Men and Their Dragons

Warmth

Darien stared at the samll piece of parchment tied to her daily peach-orange rose. Over the past few weeks since the awkward moment where Darien saw Charlie in the showers, the roses had grown in amount-size until she found a complete two-dozen fully bloomed roses at her door. She wondered how Charlie had gotten them to her while he was in Wales helping out at the Dragon Reserve somewhere in the moutains more than three-fourths of the time the roses had begun to grow.

See you at seven.
Wear something warm.
-CW


She knew Charlie’s handwriting like she knew the scars on her arms from a few restless hatchlings that couldn’t stay off of her and Antonia. It was scratchy, quick, slanted to the side slighty as if he were writing sideways. Darien brought the rose up to her nose, enjoying the citrusy smell greatly.

Darien walked into her room placing the rose in a vase with the many other roses that casued her room to smell fruity.

Something warm...

Darien red the note again. She stared at her closet, string at the many thin, button up shirts and ripped and scorched jeans. This was obviously a date yet Darien had never been on a real ‘first date’. All of her dates had ben crappy little cheaps with some old movie she’d already seen and Chinese food.

Obviously Charlie had something much better in mind.

Taking a deep breath, Darien knew what she was going to have to do.

“I have the perfect thing in mind!” Antonia exclaimed, running to her closet as soon as Darien had said a thing about her little date. With who, she could not say, but Antonia had a good idea.

Tonia threw article of clothing after article of clothing on her bed hurriedly, quickly making outfits and mixing other little things to go with to try and find the right color for Darien’s complexion. Finally, Antonia found the perfect otufit.

It was simple creme colored turtle neck sweater dress, that clung to every curve of Darien’s body. Antonia’s shoe size was too big from Darien’s small feet. Quickly charming the pair of matching snowboots Darien pulled them on like it was a glove, over her brown stockings.

Antonia tried her best to straight Darien’s unruly blakc hair. It half way worked leaving Darien with weavy hair that feel half down her back.Darien put her foot down when Antonia brought out her makeup kit. Antonia compromised with a dust of creme eyeshadow and skin-colored lip gloss. By the time Antonia was done Darien couldn’t even recognize herself.

Darien stood, jaw half dropped staring into the full body mirror. Running her fingers over her soft, caramel skin, Darien tried to figure out where the old twenty-four year old Squib Dragon Nurse Towers had gone. Antonia was in the background trying to pick from her jewelry box. Darien’s ears weren’t pierced so Antonia’s chocolate diamond chandelier earrings were out of the question.

Antonia didn’t have any necklaces that went with the outfit, but she did find a few bracelets that would go wonderfully. Darien picked a simple white-gold bracelet with small chocolate diamond diamond charms jingling evertime she moved her arm.

Tonia smiled, clapping her hands together in agreement with herself as she looked over Darien. The darker-skinned woman had pulled her hair back on one side to show off a small sliver of her neck that wasn’t hidden by the turtle neck sweater dress.

Glancing over at the clock on Tonia’s bedside table, it was ten minutes until seven. Gasping, Darien hurriedly ran toward the door to get back to her room. Antonia watched happily after her friend, spraying a quick squirt of one of her favorite perfumes in Darien’s path so the woman would run through it. After her friend had closed the door, she glanced under her bed. There lay a dozing Luke, obviously bored with the girl talk that had gone on between the two women after Darien had arrived in the middle of a very heated snog session between the two. Luke was very reluctant to let Antonia help her friend.

Darrien arrived on her hall just moments before Charlie were to knock on her door. He stood there, nervously looking at her door and shifting from foot to foot. Almost seven on the dot Charlie knocked, waiting for a reply.

“Ever heard of ‘fashionably late’?” Darien teased Charlie’s anxiousness to pick her up for her date, finishing the few steps of the staircase. Charlie simply stared with awe, and a shot of lust, hazing over his green-blue eyes looking over the beautiful figure of Darien’s body. The nurse awkwardly stood in fornt of him, a smile still on her lips but her eyes said she was scared shitless.

“You’re gorgeous,” Charlie was able to get out, having to clench his fists to not grab the woman in his arms and never let go.

