I Won't Say I Love you, Even If It's True

[Danielle Kerrith]

She was finding out that Jeff was a rather entertaining person to be around. He had a sense of humor that most people she was around lost somewhere back in school when they thought they had to become completely grown with no sense of humor. She chuckled quietly and patted his arm in a sympathetic manner as he pretended to be disappointed. "You were brilliant," she assured him with a small grin, "I just didn't fall for it."

When he inquired about how long she was going to be sticking around the woman stopped to think for a second. "I think I'm here for another couple of days," she told him, "gotta get back for work and all that good stuff." At the last part she made a face. She really didn't want to go back to work so shortly after getting a break from it.

[Jeffrey Colton]

Jeff nodded sympathetically. Work seriously did suck... although technically he didn't have a real job, he'd worked at the American Ministry for a couple of years, before finding out how corrupt and unfair the system was. He sighed dramatically. "Ah yes, work. Fun fun." He smiled at the young woman's expression.

"Don't think about that now, you're on vacation!" He got up, an arrant breeze making his hair stand up on end. "How about a coffee? I know a good place, or do you only drink 'tea'?" He asked, placing a ridiculous attempt at an accent on the word 'tea'.

[Danielle Kerrith]

"Yes," she agreed with sarcasm dripping from her words, "loads of fun." The grin on her face gave away that she was just messing around with him. When Jeff told her not to think about it since she was on vacation Dani nodded. He was right. She shouldn't be worrying about it right now. She was off for a while and should enjoy the break from work. Deciding to follow the advice of her new friend, did Jeff count as a new friend?, the woman pushed the thoughts of work to the back of her mind.

When he mentioned coffee and tea she laughed. "No, I drink coffee as well as tea," she told him as she stood from her place on the bench. "Lead the way."

[Jeffrey Colton]

"Brilliant! You guys say that right?" Jeff asked over his shoulder as the two set off, "or is it more like 'that's wicked!'" He asked, once again putting his ridiculous attempt at an accent on the words. Jeff paused at a busy intersection, glancing up at the oncoming traffic before strolling across, hands in his pockets, unconcerned.

The occupant of one of the passing car's stuck their head out as they passed and said something very nasty, accompanied by a particular crude hand gesture. "Yeah, that's what I said to your mom last night!" Jeff yelled back cheerfully, beckoning Dani to come with him.

The approached a small, slightly cramped looking cafe on the corner of Drew and Wharf. The cafe was aptly called the Common, after the Boston Common, Boston's largest park.

"My lady," Jeff said with one of fast becoming legendary winks, as he opened the door and swept Dani inside before following, but not before stubbing his hell on the closing door. Wincing slightly, but trying to act like it was no big deal, Jeff limped in front of Dani and went to the counter.

"Whatcha having?" He asked, looking at his companion with his slightly goofy dreamy smile.

[Danielle Kerrith]

She found the accent amusing and chuckled. "I do believe we use both sayings," she told him as they walked. The woman blinked when Jeff just kind of started across the street with the cars coming. For a moment she hesitated, especially when that one car gave the words and the gesture, but Jeff's retort brought giggles from her. The twenty-one year old hurried after her companion still giggling from his words to the car driver. "You could have gotten yourself hit," she told him, punching his shoulder in a joking manner.

Dani looked at the place as they got closer to it. The fainest of blushes spread over her cheeks at Jeff's words and wink. It wasn't that she was embarrassed it was just that she wasn't used to people doing and saying things like that even in a joking manner like he was doing. "Why thank you kind sir," she said in response. Just because she wasn't used to that kind of joking around didn't mean she could joke right back. She followed him up to the counter and looked at the menu for a moment before he asked what she wanted...er...was having.

"I think I'll be having a vanilla latte," she told him with a small smile of her own.

[Jeffrey Colton]

Smiling in what he hoped what a dashing and sexy way, Jeff shrugged, "it's all good fun," he said as the driver craned his neck out the window to watch them, nearly crashing the car. "Watch where you're going doofus!" Jeff yelled before the driver disappeared around another corner.

"Sorry about that," he smiled as she approached the counter. "A vanilla latte?" He pretended to consider the board himself, although he already knew what he was going to get.

"Coffee, black." He said simply, before remembering that he had no muggle r. "Well hell, this is embarrassing," he scratched his head, looking sideways at his companion.

"I don't suppose you could spot me some change, I promise to make it up to you," he smiled at her, "and that's a promise I intend to keep."

