had been almost an hour now and no peep was heard from the inside which could only be interpreted as good news. Azalea would still rather make sure herself though.

Should Jake agree, the two would get of their tiny beanbags and move soft towards the door, peeking in with great caution. Both children were sound asleep and in no danger of scratching, Ivan's gentle snore and Adrienne's thumb curled into her mouth while she slept a good sign.

"They're fine," Azalea whispered, more to reassure herself than Jake. "They're okay."

The two exited the room once more, this time Azalea reaching down to pick up the cups and collect the tray. "I got drink duty this time," she offered, waving away his attempts to help and making her way into the kitchen.

There had to be coffee somewhere in this house.

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» Tu Hai Meri Azalea (Azalea)
» So choose your last words, this is the last time (Jazalea)
» So Called Words and Wisdom ( Cole )
» Words don't hurt anymore, but boots do (Grayson) TW: Violence
» The UHNI [Azalea/Kit/Mim/etc/etc]