The Morning After The Night Before

Richard swallowed a little as she mentioned ghosts. A wraith was one of the reasons why he didn't ever want to go anywhere near his childhood home again. His father had seemingly resented being tortured to death and so have clung onto the material world after death to form a very angry wraith. Thankfully it was contained to Germany for some reason so he was safe as long as he didn't go to Germany for any length of time. He gently hugged her to him with one hand,

"I'll help you. I want to help you be happy and I want to help you come to terms with your past." he frowned, "And maybe you can help me on that second front as well..."

He chuckled lightly,

"But no, I haven't met Finley..." he raised an eyebrow, "He's going to float in right behind me isn't he?"

Briony chuckled as she felt herself being pulled towards Richard, she looked up at his face with a huge smile playing across her own she was quite amused by the fact that he was scared of ghosts but she didn't let it show after all there could have been something in his past to do with ghosts and she didn't want to annoy/upset him.

She didn't know where Finley was at that moment in time and it had been quite unsual for him not to show up, the last time she had guests over he insisted on sitting down and pretending to drink tea with them while telling them how he died over and over. Sure he was annoying, but he was harmless.

"Oh he's lovely, just a nice little old man who likes to hang out in the library, not scary at all, he used to work here and he liked it so much he stayed. Nothing to worry about. Normally he knocks before coming into a room anyway, no scares for Rich."

He chuckled a little,

"Thanks for the warning..." he breathed a sigh of relief, "I have bad experiences with the undead or... the living impared."

In a desparate attempt to avoid his memory slipping back to his last encounter with his father's wraith, a monster that was only tangible when it wanted to be, he kissed Briony lightly on the lips again before pulling back,

"So which first? Visit Finley in the library or go and drag me round shops?"

Briony tired not to get the subject back onto a dodgy ground so she decided that the best course of action would most likely be to go out shopping after all it was something that she liked and would be emotionally unscarring...hopefully...unless she saw something she wanted and couldn't have. She moved into the coat closet and drew out her army jacket once more, put it on over her shoulders and slid her arms in the holes.

"Shopping I think. Finley's probably busy or has grown some sense and left me ALONE when I have a visitor unlike last time and he insisted on talking until the poor guy went home. I did have him round to do something ELSE rather than chat you know..."

Briony chuckled a little at the memory, he was a nice enough guy but a night with Finley proved too much for him, not like she blamed him. Waiting for Richard to get ready she picked up her wand and money bag from the side board and shook the bag lightly.

"I have enough."

Richard chuckled and walked out into the hall. He walked over to the bottom of the stairs and held out his hand before summoning his overcoat to him. Rustling sounds came from upstairs before the battered and burnt coat flew through the air and landed in his hand. He smirked as he put it on,

"Sorry but the coat stays." he looked thoughtful, "Though I really have been looking into buying a leather coat to go with my leather trousers..."

He chuckled and turned to her,

"Can't ever have too much leather right?"

Briony blushed a little when she heard that Richard was thinking of buying a leather coat, she didn't tell him but she had a thing for leather it smelt really nice and it was great just to snuggle in. She had a very startling vision in which Richard was speaking German to her while she snuggles him wearing a leather jacket, she shook her head to get the image out of her mind and the dreamy look out of her eyes.

"N-no of course not! Never too much leather..."

Briony blushed again and she walked to the door, opening it wide and walking out onto the path again, the gravel crunching under the hard heels of her hob nail boots that she loved to wear. Waiting until Richard had walked out as well she turned locked the door with a tap of her wand and smiled gently at him before twitching her hand a little. Mortified she shoved it in her pocket. She had wanted to hold his hand.

"I was thinking of getting a new corset..."

He chuckled a little and followed her out of the door. He smiled a little more when he noticed her actions with her hand. He scratched the back of his head,

"Well I've never been to Diagon Alley before..." he announced, while holding his hand out towards her with a smile, "I think it'd be best if I side-apparated with you."

He felt his cheeks go a little red,

"You know... if you don't mind holding my hand for a little bit."

Briony smiled delicately and realised that Richard must have seen her hand twitch and she blushed a little again wondering what she should do. Side along apparition did seem like the best course of action, she took her hand out of her pocket once more and clasped his hand in hers. They were still stone cold and she didn't really notice them any more, they were always like that.

"I'm sorry my hands are cold."

Briony braced herself and gently stood closer to Richard hanging onto him and apparating to Diagon Alley, she smiled with the usual hustle and bustle of the shopping street and she pushed Richard ahead of her so he could appreciate the sight.

Richard chuckled a little when he took hold of Briony's hand,

"I don't mind. My hands are always warm." he replied with a small smile as she moved closer, "Be gentle, it's my first time to Diagon Alley."

He felt the extremely uncomfortable sensation of being squeezed through an incredibly tight tube before they appeared in the middle of Diagon Alley. Feeling the push from Briony, he chuckled,

"So I'll go first then?"

