Magical Bonds

@ BearGirl

Esther leaned her head into his hand as he spoke, giving a little nod of agreement, even though it didn't really matter whether she agreed or disagreed. She'd tried arguing with Blaise when he first tried to get her on a schedule when they came back to the house, but it never ended well, and she'd quickly learned that it was just easier to go along with whatever he had to say than to try to argue.

She returned his kiss gently, opening her eyes again to look up at him after he pulled away. "Alright.. Don't rush though. I don't mind eating lunch without you, and I can just go tend to the vegetable garden while I wait for you to come back before our lessons." She soothed, pressing a kiss to his cheek before sliding off the stool, stretching a bit as she wiped her dirty hands off on her pants.

@ katahdin

"Okay," Blaise said gently as he watched Esther move about. He stayed still for a moment before dusting his hands off and making his way to the nearest bathroom. After cleaning his hands, arms and face of any dirt that had clung to his skin, Blaise changed in the bedroom. Now looking much cleaner, he left.

It was hours before Blaise came back, much closer to dinner than anything now. But they had seen a few more houses that he had anticipated, and, if Blaise was honest with himself, he thought he saw the perfect one. Though he would see it again and then negotiations would need to start. But now his mind was whirling with when to tell Esther. He wanted to make sure it was available and in his price range before speaking up. Though should he tell her before or after he bought it? Hard to say.

@ BearGirl

Once Blaise had finished in the bathroom Esther headed in to wash the dirt off her hands and face, pressing a quick kiss goodbye to his cheek before he left before she changed into a pair of leggings and one of Blaise's long sleeved shirts that she liked to sleep in. Once dressed she got herself a glass of water to set on her nightstand before climbing into bed, curling up under the blankets. She wished she was feeling better than she was, knowing that Blaise was having a hard time dealing with her sometimes, but everything lately seemed overwhelming, and the realization earlier that her idea of forever wouldn't happen.

Being alone with her thoughts made her feel even worse, and when she finally fell asleep she didn't wake up until she heard Blaise coming back into the room from wherever he'd been. She'd tried asking where he was always going, but he'd always deflect, and part of her had started to worry that maybe he'd found someone else. She rubbed at her eyes sleepily as she tugged the blankets around her tighter, peeking out over the blankets at Blaise. She knew he'd probably be upset with her for napping all afternoon, but she really had no interest in doing anything, and she hoped he'd understand.

"Did your... Whatever you were doing, did it go well?" She asked softly, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

@ katahdin

Blaise had a smile as wide as the moon as he walked into the bedroom. He looked over to Esther for a moment before walking to her and pressing a kiss against her forehead. "Yes, love, it did. In fact, it went so well that I won't even lecture you for sleeping in all afternoon." He told her before sliding into the bed next to her. Blaise wrapped his arms around her body and pulled Esther out from the covers and into his lap. The thought of telling Esther what had happened entered his mind and pure excitement from seeing her reaction swelled in his chest. But he kept his lips tight, knowing that it would be all for the better if he waited.

Leaning down, Blaise started to pepper kisses against her face. "Things are looking up." He murmured against her. "Trust me, everything is going to come our way soon." He reassured her, wanting Esther to at least know that his disappearance was for them. That it wasn't like he was just hiding or something stupid. Though, in truth, as much as he loved her, Blaise did appreciate having the little moments to himself. Otherwise, he was taking care of Esther the whole time. It would not last forever but it was still difficult at points.

Pulling away, Blaise looked down at Esther. "You know how much I love you, right?"

@ BearGirl

Esther had begun to shift to face him, although when he pulled her into his lap she pouted a little at being taken out from under the blankets, curling into his arms to stay warm. Her fingers gripped his shirt lightly as he spoke, nodding a little as her attention focused in on the buttons of his shirt. She looked up as he leaned down, giggling softly as he peppered kisses over her face. It was probably the closest she'd come to a laugh in a very long time. Nodding a bit as he spoke about things looking up for them she snuggled further into his arms, reaching to tug one of her extra blankets around them.

"That's good.. I'm glad, Blaise.." she forced a small smile as she looked up at him for a moment before resting her head back against his chest, closing her eyes as she listened to his heartbeat. The steady sound had lulled her to sleep on many nights over the past few weeks, and she felt like it could happen again now, although her eyes fluttered open again as she felt him move back, looking up at him to see what was the matter. She nodded a little at his question, her fingers gripping his shirt a bit tighter as she pressed a kiss to his chin. "Of course I know you love me, Blaise.. You tell me everyday."

