* for the first time

[acanthus a. macdougal]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 400px; background-image: url(http://i583.photobucket.com/albums/ss279/legendskseeker/oceanbreezebg-1.png); padding-bottom: 20px;] flightless bird so come here, and never leave this place. perfection of your face slows me down, slows me down. so fall down, i need you to trust me. go easy, don't rush me. help me out, why don't you help me out? acanthus had never been one to gripe, but having such a small time frame had quickly begun to get on her nerves. it wasn't as though she couldn't get things done, either -- her professors had been quick to assure the head healer that she was perfect for the job and all that it entailed -- it was the simple fact that acan was a perfectionist, and everything needed time in order to be absolutely perfect. if she had been selling cars, things might have been less stressful. but she wasn't; she was dealing with people's lives on a daily basis, and people tended to be a bit on the grouchy side when they got someone else's medication, or given an enema that should have been given to the sixty year-old man down the hall. yes, things tended to get a bit hectic when imbecile interns didn't do their jobs correctly, but that's what acanthus had signed up for when she accepted the job. which she loved, all mistakes and angry patients aside. aiden loved hearing about all the mishaps that went on during a single day at st. mungo's hospital, and all the people she had to gripe out in a twelve-hour workday, which sometimes lasted longer. but merlin, what she wouldn't give for some things to be different. the worst thing was not having enough time in her schedule to get things done; things that were absolutely necessary in order for her to secure her position as head healer, which she wanted more than anything else in the world. yes, even more than having children. rander wanted children, of course. the two had talked about it quite frequently, in fact -- well, if you consider a month of being engaged and two months of dating enough to talk about having children. it was hard for acanthus to believe that she had only known rander for that long, given how close the two had become. well, merlin, of course they were close. she adored rander, afterall. well.....that was a rather odd way of putting it, really. acan loved rander, as any girl would love her fiance. acanthus had always been a highly logical woman, telling everyone as well as herself that it would take multiple years of knowing someone before she agreed to marry them, if she ever did. but the moment she met rander, well....something happened. it was like one of those cheesy, ridiculous love stories that seemed absolutely impossible to take seriously. but there she had been.....and there he was. rander bedeau. no woman in her right mind could say that he was unattractive -- actually, rander was quite the opposite. it was almost like love at first sight, if she even believed in such a thing. she supposed that she had to now, since it had worked out for her. rander was a catch, and acan was exceptionally glad that she would soon be able to call him her catch. acanthus bedeau. it certainly had a ring to it, didn't it? her mother certainly thought so, despite being rather skeptical of her eldest getting married right out of the blue. as far as her father was concerned, as long as his daughter was happy, he was happy. ramona had taken over the wedding plans, and at the moment acanthus was relieved to not have to deal with any of it. rander had a job of his own as well, so the two of them didn't have much spare time to plan anything. she was supposed to be meeting him in half an hour at the restaurant to discuss wedding details over dinner, but as acanthus glanced at the clock, then at the list of patients that she had yet to see, she knew it wasn't going to happen. walking over to the front desk, acanthus scribbled a note to her fiance, and quickly apparated to the restaurant, her clipboard still gripped in her right hand. spotting the manager, acanthus quickly walked over with the note extended towards him. "good evening, miss macdougal. are you dining with mr. carrow tonight?" acan shook her head. "i'm afraid not. i was actually supposed to meet my fiance here tonight -- mr. bedeau -- but due to work i'm afraid i'll have to cancel our reservation. i was actually wondering if you could deliver this message to him when he arrives?" the manager quickly shook his head with a smile, and acanthus thanked him before apparating back to the hospital. it wasn't long before that thirty minutes had passed, and acanthus cleared herself an hour-long break in order to meet up with rander in the staff break room. it wasn't hardly as romantic as the restaurant they'd had picked out, but for now it would have to do. besides, after they were married they could have as many romantic dinners as they wanted. acan briefly wondered how that would cut in with the time she spent with aiden, but she quickly dismissed the thought. he would probably just fill more of his time with his car, his women, and his other job. she didn't need to worry about him; aiden could take care of himself. he always had, afterall. he generally took care of her as well, but that would soon be over. rander would take care of her, though it wasn't like she was that needy. she could take care of herself, but even she had to admit that it felt nice knowing that someone else actually wanted to, without her asking. aiden did that sort of thing too, but he was her best friend. never more than that, but never any less. acanthus glanced up at the clock, sighing. even if she was his best friend, it wasn't normal thinking about aiden this often, or for an extended period of time. that just wasn't normal, was it? she quickly forced the thought away; if there was anytime that she shouldn't be thinking about aiden, it was when she was around rander. a nurse poked her head inside the door, grinning at acan. "someone is here to see you, miss macdougal." a smile quickly lit up acan's face as she stood from her seat. "send him in." her smile grew even wider once a familiar figure filled the doorway. acanthus quickly walked over and placed a soft kiss upon his lips. "you have no idea how happy i am to see you," she said, her previous smile still as ever present as before. 1155, beth/rander, :]

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TEMPLATE BY KHRISTIAN OF CAUTION 2.0, LYRICS BY IRON & WINE[/center]

