*~~strike a match and let it burn (Ian/Juliane)

Juliane stepped out of her shop with a bag hanging over her arm. She used her free hand to lock up the shop behind her and stepped out into the bustling streets of Valfirdu. It was that odd time of the day when you weren’t sure whether it was the afternoon or the evening. The air was nippy, on the verge of being frigid, and naturally Juliane was dressed for the weather. Her fire-red hair was down in smooth waves and her crystal-blue eyes were bright as ever. The nippy air gave her pale cheeks rosy tint. She straightened her scarf, took in that cool, fresh air, and headed towards Owlton.

Juliane held her head up high and her shoulders back as she walked. There was nothing worse than taking away from the outfit with bad posture. Juliane’s already-long legs were made longer by her boots. Her outfit was carefully constructed and while she didn’t mind wearing her own creations, she enjoyed supporting the work of other designers.

By the time Juliane had gotten to Owlton, it had gotten significantly darker. She usually closed the shop early on Saturday nights so she could have the night to herself, but the particular client was a big one. One that Juliane didn’t want to lose and if that meant running special-order robes to the inn where her client was staying on a Satuday night herself, then so be it.

Juliane was surprised by how much more crowded the streets of Owlton were than the streets of Valfirdu. The thing was, people were carrying car keys and wristlets instead of wands. Juliane was uncomfortable around all of these muggles. She felt like she was walking through the town with the word WITCH branded on her forehead. Her already-flushed cheeks were burning bright red by the time she arrived at the inn. She delivered the package directly to the hands of her client, waited patiently as they were tried on, and made the appropriate alterations before returning to the crowded streets of Owlton.

At this time, the sky was completely dark. Streetlights were all that illuminated the streets, rather poorly. It seemed like the night crowd was just beginning to emerge. The streets were getting less crowded, but the pizza joint, restaurants, movie theatre, and other fine establishments were beginning to fill up. A part of Juliane was curious to see what muggle nightlife was light, but mostly she was freaked out about being alone around all of these muggles. Maybe she took a wrong turn somewhere, maybe she didn’t know where she was going to begin with, but nothing about where Juliane was from seemed familiar. She could’ve easily turned back to the lights coming from the night club and cinema, but she wasn’t sure how to act around all of those muggles. She wanted desperately to pull her wand out and light it up to get a better look where she was going, but she knew that would get her into far too much trouble. Juliane paused and whipped around, hoping for a sign of what to do next.

Ian hadn't been sneaking up on the woman, but he supposed it would probably look like that if she took the time to wonder why he was so close behind her now. Well, technically he was in front of her, wasn't he? He gave an easy smile. "Hello, there," he said, letting his eyes take her in. "I don't believe I know you, are you new in town?" As though he had been there for more than a few months, anyway.

He was dressed...as though he was clinging to summer with all possible strength, like if maybe he wore loose, distressed jeans, a vintage shirt, and ragged flip-flops in the cool weather summer would come back just for him. He wasn't nearly as well put-together as she was, though he definitely didn't look like he had just rolled out of bed and put on the first things he touched.

Normally he stayed out of the muggle town, but tonight he had been considering heading to the club to see what it was like, something he hadn't done since he first moved here. He highly doubted that it was anything the same during the school months, since the younger teens would, hopefully, be gone away.

Juliane blinked and turned her head slowly to see who had snuck up on her. Or at least that was what she assumed they did. She kept a straight face even though inside she was freaking out more than ever. She was stuck on a dark street in a strange town. Relax, she told herself. After all, she still had her wand…even if she wasn’t supposed to use it. The guy was probably a muggle, a harmless little muggle. There was no need to panic. In fact the more she thought about it, the more the butterflies in her stomach settled down.