@ katahdin

"No, I asked if you knew *how much* I love you," Blaise teased her gently before leaning back down to kiss her face. He let out a small hum against her forehead before leaning down and kissing her lips. "I love you more than anything, sweetheart." He pressed a gently kiss against her lips before pulling back again.

"We should go get dinner. I hear mom is making steak and mashed potatoes tonight for everyone." Blaise let out a hungry hum before sliding out of bed with her in his arms. After a moment, Blaise set Esther down onto her feet. It wasn't actually an option, she had to go eat and Blaise would make sure that she did. Especially since he had the feeling she didn't even had lunch.

@ BearGirl

"Oh.." Esther murmured softly, blushing faintly at his teasing, although she kissed him back gently as she snuggled into his arms. She didn't doubt that he loved her, she knew that he did, but sometimes she worried that perhaps what he thought love meant was different than what she thought about it. But she'd given up on her ideas about love for the most part by now, and kept telling herself that she could learn to live with whatever Blaise gave her.

Esther whined a little as he stood with her and told her they had to go get dinner, hiding her face in his chest as she clung to him. She was hungry, but she found it hard to talk to his family nowadays, especially since it was hard to pretend to be interested in whatever they talked about when she felt miserable most of the time. "Can't we eat in here..? I promise I won't make a mess like last time, and if I do I'll pick it up."

@ katahdin

Blaise was quiet for a moment as he thought about Esther's request. She needed to continue to talking to other people and he didn't like how she was trying to distance herself from everyone. But, Blaise also respected that there were times that she needed space and needed to be alone. It was a difficult balance...And not that their families weren't helpful but it would also be nice if she spoke to someone that wasn't related to them.

"Okay," Blaise told her eventually. "We can eat in here tonight." He told her as he lightly brushed his fingers through her hair. He knew that today was a rough day. It was hard to tell what triggered them, Blaise wished that he could figure it out. "I can go get it for us." Blaise told her before he started to head out of the room.

(Do you want to skip here?)

@ BearGirl

(Sure! I'll skip ahead)

-three months later-

The next three months seemed to pass by much easier than the previous ones had for Esther. She was feeling much better than she had been, although she still had her bad days, and even then she wasn't back to normal. Things had been hard initially after she realized that things would never really move forward with Blaise, despite his somewhat constant reassurances that things would get better for them. But by now she'd accepted the fact that she'd always just be Blaise's girlfriend, that they'd always live in his family's home, and that nothing would really change. She still worried occasionally that maybe he'd found someone else, especially since he'd been going out for hours and hours at a time much more frequently. She'd asked about it the first few times, but he deflected each time and she realized it was just easier not to ask than to listen to an obvious lie.

He'd left early that morning so Esther had used it as an excuse to sleep in. She'd also been recovering from a cold, so she figured the extra rest couldn't hurt, and that Blaise wouldn't be too upset with her for not sticking to her schedule. She was tucked under the blankets reading through one of the new magic textbooks he'd assigned her, now that she had finished working through the beginner book and could move onto more intermediate spells.

@ katahdin

Blaise parked in front of the house, letting out a little breath of air as he tried to calm himself. Everything with the house was ready. Like move in that day ready. Perhaps Blaise had gone too far but he had ended up getting an interior decorator to get the house done before Esther even saw it. That meant new appliances, new paint, new furniture. Really the whole works. And Blaise thought that the house looked amazing. If it didn't blow Esther away, he was going to be shocked.

But while her thoughts on the house were weighing on his mind, Blaise was more worried about another aspect of his plan... He was pretty sure he knew how it would go but it was still nerve-wracking. Though Blaise cleared his throat a bit before heading into the house, wanting to get Esther to leave with him. Damn, he even dressed up a little today. Nothing over the top to make her suspicious but Blaise wanted to look nice for her.

When he walked into the room, Blaise sat down on the bed and looked down at her with a smile on his face. "I thought it would be a good idea if we left the house today." Blaise told her gently. "I'll take you out to eat at your favorite restaurant... Plus I wanted to stop by the new magical plant shop that just opened up. I heard it is amazing."

