Reconnecting With Each Other

[KEVIN ENTWHISTLE]

After his conversation with Kenji, Kevin tried to find some ways to get closer to JADE WATSON . It was important to him. He felt like they maybe as close as their friends believed, not as close as they wished too. He didn't want them to end up feeling like they were with each other for a lack of a better option. Somehow, he felt like Jade might still think that, for he knew she was stilla bit touchy about Delilah. Maybe the fact she started to like women more helped, but maybe not. After all, Delilah never cared for Kevin as more than a friend, he was the one who had a crush on her and that bothered Jade. Or maybe she wanted to be like Delilah? Once again, Kevin had a hard time understanding women. He never tried to be like Kenji and was never jealous of him, not even when he briefly dated Delilah.

His first attempt was flowers. There was a shop selling a few near the Magical Menagerie where he worked and he bought some as he left and saw the employee closing shop. He didn't know how much Jade would like it as, truth be told, he had no idea what to pick and was pretty she gave him the flowers that she wouldn't be able to sell the next day, but that was a start. He tried to figure out what was Jade's favourite food but it was something that turned out a lot harder to discover without asking directly. Plus the others always ended up thinking of his lactose intolerance, as it could be pretty bad at times.

So now he was up to the next step. Well, the last one so far, because he wasn't quite sure what to do next. He thought camping was a good idea. It was something that he really liked, and he knew she enjoyed it as well. It would be like sharing something of him and he hoped that would help them connect. Or reconnect? He wasn't sure. He took the material from his father. All muggle. It was how he always did it, he explained, to justify. He didn't know how Jade was used to camp, if she did things the muggle or wizard way. If so, the ten will be a lot smaller, he supposed. But it was enough.

The plan was to hike a little to the camping site, set the tent, then maybe they would be able to enjoy the nature a bit longer before making a fire, eating and watching the stars later tonight. Kevin really planned it the way his family planned their camping trips. "You good?" he asked Jade, hoping she wasn't too heavily packed and could handle it. He was the one who made sure it was done that way after all, he didn't want to end up regretting it right at the start.

[JADE WATSON]

Jade did not know the reasons behind Kevin’s sudden sweet gestures. Was it Kenji who had spoken to him or the other way around? Despite that, she still appreciated him being more affectionate towards her. She always wondered and doubted the fact that he truly loved her, even when they first date. She resented Delilah a little and feared for a moment he might still crush on her and date her because she was inaccessible but she tried to chase the thoughts away. It’s not like she had a lot of people to talk to about it and while she was getting to know Jeong better, thanks to Kenji for inviting her over a few times, she still tried not to talk to the girl too much about her personal problems in fear that she might find her boring and only interested into love which was far from the truth.

She missed traveling and discovering the world sometimes. Sure, her job as a translator was a great one but she wanted to do things on her own too and when Kevin invited her to a camping trip, she agreed from lacking time spent in the woods and nature but also lacking time along with her boyfriend.

She nodded, smiling at him as he questioned her. “Of course, I’m used to traveling around like that.” Sure, some of the material they brought were magical but not a lot of these since they were a lot of time amongst muggles. “I’ve never been there, it’s nice.” She commented as she kept walking.

[KEVIN ENTWHISTLE]

Kevin was not the cuddly type. He wouldn't push Jade if she wanted to snuggle, but he rarely initiated it. He was also not the type to express his feelings much, or to compliment a lot. And he never knew what to buy as a gift, to anyone. He still tried to make an effort, hoping it felt less weird for her than it did for him. He didn't want Jade to feel like they started their relationship already sounding like a couple married for decades. The type whose only conversation was about work, the weather or things they saw happening that day. It already felt like it was the case at times. Kevin didn't want to sound boring to her. He always thought he was just a plain, ordinary boy. Then lots of less than ordinary things happened to him. If that was what interested her though, she would see now that he was pretty normal. And if she chose to think boring instead, then it would be it for their relationship. He dreaded the thought she might want to leave England, and him while at it, to go back to travelling the world. He didn't want her job to offer her that opportunity either. Then felt bad for being so selfish.