[rander k. bedeau]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 350px; height: 380px; background-color:#E3E3E3; border-left: 30px solid #883a2f; border-bottom:30px solid #883a2f; border-top:30px solid #883a2f; border-right: 30px solid #883a2f;] love was sort of a funny thing. most oftentimes it had the power to come out of nowhere and just sweep you off your feet. rander bedeau was the sort of guy that figured he’d fall in love and get married eventually, yeah. but he couldn’t exactly say that he was looking for it when he found acanthus macdougal. when the two of them met, however, it was just like chemistry. an average transfiguration class in college, and then all of a sudden they were dating. rander hadn’t wasted a lot of time with this one. when the school year finished and they graduated, he was headed home to france for the summer, at the very least, when he rashly asked acan to come with. she said yes. it seemed like that was the decision, on both of their parts, that made their relationship much more serious. they were in for the long haul now. rander really fell in love that summer. it was the best of his life, and rander was the sort of person who’d had quite a few good summers in his lifetime. his summers with abigail when he was younger, he thought, would never have been able to be beaten. even his very young childhoods, when he was just a boy, had been nothing but great for rander. really, his entire life had been splendid. but that all changed — for the better — when acan came into his life. now, rander didn’t think he could be any happier for real. just his memories of that first summer... he’d taken her sightseeing in paris first, obviously. that was the one thing any woman had to experience in a trip to france. rander would never have let any woman, let alone one he was falling for, leave his home country without that experience. they’d done it all. shopped in the little tourist places, enjoyed soufflés and a bottle of wine, even taken pictures kissing in front of the eiffel tower. it was those first days that really made rander feel like he was doing something right. and when the rest of their summer was spent treating his girl to anything she wanted while still enjoying himself and having the best summer of his life, rander just knew that she was the one. there was no one else but acanthus that rander wanted to make happy. there was no one else in the world that he could ever enjoy making happy. he wanted to take care of her. he wanted to be there for her. he wanted to get married and have a family and live happily ever after, with her by his side. they would grow old together and become grandparents, laughing and spoiling their grandchildren and then sending them home to their parents. acan would become the head healer (which rander expected to happen quite soon — she was extremely talented and diligent with her work) and rander would hold onto his spot as editor of transfiguration today, and there would be no way that his life could be improved upon. everything would be perfect. everything starting with the marriage. rander was extremely confident that everything about this day was going to be perfect. her mother had already taken over most of the wedding planning, and really, rander was grateful about that. sure, he wanted to make sure everything was done well, but he trusted his soon to be mother-in-law, and besides, time was a little sparse for the newly engaged couple. both of them were working full time, and really, they both had stressful jobs, in their own senses. rander may not be dealing with people’s lives on a daily basis, practically 24/7 it seemed, but his own line of work was definitely stressful enough. getting everything about a magazine perfect and a new issue sent out daily was quite the task, even with magic. rander was appreciative that he had such a large staff to work with, and that most of them, at least, were quite cooperative. no matter where one worked, there was bound to be a coworker or two that isn’t the most agreeable. rander had learned to put up with a lot. either way, though, he loved his job, and he was always happy to some degree when he came home from work. today was no different in that aspect, but really he was even happier than usual. soon he was meeting acanthus for dinner, and they were going to talk about wedding details, finish up their plans. when rander had dressed up and deemed himself presentable, he apparated to the restaurant. he was supposed to be meeting acanthus in a few minutes, but she wasn’t here quite yet. well, rander was a bit early. he settled down to wait for her, but after about ten minutes, he was a bit concerned. he was about to go and check on her, see if he could find her, when whom he assumed was the manager of the restaurant approached, informing him that his fiancé had been there earlier, and had asked him to pass along the message that she wouldn’t be able to make dinner tonight. “merci,” rander answered, and offered the man a friendly smile, before he made his way out of the restaurant and apparated to st. mungo’s. well, it wouldn’t be nearly as romantic as he’d planned, but at least he’d be able to see her. but he.. crap. what were they going to do about the food? with another quick apparating stop, rander nipped into a convenience store of sorts and picked up a few sandwiches. yeah, the romantic factor was definitely gone from this meal, but he couldn’t meet her without having something for them to eat. sandwiches were easy. rander wasn’t the world’s greatest cook, and besides, it wasn’t like they’d have time for any of that anyway. he went back down to st. mungo’s hospital for magical maladies and injuries, using the visitor’s entrance to get inside. he may have visited his fiancé at work before, and more than just a few random times, but it was a hospital. it wasn’t the sort of place that wouldn’t mind him using the employee entrance, and probably for safety reasons. rander stopped at the front desk, giving the welcome witch a smile, quite similar to the one he’d given the manager at the restaurant. “bonjour, i’m here to meet miss acanthus macdougal.” the witch smiled back and stood up, leading him down to the staff room. he thanked her before he stepped into the room, and a real smile lit up his face when he saw her. his beautiful fiancé, his acan. “mon amour,” he murmured before he kissed her back gently and lovingly, a hand resting on the small of her back for a moment. “busy day, i see,” he commented, dropping his hand and setting the sandwiches and juice down on the table. “i didn’t pick up much, but... i knew i couldn’t come empty-handed,” rander said, a sheepish smile flitting across his face momentarily. eh, either way, she was still here in front of him, and he couldn’t complain, sandwiches or not. notes, it doesn’t normally take me this long to reply.. i’ve just been so busy. i’m sorry Dx word count, 1195 thanks brooklyn from caution

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