The next day, Finn keeps herself busy.
It's not that she's avoiding Regulus, because that would be juvenile. They see each other at breakfast, and again at lunch. Regulus keeps his promise by bringing her back to feed the kelpie, though they do so with remarkably less conversation than they had the day before. In the silence, his gaze as he watches her throw the raw meat into the water feels like a weight.
When they get back to the house, they even sit together with Evan as they have tea. Conversation may be limited, but that's alright — Evan fills in all the silences for them. Even without conversation, Finn finds it extraordinarily difficult to tear her attention away from Regulus.
The massage has done him good. His shoulders are relaxed and loose, his face no longer stiff with well-concealed pain. He looks comfortable, though his gaze is as intense as ever as he watches her from across the table. Finn acts as casual as she can manage, sipping on her tea as she stares back at him, Evan's rambling fading into the background.
She had, at first, been worried that Regulus would start acting strangely towards her. After all, he had been so dismayed the first time that they kissed after he realised what he had done; how he had kissed a lowly Muggle. Finn had thought that surely once realisation set in that he had allowed that same Muggle to touch him sexually, to take him apart and turn him into the beautiful squirming mess that he had been, that same sense of horror would set in.
And honestly, Regulus has been acting strangely — just not in the way she had expected. He hasn't seemed disgusted at all. In fact, his eyes on her have been positively burning ever since. Finn feels as though she's been put under a microscope, with his deep grey eyes watching her every move. Sleeping next to each other the night before had been stifling — the tension between them had swelled and settled over them like a blanket as they lay in the bed that they had been messing around on mere hours before.
Even now, Regulus watches her attentively as she finishes her cup of tea. It's intimidating, to be watched so closely like this, and yet Finn is surprised to find that she actually enjoys it a little. People so rarely look at her with any interest, and certainly not in the way Regulus is looking at her now. It's a surprisingly pleasant change to find herself at the centre of someone's attention.
"Yes, sounds good." Regulus says absently — he's clearly talking to Evan, but it's the first time that he's spoken in a while.
"Brilliant," Evan says, clearly satisfied. "Will we go now?"
Finn blinks back to herself, breaking the practical stare-down she'd been having with Regulus in favour of turning to Evan.
"Go where?"
"For a quick fly around." Evan doesn't seem to take offence at the fact that she quite clearly wasn't listening. "It's so boring here, we may as well do something fun."
"Mm. Okay." Finn says, lifting her tea to her lips one last time.
Honestly, that suits her just fine. It's always nice when they go outside and give Finn some time to herself. Being under such close scrutiny from Regulus has resulted in her own bloody muscles getting tense and rigid.
"You're welcome to join us, of course." Evan offers, raising a brow.
"Oh, no." Finn says quickly. "No, I'm grand, thanks. Actually, I think I'll have a bath."
Evan shrugs, before standing from the table and stretching with a yawn. "Fair enough. See you later, then."
Regulus follows his friend's lead, taking one more look at Finn as he does so. As the two of them go to leave the room, they take the time to deposit their used mugs in the kitchen sink. They even rinse them. Finn watches them go, and bites her lip to stifle a smile.
Progress.
'As most everyone knows, the average Troll can be dangerously violent and incredibly aggressive. I would daresay their often unpredictable behaviour is comparable to that of giants, though their intelligence is significantly lower. Despite their lack of intellect, however, they have managed to to conceive of a language that even the most experienced magical linguists have difficulty decoding. Consisting primarily of grunts and pointing, this primitive form of communication is among the most challenging of beast languages to learn. Luckily, I myself have a particular flair for languages.
On my travels, I had met with a young wizard from Liechtenstein whose village had been having difficulty with a particular tribe of mountain trolls. He had been keeping an impressive log of the various grunts and snorts, and I was granted the opportunity to study it in detail. Before long, I found myself able to hold a passable conversation in Troll, which then begged the question — could I be the solution to this village's problems?
