Setting Up Shop (Open)

[jamie]

“I know I don’t have to.” Jamie said tilting his head. He placed his hands on her shoulders. “I want to.” He assured her softly. He followed her gaze towards a sink and let his arms fall to his side. Without saying anything, Jamie walked over to the sink and turned the faucet on. He wasn’t exactly sure what was coming out, but it surely wasn’t water. It had a strange greenish brown color and every few seconds it would spray all over the place.

[Verity Bromley]

Verity followed him over to the sink and crinkled her nose when the liquid started sputtering out. “Eww.” She said crinkling her nose. There seemed to be a strong stench growing from the liquid. Some of the strange substance sputtered onto Verity’s hand. “Oh, gross, gross, gross!” She said gagging. She shook her hand trying to get that disgusting liquid off of her without actually having to touch the spec that landed on her hand. She felt disgusting as if there were a million spiders crawling up her skin.

[jamie]

Jamie had gone over to his tools and grabbed a few. He slipped into a storage room in the back and grabbed a few glasses. When he reappeared, Verity was freaking out and waving her hand all over the place. “Are you okay, Ver?” He asked in a concerned manner. He had no idea what had happened, but he was sure that whatever it was, she was overreacting. He started to laugh and set the tools down on the ground next to the sink.

[Verity Bromley]

“It’s not funny!” Verity said slapping him on the shoulder. She wiped her hand on his shirt and stuck her tongue out at him. In the end, she laughed lightly. “You can fix this?” She asked incredulously. Was there anything he couldn’t fix? He certainly was quite the handyman. It was a quality she found herself admiring in him. However, the fact that there was anything she liked about him came as a shock to her and she tried to convince herself it was a momentary lapse in judgement.

[jamie]

Jamie bent down and opened the door of the cabinet someone had built under the sink. It was filled with dust and cobwebs which he take care of with a wave of his wand. You can fix this? Jamie looked up at Verity, she was beautiful when she smiled. Her whole face lit up. "I hope so." He said. He lied on his back and slid under the sink. His head and most of his shoulders were in the cabinet. It was pretty dark. "Hey, Verity? Would you mind giving me some light?" He asked.

[Verity Bromley]

Verity knelt down next to him and pointed her wand into the cabinet. "Lumos." She said, tapping the light on the tip of her wand on. She adjusted her wand so that the light wasn't pointing in his eyes. She still couldn't believe that he was doing this for her. She felt ashamed because she hadn't treated him well enough for him to volunteer to do this. In fact, she had tried to get rid of him.

[jamie]

Jamie's hand searched the ground next to his leg for the wrench. Instead, it found the warmth of her smooth skin. Jamie lifted his head, his hand was placed on her thigh. He immediately pulled it away. "Sorry." He said and the grabbed the wrench and went back to work. He had to force himself to pull his hand away and the only thing that he was sorry about was that he had to pull it away.

[Verity Bromley]

Verity was surprised by the touch at first, but didn’t make a big deal about it. It wasn’t like he had done something outrageous or inappropriate, it was an accident. “Don’t be,” She said with a smile. Verity focused on holding the wand steady so he could see what he was doing. While he was working, she peered into the cabinet to see what he was doing. Maybe if she could watch and learn she could fix the rest by herself.

[jamie]

Don’t be. Jamie grinned. The Verity that he had met in the Common Room and on the Quidditch Pitch certainly was different from the Verity who was helping him fix a sink at her new bar. He liked this Verity a lot better, mainly because she wasn’t trying to hit him or tease him. He lifted his head up slightly to find her staring at what he was working on. The light hit her face dimly and she looked stunning. She was beautiful. He wasn’t paying attention to what he was doing and Jamie’s wrench nicked the pipe. That murky water started to spray out of the entire place. “Oh sh~!” Jamie cursed. He pushed himself out from under the cabinet. His shirt and a part of his face were covered in that disgusting brown water.

[Verity Bromley]

Verity could tell something was off when his wrench moved carelessly from one end of the pipe he was repairing to the other. “Jamie…” She questioned, but it was too late. That brown liquid began spurting out everywhere. Verity moved out of the way before it got all over her too. She ran to get some more towels from the back storage room. When she came back, the water was still spraying all over the place and Jamie was a mess. She threw him a towel and attempted to mop up part of the mess that had been created on the floor.

[jamie]

Jamie caught the towel, but instead of using it right away, he turned and grabbed his wand. Using his wand, he sealed up the pipe and the water stopped spraying out. "I'm sorry, Ver." He said apologetically. It was a careless mistake, one he would have expected himself to have made when he was younger. He wiped his face off with the towel and then helped Verity clean up the mess. He paused for a moment and looked at her. She wasn't sprayed as much as he had been, or hardly at all, but her hair was out of place and her cheeks were red. She looked like a mess. Jamie couldn't help but to laugh.

[Verity Bromley]

"Are you laughing at me?" Verity demanded. What in the world would possess him to laugh at her? He was in worse shape than she was. Verity made the mistake of catching his eye. Soon after, she found herself laughing along with him and forgetting about the mess around them. His laugh was deep, booming, but also calming. Verity laughed until her stomach muscles grew sore, until there were tears coming out of her eyes. She wasn't sure what they were even laughing at, only that she couldn't stop.

[jamie]

Jamie liked Verity’s laugh. It was soft and light and sweet. He also liked her smile. Though she was beautiful already, her smile lit up her face. “You’ve got something there…” He said reaching a hand up to her hair and removing a piece of dust from her curls. He couldn’t help but to stare into those amethyst eyes of hers, although when he did, he was swept away instantly.

[Verity Bromley]

Verity’s laughter died down and goosebumps raised on her arms as his hand moved toward her. She blinked and the moment was lost. Gone as quickly as it came. There was something about Jamie that was comforting. He was calm when she was not, sweet but tough. “Thanks…”Verity mumbled. Her cheeks started to redden and she looked up to find him staring at her. For a moment their eyes locked, but when she found her voice, she asked, “What are you staring at?”

[jamie]

What are you staring at? Jamie’s mind snapped back into focus. Had he been staring? He hadn’t realized it. “Nothing,” He said shrugging it off. He looked down at his shirt. It was a mess. It was splotched and splattered with that disgusting, murky water from the sink he was trying to fix. Jamie usually didn’t spend a lot of time on his appearance when he was getting ready, but mainly because he didn’t need to. He did care about how he looked and how he presented himself to other people. “I guess I made a mess, huh?” He asked smiling.