[Danielle Kerrith]

Dani chuckled at Jeff's words and shook her head. "It's all good fun until someone loses an eye," she told him, though when the car nearly crashed she added on, "or gets run over by a car." She laughed at her companion's words to the driver. She agreed that he should be watching where he was going.

"It's fine," she assured him with a small grin and nodded in response when he repeated her request. When he looked at her and asked about spotting him some money. He was rather lucky that she had muggle money on her. She hadn't really known where she was going to be going and so she'd brought a little of both. She smirked a little. "You're lucky," she told him, "I just so happen to have some money on me."

As she reached in her pocket to pull out the necessary money a couple of coins fell to the floor. If she only had muggle money in her pocket she wouldn't have paid any attention to it and for only a moment she didn't pay attention to the handful of gold, bronze, and silver coins that hit the floor as she handed the money over to the cashier. It was as she was sticking the change in her pocket and the quarter fell to the floor that she looked down. She muttered under her breath as she knelt to pick them up.

[Jeffrey Colton]

Jeff smiled as Dani smiled, he liked her smile, it was gentle, carefree, and it made him want to smile in return. Which he did as they stepped into the small shop and ordered their coffee, the fact that he didn't have money on him was unfortunate... but he was a roll with the punches kind of guy.

Raising his eyebrows at Dani's words, he picked up one of the coins from the tip jar. "You know what they say," he said, passing the coin between his fingertips until it vanished, "luck is ninety percent preparation," he made a gesture behind Dani's ear and produced the coin, "and ten percent coincidence." He placed the money back in the tip jar, "but I do- oops!" Jeff knelt to pick up the fallen coins as Dani paid for the drinks.

It wasn't until she knelt down besides him that he paused, holding a galleon in an outstretched palm, a look of indignation on his face.

"Noooo, don't tell me..." he looked at Dani, consternation spreading, "you can't be..." the look on his face changed from consternation to indignation. "Please tell me this is a joke, and we can move on," he said, holding up the galleon. "Because if you are seriously a witch I am going to crap my pants, pardon the language, although I really am awful at memory charms..."

[Danielle Kerrith]

She looked at him curiously when he started talking about what people say and such. A small smile tilted the corners of her mouth and a small giggle escaped her. "I suppose that would make sense," she agreed, watching as the coin was dropped back into the jar. Dani's eyes zeroed in on the galleon held in Jeff's palm before her eyes slipped up to check the look on his face. Her face had already drained of color when she first realized that she might have exposed a muggle to the magical world, even if it was only a galleon. Her eyes stayed trained on the man's face as his look changed and he started talking.

She bit her lip and quickly finished picking up the remaining coins before she stood. "Would it make you feel better if I play it off as a joke?" she asked in a quiet voice, refusing to look at him as she spoke. She hadn't expected to have this conversation with him. She hadn't even expected to run into a fellow magic user while she's here. The way he was reacting to the knowledge did not bode well for her at all. This little trip and hanging out was probably about to be cut short because she hadn't thought to separate her money when she stuck it in her bag. "Look," she started allowing her eyes to actually look at his face again, "I can just stick it back in my pocket and we can pretend that it never happened. Fair enough?"

[Jeffrey Colton]

Jeff's expression changed instantly when he caught the look on Dani's face. Suddenly he felt confused. What was going on? Was she okay? Hell, had he said something wrong...? Jeff looked at Dani for a moment, his mouth slightly open in surprise as she spoke, at an utter loss for words.

Finally he gulped and stood up, staring at her in concern. "Make me feel better? Why does it matter how I feel? Why would I care that you're, you know." He looked at her, his brows furrowed in confusion. "If you think I'm going to treat you any differently I'm sorry to disappoint..."

In fact, he was actually kind've relieved that Dani was a witch. Muggles were all well and good, but they weren't on the same level as wizards, the same plane of existence. They were just different, and now, well, he and Dani could talk about so much more.

"Look, nothing has changed for me, has something changed for you?"

[Danielle Kerrith]

Dani thought it best not to look at Jeff. She had automatically assumed that he was a magic user, but he could just be a muggle who knew about the magical world. Plus, she hadn't really been able to read his facial expressions and believed that he had been upset about the whole thing. His words hadn't made her feel to much better about the whole magical thing either. When he stood back up she refused to look at his face anymore as they exchanged words. If he really was upset about her being magical then she didn't want to see it in his face.

