Legends....[Tony]

[Tony Dedrian]

"The cat, yeah. The cat is... well, a long story." he sat down and, despite the groans of the hut in the wind and snow, started his story.

A few years ago... seems like an eternity, really, but I was engaged. Delilah Jean Mitz was her name. We were the same age, and both training to be Aurors. We had met in Beauxbatons, years ago, and fell for each other then. A few years passed, and we had plans to move in together. We promised each other housewarming gifts, since I had made enough in France to actually buy a house outright, and we could move in immediately.
However, all of that changed when we were to meet at a cafe. 6:30 pm on December 12th. I was coming from one way, and she was coming from the other. I arrived at the cafe about 15 minutes early, then I heard it. A single gunshot coming from the direction she would come from. Now, I don't know if it was my sense of duty, or that I just knew deep down that something had happened to her, but by the time I had reached her, she was there, dead. Shot in the heart by an unknown gunman, her purse and the engagement ring I bought her, gone. All that was there, was a kitten she had gotten me, and that red coat... I named the cat DJ, and kept her... the house is still in my name, it's in south Wales... but it's sat empty ever since.

He finished his story and looked up at her, rather emotionless. It was obvious that he had blocked the pain, kept it in. She probably could have even guessed that he was still in shock over it, considering he hadn't even shed a single tear, despite his endless sorrow. He gave her a few moments to take that in before setting DJ on the floor, who turned and padded outside through a hole in the wall.

Tony continued to sit there, the pops and crackled only bled over by the sounds of the howling storm outside. The Sphinxicore didn't matter. The storm either. He was in a state where remembering her caused enough pain to where he wondered, as always he wondered, if he would ever see her again in the afterlife. A few times, he thought it would be so easy... but then again, he could never bring himself to do it. He believed that she would want to see him come to her old and gray, a wrinkled old fool who lived his life to his fullest... that's why he's alive.

And to take care of the cat, too, of course.

He finally snapped back to reality and waved his hand, the fire strengthening a bit to warm the place, and stood, grabbing another blanket and sitting next to her, covering her from behind to provide more warmth. "Here... last thing I want is to have you catch a cold here..."

[Shiloh Alexis Mindel]

Shiloh stiffened noticeably when Tony brought the cat closer as he was explaining his story.. His story, wow. Though the cat being within clawing distance disturbed her to no end, she gave all of her attention to the man so obviously deeply drowned in sorrow and pain he didn't know which way was up. Only someone who had gone through something similar could understand and really see what it did to a person. Now things were beginning to make sense slightly, though there was still one tiny question, why was he here? Sitting silently until he had finished his story, Shiloh looked up as he did and saw the tiniest give in his eyes before he remembered to cover it up or his sub conscience reminded his body not to feel it. "Well, that explains the cat I guess. I'm not going to tell you I understand, because I couldn't possibly and you wouldn't believe me if I did. What I am going to say is that is a lot of pain to bear, and pain I do understand. "

She didn't want to, she hadn't told anyone what had happened except the headmaster who had arranged for her lodging in Hogsmead, nor had she told anyone why she hated animals especially cats with a passion. She took a deep breath and started telling a story that happened years ago but still felt like yesterday.

"My father left my mother and I when I was 4 and took my little brother with him. We made our lives as good as we could and it was difficult at times with only her working I'll admit. Fast forward to my fifth year here at Hogwarts when my dad came back. He had changed, no longer was he the fun loving man my mother kept telling me about and I remembered little of, he was I suspect one of Voldemort's death eaters. He was drawn, and plain evil.... All they did was fight the summer before my fifth year. Not long before I was supposed to meet the train back here, I walked in on my mother lying on the floor and my father standing over her with his wand. The next thing I know he turns and sees me.... I don't remember much after that, until I came to probably hours or even days later. I lived on the streets in the muggle world for a while, had planned on taking my beloved cat Nala with me but somehow my father changed her too.... She attached me when I came within feet of her and wouldn't get off until I hit her of with whatever I had in my hand. It just so happens, your cat is the exact splitting image of mine."

She leaned back against the pillows and took a breath to clear the images out of her head, and gave him a wavering smile as he brought her another blanket. Though with him sitting so near, a cold was the least of her worries. She snuggled into the sheets that smelled so much like him and told him. "Me, a cold? In here? With you? I highly doubt that.... So, if you've got this big grand house in the country.... What are you doing... I don't know... In a SHACK?"