Naturally, I have always been very talented with my tongue. The intricacies of the Troll language can be difficult for the average wizard, but I soon found that I had a particular talent towards-'
Finn is jolted from her reading by an odd sound.
The bathroom is quiet, the silence broken only occasionally when the tap drips. She's been in the bath for a while now, but the water is still comfortably hot and steam still swirls around her head as she reads Travels with Trolls. The pages have gone a little soft and curled from the moisture and the heat, just like her hair.
The whole room is scented like lemon and geranium, courtesy of the bubble bath she had treated herself to only the week before — she had figured that she could use a little treat, and the pink bath water and foamy bubbles are a novelty that has buoyed her mood already.
She pauses, lowering her book, and listens carefully.
The strange sound comes again — it sounds like... a creak?
A little too late, Finn realises that it's the sound of the bloody bathroom door opening. Horrified, she sinks lower in her bathwater. She had locked that door, she knew it.
"Oi, Finn. I have a question."
Finn freezes. "Evan?"
"Yes."
"Are you-" Finn pauses, practically choking in utter disbelief. "Are you in the bathroom right now? Get out!"
"But I have a question. Didn't you hear me-"
"I'm in the bath!"
"Well, I'm not looking." Evan's voice says. It sounds as though he's just bloody standing in the doorway. "Don't take this the wrong way, but my standards haven't fallen as low as Reg's have."
Finn is speechless for a long moment, before irritation sets in. Leaning forward, she yanks the shower curtain back just enough so that she has enough space to glare out at him.
"How the fuck am I not supposed to take that the wrong way?"
Sure enough, Evan is leaning against the doorway. He looks infuriatingly casual, with his hands in his pockets and everything, as though he hasn't just somehow managed to jimmy the ancient lock on the bathroom door and barge in on Finn in the bath.
"Fair." He says with a thoughtful expression. "I could have worded that better."
"What do you want?" Finn hisses furiously.
Evan shifts, and to Finn's horror steps further into the bathroom. He even closes the bloody door behind him.
"Myself and Reg were outside just now, and we saw the strangest thing in the sky. It was like a white bird, but it was very high in the sky and it was making an odd noise. It wasn't flapping its wings, either. Reg told me it was probably a Muggle thing and told me to ask you about it-"
"I'm quite certain he meant for you to ask me about it when I had gotten out of the bath!"
A pause.
"Possibly." Evan admits, though he doesn't sound sorry. "Perhaps I misinterpreted. Still though, you may as well answer now that I'm here."
Finn closes her eyes and rests her forehead against the rim of the bathtub. The porcelain is cool against her heated skin, but it doesn't help soothe her any.
"Sounds like it was an airplane." She says through gritted teeth. "It's a type of machine that travels in the sky and transports people places."
She's hoping that Evan will simply accept that answer and leave. But the bastard isn't normal, so of course he doesn't. He just steps closer still, and flips the lid of the toilet shut before sinking down to sit on it as if it's a seat.
"How does it fly without magic?"
"Evan, get the fuck out of here!"
"I'm only bloody asking," He says, frowning. "Its wings didn't even flap!"
"It- I don't know! It has... it has turbines and all sorts of shite."
"What does that mean?"
"I don't know!" Finn snaps.
God, she's relieved that the bubble bath has turned the water opaque and she's covered up to her neck in foamy bubbles — she really doesn't need the extra layer of humiliation that being visibly naked would bring, even if she's still clinging to the shower curtain like a scandalised Victorian maiden.
"Where is Regulus?" She demands.
"I left him outside." Evan says simply, sitting back on the toilet as though it's a bloody couch. "I came looking for you as soon as he said you would know the answer."
"Fucking hell." Finn breathes, frustrated.
"Hey," Evan's voice turns curious, and he leans forward a little to peer around the shower curtain and into the bath. "How is the water pink? Is that magic, or some kind of strange Muggle witchcraft like with the metal bird?"
Turning her face towards the door, Finn hollers, "REGULUS! COME GET YOUR CREEPY FUCKING FRIEND!"