“You don’t clean up so bad either, stud,” Darien teased again, trying to lighten up the mood, giving his stubbled cheek a chaste kiss. She hoped it calmed both her nerves, and his own.

Charlie hadn’t even bothered to think of dressing in anything other than his casual pair of scorched jeans, dragon hide boots and jacket with a dirty long sleeve jumper (from his mum last Christmas) underneath. He felt highly underdressed. All he had in mind was a simple picnic on the reserve. For some reason, now it felt much more.

“Shall we get going, Mr. Weasley?” Darien asked, wondering about the sudden silence of her friend. Charlie snapped from his adult rated thoughts, and held out his arm to her.

“Of course. What is your opinion on flying?”

Darien gave the redhead a look before answering, “I’ve never been on a broom before.” Charlie grinned at her, his dimples making her want to melt in the freezing cold weather.

“Always time for firsts,” Charlie didn’t mean his double-meaning words, but it seemed only had had gotten the meaning. Darien gave him a nervous look, smiling sheepishly. The two arrived in the broom shed with almost no time gone by. Leaning against the wall of the shed was one of the newest, fastest racing brooms.

The Thunderbolt.

Darien stared with amazement. The shed could have been a broom museum. The brooms along the wall went from the Thunderbolt to the first every commerical brooms the Shooting Star and Black Comet. Nowadays, they were slower than the simple toy brooms handed over to small children.

Charlie grabbed the Tunderbolt, holding it parallel to the ground at his waist, throwing a leg over it. Darien stood nervously beside him looking down at the broom. Charlie noticed the dlight fear causing her body to stiffen. Scotting back a bit, Charlie held Darien around the waist and told her to the broom. She threw her leg over the broom, scooting back to press her back to Charlie’s warm chest.

The ginger Dragon Keeper weaved his arms around Darien’s waist, gripping onto the wood of the broom handle. Darien was shaking, both from the cold and fear. Charlie felt it. Pressing his lips to the small spot behind her ear that her hair didn’t cover Charlie whispered, “I won’t let you go.”

Charlie kicked off, the broom shooting forward into the snowy, cold night. Darien screamed, from both fear and surprise, snow hitting her face, melting on contact from her flushed cheeks. Charlie chuckled, tightening his arms around her as she gripped at his scarred forearms, her scream lowering to mumbled prayers. The broom slowed to a paced speed Darien breathing hard as she cursed Charlie instantly. Her words were not empty threats.

The flying lastest awhile, the only words spoken were soothing words in Darien’s ears and more threats of feeding his third leg, while still attached to his body, to a baby Horntail. The pair landed by one of the many lakes located in the Romanian mountains of the dragon reserve.

Already set up was a red and gold blanket, and food. All it needed was candles and red wine, and Darien would be putty in Charlie’s hands. (Like she wasn’t already pft.)

“Oh Charlie,” Darien breathed out, slipping off the broom and walking toward the blanket. She instantly felt warmer, obviously a Heating Charm placed on the small area. Looking around, little fireflies fluttered around, and the soft snores of sleeping dragons in a cave not far from the lake filled the arm. Turning back around to face the ginger, Darien grinned happily at him. “It’s beautiful.”

“Not as beautiful as you,” he told her, taking her hand in his and leading her to the blanket, softly sitting down on the warm said with her. He pulled a dark bottle of red wine and two glasses from the basket. The rest, he simply tapped his wand to the basket and plates of fruits, cheese, and crackers was set out in front of them. Charlie poured them both a glass. Darien chuckled after taking a sip of her wine.

“What? No candles? No serenade? My, you boys have become lazy.” Charlie laughed, nearly spitting his wine all over Darien and himself. She smirked, taking another sip and grabbing a chocolate covered strawberry from a plate before taking a bite out of it. Charlie was mesmorized by her lips.

“Dare?”

She looked up at her name, her breath caught in her throat when she saw how close he was. His glass was set to the side, and she did the same with her own. Running her fingers through his soft hair, Darien helped close the few centimeters between their lips. Usually Darien never kissed on the first date, and neither would Charlie, but this was a whole different story...