The only way to not be boring was to prove that he could be interesting too. To give her a reason to stay. It was why he picked the euipment from his parents so they could go camping. It was at the same spot they would in family. They wouldn't go at a big campground, they preferred it that way. That brought you that much closer, and his family needed it. His couple needed it too. He should have thought about it sooner. "So you did backpack travelling? I would have thought... I don't know. Do all wizards do it like that too?" He somehow felt like it would have been the 'muggle' way, and they had theirs. But Kevin knew of no other, so he did it like this.

"I always go there with my family," he said. Surely he mentioned it, when saying he knew a great spot he wanted to show her. He felt a pang of guilt, remembering how he went there every summer, even the two he had since graduating. "Sorry if I didn't bring you before. The last time, it was the first time my father brought his wife and daughter, and the time before they were too busy being angry at me for letting Merry and myself stay at the school." His mother's second husband came before without incident. Kevin was young when his parents divorced. In his mind, it went badly, but mostly because he had a rough start with his mother's new lover. Now that they were both married, things were better. They understood their relationship was over and moved on. Still, he didn't think it was the best moment to introduce Jade. No, to be fair, he didn't think about doing that. He should have, hence the guilt. He would have to fix it next time.

[JADE WATSON]

Jade didn’t see Kevin as someone boring but she was willing to admit that their relationship didn’t start on the right basis. She had to literally scream at his face that she loved him for him to get that and even his friends pointed it out to him often. She just wished they could have more time like this, together and connecting. They needed it otherwise she didn’t know what else she could do to be with him. She didn’t want to think of the possibility of their relationship fading away and ending because they turned out they had nothing in common. Her feelings for Kevin were there, but they were just confusing her at the time being hence the little time they were able to be alone together.

She liked the idea of going camping with him though, they would get to be together in the woods and enjoy a few times off away from their stressful life. She loved her job, that was certain but she also loved spending time with him and was already in a good mood as they were heading towards the spot Kevin told her about. “No they don’t, I just happen to have a weird family but we went to places where there were little wizards too so my father wanted us to look as normal as possible so we could blend in even if we didn’t with our skin tone or hair color.” She said to Kevin with a smile.

“I understand, I wouldn’t have wanted to intrude.” She assured him. Besides, if she was to get presented to his family, she would rather have it in good conditions. She was aware that hers would like Kevin and might want to test him on a few things like his will to travel but she preferred not to tell him about that yet. It would be in due time and she was okay staying in England for a while only to travel on occasions. It was nice to have some sort of stability.

[KEVIN ENTWHISTLE]

In reality, Kevin could see that the two of them had enough in common to get along well. They were friends before for that reason. And it might have taken time on his part, but he grew genuine feelings for her. He could still recall that last year at school, the amount of times he had been chosen to have the class testing their spells on by those horrible professors chosen for their views on muggles and muggle-borns. The other professors were helpful of course, but he still often spent his night at the infirmary. And he would have Jade there. Delilah sometimes, maybe, but he kind of wanted her to watch over his little sister more. Merry was so intimiated by everything magical, she didn't need to deal with more than what she had to go through already.

They didn't seem t have that connection as much anymore. Of course, Kevin had no desire to end up at the hospital to relive it. It was almost as if what they had in common wasn't enough anymore. He had to try something. And Jade was up with it. Not that it surprised him, Kevin considered her more adventurous than he was.

She explained how her family knew of the muggle ways of camping. He had to admit he didn't have one of those wizard tents, that was as big as a house inside. It was a regular, muggle one. They'd be closer together in it. But it was kind of the point. He nodded, as he understood what she meant. "It is useful to know how to blend in," he admitted. He was a tad intimidated to ask where she had camped before, only because it would no doubt sound a lot more exotic and interesting than some wooded area in the south of England. "Well, if you know the tools well, maybe you can help with setting up the campment?" He still felt it was up to him to do most of it but it could be useful to have an extra pair of hands. She probably even know how to build a fire camp, he assumed.

"I wouldn't say that," he argued about her claiming she would have intruded. There wasn't too much strength in it though. It wasn't that, but he was so used for it to be a family thing that he kept it that way, not thinking about bringing her. But it would be the fastest way to introduce her to everyone in his family, as both hsi father and mother would be there, despite them being divorced. He stopped and look at Jade in the eyes. "Next time, for sure," he promised. If he was living with her, it felt unfair to hide her from his family. Only Merry really knew about her.

