Beautiful Day (James/Mel)

[James Jackson]

He curled his hand around her wrist as he led her through the crowd of people. If he let go, he would surely lose her, so he tightened his hold and pulled Mel closer. They'd just arrived at the River Styx, James had already drank a fair amount of firewhiskey (maybe apparating hadn't been a very bright idea, but it was fast and he hadn't splinched himself, or Mel), and his world was pleasantly fuzzy.

"What can I get you, dollface?" he asked her when they reached the bar, turning around to lean against it and face Mel.

If you thought of it, it might have been strange. He went clubbing with his little sister's best friend. But she had also been his friend for years, it wasn't strange at all. James brought his hand up to comb his fingers through his slightly sweat-soaked hair. The last club had been even more crowded, he liked this one more.

[Melanie McKinnon]

Mel let James pull her through the crowd, every now and then bumping into someone else in the crowded room, but that was how she liked clubbing, crowded and loud.

When they reached the bar she immediately propped herself on a stool. "Fuck my feet hurt, who the hell created these bastards?" she motioned towards her heels, but grinned up at her friend. James might be a bit older than her and also Ari's brother, but Mel had never found it weird hanging around him, it had always just kind of been like that, you know? She could barely remember a James-and-Ari-less time.

"Dollface?" she repeated, giving the blond man a look. "You know that is just terrible... but you can get me a firewhiskey, pumpkin!" she crossed her legs and tried to resist the urge to kick off her shoes, she knew that in few minutes the pain would be gone but for that to happen she had to keep them, besides no one takes off their shoes at a club. "Would ya trade shoes with me?"

[James Jackson]

James grinned as Mel picked up his nickname. He had a lot of them in his dictionary and he was not afraid to use them. He turned to the bartender and ordered two firewhiskey, before asking him to leave the bottle on a second thought. It wasn't as if he couldn't pay for it. Might not be very good for the health, but James honestly didn't care.

Before he picked up his glass he leaned down and removed both of Mel's heels from her feet. He broke off the heel of the first shoe and then the second one before handing them back with a wide grin. "There, now you can walk around like a normal person. I would have traded with you, but those shoes aren't really my size," he slurred, picking both of the glasses off the counter.

"Your firewhiskey," he informed her, holding it out for her to take.

[Melanie McKinnon]

Raising her eyebrows, the blonde let James dress her out of her shoe, wondering what the hell he was doing when there was a snap sound and before she could react another one and then she had her shoes in her hands, without the heals.

"James!" she shrieked, staring at the shoes. "What the hell, those were expensive! And it's probably not much easier walking on shoes that have had the heals broken off," she rolled her eyes, taking the drink he held out for her. "If I didn't like firewhiskey so much I'd splash it in your face for ruining my shoes, blondie."

She took a sip from her drink, wiggling her naked toes, she probably should have worn stockings or tights but her toes and legs loved to be free. "I cant be bothered to put the shoes back on now that they're off, honestly."

[James Jackson]

James downed his glass of firewhiskey, poured it full again and downed that as well before he got up, walked over to where Mel was sitting and reached behind her to make her wrap her legs around his waist so he could lift her up. She didn't weigh much and he wasn't weak, so it wasn't very hard.

"Grab the bottle, we're going to dance," he informed her, taking her shoes from her hands again and placing them on the counter. They'd be there when they would get back, because be serious, who wanted to heel-less shoes?

[Melanie McKinnon]

Mel finished the last of her drink, giving James a weird look when he placed himself before her. "So what now?" she asked, uncrossing her legs. "You're just going to carry me around everywhere?" she grinned, but did what he wanted anyway and wrapped her legs around his waist, not even giving it a second thought that she wasn't even wearing tights.

She grabbed the bottle and took a large swing from it. "Are you a good dancer Mister Jackson? Because I don't dance with just anyone, especially if they've just ruined my shoes." the woman tried to resist the urge to grin, and lost that battle. She had really hated those shoes, to be honest.

[James Jackson]

"I am, forever," he informed her, grinning widely. James felt his fingers brush against Mel's bare thighs, only then realizing she wasn't wearing anything under her dress. Though, he was too drunk to realize that this was quite inappropriate. "No extra clothing? Kinky," he slurred, grinning as he hold her with one hand and nicked the bottle from her hand, taking a large swig himself before giving her the bottle back and curling his hand around her thigh.

"I am a wonderful dancer, best you'll ever get the honours dancing with," he informed her, hauling her further up his waist as he maneuvered them onto the dance floor. "And you, are you to live up to my brilliance?"