[Tony Dedrian]

Tony listened intently, resolving to move closer to her and snuggle up with her as she spoke. So... awful. No one needed to experience the things she experienced... no one deserved the torture. He closed his eyes, pulled her close, and held her as she spoke, running his fingers through her hair. How is it that she was the only one he did this with? He was a whore. Literally. Sometimes he'd get several Galleons for repeat performances. (Encore!) But this girl... this poor girl. He wanted to do more than than sex her up and get her out of the house... he felt a need to hold her for the night, into the next morning, throughout the day, and well into the next night. He sighed a little and kissed her forehead.

"I'm... so sorry." he said quietly, arms around her. She then asked about the big house, and the shack, and he gave a wry smile. "When Delilah was alive... we had gone into the house once... together. We decided on it, and were going to move in later that week, but..."

He closed his eyes. But she was taken away from me. he meant to finish. But he didn't. He wanted to remember that house with her in it. If he went back now...

"If I went back now... that memory would then become just that..." he held her as he had been, and sighed a little. He had nightmares of walking into that house and finding Delilah's body in the home, or a spirit, or anything... call it paranoia, call it superstition, whatever you call it, it was all the same thing to him. He wanted to remember the place with her alive, not with some other person... not unless they loved him and vice versa, as he and Delilah did those years ago.

He explained this to Shiloh, taking breaks to suppress the tears. What would she think of him now? He wasn't sure. he just hope they would sleep in the same bed tonight...and wake up together.

[Shiloh Alexis Mindel]

Shiloh felt a difference in Tony, almost a conflict warring between to opposing sides and wondered if she had caused it. Somehow she knew that it wasn't every day he spoke of his beloved and especially not to another woman. She was conflicted in what to feel, an attraction was definitely there physically but she wasn't the type of girl to go running around saying all-out lust was anything more, and then there was more... She felt....honored.. that he would let her in on that part of his past. And she knew she should be running, as fast and as far as she could. So then why wasn't she? Why was she still sitting there?

Even more troubling, why did she find herself turning to face Tony and find herself pulling him close in a comforting hug as she saw and felt the tortured anguish he was reliving by telling her of his past, his house, his love. She reasoned it was the least she could do since he'd offered her the same comfort. She told him that she understood, as much as she could. "The memory, I understand. Once I left my mother's house, I have never been back. I don't want to remember her there, lifeless. I'm sorry... I shouldn't have asked. It's none of my business"

Guilt washed over her as he fought against feeling, and knew how draining....how terrible that feeling was. She didn't feel any different toward him because of his display of human emotions.... She was still majorly attracted in a bad way and every minute she stayed within looking distance it grew more uncomfortable. She ground her teeth together to try to suppress the nagging pull while she offered what little she could to the grieving man. She only hoped she wasn't getting more than she bargained for when she offered.

Shiloh felt the pull tugging at her more insistently and growled as she bent forward to offer him a heated kiss. Whether he refused her or not, the ball was now in his court.

[Tony Dedrian]

Tony looked over to her as she pulled him close into a hug, returning his hug, and smiled, wrapping his arms around her as well. He heard her speak of why she never returned to her home.. she understood. She understood him... and that was an automatic win in her favor. He touched her face, and then suddenly was in for the shock of his life when she pulled him close to kiss. He melted when their lips touched, and all cares and worries seemed to melt with him. He pulled her close, pulling the blanket over both of them and he would invite her to lay with him as he would deepen the kiss, feeling the passion grow. This was.. different... he felt not just the normal lust from knowing that she was damn hot, and in his bed.. but he felt a sense of understanding... a mutual... well, not love, he couldn't see that, but there was a hell of a lot of heart in that kiss...
He looked her in the eyes after another few moments of passionate kissing, and ran his fingers down the side of her face, smiling.
"You're... amazing." he whispered, locking eyes with her, his blue eyes studying hers. He kissed her again, gently at first, then deeper, pulling her close and feeling the heat between them. He hadn't felt this way in... in so long... this closeness, this feeling was inviting, special... deep. He treasured this, he wanted this. He hoped she felt the same way.

[Shiloh Alexis Mindel]

Shiloh gasped at the first touch of their lips, it felt like a charge of some sort had crossed into her from him. It felt like everything was in overdrive, all her senses were heightened. She fell with him when he deepened the kiss, felt the electric attraction build even more... But there was something else there, she just couldn't pinpoint it.. Or she didn't want to because she was afraid of what she'd find if she looked. This was more than just a simple roll in the hay, their previous conversation sealed that fate, but she didn't want more... She wanted Tony for his attentions and little else, though the almost instant 'understanding' between them because of their pasts was something.....something that warned her...yet pulled her closer at the same instant.

