Unspeakable

Chapter 80: New Beginnings

Fun fact: New Beginnings was the original title of the fanfic before I changed it lol

Poppy had never met someone so willing to share her world before. Usually people found her work boring or annoying, particularly with creatures that could be seen as obnoxious or loud. Diricawl were just such creatures. The little flightless birds were just such creatures, disappearing and reappearing at random to squawk and flap about in a way most found quite overwhelming. They were easy enough to deal with when you knew their behavior, though.

As they approached the hill where the diricawl nested she put a finger to her lips to tell him to be quiet, which replied with a grin and nodded.

When they rounded the hill Dan stopped and stared at the fat birds marching around the hillside, letting out a soft chuckle of amusement. Extinct, indeed.

He was curious what happened when they spoke though, so he gave Poppy a quizzical look and pointed to them. She gave a soft giggle before she cupped her hands around her mouth.

"Diricawl!" She shouted, and the diricawls all let out gobble sounds in response, a few of them disappearing and reappearing elsewhere, flapping their little wings wildly.

Dan let out a laugh of amusement at the sight, a few of the Diricawl gobbling at the sound.

"I see what you mean." He said quietly to her with a wry grin.

Loud like a diricawl.

He sat off to the side to watch her work with the dodo- diricawls, smiling softly as she quietly knelt down and measured their height, their beaks, even trying to get the length of their little wings. They were surprisingly calm with her, as if they weren't used to being messed with and so didn't need to be afraid of anything.

Once she was done she closed her journal and walked back over to him with a smile, sitting next to him against the rock on the top of the hill overlooking the diricawls. It was a pleasant spot, the view of the ocean seen in the distance as Dan watched the waves lap up against the shore, the air starting to warm with the coming spring.

"You look rather thoughtful." Poppy whispered up to him as he looked out at the view.

"I'm just really happy we came here." He said back quietly, glancing over to her with a warm look that had her blushing.

"I'm happy you came here too." Poppy smiled back bashfully.

Dan reached up gently, smiling as she blushed deeper as he ran a hand gently through her dark hair. "Not upset anymore about me learning magic stuff?" He chuckled softly, remembering how upset she'd first been when Ominis and Sebastian had first shown him magic was real.

She scoffed and rolled her eyes at the tease, giving him a wry smile. "I suppose not." She said softly.

"That's good." His voice turned softer. "Because I'd like to stick around if you'd let me."

Poppy held her breath, because it was still a bit taboo to be with a muggle- especially a muggle who had so ilegally learned about magic. Maybe Diane was rubbing off on her a bit, because she rather liked the thrill of tilting the rules a bit in this case.

"I think I'd like that." She felt her heart racing, his hand in her hair shifting to her cheek. His touch was warm compared to the cool air and felt so nice, making her close her eyes and let out a soft breath.

"Even though I'm just a normal guy? No fancy magic or schooling?" He asked huskily.

"I like that about you." Poppy opened her eyes to look up at him. "You don't need to be a wizard. I like you how you are."