@ BearGirl

Esther looked up as Blaise sat down at the edge of the bed, offering him a little smile as she set her book down, setting it over on her nightstand. She nodded a little when he suggested that they go out today, stretching a bit under the blankets before sitting up with a little hum. "That sounds fun.. We don't have to go out to my favorite though, I've been sick and not keeping up with my lessons, so I don't really think it's fair for me to get rewarded for slacking off... We could go somewhere we both like, though." She smiled a little as she pressed a kiss to his cheek, sliding out of bed to go get dressed.

She'd noticed that Blaise had dressed up a bit today for whatever it was he'd left to do this morning, deciding it was best to put on a somewhat nice dress to wear, in case he wanted her to look nice when they went to the new plant shop or something. "Should I bring my wallet or anything that has to do with my classes, since we're going to the plant shop?"

@ katahdin

While Esther was getting ready, Blaise turned to the mirror to ensured that he still looked nice while she wasn't looking. He even took a moment to check that he had everything that he needed while she was in the bathroom, not wanting Esther to see what he had in his pockets. Though the moment she came out, Blaise leaned against the wall like he was just relaxing as he waited for her to go. His eyes shifted over her body for a moment, thinking that she looked perfect. Esther really was the love of his life.

"Hm?" Blaise looked up at her, taking a moment before he realized what she said. "Ah, well..." He hesitated for a moment, nervous about what to say as he didn't want her catching on. "Yes, you should bring your wallet and a textbook." Blaise eventually said. Although, he knew that she didn't need either. "And we can decided on lunch on our way there. It's basically all in the same place." Blaise chuckled, knowing it didn't really matter what they ended up agreeing on. "But I would disagree, I think you still deserve your favorite."

@ BearGirl

Esther had been fussing with a stray string on her sleeve as she moved over to him, so she didn't see when he looked her over, or the loving look he was giving her. If she had she might have guessed that something was up, but she only looked up when he hesitated a bit before answering. His hesitation made her nervous, but she nodded a little as she grabbed her bag with her wallet in it and one of her textbooks, sliding it into the little tote. Maybe he was nervous because he was taking her to dump her... The thought filled her with dread, especially when he insisted that she choose her favorite place to eat. She forced a little smile anyway, nodding as she followed him out to the car, climbing into the passenger seat.

She stared out the window for most of the ride, lost in thought as she worried about whether he was bringing her places he knew she'd like before he spring bad news on her, but when he didn't take the turn he was supposed to to get to the shopping district in town she frowned, looking over at him. "You missed the turn.. I thought we were going to the plant shop, isn't it back that way?"

@ katahdin

"I actually just remembered that I need to pick something up for a friend. His house is not too far away from the shop, so it'll be a quick detour." Blaise told her, hoping that she would not be too annoyed with the sudden change in plans. Though he was true in his words, it was only a little later until they were pulling up to a rather large, brand new house. It was outside of the town, which meant that their yard was actually quite large and allowed for privacy. After parking in the driveway, Blaise headed to Esther's side of the car and opened the door for her.

"You should come inside with me, the house is amazing," Blaise told her, a huge smile now on his face. "Trust me, you are going to want to see it." Once he got Esther to agree, Blaise lead her to the front door. Though inside of pulling out his own keys, Blaise used a lockbox to get the 'spare' key out, another way to trick Esther into thinking it wasn't his. He then opened the door to a gorgeous entryway.

@ BearGirl

"Oh, ok.." Esther nodded, turning to look back out the window as they drove through town and out to wherever this house was. She frowned a bit when Blaise insisted that she come in and see, thinking it a bit rude if they went snooping around someone else's house, but Blaise was insisting, and the house did look quite nice, so she slid out of the car and took his hand, following along behind him as he led her inside. The entryway was quite beautiful, and Esther couldn't help but look around in awe.

"Which friend's house is this? I didn't know any of your friends lived in this part of town, I thought they all lived in apartments closer to the market.." she murmured, standing a bit awkwardly in the entryway, not wanting to wander off or touch anything, since it wasn't her house and she didn't want Blaise getting in trouble if she broke something.

@ katahdin

"Oh, they just moved in about a...well I think two or so weeks ago? It was kind of a surprise, actually." Blaise told Esther, pausing for a moment before continuing on. For some reason, he was blanking on which name to give her. None of his friends really would fit as an excuse, since none of them would really be moving at this point. Though he was hoping that Esther wouldn't notice the lack of name, or in the least wouldn't mind enough to push it.