Juliane showed off one of her sweet smiles. “Is it that obvious?” She asked, letting her guard down. She trusted people easily, or at least she pulled off the impression that she did. Maybe it wasn’t that she trusted them so much as it was that she was simply friendly towards them. It was a habit she picked up somewhere along the way when dealing with customers. “Actually, I’m not from here.” She answered in her smooth voice. “I’m just visiting an old friend.” It was almost true. She had been helping this client long enough to have established some kind of relationship that touches the line between client and friend.

“I take it you’re not?” Juliane asked for the sake of conversation. She was a bright little witch and could find the obvious truth easily enough, but she always felt it necessary to give whoever she was talking to the chance to present themselves. “I’m Juliane, by the way.” She said, not forgetting her manners. She forgot about any apprehension she had towards the possibility of this guy being a muggle, at least for now.

"No," Ian said, shaking his head. "I've been on the islands a few months. My name's Ian." He held out a hand to her. She didn't look like the kind of girl that would be offended at a handshake, but she did look like the kind that would give him a slap across the face if he tried any other way of greeting her.

He rarely thought about whether the people he met in the area were wizarding or muggle folk, he figured it was to his best interests to be nice to everyone and hopefully it meant he wouldn't have to worry about enemies. Enemies were not conductive to a stress free living and working environment. "You have a beautiful name."

Juliane eyed the hand he offered to her for a second. At first, she wasn’t sure how to accept it. It was rare when someone held out a hand for her to shake, but then she realized that she was making a bigger deal out of it than she need to. Juliane shook his hand, making sure not to crush his fingers all the same. “It’s nice to meet you, Ian.” She said, meeting his gorgeous green eyes. Had her cheeks not already been flushed from the chilled wind, they would have turned a rosy pink. To her luck, her blush was not anymore noticeable that her already rosy cheeks.

“Thank you.” Juliane said, her eyes brightening. She never quite knew how to accept a compliment and she felt that when she gave a simple thank you, she wasn’t quite showing the appreciation she should. It was the first time anyone had complimented her on her name. Usually they just pronounced it wrong and while it used to annoy the stuffing out of her, over the years she’s come to accept it. She realized that while most things that ended with an e were pronounced with that final e silent and that it was only natural for a person to see Juliane and pronounce it as Julie-Ann when it was actually pronounced as Julie-Ana. “That’s sweet of you to say.” She added with complete sincerity.

“Ooh, the islands. How exciting!” Juliane said. She pictured clear blue skies, a warm sun, white sand beaches, and turquoise blue waters. Somewhere in the background there were tropical birds chirping and the sound of palm trees swaying in the light breeze. What she had the hardest time picturing was just how warm the sun was. It was hard to picture such a thing when the air was biting at your nose. “What brings you here?” She asked. If she ever went to the islands, she wasn’t so sure she would ever be able to leave.

"School athletics," Ian said, flicking a glance in the general direction of the school. If she was a muggle she could assume he was on some kind of retreat, and if she wasn't she would probably catch the subtle hint. At least he hoped so. "I came here, to the town, thinking about heading to the club." It was just another perk of the school that there was a club so close. He loved the islands, loved being out on the ocean and having the freedom to go to the beach whenever he wanted to, even if half of the beach was hidden half the time.

Here eyes followed the direction of his glance. "Ohh." Juliane said with a slight nod. She was almost positive she knew what he was talking about. The unfortunate thing about Juliane was that she almost always second-guessed herself before she even made her up mind about what she was thinking. "I own a shop." She said, narrowing her eyes. "In the town I'm from. It's called Valfirdu." She said, hoping for some kind of reaction. If he was, in fact, a muggle he would probably think she was from some part of the country he had never heard of and that would be that. If he wasn't a muggle, well then perhaps she would be able to tell by his reaction alone. "I didn't even know they had a club here." She said. If she really thought about it, she must have passed it along her trip, but it wasn't something she noticed right away.

"Valfirdu's a wonderful place," Ian said. "I'm the...ah...team coach." Even if she knew what he was talking about, they didn't exactly need to risk saying anything that a muggle could overhear, not that they would understand what they were talking about. "Want to come with me?" he asked. "I'll buy you a drink." If she owned a shop he highly doubted that she would be off-limits for him. No, he wasn't planning anything, but what reason was there to not offer a drink to a pretty lady?

