And so, darling, we meet again.

Nearly, just nearly, Ariel groaned aloud. Women. Women, women, women, women, women. Why did they scorn him so? Ariel didn't know why he bothered sometimes. They were all dimwitted and stupid half of the time. He liked to think Jack was the exception but she fell into the moody and irrational category. She could have had her own category had it not been for the fact that she'd have kicked his ass, even mentally, for considering it. Ariel exhaled instead in the end and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Look Jack," Ariel started, getting to his feet when she did. He made no move to go near her though as for some reason, the muscles in his legs ached. "You are way too prideful for your own good. No one can look after themselves by themselves. I can't, you can't, that kid with the books and the quills and that massive bookshelf can't either because one day the sh-t will hit the fan and something will go wrong. For that kid, the bookshelf will hopefully fall on him. When everything goes tits up you need someone to lean on. You need someone to care. Christ knows I've given up one someone giving a toss about me when life screws me over but I just..."

Ariel sighed in frustration and glared at the redhead. He crossed his arms over his chest and for some bizarre reason, he started to laugh. "You're ridiculous," he said amidst guffaws. "Absolutely flaming mad. You're not even pissed off you're just getting assy with me. Come here and apologize for your moodiness. Don't you dare make me come to you." Ariel's grin was lazy yet challenging at the same time. He was in a good mood in contrast to Jack's. He'd tease her now, because he found her funny.

Jack turned to face the blonde boy. "Look, Ariel," she said, using his full name and glaring as she did, because frankly, she was irritated and she was not sure why, which irked her even more. "I may be too damn prideful for my own good, but that's who I am, who I've always been. I can't change that because then I wouldn't be Jack, I'd just be all these other weak-spined, jelly-minded fools that I can't stand."

She shook her head. "I can't help it, right? People can either accept it, reject it, or deal." Her eyes were almost cold and accusing as they met his eyes. "There's a difference between letting someone in so they can watch out for you and letting them change you. Some change is good, but when it gets to a point where you don't know who you are anymore-"

She stopped. Oops. She had said too much.

Ariel began to laugh and Jack realized that she really did hat being laughed at. She was telling him where she was and where she had always been. She may be pig-headed, but it was not something to laugh about. People who laughed at her, usually ended up with a sore arm. She would not allow herself to hurt him- she had done enough of that- so she allowed herself to glare at him. "It's really not that funny." She turned and headed out the door, leaving the flowers behind.

Bloody hell, that woman was PMS-ing. She was literally in a shit for no reason. Ariel didn't think his choice of flowers were that flipping bad. He did have an orchid tattooed on his arse, yes, but that was a completely different thing. He happened to like orchids. As it was, Jack could have just said she didn't like the blood things instead of becoming - for lack of a better comparison - a mountain troll. She could have told him where to shove them but she didn't -- instead she was being all limp and useless.

That pissed Ariel off. It was unnecessary. If she couldn't be arsed then she shouldn't have even bothered to grace him with her presence. And as if she read his mind, she walked out. He could have let her go. Could have. But then where would the excitement have been? Ariel, after slipping his shoes back one, darted out after her. His balance hadn't been great that morning but it'd been getting better as the day progressed. Now he felt he could run without falling flat on his face.

"Jack!" Ariel grasped at her hand, hoping to catch it, and came to a stop of sorts. "I'm sorry," he breathed, his chest heaving involuntarily. "I'm sorry I sent you flowers, I'm sorry I laughed and I'm sorry for being a dick that tries to show he cares. If you don't want money spent on you then can you suggest how else I can show you how much I appreciate you? Maybe next time I'll grow the bloody things. It'd give Ollie something to do and it would liven up the garden a bit. Just...give me an inch would you?"

Jack felt his hands close on hers, pulling her so that she had turned around to face him. She glanced down at their hands, hers in his, and quickly jerked her hand out of his, as though she had been burned. She held her hand and glared at him. She listened to him, a growing mingling feeling of hopelessness, frustrations, and desperation. Why did he try so hard?!

"It's not how you show your appreciation, it's that you show it," Jack said finally, closing her eyes as she realized she was a having the conversation she had never thought she would have, the one she had never wanted to have... She changed tact. "It's not how you got the flowers, it is the fact that you got me flowers. It's just I..." she struggled for words... "I mean, what do you even do with them, I mean they aren't useful or needed or practical... And I..."

She sighed, taking a long breath and rubbing her temple. "That's the thing. Any other girls look at flowers and think they are pretty and it's a nice gesture. I look at flowers and I see something that is going to die no matter what care I put into them and is more of a burden than something useful and good that I want or even need. And that's the thing, Ari..."