"It was an honest question!" Evan says hastily, withdrawing his head quickly. "We're all friends here! Merlin, relax!"
"I am trying to relax!" Finn snaps. "That's why I'm in the bloody bath! You. Are. Bothering. Me!" She hollers again, "REGULUS!"
"Alright, alright," He drawls, infuriatingly casual. "I'm going."
As he stands, Finn begins to relax. Finally. Her fingers unclench around the pages of her book, as she allows the plastic shower curtain to fall partially closed again as she peeks around it to watch him leave.
But he only gets halfway towards the door; the tile floor of the bathroom is wet from the overflow of bath water, and Evan has only taken a couple of steps before he slips. It seems like he falls in slow motion, his arms wind-milling ridiculously — horrifying, he falls backwards.
Finn screeches as he grabs at the shower curtain in a failed attempt to catch his balance. He rips it wide open, rattling precariously on the rail as he hits the ground in a crash that honestly sounds quite painful.
A low groan comes from where he's curled up in a pile of his own limbs. Slowly, he begins to unfurl, his hand reaching up to clutch at the rim of the tub as he attempts to haul himself back up.
Finn recoils, feeling mortifyingly vulnerable and exposed with the shower curtain pulled back. She sinks lower in the bubbles, turning scarlet. "Get the fuck out, Evan!"
Once Evan has crawled his way to his feet, he squints at her. "Let's not tell Reg about this."
"Oh, honestly-!" Finn begins, frustrated, only to be cut off.
"Tell me about what?"
Both Finn and Evan freeze. Regulus has just appeared in the doorway, scratching the back of his head distractedly — he doesn't appear to immediately notice what he's walked in on. But then he blinks, and his face collapses into a frown.
"Is... Is she in the bath?" He asks, his voice thick with disbelief as he turns to stare at Evan. "What the fuck are you doing in here?"
"Nothing!" Evan says, a bit too defensively to be entirely believable. There's a smear of bubbles across his chin.
"Did you send him in here asking questions?" Finn demands, peeking out from her little shield of bubbles. "Jesus, next time you hear me screaming, come faster!"
There's a pause, during which Regulus' expression suggests that he's trying hard not to say something that he knows she won't like. After a moment it crumples in disbelief. Slowly, he turns to stare at his friend.
"I meant," He says slowly, "After she came out of the bathroom. Obviously."
Evan makes a face. "Well, you didn't say that-"
"Will you two get out!" Finn complains, tilting her head back against the edge of the bathtub. "I'm naked in here!"
Regulus' eyes flicker over to her as though only noticing that fact now, and Evan lets out a little snort of laughter.
"That's probably the least convincing reason you could have come up with to get Reg out of here-" Evan starts to grin, but he's cut off by both Finn and Regulus yelling.
"Get out!"
Regulus even reaches out to shove at his head, which finally succeeds in causing him to stumble his way towards the door. He puts his hands up as he goes, shaking his head as though they're both being terribly unreasonable.
"Fine, fine-!"
To Finn's relief, he finally stumbles out of the bathroom. That means that it's just Regulus and Finn, alone in the room.
"Sorry about him. He has trouble understanding boundaries-" Regulus begins to say, but then he seems to notice the book in Finn's hands and his face slackens in disbelief. "Oh, you're joking. Are you reading Lockhart's book in the bloody bath?"
"There's nothing wrong with that!" Finn snaps immediately, defensive. "It's relaxing!"
"How on earth is reading whatever that absolute knob has to say about anything relaxing-"
"Because I'm interested in it!"
"Oh, for the love of-" Regulus makes a face, and steps forward. When he's in line with the bath mat, he leans down to be closer to her face. "Listen, if you want to read about the magical world, I will buy you other books. Proper books! As many as you'd like."
"I'd like more Lockhart books." Finn says mulishly.
Regulus closes his eyes, as if she's actually hurting him. He even sighs, as dramatic as ever, and tilts his head back.
"Oh hush." She says, rolling her eyes. "I don't understand why it bothers you so much."
