V accepted the cup with an appreciative nod, letting the warmth settle into his hands before taking his first sip. His eyebrows lifted. "...Okay." He looked back at her over the rim of the cup. "I'll admit it." Another sip. "You've officially ruined supermarket tea for me.&q...

V caught the little admission before she realized she'd said it out loud. "You kind of are." His smile widened just enough to betray how much he enjoyed hearing it. "I'll take that as a compliment." Then she immediately touched paint-covered fingers to her lips. Again. The tiny l...

The color rushing into Addie's face was impossible to miss. V watched her try to explain, then accidentally explain even more, then try to escape the conversation entirely, and it took genuine effort not to laugh. Not because he wanted to make fun of her. Because she was absolutely, hopelessly adora...

V's attention lingered overhead another moment as Addie's voice came from the back. Now that he was actually standing beneath it, he could see what she had been trying to describe. The mural stretched out from one wall like the sky itself had spilled indoors. Rich oranges and golds melted into pinks...

A week and a half wasn't a particularly long time. At least, that was what Vincent had told himself. The reality was that he'd caught himself thinking about Enchanting Essentials more than once while unpacking boxes, assembling furniture, and trying to make his new flat feel like something more than...

V laughed as she swore there was a method to the madness. "That's exactly what every mad genius says before somebody gets stuck to a ceiling." His grin lingered, though it softened when she offered to help with unpacking. The image of Addie trying to help organize boxes somehow resulting i...

V couldn't help laughing again as she attempted to defend the plank. "The fact that your defense is basically 'it makes sense when you see it' is not inspiring confidence, Addie." His eyes were bright with amusement. "That's exactly what people say right before showing somebody someth...

V stared at her for a moment after the confession about the ceiling. Then he slowly lowered his coffee cup. “It’s a what?” The disbelief in his voice lasted all of two seconds before a laugh escaped him. “A plank.” He shook his head, looking thoroughly unconvinced by whatever logic had led to this a...

V’s brows climbed slightly higher at the explanation about the therapist. “A former hit wizard becoming a therapist honestly feels very wizarding world,” he mused dryly. “Like somebody looked at unresolved trauma and went, ‘You know who should handle this? Another traumatized person with combat expe...

V listened with quiet interest, occasionally huffing soft amusement into his coffee at certain details. “A therapist’s office,” he repeated, brows lifting slightly. “Honestly, that might be the most revolutionary thing the wizarding world’s done in centuries.” The mention of Lysander Malfoy earned a...

The effect his compliment had on her was immediate and honestly a little devastating. V had to bite back a grin as she completely short-circuited in front of him, watching the flush spread across her face all the way to the tips of her ears. Merlin. “That was adorable,” he murmured before he could s...

V’s grin widened immediately at the glitter comment. “I don’t know,” he mused, voice low with amusement, “I think I could pull off mysterious glitter stains.” His eyes flicked meaningfully toward her then. “Though if anybody asks, I’ll make sure they know the culprit’s a dangerously experimental art...

V watched her laugh behind her hand and felt that same quiet warmth settle into him again, the kind he hadn’t realized he’d missed until now. “You know,” he said, the corner of his mouth curving upward, “I think paint on me might actually improve some of my wardrobe.” His gaze dipped briefly over th...

The shy little bite of her lip didn’t escape him. Neither did the way she hid behind her teacup afterward. Something warm and distinctly pleased settled low in V’s chest at the sight, though outwardly all it earned was the slow curve of a smile against the rim of his coffee mug. “Well,” he said easi...

V’s mouth curved into a quieter smile at the way she described the process as cathartic. “Yeah,” he admitted after a second. “It really was.” There was no hesitation in answering her question either, only a flicker of amused self-awareness as he leaned back slightly in his chair. “Pretty extensive,”...

V’s expression softened at her question about the tattoos, and almost immediately his gaze dropped to his forearm again, thumb brushing absentmindedly over one of the darker lines there. “Not entirely by myself,” he admitted. “The guy I worked with back in Chicago’s ridiculously talented. We planned...

The brief touch against his hand caught him off guard in the gentlest way possible. Not because it was forward; Adeline didn’t seem capable of touching another person with anything except sincerity but because she’d always had this quiet habit of offering softness so naturally that people probably f...

V listened without interrupting, genuinely absorbed in everything she was saying. And it showed. Not the polite sort of attention most people gave when waiting for their turn to talk, but real interest; eyes steady on her, the occasional quiet laugh at the right moments, the faint shake of his head ...

V couldn’t help the quiet huff of amusement at her comment about buying out the shop. “Yeah, that tracks,” he muttered, mostly to himself, but there was no judgment in it; just fond recognition. Some things really hadn’t changed. Walking beside her felt… easy. Easier than he’d expected anything here...

V watched her hover her hand near his arm without touching and somehow that tiny act of restraint struck him harder than if she had. Most people either stared too long or asked invasive questions or pretended not to notice the ink at all. Adeline looked at it like she was looking at art. Like it bel...

V's expression softened watching her light up talking about her shop. There was something almost protective in the way he tracked the person who'd bumped into her; blue-grey eyes going sharp for just a second before the guy disappeared down another aisle but he didn't comment on it. Just shifted his...

V turned at the sound of his name, and for a split second that old defensive tension tried to creep up his spine; the instinct that said what do they want, what did I do wrong before his brain caught up with what he was actually seeing. Adeline. Adeline . Bright as a damn sunrise even in the dim lig...

The weight of London settled differently than V remembered. Six years was a long time to be away from a place that had never quite felt like home to begin with, but standing at the entrance to Diagon Alley; properly standing there, not hunched and trying to take up less space. Vincent Mathis found h...

He chuckled at her comment, “Touche.” Squeezing her absently when he felt her relax into him he smiled, “Missed you too, Nini.” V didn’t miss how despite her response that the shop was closed and they could go, she didn’t let go of him and he let her have it for a few moments before easing back at t...

V had the good sense to look offended when she said he was never really good at color, “Excuse me I will have you know the only color I ever needed was yellow, ma’am.” He gave a rather indignant snort before he smiled when she agreed hugging her tight, glad she easily agreed to moving in. But he was...