[JADE WATSON]

Jade was glad that Kevin was making efforts to reconnect with her. She was seeing it and she was willing to make efforts on her own too. He was the one who made the first steps and she was willing to follow the lead for now. Camping in nature, without being in the way of their friends would give them some peace together as well as it would remind her of some memories of her childhood too. Her life was quite unusual before studying at Hogwarts, she was aware of it and she didn’t want to irritate or annoy Kevin with her stories. She would tell him only when he wanted to hear them. Though, there were times when she would tell him a few anecdotes about how she spent some time in different places of the world.

“Of course I was going to help. I can’t just let you do all the work, it’s a good idea you had.” She encouraged him. She didn’t want him to think that he was doing all of this in vain. They were two in this and she thought that they needed to do it as a team and take decisions together. She wanted to show him that and she hoped that he understood it too.

She smiled and nodded when he assured her that next time she would get to meet his family. She didn’t know if she had to thank Kenji for this but she was aware that Kevin was talking a lot to his friend. She had to take a mental note of it for when they would come back.

[KEVIN ENTWHISTLE]

Kevin wasn't jealous of his friends per se, but he was sometimes envious. Kenji never seemed to second-guess himself. He didn't stop to think whether he should or not buy a drink for Jeong and him after his training and see if she could share it with him at her work. Kevin would never dare to do something like that. He was too passive. Sometimes, he felt like most steps they took as a couple was forced upon them by their friends who just assumed that was where they were at. It wasn't like Jade didn't know he was like that but Kevin knew he needed to feel proactive, lest the other examples around her enticed her to break things off with him.

He smiled, glad she approved of his idea. "So your family slept in tents too? Muggle ones, or wizards?" Kevin had, truth be told, never tried those wizard tents, but he heard the space in there was quite large, much larger than what it should be while looking at it from the outside. He didn't know how good she was at setting up camp. He didn't mean ill but he kept looking towards her every now and then to make sure she was not struggling. He supposed they could have used spells to fix it. There didn't seem to be anyone else around. But Kevin never really bothered to learn such spells, if there were any specific ones. He always did it that way.

She said nothing after he promised to take her next time he would do it with his family. Was it a good thing? Maybe he shouldn't wait for that and just introduce her already. "I'm sure they'll love you. Especially Spence. I bet he'll keep drilling you with questions about your work and your travels." Spencer was interested in traveling the world as a journalist, he could see him asking questions. As long as he didn't end up teasing his little brother too much for bringing his girlfriend. The thought had yet crossed his mind that he may appear more interesting to her. But he did feel like he was talking this much only because he was a little uncomfortable in being too quiet here, as though he needed to keep talking to make sure she didn't lose her interest in this date.

[JADE WATSON]

Jade was truly happy that they went to this trip together as it meant that they would truly be alone and together at the same time. She didn't mind sharing the house with Kevin's friends but she felt like they lacked of intimacy at times when she wanted to be with him and sometimes, she wondered either or not he wanted the same thing with her or if she was going too fast. It was strange at some points to be the one making the steps but she was willing to make the effort if it meant that they would get to bond together.

"We slept in both, but by the time we aged we opted for the magical ones as it proved to be handier. We just had to be careful depending on the areas that we were staying at."There were placeshere people were willing to visit your home and some of those places weren't as advanced with techology and magic so they had to make sure that they fit the mold wherever they decided to travel to. "It really depended on the places we had to go to after all." She said with a smile. She was glad that he was interested in her old lifestyle and was willing to tell him more about that part of her life if he wanted to hear it. She was focusing on the camp, helping Kevin as much as she knew. Not bothered by the fact he might be watching over her.

"I am glad, I should probably consider showing you to my family as well." She was beyond happy that he was finally letting her into his world and presenting her to his family was going to be great. She mostly tried to contain herself though, not wanting too noisy around him hence he was much calmer. It was a bit hard to figure out how exactly she should act around him without trhying to put too much pressure on his shoulders.