"He's a total wanker-"
"Regulus." Finn groans, tilting her head back against the porcelain and staring up at the ceiling. "Do we really have to have this conversation right now?"
She had thought that Regulus might apologise, or even get flustered at the realisation that he was essentially kneeling at the side of the bath while she was laying in the water naked. But he doesn't — instead, to her surprise, his expression grows coy.
"Why not?" He murmurs, a tiny smirk beginning to curve his lips. "What's wrong with now?"
Finn just stares at him, rendered almost speechless. Despite the heated looks they had been exchanging, they had been treading cautiously around each other ever since Finn had sucked him off in her bedroom, as though trying to recover some of the boundaries that they had utterly trampled over. Regulus had been especially careful, which is perhaps why it seems to come so far out of left field for him.
"I'm naked." She points out in a whisper.
It's as if saying it out loud makes it real. Until that point, Regulus had been very careful to keep his eyes locked on her face. But now, his eyes slide slowly down over her neck, and then over her chest where the mass of bubbles cuts off the rest of her from view.
"Yes," He agrees. "You certainly are. But you saw me naked only yesterday — this is fair, don't you think?"
Finn's response catches in her throat as he reaches into the tub and traces his index finger over the wet skin of her collar bones. He's never touched her like this before, and she stares back at him with wide eyes as his thumb strokes over her throat slowly.
She sinks incrementally lower in the water, using her book to cover her chest. Still watching her closely, Regulus reaches out and tugs the book out of her hands. He barely manages to conceal his look of disdain as he tosses it to the side on the bathroom floor.
"I have a question."
Finn manages to swallow, her mouth uncomfortably dry. "If it's about the airplane-"
"It's not," Regulus interrupts, his voice low as he taps his thumb against her collarbones. "About the airplane."
"Okay." She whispers, biting at her lip. "Ask it then."
It shouldn't be a surprise that he's touching her like this considering the heated looks that he's been sending her all day, and she wonders if he's going to ask her for a repeat of last night. She thinks of the way he had gasped and groaned and held her hair, and thinks that she would agree to do it again without him even having to ask at all.
"Last night," He begins to say, his fingers dipping into the opaque pink water where it stops just over her breast.
"Mm?" Finn swallows again, watching his fingers progress.
"Why didn't you want me to touch you?"
It's not the question she had been expecting, and it takes a moment for it to register with her. When her traitorously distracted mind finally manages to comprehend what he's just asked, she raises her head to blink at him, startled.
"What?"
"You said no," He murmurs, his index finger stroking over her sternum. "Which is fine, of course. I would never push if you didn't want it. But you did want it, didn't you?"
"That," Finn chokes a weak, unconvincing laugh at that. "Is presumptuous of you. Maybe I was just doing you a favour. You were so frustrated, after all."
Regulus huffs a laugh — it's not weak like Finn's. Rather, it's low and rich and feels as though it vibrates in her ears. His hand creeps lower, the pads of his fingers leaving trails of heat in their wake, and Finn doesn't do a damn thing to stop him.
"Do you think that I somehow didn't notice that you were soaking through your knickers?" He asks in a whisper, his eyes wide and guileless as he watches her face carefully. "Just from sucking me off?"
His fingers are coasting over the beginning of the swell of her breast, but he doesn't go any lower than that. Even when Finn begins to squirm a little under his hand, his touch stays infuriatingly innocuous.
"I didn't..." Finn starts, but her thoughts scatter as Regulus strokes his careful fingers over her skin in delicate little patterns. "It's not a big deal. I really didn't expect you to. Touch me, I mean."
"It's not a big deal," Regulus agrees, leaning forward to rest his chin on the porcelain rim of the tub. "But what if I wanted to? Touch you, that is."
Finn stares at him, her eyes going wide and confused.
"Why?" She asks.
His delicate, questing fingers pause. He frowns as though he doesn't understand the question, though he still doesn't remove his hand from her skin.