(OOC: Should we make a thread in the Diagon Alley section or not?)

Briony chuckled and she walked slightly in front of Richard keeping hold of his hand, only because she didn't want to loose him in the crowd nothing to do with the fact that he was slightly...only slightly...warming her hands up. It was a strange sensation really, she could feel the palm of her hand, it was not as cold as before.

"No, I will, don't want you getting lost do we?"

Walking down the street, Briony looked this way and that to try and remember where that clothes shop was, of course you had Madam Malkins but they didn't sell leather coats or corsets. She was looking for one in particular, near the mouth of Knockturn Alley, as she walked past Gringott's she wondered if she should collect some money. Thinking again she walked on.

"Here we are, the first stop. You'll get your leather coat in here most likely Richard and this is where I'm going to get my new corset."

Briony pushed open the door to 'Wizard Outfitters' and looked around waiting to see if Richard had followed her in.

(OOC: We could do that but there aren't any places there that will sell your jacket. When we go get ice cream we'll move it then yes?)

"I guess we don't." he replied with a small chuckled as he was led, by the hand, through the crowd in Diagon alley. Naturally, his instincts kicked in and he found himself looking for anyone out of the ordinary. People who looked Romanian were also on his list to look out for. He stopped just outside the shop, looked in over quickly, before walking inside with Briony,

"A corset eh?" he smiled a little, "Now this will be an lovely shopping trip."

He gave her a quick peck on the cheek before moving over to a section of the shop which seemingly sold only leather. With a grin, he picked out a leather overcoat, simple and black, before a pair of black leather gloves caught his eye. He grinned and picked them up as well before moving over to the clerk,

"These please." he informed her idly as he looked around the shop from his position near the clerk. The woman coughed slightly and he turned back to her,

"That's five galleons please." she told him. Richard nodded absently and pulled the five coins from his money pouch before looking at his purchases,

"I can wear the coat out, right?" he asked with a smile. At the clerk's node, he took off his old coat, shrunk it, and put it in his pocket. With a sigh he slipped on his new, leather, over coat. He breathed in deeply, "Mmm leather."

With a wave at the clerk, he put his gloves in his pocket and moved over to Briony,

"I'm done. Although I think now the only things I'm wearing that aren't leather are my shirt and my underwear..." he paused, "Although they do sell leather underwear over there."

(OOC: Sounds good to me)

Briony watched as Richard walked over to look at the leather coats and she blushed again, quickly she banished the thought from her mind and she began to scour the corset section. Moving the clothes along with her wand she gasped when she saw the most awesome corset she had ever seen. It was a proper one, leather, with lots of eyelets and strong bones to hold it together, she gently took it off the rack and crushed it to her chest.

When Richard came back over to her his new leather coat on she blushed violently, she could smell it from all the way over here and she desperately wanted to give him a huge hug. Biting her lip and debating this she eventually decided to wind her arms around his shoulders and she lay her head on his chest.

"MMmmmm leather." She grinned "I'm just off to try this on alright? Wait outside the changing room I want to ask your opinion..."

Briony smiled and dashed into the changing room, luckily she wasn't wearing one of her old corsets today otherwise it would have taken a lot longer for her to get the new one on. She carefully did up the ribbons and tied the ribbon at the back. Cautiously she peered out of the changing room and opened the curtain enough for Richard to see her. Hopefully not her bra that was lying on the floor though...

Richard chuckled a little bit as he was led to the designated 'boyfriend' chair, across from the changing rooms. He waited patiently, twiddling his thumbs a little, as Briony got changed. As the curtain to the changing room was opened, he turned to see her. He felt his jaw drop. Swallowing, to get rid of the lump which had suddenly appeared in his throat, he pulled his jaw back up,

"Bri you look... wow." he finished, still blinking and smiling in a dazed fashion, "I have to buy that for you. Leather looks good on you and that looks... well it looks wow."

Briony smiled again and blushed at the reaction she got from Richard, she thought that she looked alright in it of course but she didn't know that she looked that good. She bounded over to him and hugged him tight once more before she clicked on to what he said, she tapped him lightly on the nose and walked back over to the changing room leaving him sitting on the chair.

"No no Richard, I will buy it for myself. Although the thought is lovely."

Briony walked into the room and closed the curtain, it took her a bit longer to get the top off than it had done to get it on but now that she was ready fully again she opened the curtain and strode out. Money bag in her hand she placed the corset over on the desk and sneakily grabbed a pair of the leather underwear sets that Richard had told her about. Not for her...obviously...and totally not because he had said she looked good in leather...obviously.

"That'll be eight galleons Miss."

The cashier said and Briony got out the correct money placing it in the open hand of the cashier.

