Ghosts of the Past (Naomira & Daniel)

Guest

Daniel had never felt so weird in his life. So cold, and empty. Well, he had, but that had been such a long time ago it felt like a different life. But the feeling had consumed him once more in the great hall. He'd been happily watching the ceremony and applauding the sorting of each child. The names had been a blur.

The first uttering of the name hadn't registered to Daniel.

Neither had the second.

But the third time, when Daniel looked at the student coming up to the stool. He'd seen what he'd been missing. The eleven year old, almost perfect, replica of the girl he'd once loved had moved to the stool just before him, and Daniel had felt his blood freeze in his veins.

Sickness had raised in his throat, and for a moment he'd closed his eyes. Closing his eyes hadn't helped as the face that had haunted him for months as a teen brought itself to the surface. The smile, the beautiful smile. And then the face as she'd left.

Daniel had opened his eyes to see the witch move off to the Gryffindor table and the rest of the feast had been a blur.

***

It was late by the time he got home, and Daniel knew that Theo would be asleep. He was glad, if he was honest. He didn't think he could face Theo in his usual manner that evening, and he didn't want to worry his nephew. Moving to the lounge, Daniel didn't notice the outline of his best friend, instead moving to the customary drinks table and pouring himself a glass of whiskey.

Alcohol had numbed the pain many years ago, he was quite sure it would do it now.

Even if he was over her, even if he had moved on, seeing her children had shaken him in a manner Daniel couldn't explain. His hands shook a little as he raised the glass to his lips, downing the amber liquid without a second thought and then leaning against the table with a small sigh.

Guest

Naomira definitely had an eventful day. Lately her depression and anxiety had decreased because of the lessened load of stress that was taken off her shoulders by Daniel. Not only was she able to feed Theo healthier (natural and organic foods that were unprocessed with the good stuff in it) she was too. Today she was had a delightful sandwich of whole wheat bread and roast beef with mustard and swiss cheese. Today she was able to get up early, take her pill and make breakfast and help Theo get ready for his first day of school.

The private insititution he was to be attending wasn't very large, and it wasn't too expensive. She was able to pay for it with her own salary and she didn't have to buy him as many clothes either. To her relief, his teachers knew of his 'condition' and that his irritability would be at a high for several days a month and that he'd be missing a whole day each quarter. The teachers were squibs, and fully understood that Theo wasn't wholly normal but they also explained that there other students with 'talents' too. They informed her that in Theo's class there was a little girl whose appearance could change at will, a Metamorphagus by definition. Not that Naomi had a problem with that, it would be a great experience for Theo to know he wasn't entirely alone in being different than the norm.

Theo had a great day at school too, he made a new friend. Tay was what he called her, and sometimes her eyes changed colors. That was really cool to him and he also learned about letters and numbers and why it was important to like them. If he didn't though, the teachers explained, there were many other facets of life that didn't need that. She spoke briefly to the teachers too and as it so turned out, Theo was an avidly interested student and very friendly. It warmed her heart to hear other kids screaming byes and his name as he left.

All the way home he told her all about the great things that happened and she felt eleviated that her son was happy.

She stayed up later than usual aftrer dinner and putting Theo to bed in order to finish her paperwork and try to stop fretting about what tomorrow would bring. Once her paperwork was finished, she moved to the lay around on a louge and restlessly think for several hours. She smiled broadly when she saw Daniel enter, but he didn't even acknowledge her, she hesitantly let her brows knit together as she curiously wondered about what she'd done wrong. As she got ready to stand Naomi watched with wide eyes as he moved towards the alcohol.

"Daniel, what're you doing?" She asked fearfully with wide eyes approaching him quickly to grab at his arm. "Are you alright?" She asked glancing up to meet his eyes with worry.

Guest

It had been a long time since Daniel had wanted to touch alcohol in such a reckless manner, usually he drank very little, and only the less strong alcohol. Wine, mostly, beer on occasion. Hardly ever did he drink spirits, and if he did, he sipped them.

Downing the amber liquid was never a good sign, but Daniel was more than a little unsettled with the day's events. He'd closed his eyes as the liquid slid down his throat, unconsciously reaching out to pour himself another glass when something touched his arm, held on to him.

He'd of jumped if he hadn't believed it was his mind playing tricks on him.

