Honey, you're home! | LUNA

[neville frank longbottom]

The apartment was spotless when he left that morning. He had spent the night before cleaning meticulously, as he always did on Monday nights. Neville was a creature of habit, and the habits he held tightly to were borne of his late grandmother. It wasn't his fault that she was a stickler for clean when he was growing up, and so now he was too. He had dusted every surface, watered every (and to be sure, there were loads) plant, cleaned every dish and done all his laundry. That was why he was a little shocked when he came home and things were out of place.

Then he realized. It was Tuesday the seventeenth; Luna was home. Dropping his briefcase he stepped further into the flat they shared (or more the flat he lived in while she was away and she visited when she was home) and grinned. "Luna?" He called out, hoping she'd not run off to make her visits before he'd gotten in.

[luna lark lovegood]

Where had she been this time, Luna could hardly remember, the small animal in the cage was making a terrible noise and she really should have taken him to the small warehouse she had been using to help with classifications, the government had let her have it, but she was far too excited to be home, to see Neville. ”No worries you’ll like the flat.” She said as she entered into the spotless flat. Neville always kept things so tidy. She loved him for it. At least it was one of the reasons. Dropping her bag and kicking off her covered boots by the door she headed to the small room they had reserved for when this sort of thing happened. It was not unusual for Luna to bring home specimens and this one had gotten her across the arm the large gash has started to heal and she set the cage in the room and closed the door listening as the thing tear around behind the door.

She pulled off her clothing on the way to the shower. It felt nice to stand under decent water pressure the dirt and grime form Brazil! Yes that was where she had been, the dirt from Brazil washed off and she was pulling on one of Nevilles shirts. She found the smell of him made her miss him less, he would be home soon. Just as she pulled on a pair of short she heard him call for her. ”In here!” But by the time she had said it she was headed out into the hallway smiling as she saw him. ”Hello Neville.” She said a bit dreamily walking up to him. ”How was work?”

[neville frank longbottom]

Neville hadn't heard the shower, which meant that she was likely out by the time he'd come in, but now he was hearing a rather odd scratching sound. He wondered vaguely what she had brought home, but wasn't going to ask right away, because he hadn't seen her in far too long to start an argument right away. "Work was alright," He answered, embracing her. He hated when she wore his shirts; he didn't want to smell himself when he hugged her for the first time since she returned from Brazil; he wanted to smell her. "I think the better question is, how was work for you?"

[luna lark lovegood]

”Oh, you know.” She managed her face buried into his shoulder before she could say much else. Pulling back she showed off the rapidly healing wound. It looked like a cat scratch now and she would have to throw out the shirt that was now covered in blood, it had been much worse than she would ever let on, luckily James was quick with a healing spell. ’James fell off the mountain.” She said nonchalantly, ”He’s fine, he landed on a tree.” It had been freighting at the time but he was fine and so it was now a joke they would tell. Luna carefully twisted her fingers into his. ”Dinner?” She wasn’t sure what they had, or what she would make she figured if she just threw something together. Or there was always take out.

[neville frank longbottom]

Neville knew better than to get overly and outwardly worried about her; she would just brush him off and there would just end up being more frustration. Vaguely, he wondered whwy he thought that it was sensible to remain in a relationship when he spent most of his time trying not to be frustrated. Ignoring the notion, because being with Luna was comfortable, he lightly ran his fingers over the scratch, watching as it continued to heal before their eyes. "Well I'm glad you're both okay," He said slowly, then pulled back, "Dinner would be good. Did you want to go out, or make something?" Grocery day was Sunday, so he'd stocked the fridge recently enough that she should have had everything she needed to make whatever she wanted.

[luna lark lovegood]

”He is really quite an idiot.” She said with a small huff, she hated to say anything extremely unkind about someone but James called for it sometimes. If he wasn’t so dimwitted he might have been interesting enough to pose a threat to Neville, but Luna was relatively stary-eyed still and thus even if he were interesting he wouldn’t be a threat. Sometimes she wondered how they had gotten here, then she stopped because some of the creatures that his in shadows preyed upon insecurity. ”I really want and Endive salad, I’ve been craving one since I left.” It wasn’t that they did not eat well. ”With walnuts and blue cheese.” She had thought about it for a long time. Olive Oil and balsamic vinegar were usually in the cabinet. Her hand remained in his as she walked to the kitchen tugging him along, she liked the physical contact.