The instant their lips touched the second time, she knew.. She was in trouble.. It wasn't love, per say, but she would bet that this definitely wasn't a one night thing. The thrill of the chase, or being chased ran through her, though she couldn't understand why... She liked the physical part, not the prissy 'here I am, you can't get me' chase....game... But somehow, this just felt....right.. in this instant of time they were both there, together, and alone.. The only ones in the world.. Through her troubled thoughts she heard Tony say she was amazing.... "Amazing? No. I'm not amazing... in the way I take it you mean.. but I can show you amazing." she giggled as she tried to just focus on the here and now.. Nothing else.. No weird vibes..

She snuggled as close to him as she could get and added her own spark to the kiss and began to play the game she loved..

*******************Fade Out********************

[Tony Dedrian]

****************Fade In*******************

The Hell drives this woman?!

Tony was exhausted. What he would have given to have a clock just to see how long it had been. He had long forgotten about the monster... The snowstorm. Everything else? Gone. He hadn't had such an... energetic session before. It blew his mind... He glanced over at her sleeping form, her head rested on his shoulder while she snuggled close to him for warmth.

He closed his eyes. The pain was returning in his leg.

He held his hand out and closed his eyes, summoning the flask of pain potion to him. He tried maneuvering himself to where he could bring the flask up to his lips. He brought it up to his lips and opened his mouth, before the flask tilted a little too far.

Coughing and sputtering, Tony realized that he had probably ingested a little too much of this potion.


Awcrap.

After a moment of panic, wondering if this would put him in a month's sleep like a patient he brought to St. Mungo's once... but he had no more time to think because he had already dropped back on the pillow, snoring as his flask hit the floor with a hollow thunk.

[Shiloh Alexis Mindel]

Shiloh heard the flask hit the floor and woke with a start. She'd been having a nightmare and was disoriented as she opened her eyes. Where was she? The thought crossed through her mind as she saw a shape next to her on the bed in the dark room, the fire having burned to coals, and d**n near jumped out of her skin. Then recognition hit her and she remembered where she was and why she was there... Or why she had been there, not why she still was considering both of their preferences to not hang around after the act... But... Oh wow, the act... She made a mental note that she owed Tony at least four hundred Galleons for the night before.

Shiloh stretched and played her hands across Tony's taught chest and sighed.. They'd worn each other out.. Literally.. It wasn't until her mind was fully focused on the here and now that she realized his breathing was quite a bit too shallow to be just sleeping, she snapped her fingers harshly to light the small hut. In the now glaring light, she leaned over Tony's inert body and grabbed the flask from where it had landed. Opening it and smelling the contents let her know that it was a very high powered medication for treating pain and suddenly felt guilt over all the 'exercises' they'd put his newly healing leg through and the pain she figured that would cause.

She placed the flask back on the table, and shook Tony roughly trying to rouse him from his drugged stupor, raising her voice to a pitch she thought he might be able to hear. "Tony?! Tony!! Wake up.. Come on, Open your eyes!! You dumba** you took too much of this, don't you know what that could do?!!!" She felt a rush of panic as her attempts seemed to have next to no effect on the slumbering form.

So she ran to the counter, grabbed the biggest bowl she could find and pried open the door to a sheet of white. She scooped the bowl through the snow and rushed back to the bed and the sprawled Tony.. She gritted her teeth against the chill of the room and hoped what she did next to the very naked man would have at the least some effect to show her that he wasn't dead or on his way there. Shiloh lifted the bowl over the bed, and dumped the icy contents directly on the sleeping form. Then waited for the wrath that she figured would follow.

[Tony Dedrian]

The amount of pain Tony was ever in and ever will be in because of this wound will never amount to the fact that she just dumped... no threw... no, chucked a gallon of snow right on his god[censored] [censored].

He awakened with a snap, the medicine still effecting him, and let out a low squeak as the ice and snow landed on his [censored].

"[CENSORED] IN THE [CENSORED] THAT [CENSORED]ING HURT!! WHAT WERE YOU [CENSORED]ING THINKING, DUMPING SNOW ON MY [CENSORED]!? MOTHER[CENSORED]ING GOD[CENSORED] SON OF A [CENSORED]!!"

Now, this was not normally how he spoke.

He rolled out of the bed, curled up on the floor, the medicine conflicting with the sudden numbness in his [censored]. Ever been to a Muggle dentist and had your gums numbed? That sudden pressure, then the tingle where you KNOW you have a lower jaw, can touch it with your hand, but eerily realize that it feels like it's just dangling there off of you like an accessory?