"It matters how you feel because how you feel about one part of me can change if you want to hang out with me and I don't know why you would care," she muttered still looking at the ground. As she listened to Jeff continue to talk the brunette blinked slightly and cast a glance at him from the corner of her eyes before slowly actually moving her head so that she could look at him properly.

A small shake of her head at his question because she really had no idea what to say. Nothing had changed for her at all, though now she wondered if the man in front of her was a muggle with knowledge or a fellow magic user. She wanted to ask him, but standing in the middle of a muggle coffee shop probably wasn't the best idea. "Nothing's changed for me either," she whispered before grabbing her drink as it was placed on the counter, "but if we wish to continue this conversation we might want to take it somewhere a bit more private."

[Jeffrey Colton]

Jeff simply stood there and let Dani's words wash over him. He couldn't understand why she was making such a fuss. He had simply been surprised, that was all. He hadn't gone off at her, or said anything to lead her to believe he would, had he? This was so confusing...

Dani wasn't looking at him, Jeff wanted to grab her, shake her, demand an explanation for why she was acting like this. It was ridiculous. "Look at me Dani." He demanded, wanting her to see that he wasn't upset, hell, he didn't care that she was a witch! She was one of the most normal people he'd met in... he couldn't even remember. All he knew was that all his life seemed to consist of these days was listening to Zipporah go on and on about the cause, and Susanna simply sneered and nodded. Dani was a break in the cloud cover, a shaft of sunshine in which he he could bask, albeit it only for a minute.

He continued to stare, finally nodding at her words, understanding the sense in them. He grabbed his coffee, which was hot enough to make him wince, and averted his eyes from the woman behind the counter who was staring at the two of them unashamedly.

[Danielle Kerrith]

Her slightly worried look slipped a bit when Jeff demanded that she look at him. "I don't ta--" she cut herself off because she had done what he told her to do. Caught up in wanting to make her statement about not taking orders from people, even if that is what she did every day at work, she had turned her full attention to him and was now looking him in the eye. The woman blinked at him in surprise of actually having looked at him after she'd made the decision not to do so.

When he agreed with her about going somewhere more private she waited for him to grab his coffee covering a laugh when he grabbed it to quickly. Her eyes moved to the woman behind the counter and she raised an eyebrow. "What? You've never seen two people have a conversation while waiting for coffee before?" she asked, her accent a bit more pronounced when she spoke. Without waiting for a reply she turned and left the building since her words had caught the attention of some nearby customers too. Once outside she turned to look at Jeff. "Would my hotel room work for the privacy thing or do you have somewhere else?" she asked with a small tilt of her head.

[Jeffrey Colton]

A look of relief crossed Jeff's face when Dani finally looked at him, as she (hopefully) understood that he wasn't mad, or upset at finding out she was a witch. He smiled, looking into her eyes for a moment before he noticed the woman behind the counter watching them and turned to look at her, but not before shooting a glare at his too hot coffee.

He crossed his arms, marveling slightly at Dani, and her fearlessness. He couldn't just tell someone off like that, no way. He nodded in agreement and glared at the girl. "Yeah," he added lamely, glaring around the shop at all the eavesdroppers. Before he could say anything else Dani exited, and he hurried to follow her, stopping outside.

Raising his eyebrows slightly at her suggestion that they go to her hotel, he nodded slowly, wondering where this was heading. "Where's it at?" He asked casually, sipping his coffee, which was still too hot and burnt his tongue. Biting his lip so as not to make a sound, he tried to smile at Dani, wondering how much more he was going to embarrass himself in front of this woman before the day was out.

[Danielle Kerrith]

Dani did notice that Jeff didn't seem upset about the entire thing and it made her relax a little, but being in a muggle building wasn't the best place for any type of conversation about magic. She had caught the woman watching out of the corner of her eye before she told her off and left the store.

She really thought nothing about letting some stranger that she'd just met know where she was staying. If she had been thinking a bit more than she would have realized that her hotel room probably shouldn't have been the first suggestion. Though in her defense she had asked him if he knew of anywhere else for them to go. When he simply asked where it was at the woman gestured towards the opposite direction they had come from. "Off that way," she replied as she took a sip of her latte, "I think. Most of the time I apparate to the alley right down from it."

It would have probably been a good idea to learn where the hotel was instead of just apparating to it all the time, but so long as she didn't get caught she didn't really see a problem. "Come on, we'll see if I can find it," she told him and started walking.