"You're acting as though it's strange." He says. "We said yesterday that it was just feeling good, remember? But I never got to make you feel good."
A high, nervous laugh escapes her. It seems almost like a joke, except he's looking at her with a perfectly genuine expression on his pretty face. His chin is still resting on the rim of the tub, and his eyes glide down the length of her body — she's covered by the opaque water, but it feels as though he can see her anyway. Her cheeks burn with hot humiliation, but she keeps her expression as neutral as she can. She's always enjoyed kissing — it makes her feel safe and wanted, even more so than sex. Just being allowed to touch him and receive his heated kisses feels like a privilege, though she's too embarrassed to actually attempt to articulate that.
"I like kissing. That feels good." She murmurs without elaborating, her eyes focused on his hand.
"I'm sure you're going to tell me you did plenty of it with that Muggle boy." He says a little sourly.
"Not really." Finn's voice is embarrassingly breathy. "I mean- a little. He was more- he preferred-"
She trails off a little helplessly, but Regulus is still watching her expectantly. She slowly realises that she's actually going to have to finish her sentence.
"I haven't-" She says, and then coughs nervously. "I mean. I don't quite..."
Regulus is watching her face so closely that he seems to be reading her every tiny micro-expression. Whatever he sees has him raising a single eyebrow glacially slowly.
"When we were out that night, you mentioned something about the Muggle boy," He says very slowly, a thoughtful expression beginning to cross his face. "You said that he had been with you."
Oh, god. This is definitely not a topic of conversation that Finn wishes to discuss right now. She cringes lower into the water, but there's no escape from this.
"Yeah." She says, mortified.
Finally, Regulus' hand starts moving again. This time, it travels down the valley between her breasts and begins to stroke over her stomach. Finn's breath catches, and she leans her head back against the tub. The water is beginning to cool, and goosebumps are breaking out across her naked shoulders —she thinks she might be trembling, but it's difficult to tell if it's from the cooling water or the illicitness of Regulus' touch.
"And he never tried to... reciprocate?"
As the tips of his fingers glide over her lower belly, Finn feels as though she can't breathe. The bathwater may be going cold, but Finn herself is burning up. A hot, liquid heat has settled deep in her belly, and her thighs are slippery when she presses them together under the water.
"No." Finn sounds choked, her voice strained. "I told you — he's never wanted me. He just... he just wanted sex, I suppose."
Regulus rests one elbow on the edge of the tub, and leans forward so that his body is almost hanging over her. His fingers are still massaging gently over her lower belly as he dips his head and presses a slow, open-mouthed kiss to her shoulder.
"He really is an arsehole." His voice comes out muffled where his lips are pressed against her wet skin, his mouth travelling from her shoulder to her neck. "And you need new friends."
"Mm." Finn tilts her head back, eyes wide and breath beginning to come faster as he nips lightly at the side of her throat. "It wasn't.. wasn't so bad. I mean, I didn't mind. I was happy to... go along with it."
"You know," Regulus murmurs, his lips dragging over the damp skin under her ear. "I was honestly surprised when you told me that you had shagged that moron."
"Because you didn't like him?"
"Because I really didn't expect you to have had sex before, darling."
That stupid name again. Finn shivers beneath his mouth and his hand, overwhelmed already and he hasn't even touched her properly yet. It's mortifying — surely he must notice the effect he has on her when he uses that awful term of endearment.
"You are the rudest little prick I've ever met." It comes out in a gasp, which softens the sting of the insult. Instead of scathing, she just sounds desperate.
"Mmm." Regulus' mouth curves up into a smile against her throat. "Call me a prick again."
"No." She breathes, squeezing her eyes shut as his hand begins to trace even lower. "I think you'd enjoy it too much."
Regulus presses one last kiss to her throat before pulling his hand back. Finn nearly complains aloud before she blinks her eyes open to look at him; there's a stupid smile playing around his mouth as he watches her reactions.
"Would you like me to stop?"
"No." Finn whispers, trembling now in the cool bathwater. "I don't want you to stop."