That is how Tony's [censored] feels.

So, albeit the prior cursing and flailing he did, he was awake, but only just.

"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry that was uncalled for... just.. help me back.. into the bed..." he then dropped back off to sleep, despite the obvious fact that his [censored] was frozen beyond belief.


--------------------------------------

Disclaimer: I censored this for humor. XD

[Shiloh Alexis Mindel]

Shiloh giggled slightly as Tony came out of his drugged sleep with a bang. Him cursing like a sailor didn't faze her in the least, in fact she thought it was amusing. Then when he apologized, she didn't believe him in the least. She shrugged it off and half drug, half levitated his sleeping form back onto the bed.

She knew she ought to try to get his sorry rear out of bed, or at the least conscious again. Yet, ice had only broken the strong hold the drugs had on him for a few tense minutes. She sighed with a heavy heart, and decided to give it one more half baked attempt at waking him up before she tried to brave the quieting storm back to her quarters.. And a.....normal...well... normal for her life.

"Tony!!! Get your lazy a*s up!!" she half screamed, half pleaded with the snoring figure in the bed. When that didn't work, she laid a slap across his bare hind end and screamed at him again. She shrugged and turned away when that didn't seem to work and began to find her clothes then begin the process of getting them back on. She knew she needed to leave....Needed to possibly get out of England for a while.. Something just didn't feel right, one minute he said one thing, and the next was acting the complete opposite.

Fully dressed except for her robes, she walked toward the door, glancing back once to make sure he was at least breathing... And began to pry open the door that was covered by snow up to the top. With a grim expression she began to dig the snow away to make her way through the drift and out into the still air still laced with falling flakes.

[Tony Dedrian]

He heard her scream at him, and his eyes snapped open again. He groaned, but she probably couldn't hear it. While she was getting dressed, he tried to pull himself up, but was too weak at the moment. Stupid potion...

He took another second, and pulled himself up, looking over slightly as he saw her digging her way out. Whaaaat? He couldn't understand... then he realized he had broken his golden rule due to the snow outside.

Never let clients stay the night.

With her realizing this, she was panicking. Ah. Great... she was like him, slightly... unnerved with relationships. But then again, it was for a different reason than initially thought. Why...?
He sat up, and let out a low voice.

"...You don't... have to go..." he said, slightly recovering. Finally, somehow, the medicine had leveled itself out, and he was conscious again. He sat there, shaking a little from the cold, and gazed at her. "It's... cold... and dangerous out there. Please, just stay here..."

He wasn't breaking rules. He wasn't. He wanted her to remain a return client, if possible (she was better than that good), and would like for her to survive.
That's all. Yep. All of it.

NO, NO IT ISN'T.

Was he developing feelings for her? Was he failing his resolve in remaining a single, skirt chaser the rest of his life? What was a man to do? What could he even begin to do?

First. Keep her in the damned hut.

He tried to stand, and half walked, half fell over to the door, putting a hand on her shoulder, trying to get her to stop and come back.

"Don't be afraid... it's dangerous out there."

[Shiloh Alexis Mindel]

Shiloh sighed and swiped angrily at a tear that for some reason had worked it's way free. She refused to show any weak emotion to anyone, especially someone who... like her did not want the complication.. Or the stress that came with having a 'relationship'..any type of relationship.... So why had she let herself come to feel something for the man who had openly admitted he hadn't wanted anything but a roll in the hay, or to make some extra spending money.

She spun on her heal with a sneer plastered on her lips. "Dangerous.... Out there??! That's the least of my worries, I can handle a little snow. It's more dangerous in here.. We both know you don't want anything more, so why are you allowing ME to stay here after..? Why did you tell me all that you did?" The pitch of her voice had raised to the point of knocking some of the snow loose from the roof to slide down into the hole she'd begun to dig through the drift. A growl escaped her lips as she was thwarted in gaining her leave again.

"We agreed to casual, no strings...Right?! SO why are you worried about me? Or is it you want someone to be here so you don't drug yourself to death?" She asked again heatedly. A sigh escaped as she forced her temper to calm. "Ok, I'm sorry.. It's just.. You're the first..." She got out before another tear threatened and she trailed off so it wouldn't break free.

Turning to the fire, she saw it had burned down so she waved her wand to relight it and warm the one room hut, noticing Tony was slightly shivering. She turned to where he couldn't see her, the threatening tear escaped and she swiped at it out of self preservation.