[neville frank longbottom]

She ate the strangest things. When Luna wasn't around, Neville was very meat and potatoes. Luckily he had taken her homecoming into account when he had gone shopping on Sunday, and so her endives, blue cheese, and walnuts were ready for her consumption. He followed dutifully along, leaning against the stove as he watched her 'cook'. "So did you find anything interesting?" He asked, wanting to know more about her trip. He was confused as to why things seemed so awkward, but he was determined to ignore it, since she probably didn't notice it at all - part of Luna's charm.

[luna lark lovegood]

”What would you like?” She asked bent into the fridge getting the endives and blue cheese, he never really ate what she ate. Generally she prepaired a meal they both liked but she had wanted this salad the moment she set foot in Brazil and she was going to have it. Then they could go back to their usual meals. ”Oh, well the room.” She said indicating the room she, or they rather had designated for when she had to bring specimens home. ”It ‘s kind of like an Umgubular Slashkilter, but not quite.” Then as she fetched the blue cheese from the back of the fridge. ”They have moon frogs, not quite like the ones from the moon they have adapted to oxygen they are really quite lovely.”

[neville frank longbottom]

He had no idea what she was talking about. Surely that wasn't good, that most of the time he had no idea what she was talking about? Neville nodded anyways. "So the one in the room, is that what scratched you, then?" He asked, not out of obligation but out of curiosity. After all, he'd had his fair share of gashes and whatnot, he didn't care for another if he could avoid it. Meanwhile, he took the space that she had left in front of the fridge, not sure yet what he wanted; he had been intending to go out to dinner with Ron and Harry, having completely forgotten that she was returning that afternoon.

[luna lark lovegood]

”Him or his friend.” She shrugged lackadaisically as she pulled bowl from the cupboard. ”He’s been tranquilized he’ll be quiet until I can get that new guy to come over and take him Rolf or something.” he wasn’t actually new but new to her and thus the nickname. Looking at her endives she set them down, she had tried to ignore it but something felt off and so she closed the door of the fridge putting herself between Neville and she smiled. ”Hi.” She leaned forward and kissed him properly, it had been too long she had missed him and she completely forgot to show him that she did miss him.

[neville frank longbottom]

Neville kissed her back, his hand finding her still-wet-from-the-shower hair as he did. He wasn't confident in his kissing prior to Luna, and he had a feeling if they ever broke up he wouldn't be confident in it afterwards, but now, with her, it was all so comfortable, so easy. He didn't have to face the awkwardness of someone new, show the weakness he was so desperate to get rid of, or even pretend to be happy all the time, which he most definitely wasn't. No, with Luna everything was just easy, and that included kissing her.

[luna lark lovegood]

Things were still a bit off and Luna shrugged it away leaning back and returning to her salad. ”You had plans.” She said with a soft sigh. ”Go keep your plans yeah?” It would be rude if he didn’t and she hated the idea of Neville appearing anything that he wasn’t. She wanted to sleep anyway, this trip had really taken it out of her and she would have liked the time to sleep. Sleep was good and she knew that if she were going to be of any use tomorrow she really should sleep. She bit into the lettuce and sighed, this endive was almost too bitter.

[neville frank longbottom]

"It's just dinner with Harry and Ron - they'd understand," He said quickly. Neville hated how she did that - mostly because it made it impossible for him to be a good boyfriend. He wasn't sure how she constantly read his mind, but she did, and it was terribly irritating. She either had amazing intuition or she was casting spells with her lips - either seemed possible, with Luna. She was brilliant, after all. "I'm not leaving you here alone; I'd much rather be with you." He assured. That much was true, even if he had absolutely no idea what it was that he wanted to eat.

[luna lark lovegood]

”Yes I guess they would.” They probably would, Harry always seemed to understand things Ron on the other hand, even in school he had been a little mean. Well she liked Ginny, that was enough. Looking at him she nodded and decided she really wasn’t hungry and this endive nonsense was nonsense. ”Well-“ she said with a smile as she put the endive back in the fridge and looked around at what was there. ”What about the ribs?” Looking at him, ”And sweet coleslaw, or mashed potatoes?” Luna had forgotten about the ribs, they were supposed to be good, they looked good.

[neville frank longbottom]

"But your salad," Neville protested weakly. At the mention of ribs his stomach growled quietly, apparently pleased by his girlfriend's suggestion. After all, who didn't like ribs? Fools, that's who. "I mean, if you'd rather make something else I won't complain," He smiled, sheepish. He felt badly, he knew he was making things more awkward than they needed to be, he knew that she wanted things to be comfortable just like he wanted things to be, but there wasn't much he could do. He wasn't the most socially minded person, he just did what he thought made sense. Unfortunately, right now nothing seemed to make much sense.