[Jeffrey Colton]

Jeff followed Dani's gesture, raising his eyebrows slightly. That was rather general... but then again, who was he to jude. He was hopeless with directions. If he hadn't grown up in Boston he probably would have been totally useless. Nevertheless he was fine following Dani around the city, it wasn't like he had anywhere better to be.

He shook his head teasingly, "seriously, you apparate? Lazy!" He grinned at her to show he was joking, mussing up his hair slightly and then taking a swig of his coffee.

"All right," he smiled, "lead the way." And with that he began to follow Dani, to where he didn't know, but it certainly looked as though it was brighter than where he had left.

[Danielle Kerrith]

The problem with being in a different country and really just any place that you haven't been before is that everything looks the same. Or at least it did for Dani at the moment. Apparating to the alley was so much easier but also not very convenient for her right now. Sure she could do side-along apparition but seeing as how she had just said that she'd try to find it, the woman wasn't about to give up without truly trying first.

Making sure to pay attention to her surroundings now, Dani walked along with a determined air that she enveloped her whenever she got serious about something. That didn't mean though, that her expression was all work and no play, no it still remained just as relaxed as it had been a moment ago. She only grinned at his joking comment about being lazy. "Really? I thought you were my lazy-kindred spirit." Alright, that was stretching things a little far but there was no problem with her playing along with him. Actually, Dani found it a lot of fun being around Jeff. Beside their rocky moment in the coffee shop, the man was pretty good at making her keep this trip a pleasure trip rather than worrying and wondering about work throughout her whole mini trip. She slowed in her walking just slightly, as she took in the buildings and thought they needed to make a right down this street because of the bookstore on the corner across from them. Dani hoped she was right but the only way they'd figure that out was if they kept walking and that she did.

[Jeffrey Colton]

Giving the young woman a lopsided grin, Jeff found himself dazzled by the moment, blinking foolishly. It was all just so... nice.

He daren't believe it, it was far too good to be true, that he was actually enjoying himself. Not fearing for his safety, that his next breath might be his last, or that his companion might turn out to be some minx who was sent on Zipporah's orders. No, for once Jeffrey was free of such doubts, and his sunny smile stretched to look somewhat goofy, almost like a cat who has just been woken from the most marvellous of naps.

It took a moment therefore, for Jeff to realise that he was following behind Dani, and he blinked, remembering himself and where he was, and rushing, perhaps with a bit more haste than was wise, after the girl.

"Oh, um, hell but you walk fast," he said, half running to catch up with her, and flashing her another smile, "slow it down girl, no one's chasing us." He did a double take, freezing in mock horror. "At least, I don't think so! I left my stolen goods back home, you didn't bring the cops with you did ya?!"

"And I'm not lazy! What ever gave you that idea!" He shook his head, his smile still refusing to grow any dimmer, "pure collywobble, isn't that something you Brits say?"

[Danielle Kerrith]

Debating between continuing to guess where her hotel was or just giving up the ruse that she knew where she was going was a tough one. It was going around and around in her mind, as Dani continued to walk thinking that her feet would eventually get her to where she needed to be. Only, to hear Jeff catching up to her. When had he disappeared? Maybe she was too lost in her world of finding her way back. Now that she was thinking about it, the two had been rather quite for a bit of their walk.

Hearing him mention that she walked fast, Danielle brought her finger up to her lips, "Sorry, habit." and bit on her knuckle, it was an nervous tick she had. After a moment she let go and let her arms fall back into place by her sides moving to and fro along with her legs. Stolen goods? For the briefest of seconds she turned her head and looked at Jeff with alarm, then realized he was joking. Hah, of course he was. Her expression cleared, lifting up her purse she started to fumble with her zipper, "Oh, well I do happen to have stolen this thing right in here, if i can get this fandangled zipper open." She joked acting as if it was difficult to open her purse, then she laughed.

Looking straight ahead again, she saw home sweet home, or for the short time she was in Boston it was home. A big grin spread across Danielle's face and she stopped short just to do a little happy dance of jumping up and down a few times. So excited that she had found her hotel without apparating. This was a proud moment indeed. Pointing straight down the way to the hotel, she smiled at Jeff. "Look, it's right there." Then she looped her arm with his and took off walking again. "Collywobble...hah, maybe one of these days I'll give you a lesson in British lingo, eh?" Danielle wasn't sure anything could break her mood now.