But the hold was firm, and the sound of such a familiar voice made the Headmaster open his eyes in a flash, meeting the worried eyes of his best friend. Guilt flooded through him in a second seeing Naomi like that, his hands setting the glass and the decanter back on the side. "Naomi..." Daniel breathed, looking at his best friend for the longest moment, the guilt continuing to press through his veins as he turned to the witch that had helped him through everything there ever was.

His mouth opened to explain the situation, but Daniel closed it once more, failing to pick the right words. Letting out a breath to steady himself, Daniel tried again. "The children... Their children..." He shook his head, trying to clear it, but it wasn't much use. "The Brennham children have arrived at the school."

His words shook a little bit, and it was obvious he was staying away from her name. "Their daughter..." Daniel tried, but shook his head once more. "I..." But he fell silent, because he couldn't explain what was wrong in that moment, it all sounded stupid, but he didn't know what to say.

All Daniel could do was hope in some way Naomi would understand and know what to do, because he... well he felt more lost than he could have known in that moment.

Guest

Naomira hadn't many friends, and she had only one best friend.

The few people she loved, well only one of them had ever really reciprocrated fully and the others just tended to be people she held dear to her. Then there was Theo who was the only saving grace of her marriage. She naturally loved Daniel because it was unreasonable to not love someone who had been so very good to her for the majority of her adult life. She thinks that if she'd never met Henry perhaps Theo wouldn't be his son. But that was ridiculous. The importance of Daniel in her life was higher than any boyfriend could have been. He was her best friend and he had been since she'd opened herself up to the world.

So when he breathed her name softly she opened her arms and pulled him into a short embrace before pulling away to lead him towards the lounge chair with worried eyes, she was careful to keep a hand on him, careful to keep contact.

:He had listened to her and anchored her in through so much of her life that the best she could do for him was listen, she did so and nodded, waited until it looked like he was fully done speaking. Her eyes grew from worried to full of sadness as she took in the weight of his words. She remembered Cassana, always thought she was such a vibrant girl and Daniel was so happy to be with her. He was torn when they broke up and over the way it had happened too, if she remembered correctly. He was so very different back then, just the idea that he might return to such a state of unrest caused unease in the pit of her stomach, her eyes turned soft as she frowned slightly.

"Their daughter looks like her huh?" She asked as she ran her fingers through his fringe before moving them back to his hand, "oh Daniel, please don't-just don't,"

"Don't go back to that time all those years ago, Daniel, be here, be here with me, with this house with Theo, with this life, not back then, it's so far away now," she murmured gently, trying to help the best she could.

Guest

Daniel couldn't respond to the hug, he still felt guilty for the look he'd placed in his best friend's eyes. He didn't want that, that... it wasn't acceptable. No, Daniel simply allowed for Naomira to take the reigns in this situation and followed her to the sofa, sitting beside her and looking at their hands.

It was weird, to Daniel, how the touch of Naomi's hand on his had almost stopped his shaking. He felt safe now, and perhaps his control was coming back as he took in the contact with Naomi.

"Their daughter looks like her huh?"

Daniel closed his eyes momentarily as Naomi's fingers brushed his fringe away from his face. And slowly, he nodded. "They're so alike." Daniel whispered back, opening his eyes as Naomi's hand moved back to his. He would have been happy with her to continue with the soothing movements, but he had the reassurance that he needed with her hand back in his.

The worry crept in to Naomi's voice a moment later, and the guilt rose once more. Daniel liked his life now, no, he loved his life now. He didn't want to go back to that very dark time in his life when he'd thought there was nothing more to the world than the bottom of a spirit bottle. "I don't want to go back." Daniel assured the witch very softly, forcing his eyes away from their hands to Naomi's face. "I got scared." He told her honestly, because he knew Naomi would never hold that against him.

She was much too kind to hold that against him.

"But I'm always going to be here, with Theo. With you..." Daniel assured her, pausing for a moment, letting the worlds fill the room despite their soft nature.

Time seemed to stand still, and in that moment... That moment where Daniel was shown to be somewhat vulnerable, he did what he'd wanted to do for a long, long time. His movements were careful, leaning slowly closer to the witch he called his best friend. Daniel didn't hesitate as he brought his lips gently to Naomi's. The kiss was soft, and though he held it for a short while, Daniel didn't progress it further.

Instead he moved away only slightly, trying to work out whether he'd done the right thing. "I want to always be with you." He told his best friend with the first sign of certainty since he'd arrived home.