Juliane's eyes scanned the area around them quickly, trying to pick out a pair of muggle eyes lurking. She let her lips curve into a wide grin as if even if there were muggles around, she knew a secret that none of them would ever know. Of course she knew what team he was talking about. After all, she did provide them with the proper robes.

Juliane's eyes met his again. She was caught off guard by his offer. It had been a while since any guy had asked her out, not that he was asking her on a date or anything, but she wasn't expecting it. Her first thought was that she wasn't dressed for it, but she reminded herself that she could be with just a few simple adjustments. "Uhm..." Juliane said slowly. It's not like she had anything else planned for the night. She was going to head back to the shop and work on some cut-outs, but there was no harm in putting those off for now. She wasn't much of a drinker, since she saw first-hand how alcohol can change a person, but she allowed herself to indulge every once in a while. "I'd love to." She decided, finally.

"Well then," Ian said, gesturing in the direction they needed to walk. "Let's go." He hadn't come expecting to find a date, if it could eve be considered a date, but he wasn't about to turn down the opportunity. "So, Juliane, what do you sell in your shop?" He probably could have been more social than he had been being, but even after the months he had lived here, he was still getting settled in in some ways.

Juliane began to walk in the direction he gestured, alongside of him, of course. The heels on her boots echoed in the street with every step she took and she suddenly wished that she had chosen to wear her quieter leather knee-highs instead of the ankle boots she was sporting. She was the kind of person who would silently worry about something like that. On the outside, she stood tall in a carefully constructed outfit. On the inside, she was worried about the slightest flaw that to others might not even seem like a flaw.

"Clothes." Juliane said simply. "Robes, mostly. Sometimes even for teams." She added, raising a brow. She wondered if he would even make the connection. She didn't really expect him to. She suspected his mind was more on the game and less on what the players were wearing. Juliane was more concerned about the outfits. Not with the team, but with practically the whole world. When a person walked by her on the street, one of the first things she ran her eyes over was what they were wearing. Most of the time, she did it unknowingly.

"I should have guessed that one," Ian said, letting himself have a look over Juliane. "Aren't robe makers generally old women?" he teased, sliding his hands in his pockets. He gave an easy smile before he let his gaze turn forward again. There wasn't much he was interested in taking seriously, and he wasn't really afraid of saying the wrong thing.

Juliane grinned at the joke. "Aren't coaches generally retired old fat men living their dreams through the present youth?" She shot back with a teasing smile. It was all in good fun, of course. All of her professors in her design courses had been older and so had been the very woman she took her internship under, but they must have been young at some point, right? Juliane shivered at the thought that one day she would be one of the old-lady robe-makers that they were at present. She had hopes for her business. She planned on making it so much more than just a robe shop. One day, people would be gushing to wear a label with her name on it.

Ian chuckled. "Okay, you got me there," he said, glancing over at her again. "I happen to not have any need to live my dreams through the present youth. I could be on any team I wanted." So maybe it was a little exaggeration, but he really didn't see any reason to go off and play for a team, the benefits didn't seem to outweigh the cons. He was done with travelling.

Juliane smiled and nodded, but bit back the response that wanted to escape from her mouth. If that's so, then why aren't you? It was easy enough for her to question things like this in the comfort of her own mind, but she would never dare to say anything of the sort out loud. Not unless she was provoked, of course. Juliane was a nice person. She tried not to judge people, though sometimes she failed miserably, and she always gave people the benefit of the doubt. She worked hard for her business and knew enough to know if she was being scammed. She did what she needed to do in order to protect her business, but other than that she had a soft heart. "If you wanted to be on any team, which team would you choose?" She asked. She knew a little bit about Quidditch from what she's heard from her brothers: two die-hard fans, but she didn't know much else of the sport.