Richard smiled at the cashier,

"And now can we have our change please?" he asked with a grin. The cashier smiled at him,

"Of course, sir." she replied, handing Briony's eight galleons back to her before turning to deal with the next customer. He chuckled as he led Briony away from the cashier,

"You didn't think I just sat there quietly while you were getting changed now did you?" he teased, kissing her on the tip of her nose with a smile, "What's the point in having money if I can't spend it on the woman that I love?"

Briony looked dumbfounded at Richard she glared playfully and pushed the 8 galleons into his trouser pocket, with a wink. She wondered for a moment how he knew that she was going to buy the underwear as well as her corset and she turned walked back over to him and looked him up and down with a confused look on her face, it was evident that she was a little peeved.

"How did you know that I would buy the underwear?"

Briony quickly sauntered out the way before Richard could think about giving her the money back or slipping it into her pocket or something like that.

Richard chuckled,

"I didn't." he replied with a grin as he pulled her into a hug, "I just paid her thirty galleons, for whatever you wanted."

He grinned a little,

"And I'm only accepting the eight galleons back." he told her, grinning as he used sticking charms to stick his pockets closed, "So don't even try slipping me the money back."

Briony just looked at him like she was looking at the most wondrous thing ever, he had spent thirty galleons on her! What?! Why? She looked at him like she was really not impressed and she felt like she would now have to spend all the money that he had given the cashier. She blushed a little and eyed up the rest of the womens side of the shop spotting one of the loveliest dresses there and sighing wistfully.

"Um, I don't suppose it would be so bad if I went to try on that dress over there?"

It was dark green with a black mesh over the emerald, it was thigh length and it looked really lovely it had a built in corset and it looked like it went very well with her hobnail boots, which was just too good to pass up.

Richard chuckled and hugged Briony from behind as she looked at the dress,

"I wouldn't mind you trying it on." he told her, kissing the side of her neck gently, "But if it fits then I'm buying it."

He grinned and pulled her over to the dressed. With a wave of his wand, the dress folded itself up and presented it to Briony,

"Come on... you get changed into it and I'll sit quietly in the 'boyfriend' chair."

Briony blushed a little and took the dress off Richard who had gotten it in the right size amazingly, she smiled gently and walked back into the changing room. She put her old clothes on the floor and she took the dress off the hanger placing it over her head, it fitted like a glove and came up to just above her knee showing some of her pale skin underneath. She looked in the mirror and couldn't help but smile she looked quite nice and the material contrasted well against her skin.

"You know you don't mind sitting in the boyfriend chair while I try sexually provocative stuff on, surely?"

Briony opened the curtain again and looked at Rich who was sitting in the chair again, she smirked and did a twirl walking over to him, turning around and walking back.

"Well?"

Richard, who was now patiently sitting in the 'boyfriend' chair, chuckled as she spoke to him through the curtain,

"You should know by now Bri... I find anything you wear provocative because I just love you." he replied with a smile, handing his money pouch over to the clerk with a smile. The clerk nodded and silently went back to the counter, across the shop. He turned back round in time to see Briony walking out of the changing room, dressed in the dress. He grinned as she gave him a twirl,

"Well I think we have a winner." he chuckled, "It fits you well. How am I to say no to it?"

Briony chuckled and she walked back into the changing room with a special flick of her hips as she pulled the curtain shut with a smirk on her face. She sighed, she was so happy, she was having a lovely time out with Richard and she had just gotten a new dress and a new corset, how much better can it get?

"Don't be looking at my shadow through the curtain now Richard, it's rather perverse in a public place."

Briony joked as she pulled on the clothes she had been wearing which now seemed rather plain on her and she sighed a little thinking she should have dressed up a little more but it reminded her that about 3 hours ago she was furious with Richard! She smiled to herself, how things change.

Emerging from the changing room with the dress over one shoulder she grinned motioned to the cashier and put in in the bag with her other purchase. She wondered if there was anything that Richard would like that she could buy.

"Anything that takes your fancy? Leather boxers perhaps?"

Richard chuckled a little as Briony went back behind the curtain,

"But darling... that was why the 'boyfriend' chair was placed directly opposite the changing room!" he joked with a small chuckle. He smiled as he walked over to the cashier with Briony, a small smirk pulling at his lips, "Oh I'm pretty sure leather boxers would be more for you than me."

He chuckled lightly and kissed her lightly on the cheek, before dipping his head a little more to whisper in her ear,

"I could if you want me too... I could smell of leather all over."

Briony smiled and shook her head, grabbing her stuff and walking out of the shop making a mental note to pay for the ice cream she waited patiently outside for Richard to come out. When he did so she playfully tugged his hair and pulled him off in the direction of the ice cream parlour, she was looking forward to this part. She was kind of hungry too and ice cream would just make the day better!

"Ice cream now, that makes everything better."

(OOC: Would you make the thread in the ice cream place?)