Guest

Naomi was so used to handling Theo when he was transforming that she naturally associated trembling with distress and her son. She rubbed soothing circles into his hands as if in the hopes that it would help him. She can remember when Theo first got sick. The worries were endless those days, and even when she felt a tickle in the back of her throat as she continuously made sure he was taking his cold medicine, she laid beside him. Naturally three days after Theo returned to full health, she was sick in bed. Theo tried to take care of her, but did it carefully using gloves and a breath mask so they didn't inhale the same air. She hadn't had the same thought to do that, rather she used a hands on approach, her bare hand on his forehead, her lips to his cheeks; nothing withholding their contact as her son trembled through his fever.

Naomi had nothing to say to his statement of them being alike, all she could think was that she hoped they weren't. Cassie was deemed a hussy in her books for the callous treatment of her best friend in those days, but the Fujioka still couldn't hate her. It wasn't right to hate her fellow human if that human had caused so much suffering to one of the most important people in her lives.

"It's okay to be scared," she assured him, her eyes meeting his with the same tenderness, "you're with me, you're in your home; you're safe here." She added one of her hands leaving his to cup his face gently, and give it a soft squeeze before releasing him, "but you'll have to return, because you have an obligation to the school, your students, your staff.

"And you'll be okay, you'll be strong, and you'll brave through it because I know you, Daniel, and we're going to get through this night and tomorrow you'll wake up and everything will be okay." She murmured assuredly but bravely. Truthfully, she did know him and she did know he was going to make it through this. She lifted their hands and pressed a kiss to his knuckles. "I believe in you." She added before letting them drop.

Daniel had done so much for her, this little bit of consoling was infinitely worth it.

When his lips met hers her mind totally blanked out, she hadn't kissed someone in so long, but had Daniel's lips always been so soft? Had the sensation of lips to lips always been so sweet? She didn't know but she found herself leaning forward and a sudden racing in her pulse as she pressed her forehead to his.

"I- I want that too," she whispered before leaning in to kiss him just a little bit more, just one more time before pulling back to look in his eyes.

And just like that, whatever spell had been cast broke for her, the color of his eyes was a stark reminder that the moment wasn't right for whatever was transpiring for them. He was probably still hurting and that mislead sense of comfort was being translated to her, and now she was holding the destiny of their relationship- their friendship by stealing the opportunity and being so brazen. Naomi just knew it; she was going to ruin everything with what she was doing/ She jerked back and away from him.

"Theo," she blurted out, "is asleep, but he-he- he looked sick and I- am gonna go check and you are gonna go to bed and not drink anymore, or maybe you could just sleep here, either way I need- leaving, now, that's what I'm doing."

With that she turned on her heel and bolted. her heart pounding furiously against her chest while her feet beated down the corridor to her perfectly healthy son's room where she was planning on spending the night.

Guest

Naomi was right about the fact being scared was okay, but over the years he'd learnt to ignore his fears. He wasn't much use to his best friend, or anyone else, if he was frightened. Perhaps it came with the Cursebreaking he'd done when he was younger, perhaps it was the Dragon Training, Daniel didn't know. But it had been a long time since he'd allowed himself to feel scared.

To let Naomi see him scared.

But it helped Daniel tenfold to know that even when he was so vulnerable, Naomi would be there with the reassurances that he needed to get through the day. He offered her a small smile as she brought his hands to her lips, a tender moment to show she had meant every single word.

"Thank you." Was all he'd managed to whisper to her to show that he appreciated her.

It felt like the world had finally fallen in to place when Naomi had admitted in a soft whisper that she wanted the same thing as he did. His feelings weren't a one way thing, she felt the same... The smile on his lips had grown in that moment, not anticipating the second kiss. But oh, how sweet her lips were on his. His eyes had fluttered shut, savouring the moment because he'd never expected this to happen.

But as she pulled away and Daniel's eyes opened back up, his smile a little shy as he looked back at the witch. Almost hopeful that they could talk about this more. That they could spend some more time in this moment.

The timing had been foolish, however, and Naomi had perhaps realised that a moment later as she made an excuse to get away. Before he could so much as ask her to stay, she'd gone. Off to her son whom he was sure was completely fine. If he hadn't been fine...

No, Daniel knew the truth, and once the door had closed behind Naomira, he'd put his head in his hands, closing his eyes and inwardly cursing himself. He didn't see the move as a mistake, only the timing. But this... This he was sure was going to leave them in a situation that would fall nothing short of awkward.

And he hated himself for doing that to Naomi.

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» Where We Stand (Daniel & Naomira)
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