and now she sleeps with one eye open {closed}

[roblet]

Who: Merlin and Gellert.
What: Chats and magic.
When: September 4, 1980.
Where: The forest just outside Hogsmeade.
Warnings: Gellert.

Promptly on time (a little early, even) Gellert arrives precisely where Merlin instructed him to, looking as he always does: young, proper, and completely harmless. He's not worried or nervous in the least, instead intrigued and interested and ready to continue the discussions that they had been having before. He wonders if others have been simpering over the famous wizard - perhaps, but Gellert isn't the type. He's going to treat the other wizard as though they are simply strangers having met one day with similar interests getting to know one another. That's all.

(He thinks he can urge this into a kind of friendship. It's his ultimate goal for the day.)

Hands clasped behind his back and rocking on his heels, a habitual gesture with him, Gellert waits.

Comments

[kingmaking]

[ and just like that, he's standing at the edge of the forest, dressed in worn clothing he probably stole off someone's drying-line, his tangled hair threaded through with little silver charms and bound back from his face in a messy half-bun. he's quite small and petite, a little fragile-looking actually, but there's something ferocious and not quite human in the dark-eyed stare he levels on gellert. ]

Gellert Grindelwald? [ his voice has welsh hints to it, but is otherwise almost accentless. he takes a moment to look the blond over, nodding politely once, then turns abruptly away again. ] Come with me and stay close. You don't want to get lost. [ he sets off just like that, whether gellert chooses to follow or not. .. ah. ]

[roblet]

[ gellert doesn't jump. he doesn't mind the abruptness that merlin displays either, simply smiling (and he's so good at it) as he nods in return and starts off after the other wizard, keeping close and watching him. ] Yes, that's me. Thank you for seeing me.

[ he's sure that someone like merlin has taken precautions against it but he's going to attempt to memorize the path they take anyway. it's just harmless curiosity after all. no harm done. ]

[kingmaking]

Thank you for coming, [ merlin says a little belatedly, already leading gellert down a twisting little path that appears through the forest as they walk it. there's obviously some sort of redirecting magic at work-- it feels heavy, oppressive, forbidding. anyone who wandered in here by accident would no doubt want to leave as quickly as possible.

a mere hundred feet or so into the forest, they're suddenly stepping into a small clearing with a little cottage in the center (if gellert glances back, it's clear that he's much deeper in the forest than he should be). there's a rough fence surrounding the cottage, and a tree at the gate that is shifting and moving not unlike the whomping willow. this one, uh, seems to have enormous fangs in the trunk, though, and merlin pats it like a dog as he passes. ]

Don't mind the tree, it's a bit of a project. [ inside, his home is fairly cozy, with drying plants herbs already hanging from the rough beams of the ceiling, and what looks like the beginnings of a garden out back. there's tea already steaming in little lacquered wooden cups on the table. ] --Have a seat.

[roblet]

Of course. [ gellert's voice is always, always deceptively soft and gentle at first unless the situation calls for otherwise, but this situation is just that - and so it's firmer than it might've been, sharply intelligent, still pleasant but easily charming.

he does glance back, smiling wryly at the clever magic involved, and moves idly where merlin steps so that he's following what he knows to be a safe path.

—the tree fascinates him and he shakes his head. ] It's lovely.

[ lovely would be a bit of a stretch, but he sounds so very earnest. in truth he finds it fascinating. what a tree, what a creature. still, he does as he's instructed, sitting when merlin says so, straight-backed and smiling. ]

I know it's a bit short-notice, but I'm still pleased by this meeting. Doubly pleased we seem to be speaking the same language when it comes to our beliefs on magic usage.