She didn't want this.. She didn't..
He father killed her mother in cold blood after leaving them soon after her brother was born.. She didn't believe in lo..... no.. she couldn't even think it.. wouldn't let herself.

"We both know I should go.." She said almost to quietly to be heard over the sudden burst of wind that blew through the door and started her mission to clear the door way over.

[Tony Dedrian]

Tony sat and saw her panic. Sheer panic. the same he would feel if he was feeling coherent. He felt bad for her, of course. But he also didn't want her to go out and get frostbite. He closed his eyes for a second, and let out a low sigh. Here he was, torn, feeling.. horrible, and now she was screaming at him because he offered to let her have a warm place to sleep.

Whaaaaat?

He sat there, confused, drowsy, and hurting. "Why shouldn't I worry about you? I mean, really. Come on. It's got to be negative 50 degrees out there! What possesses you to think that just because we enjoy some no strings attached sex that I wouldn't care if you were hurt? What kind of person would I be?!"

He was slightly upset because he realized that she was throwing a... tantrum. But he couldn't stay upset. The clock struck 4am, and Tony watched her calm down and say that they both knew that she should go.

"No. No, Shiloh, you don't NEED to go."

He covered himself to kill the shivering, which had become intense because of how cold it had become. He shuddered miserably, not sure what he was most upset about. That she was the best he ever had and she was leaving? Or that he actually started developing feelings of sorts for her?

[Shiloh Alexis Mindel]

Shiloh stopped her onslaught of the impacted snow that continued to fall off of the roof when she'd cleared the least amount away, turned to Tony and let her frustrations and anger out on the one whom she thought would understand.

"We both know I need to leave, and now. I have never told anyone that story, and will never tell anyone else. I don't have any idea why I felt compelled to tell you....But I did, and that changed things. You can't tell me you've ever told any one else what you told me... Or the fact that I know you've never let any woman stay in your bed, no matter the conditions on the exterior. Something changed, or is threatening to... And neither one of us needs complications right now. Don't get me wrong... The sex was amazing.. And no, I didn't say you were throwing me out.. But.... I can handle a little cold. " She said rather dismissively on a groan brought on by a headache.

In fact, she wasn't truly panicking, but was pissed... More at herself for allowing the feel of things to change. Neither was she throwing a fit.. She was wanting out.. Confused... Didn't know how she felt, or how she should feel.... Though she suspected a great deal about how he felt.... And she figured he'd feel the same, once the 'newness' wore off.. And to be honest, she didn't want to be around when it finally did.. She couldn't understand why, but she knew if this continued it would be different, and one or both would be hurt again.

And she knew if she could help it, Tony would not go through what he'd had to go through in his past because of her. She couldn't let him, so she knew that she had to leave... Call it quits... She didn't know why she hadn't done it before but she used her wand to while away the snow clearing a path through the drift... Finally. She thought.. She could get out of there.

"Okay Tony I'll indulge you... Why don't I NEED to leave? Other than be your nurse.."

[Tony Dedrian]

Tony looked at her, seeing her like a child trying to escape from a haunted house. He felt horrible for her. He desperately wanted and needed her to stay... but he didn't know how to admit it. Feelings? Maybe. He wasn't sure at all how to even begin to convey this to her... He probably wouldn't. Not for a while... he would chase her away with that revelation.

"Ok, maybe I like you a bit. Sure. But There was never a rule that said not to befriend your playmate. Was there?"

He couldn't bear to see her leave and wander out into the cold darkness. The hut was at least a half of a mile's hike from the castle, and with the Sphinxicore loose... he couldn't just let her go into the night. Nope.

"Listen, with that thing out there, and the cold, and the fact that I wouldn't be able to walk you back until tomorrow, please stay. I'll sleep on the floor or in a chair. Just don't go out there when that thing is roaming around this hut!"

Did she forget their encounter earlier that night? Did she forget what this thing did to him? He couldn't just let her go out, feelings or no. It was against his psyche, his duty... and the last time he let anyone go anywhere he knew was potentially dangerous, she died...

He slowly stood, shutting the door to let it warm up, and looked at her. "Please. At least grant me this night to help you. we can talk about whatever boundaries were crossed tomorrow."

He made his way back to the bed and sighed, sitting down on it, rubbing his outer thigh. Though healed over, his thigh ached... he hated this. He felt so old and useless, all over this injury... Why it didn't just outright kill him, he couldn't think of, but he was... definitely lucky to be alive.

He looked back up to Shiloh and gave a small, reassuring smile. Whatever bridge led into any possible future they could have... well, that was a bridge better left alone for now.