She swallowed. "I don't know what you are expecting from me, but you are going to be disappointed, I can tell you that. I'm not the kind of girl who likes flowers and kissing each other whenever possible or , well, putting herself out there the way you have to to risk a... y'know..." The word relationship was too foreign for her to say. "That's something I can't do..."

With a long-suffering sigh, Ariel looked about himself. He resisted the urge to embrace Jack. He had a feeling it wouldn't be a wanted gesture. Ariel cleared his throat and looked at Jack carefully, his eyes shining with mirth. A smile smile lay on his lips as he listen to her and it did, he would admit, falter slightly.

"Jack, they're just flowers." Ariel said quietly, stepping towards her. "They're just flowers. I want to make you see that I appreciate you. I like having you around when you're not being all moody with me," Ariel smirked at her. "Is it just because they're flowers? Look, they were going to die anyway and in the long run they did a nice guy a favour because he got a couple of galleons more than he would have got had I not bought them. So really they do have some use. They're beautiful, too. I just...I don't know what I am supposed to say to you Jack. I don't think I've been particularly constant myself but you blow hot and cold and I don't know how to react to it."

Ariel cocked his head to the right, his smile ceasing. "When did I ever say I wanted a relationship from you, Jack? I am sorry I gave you the wrong idea. I don't want to put you on the spot at all. You don't deserve that. That doesn't mean to say I wouldn't want - I mean, I like you but I - no, um..." Ariel ducked his head in embarrassment. He bit his lip and lifted it again tentatively. "Can I just...see?" He asked softly, stepping just that bit closer. "You don't have to like it. God knows you probably won't but...can I just show you simply -- without spending any money on you, without buying you flowers that are going to die anyway -- what I feel? One kiss, from my lips to yours. " Ariel lifted his hand and touched his fingers to her cheek. "You can punch me in the gut for it, curse my balls off or do whatever you want afterwards but just...once, hmm? It won't kill you. Promise."

Jack knew they were just flowers and that they would die soon enough but that was her point. She was not apart of the fool-hardy population that bought into the "romanticism and the meaning" of flowers and such similar gestures. That was her entire point. If he wanted to show his appreciation, something practical and needed was much more welcome. Hell, he could do her Potions homework and she definitely would not object to that. She didn't understand flowers.

His eyes were determinedly on hers which, of course, made her force her gaze to stay on his, as it was a quirk of hers to take any sort of eye contact as a sort of glaring contest. He had a smile on her face which confused her more than anything, but when Jack was confused she became frustrated, and frustration nearly always let to anger. Fortunately, Ariel decided it was time to explain.

He began to stumble for his words and if ever Jack were to blush it would be now. That was the thing though- Jack was fearless and never blushed... Though there was a dull pounding in her ribs that made her indicate she was not exactly unafraid. He stepped closer and she slid her foot away, close to backing away, but his hand touched her face, stopping her. She stared at him. This was not her. But being unexpected was her. Being unafraid was too. And honestly... maybe it was time she knew how she felt, if she could understand this all.

She nodded slowly. "Okay."

Wisely, Ariel had averted his eyes. He realised moments after how stupid he'd been to even suggest that he...
Ariel lifted his eyes and looked at Jack incredulously after she spoke. He repeated her and spread his hand across his face. He slipped it down to her neck and placed his other hand on the other side of her neck. He spread his hands up so he was cupping her jaw and he looked at her, smirking at the way she held his gaze as he drank her in.

"Okay," Ariel murmured to her. His eyes softening considerably. Ariel dipped his head towards hers and left centimetres between them, desperate to prolong the feeling of her pressed against him. The sides of Ariel's lips twitched as he continued to memorise her face. "So this is where you are and this is where I am, somewhere between unsure...and a hundred." he serenaded to her quietly.

Ariel closed a great portion of the space between their faces and he parted his lips. Ariel brought his lips ever closer to hers and hesitated, mere millimetres away. Ariel's eyes darted to Jack's questioningly before bringing his right hand around to her chin. He nudged it slightly and captured her lips with his own.

Her cheek tingled as he spread his entire hand over her cheek and she blinked, though her eyes remained unmoving. His hands seemed to be traveling all over her face and head, as though feeling out the territory or something, making her skin tingle where his pale hands touched hers. He seemed much more expert at this than her. She would never know where to place her fingertips, where to hold, where to look, she just knew that she had to win the staring contest...