Regulus smile grows, and then he reaches out to wrap his fingers around her chin. "And to think I thought you innocent."
Using his grip on her face, he pulls her forward into a quick, hard kiss. But before she gets the chance to start kissing back, he's already pulling away. She just barely manages to swallow back a sound of disappointment.
"You're getting cold," He murmurs. His fingers trace over the shape of her goosebumps, pausing when she shivers beneath his touch.
"You're kneeling in bubble bath water." Finn whispers — it's the only thing she can think of to say, and the floor is still noticeably wet where Evan had slipped.
"I have no idea what that means." He says, lips curving up as he presses one last kiss to her lips.
"It means you've ruined your trousers, stupid." She rolls her eyes, though she's starting to smile too.
Regulus glances down, as though he's only just noticing the wet mess he's kneeling in. He looks faintly bemused, and reaches down to drag his fingers through the soapy water on the floor.
"Ah." He says. "Well, that's alright. I'm hoping to get out of them soon enough, anyways."
And with that, he stands up and gives her one last very slow once-over. Even though she knows that she's not visible, Finn squirms self-consciously. He's never been this forward before, and she swears she feels her pulse thrumming in every extremity.
"Enjoy the rest of your bath." He winks, before strolling out of the room and shutting the door behind him.
For the rest of the evening, Finn feels as though her skin is too tight for her body.
Admittedly, part of her had expected to see Regulus waiting for her in her room when she had gotten out of the bath. It was a slight blow to her confidence that he was nowhere to be seen, but that's fine. It gives her a chance to collect herself. It's silly, but she's actually surprised that his hands hadn't left marks on her. He had been so gentle, but his touch had left such burning trails of heat that it's strange that there's no evidence of it.
Finn gets dressed slowly, watching the door the whole time, but Regulus never shows. So she just pulls on her shorts and a baggy jumper, and then carries on with the rest of her evening.
When she walks passed the living room, she finds Regulus and Evan sprawled out on the living room couch. The television is on; they're watching some old reruns of Coronation Street, and Evan seems to be particularly invested in it. When he hears her coming, Regulus turns his head and watches her enter the room.
His gaze is intense, and Finn feels herself blushing just from feeling his eyes on her. He had left her wet and wanting in the bathroom earlier, and she feels restless and desperate for his attention again. But he had left, and she's too embarrassed to ask him why.
So Finn ignores the weight of his stare to the best of her ability, and doesn't slow down as she heads for the front door.
It's not a particularly nice evening — the sky is gunmetal grey, dark clouds sifting slowly over the hills. The air feels damp with the expectation of rain, but it's still dry as Finn steps out onto the grass in her bare feet. In the cool evening breeze, the lavender and honeysuckle wave softly, releasing sweet bursts of fragrance into the garden.
August is beginning to come to an end though, and her beautiful blooming garden is beginning to wilt. This is always her least favourite time of the year; it's difficult to watch something that you've put so much work into begin wither and decay.
Sighing softly, Finn kneels down by her flowerbeds and reaches out to touch the wilting freesia flowers. They're already browning, and she bites at her lower lip with a frown as she rolls her thumb over a wrinkled petal.
"Just out of the bath and you're already rolling around in the dirt again, hm?"
Finn jolts a little at the sound of Regulus' voice. It's not really a surprise that he had followed her outside; on some level, she thinks she had been expecting him to. She raises her head to find him standing on the porch with his hands in his pockets. His head is tilted slightly to the side as he watches her, his eyes dark and thoughtful.
"It's called gardening, you posh bastard." She grumbles, releasing the flower reluctantly.
"Oh, is that what it's called?" He murmurs, one of his dimples flashing as he steps of the porch. He saunters towards her, slow and casual and so stupidly attractive. He stops just over her shoulder, and reaches out to touch one of her curls.
Her hair is piled up in a mess on the top of her head, still damp and a little frizzy from the heat of her bath. Regulus rolls his thumb over a lock of hair that's escaping from her poor excuse of a bun in a way that's almost identical to the way she had touched the flower petal only moments before.