After sliding his shoes off and taking Esther's hand, he started to take her deeper into the house. "This is a really lovely house though, don't you think?" Blaise asked, feeling a bit nervous that Esther wouldn't think so. He stopped for a moment to allow her to peer into the dining room. "Now, this would be a fantastic room to eat and have guests over, don't you think? Plus the sun from the ceiling window really helps the plants grow on the table. He let out a small hum before continuing on with her as they were just heading through the first floor. Blaise glanced over at the patio with a hum. "BBQs... maybe even some delicious mixed drinks while overlooking the forest."

@ BearGirl

Esther nodded a bit, sliding her shoes off as she followed him through the house, taking in everything. It really was a beautiful house, and for a moment she found herself wishing that they could live in a house like this. She could practically see it, but she quickly pushed those thoughts aside, knowing she'd only get upset of she dwelled on them for too long. "

It is lovely..." She agreed, keeping ahold of his arm as she followed him into the dining room, looking out onto the patio when the paused in the dining room. "Your friend is lucky to live here.. They wouldn't even need a greenhouse or anything for their plants... I'm surprised whoever lived here before your friend gave it up, it really is lovely.. Anyway, what was it you needed to get for your friend?" She asked as she looked at him, starting to feel a bit bad as she kept having to dismiss her thoughts about how she'd never live somewhere like this with Blaise, even if they both agreed how nice it was.

@ katahdin

“He wanted me to pick up two plants from the greenhouse. One is for a spell he wants me to whip up and the other is to bring to the new store to have the owner do something with it.” Blaise gave a little shrug, hoping that his lie was satisfactory. Although it had gotten easier over the last few months, lying did not feel natural to him. And lying to Esther seemed even stranger. “But let’s just take a quick peek upstairs. Then we can go to the greenhouse outside and leave.”

Without waiting for a response, Blaise brought Esther over to the stairs and headed up them. The doors were open so he felt she wouldn’t feel weird to just peer inside. Though he doubted Esther would walk into ‘their’ bedrooms. He stopped at the master bedroom for a moment, just allowing Esther a glimpse of the huge room before moving on. She would see more of it later. Though he stopped at the little study/office. “Seems like a nice, quiet place to read and study.” He told her.

Blaise then headed a few rooms down. Though, unlike the others, it was empty. He glanced at her for a moment before looking back into the room. “Maybe they are saving this for a nursery one day.”

@ BearGirl

Esther was a bit reluctant to walk around upstairs in a house that wasn't theirs, but she followed Blaise anyway since he seemed calm about it, and she didn't really feel like arguing, especially when they had other errands to run after all this. "Alright.. But just a quick peek." She squeezed his hand as she followed him up the stairs, peering into the master bedroom when he paused at the door, before following him down the hall to the little study he'd stopped at. "It is nice.. I bet they could put some extra bookshelves in here too, for extra storage." She pointed out, knowing most of his friends had a lot of books and other collectable things, and that extra bookshelves wouldn't hurt.

She paused when he brought her to the empty room, surprised that it wasn't decorated like all the other rooms in the house seemed to be, but she frowned a little when he mentioned that his friend might be saving the area for a nursery. "None of your friends seem like the kind of people who would have kids... I thought the last time most of them were over they all agreed they didn't want any, at least not for a long while. And I don't remember any of them having very serious relationships.. Whose house is this again?" She asked, looking over at him curiously.

@ katahdin

A little hum left Blaise as his head tilted to the side, looking into the room as though he was in thought. After a moment, Blaise looked at Esther. "I am pretty sure they do... Perhaps we should ask his girlfriend" A little smile played on his lips before he wrapped an arm around her waist. "Anyways, we should probably head out, right? I probably shouldn't have snooped so much but... well I thought you would like the house. Lets head out to the greenhouse then."

With that said, Blaise lead Esther onto the four-season porch on the second floor and headed to the door that opened up stairs leading down into the backyard. It was nicely landscaped and there was quite a large greenhouse in the yard. But the land went on and on until it hit the forest. Blaise had made sure to get them a place that was quiet and had plenty of room.

He lead her towards the greenhouse but moved his hand off of her waist. "Ladies first," Blaise said with a smile, opening up the door. As Esther walked in, she was able to see what was a mostly empty greenhouse. Though the entrance was filled with her favorite flowers and plants, all in full bloom. Petals and candles decorated the stone floor. A gentle magical glow surrounded the area. And as Esther's back was turned, Blaise moved down onto one knee, holding open the engagement ring as he waited for her to turn around.