All Good Things

Chapter 16 - Damn That Firewhiskey

Poppy

The two women tumbled through the door rather unceremoniously, giggling like school girls in their drunken stupor. They had practically tripped over the stairs on their way up to bed, with Tori having pulled her into a drunken kiss midway up, their teeth clashing at the sheer force of it. Tori had barely made it to the bed before she pulled Poppy down with her, one hand splayed across Poppy's back while the other was tangled up in her hair. Poppy hummed softly before pushing herself up and off the taller witch, making her way to the washroom.

She stifled a giggle when Tori whined, her hand outstretched to Poppy in an attempt to persuade her to come back to the bed. Her skin felt stiflingly hot and her head was swimmy, the alcohol having thinned her blood as the shots of firewhiskey made their rounds in her system. Poppy kicked her shoes off, sighing contentedly at the feeling of the cold tiles against her feet before splashing her face with as cold of water as she could get. Her small hands gripped the edges of the sink as she looked at herself in the mirror, taking in how bright her flushed cheeks were and the mess that was her hair.

With another sigh, she peeled her top off, leaving her in her undershirt as the air caressed her skin, the heat dissipating slightly. She was going to regret the amount of alcohol she'd had in the morning. Poppy didn't drink firewhiskey often, but when she did, she had a tendency to go a bit overboard. The amount of heat her body was exerting was usually her sign of whether she would have to take a hangover draught in the morning or not. This was definitely going to be one of those times where she'd need to be sure Tori had some on hand before their morning trip to the sanctuary.

Poppy barely registered that the house was oddly silent aside from the sound of her feet against the floor, stopping in the doorway of the washroom. Tori was splayed out on the bed, still fully dressed, her head lolled back against the duvet. The only sign that she was still in the realm of the living was the slow rise and fall of her chest. Poppy chuckled softly, having never seen Tori fall asleep that fast. She crossed the space of the room, crawling into the bed with her beyond-drunk girlfriend, dragging the duvet out from under her in an attempt to cover them up.

Just as she had nestled in and adjusted all of her limbs, Tori's arm slung over her waist, pulling her flush against her chest and placing a soft kiss under her ear before nuzzling herself into Poppy's hair.

"I love you, Poppy." The words were mumbled, barely coherent, and the muffling of her hair didn't help. Poppy almost wouldn't have heard them if it hadn't been just behind her ear.

She felt her face flush again, a warm, tingling feeling settling in her stomach as her heart began attempting to escape the confines of her ribcage. Her fingers shook a bit at the sheer force of her blood pumping rapidly through her veins, slowly interlacing them with the hand Tori had placed on her torso and pressing herself back into the warmth of her embrace, pulling a sleepy sigh from the witch behind her. Poppy closed her eyes, yawning as she willed herself to sleep amidst the softness of the bedding and her partner's arms around her.

"I love you, too."

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Poppy had called it. Her head pounded painfully as she pulled herself up from the bed with a groan. She didn't need to look to know Tori was already up and about, the lack of warmth having already confirmed that. Her limbs felt stiff as she slid from the mattress, padding softly across the hall to her own room to run a bath. She'd barely had the hot water running when she heard the tapping of knuckles on the door, turning to find Tori surprisingly bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

"Morning, darling." Poppy groaned and rubbed her eyes as Tori chuckled. "Well aren't you a ball of sunshine?"

"How are you even this chipper and alert? Didn't you have more to drink than I did?"

"I did, as one does when Sebastian and Garreth have a shot drinking contest. You know I can never resist showing those two up. I could drink them under the table easy." Tori stepped into the room, dangling a shimmering admiral blue vial from her fingertips. "You're going to want one of these. I imagine you've got quite the migraine this morning."

"Leave it to the Gryffindor to not be able to pass up competition." Poppy snatched the vial a little more forcefully than she'd intended, popping the cork and downing it in one swift motion. She hated how sour those potions were, screwing up her face in a pucker against the bitter flavor of the draught. "Thank you, love. My head feels like it's been trampled by a herd of graphorns right about now."

"Well, I've got coffee brewing downstairs when you're done with your bath." Tori leaned down, pressing a kiss against Poppy's forehead, the warmth of which radiated out, relieving her headache if only for a moment.

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Poppy sighed as she scrunched her chocolate colored locked with the towel, the tension finally leaving her temples and her neck after her much needed bath and hangover draught. She had slipped into an outfit that would be much easier to maneuver in amidst the beasts before heading down to the kitchen, her boots tapping against the wood of the stairs. Tori flicked her wand to the counter, not looking up from the small pile of letters that had been dropped off by her barn owl, Skylark. A mug full of the warm, steaming coffee drifted to a place on the table alongside a fresh pastry as Poppy plopped down in her seat.

"You've got a few letters here, love." Tori handed over a few envelopes, continuing to open up what was hers.

Poppy was a bit shocked. It had been a while since she had received any letters, though she had hardly told anyone of her moving in with Tori. She flipped through the envelopes, starting with the smaller ones, flicking them open one by one and reading the contents.

"Oh! Amit got married. To that Ravenclaw that used to make fun of Duncan, Andrew Larson. Apparently, they had a wonderful little ceremony over in Wales." She set the letter aside, moving on to the next one. "Oh, and I've been invited on a rescue excursion over in Norway. I'd ask if you want to go with me, but it might not be up your alley of interests."

"If you want to go, Pop, I can certainly look at getting some time away from the Ministry." Tori had set her own stack of letters down, her hand busied with a half-eaten pastry. "You forget. I had several vivariums filled to the brim with magical beasts, AND we took down those poacher camps together."

Poppy felt herself flush, realizing she had completely forgotten that Tori had been her partner in almost entirely eradicating the poachers in the Scottish Highlands during their school years. Of course she'd want to go with her. She flipped to the last envelope. It was large, and stuffed full of other letters, the whole thing addressed from her Gran. Her fingers slid under the top, breaking the seal before turning the whole thing upside down and dumping the contents onto the table in front of her.

Her heart sank into her stomach, a feeling of irritation beginning to claw it's way under her skin as she looked at each of the smaller letters, each only addressed from initials rather than names, before reading the note her Gran had included alongside them all.

Poppet,

These letters came for you in

the post. They were marked

urgent, so I rather thought you'd

want them. I'm not sure who

they're from, and I didn't want

to pry. I hope you are

enjoying your time in London.

I can't wait to meet your new

paramour. Write soon.-

Yours,

Gran

"Who are all those from?" Tori pointed at the new pile of letters with the last bite of her pastry before popping it into her mouth, sucking softly on the ends of her fingers.

Poppy sifted through the letters, noting all of the initials matched before dropping her head into her hands with a loud, angry sigh. "Eliza."