He's so tall that Finn has to tilt her back to look up at him. She raises her eyebrows at him questioningly, her nerves alight. She can still feel the ghost of his hands on her, and she takes a soft breath as her eyes travel up the length of his body before settling on his face.
Regulus just stares down at her. His eyes have flared open, his pupils overlarge and shadowing the intense grey colour. His breaths are coming slow and even, and for a long moment he says nothing at all. It takes Finn too long to realise that she's essentially on her knees at Regulus' feet. It's not as though she hasn't been in a similar position before — although at least that time, she had been on her knees with him lying beneath her. This position means that she's gazing up at him with wide, startled eyes.
It also explains the way Regulus is looking at her, his own eyes shadowed with the same arousal she had seen earlier. His gaze tracks over her face, and his throat bobs as he swallows thickly. No doubt he's thinking of the same thing she is, of the way he had lain back on the bed as she had taken him into her mouth and jerked him off until he had spilled into her hand.
Clearing his throat, he reaches out his arm and offers her his hand to help her up. Finn takes it after a brief hesitation, allowing him to pull her to her feet. His hand is warm and strong, and he doesn't let her go immediately once she's standing in front of him. It's a little overwhelming, especially considering that this hand had been stroking over her wet naked body barely an hour earlier.
"What are you doing out here?" He asks, his voice low.
"Just checking on the flowers." Finn whispers. She's uncharacteristically shy; sucking Regulus off had been one thing, but having him touch her back is unfamiliar territory for her and she doesn't know how to deal with it. "It's all wilting."
"Ah." He turns his head to look down at her withering flowers, his eyes tracing the browning petals. "Well. That happens."
Finn rolls her eyes, scoffing a little. It's silly to find his reaction disappointing, because of course he doesn't understand. How could he, when she hasn't really explained? Throughout spring and summer, she spends weeks and weeks nurturing her garden until it's a blooming little oasis, the one place in the world where she feels safe and entirely at home. But then, inevitably, autumn creeps in. Her beautiful garden wilts every bloody year, all her loving hard-work browning and rotting until she's left with spindly twigs instead of beautiful greenery. She hates it.
Regulus is watching her face carefully, his eyes tracing over the frown that's creasing her forehead. He must realise that she's not impressed with his answer, because he takes a second look at the wilting garden.
"You're upset that the flowers are dying." He says, turning back to scrutinise her face again.
"Forget about it." Finn sighs. "It's stupid. What are you doing out here, anyway?"
Regulus doesn't answer immediately. He just keeps looking at her, his eyes moving from her face down over her body and then back to her face again. It takes a huge amount of effort not to squirm under his gaze, but Finn manages to stand strong and straight and to simply stare back at him.
"Come back inside." He says quietly. "Myself and Evan are watching the television. I wanted to put on one of those recorded strange play things, but I couldn't figure out how to do it."
He's talking about the films that Al keeps on videotape. Finn had explained to him how movies worked and how they were stored on the video cassette tapes, but she hadn't actually shown him one yet. He had been curious though, and it's not too surprising that he's remembered what she had said about it all — it's also not entirely surprising that he wants to show Evan. She thinks that he likes showing off how well he's adjusting to Muggle world, and he seems to find it exciting to show Evan everything he knows.
Finn sighs, but nods all the same. It's only then that she realises that Regulus is still holding her hand, and she flushes and clears her throat as she hastily lets go.
Regulus casts one last curious look at her flowers before beginning to lead the way back inside. Slowly, Finn follows behind him.
Is he going to touch her again? Is it just a matter of waiting? The lines between them have become so blurred that she's not sure what to expect. At the very least, she decides that she's going to let him make the next move. The thought of making an advance only to confuse things further makes her terribly nervous. No, it's best to keep her expectations low.
See, Dermot? She thinks a little resentfully. I can understand boundaries.
Finn sighs as she follows Regulus into the house, lost in her thoughts and wondering where exactly she stands with him.