He replied to her and his eyes softened. She swallowed slightly, feeling a lot less certain about her decision. There was no backing out now. At least she had an excuse to hit him; she planned to use that one free hit regardless of what happened after. If she was right she would hit him because she hadn't liked it. If she was wrong, she would hit him because she had. Call it unfair or mean, but if you give Jack the opening, she will always be more than happy to take it.

His words made her eyebrows turn in surprise. What was he saying? That she was completely uncertain and he wasn't in the least? She did not like this cryptic romantic talk, she did not speak the language! He moved closer and closer and she kept feeling the need to real her head back or step away, just stop it before she regretted something!

And boy was she going to regret it.

His lips met hers and her brain stopped. Slowly, but surely, she worked it back into gear but some part of her brain had taken over. Move your lips, sweetheart, this foreign part of her brain said and her lips obeyed, even though Jack silently protested. Step closer, tilt your head.Her brain seemed to be working on its own accord, telling her to move closer, and to participate, all the while Jack was frantically trying to close down the whole operation.

MUTINY! MUTINY!

Finally, she pulled away, finally regained control from her brain. Her eyes flew open and she stared, wide-eyed at Ariel, trying to understand what had just happened. The thing was, even though somehow she had lost control... It had not been... bad. She swallowed. "Can I hit you now?" she asked in a quiet, hopeful voice.

Werewolves were creatures that mated for life. When the werewolf found his or her mate, nothing in the world would make them relinquish their hold. Fenrir was a dominant, eternally searching for the woman that would not only defy him but entice him, too. Ariel hadn’t met many of the women that gave birth to his siblings but in his mind, the only one that could fulfil that role was his mother. Ariel didn’t know what to look for in a mate. He didn’t know what he was supposed to need. He had Risé but she was as much of a mate to him as Ollie was. Risé could have quite comfortably become his lover. Ariel didn’t want that though, and frankly, neither did the dog. Risé was his pup, the single member of the pack Fenrir had had him create. The paw prints he’d been drowned in for such a long time weren’t nearly as big anymore and actually, he didn’t mind being in them.

Ariel didn’t know whether Jack was meant to be his mate but something about her body pressed up against his, her mouth moving gently against his own...something about that was so right. Perhaps it was the prolonged time between the last altercation and this one with a member of the female species. He’d missed it, surely. The feeling was spectacular and as his lips moved against hers, Ariel found himself wishing for nothing more than for that moment to never end. He also felt something akin to possession wash over him and his grip on Jack tightened ever so slightly.

When she pulled away, Ariel gave a growl of frustration and rejection. He licked his lips, and smiled gently at Jack. He was rather stunned by her question, though.

Ariel blinked at Jack in surprise and raised an eyebrow at her. He grasped her hips in his hands and levelled his gaze at her. Ariel smirked at Jack and shook his head. “No you bloody well can’t.” He told her simply. “I’m delicate after all,” Ariel gave Jack a rather feral grin and chuckled before leaning down. He brushed his lips against her forehead and left it at that. “Am I forgiven, darling?” he asked coyly.

Jack's eyebrows raised at Ariel's little growl, as the noise took her back to the night in the shrieking shack, which she found funny. Ariel would be the first person to talk about how cursed and marked he was for being a werewolf and yet it was so much of what he was. You could take the man out of the werewolf, sometimes, but you never could take the wolf out of the werewolf.

His reaction to her question was just about as satisfactory as it would have been if she had been able to actually hit him. He looked shocked, as though a little upset that she might not have liked the kiss. But that was the very problem. Things were not going according to plan. She had liked it, or at least- no, there was no diminishing the fact. She did like the kiss. But the problem was now she had no idea who she even was. Jack did not like kissing and hugging and holding.

So who the hell was in her body?!

He grabbed her hips and she felt herself begin to draw away. That was it. Human contact. Jack was not from a family of people who hugged and kissed. Her brother and her had wrestled at a young age, but never had anyone in her family cuddled and kissed her. She had never had friends to link arms with, never had people who ran up to her in the halls and hugged her. Touch was foreign, and as far as she knew, bad. People touched and people brought bad news, brought heartache and disappointment. She was much more used to Vito grabbing her wrists, to being thrown to the ground by Death Eaters. That touching made sense. This, did not.

He kissed her forehead, and she dipped her chin, as though trying to make him miss her forehead and skim over the top of her head. He asked if he was forgiven. No, you are bloody well not! I can never forgive you for making me like you! she desperately thought. She glanced up at him and smirked, "Call me darling and I won't be able to stop myself from hitting you. Alright, cupcake?" She said the last word in a mocking way and patted his head.