[Melanie McKinnon]

Mel grinned, wrapping her arms around James' neck to make sure he wouldn't drop her, not that he seemed to be having any sort of problems with carrying her around. "I am rather kinky," she replied, her lip curling up in a grin. Maybe if she hadn't had way too many drinks and the music wasn't loud and clouding her judgment, she would've noticed that it wasn't really normal to have your best friend, who was also your best friend's older brother, carry you around at a club, his bare fingers on your bare thighs, but then again she had, had too many drinks and the music was very loud.

Melanie gulped down another sip from the bottle, before she laughed. "Brilliance? Hmm, I look forward to see that. Does that mean you're one of those geeky types that can only do the robot?" she bit the inside of her cheek, grinning. "I'm just fabulous, I've heard my dancing is much better than my cooking. Which then again, I'm not sure if that is a good thing or not."

[James Jackson]

"You are? Interesting," he smirked, bringing one hand up her back as they disappeared into the mass of moving people. His fingers were stroking the soft skin of her thighs without himself realizing this. They got a couple of weird looks, but James paid no attention to them. He had never cared about people their opinion, and he wasn't about to start caring.

"Oh I can do the robot, but I can do so much more," he said with a grin, letting one hand travel up her her back again, resting on her lower back.

"It's not very hard for it to be better than cooking, you're almost as bad as me!" he slurred with a grin as he started moving to the music, arm tightening around Mel's waist. "I'm trying to figure out how to dance while holding you like this," he informed her.

[Melanie McKinnon]

Mel grinned at James, trying to think of any dances she knew to dance and ignoring her fact that he wasn't doing very friend-like things with his hands at the moment, but they were both pretty drunk, so what was the harm? "I know the macarena." she said, nodding her head and holding out the bottle. "D'you want some? I don't think I'm a bad dancer, it just depends of what kind of dance I'm dancing!"

The woman clung to the man, giggling slightly as he started to move to the music. "You're gonna drop me!" she accused, wrapping her arms and legs around him tighter. "I guess you could let me down," she said, quirking an eyebrow. "If you promise to carry me home!" she giggled again, taking another swig from the bottle, it was going to become empty soon.

[James Jackson]

James grinned and took the bottle again, taking several gulps as he ignored the intense burn it gave him. It was quite pleasurable really. He could feel his mind getting more fuzzy after every sip he took. He should probably stop drinking, but he couldn't be bothered.

"I'm not gonna drop you honey," he told her, though it would probably be a better idea to put her down. She'd need shoes for that. Where were her shoes again? Oh yeah, he broke them. Well, then she'd need new shoes. He picked the now almost empty bottle from Mel's hand and downed the last of the liquid before pointing his wand at the bottle and transfiguring it into a pair of shoes. He didn't even know how he managed to do this in his drunk state of mind.

"Here, put these on," he told her, slowly setting her on the ground in the mass of people. "And then dance with me!" he added, grinning.

[Melanie McKinnon]

Mel watched amused as James transformed the empty bottle into shoes, they looked pretty terrible if to be honest, but she was quite impressed. "Those are ugly shoes, Jackson." the woman said, giggling as she was put down. She accepted the shoes and used his shoulder to steady herself while she slipped them on.

"How do I look?" she twirled around, grinning. "They're quite comfortable!" she giggled again, only then really noticing that people were still staring at them, she just grinned at them and turned back to James. "I must dance with thou! So thou can show me your brilliance!" she swayed her hips slightly. "Though, I must apologize if I step on your toes! The first time may be intentional!"

[James Jackson]

"They are quite ugly, aren't they? Sorry, but they'll just have to do!" he said gleefully, watching as the blond put on the shoes. He bended his knees slightly so she could use his shoulder for leverage without having to stand on her toes. The people around them were still watching, and he winked at them. "Never underestimate the Jackson-power," he grinned, wiggling his fingers in front of her face.

"Gorgeous, as always," he slurred, wrapping his arms around her waist as he pulled her against him before the crowd of people around them would manage to steal her away. What would be the fun in that? "Oh my poor toes," he said, pouting as he looked at his feet. "They'll live," he decided a second after, tightening his hold as he started to move them both to the music.

[Melanie McKinnon]

Wrapping her arms around James' neck again, the blond grinned. "You know the music here is really shitty, but I'm going to be a good sport and dance with you, mister Brilliance!"

Mel playfully reached out her foot and stepped down on James' before she grinned brightly at him. "I hope they do live, dead toes are no fun." she'd hate it if her toes died, she loved wiggling them.

The blond stopped moving for a second and let her head fall back, scanning through the crowd - upside down - behind her. "Merlin, what happened to all the attractive people?" she giggled, bringing her head up again and using one hand to brush her hair from her face. "Should I colour it purple again?" she asked suddenly, speaking about her hair. She then giggled. "Sorry, that was random!"

[James Jackson]

"Wonderful, Miss Kinky, I feel flattered," he informed her, hands flattening out over her back. He didn't really feel any pain as she stepped on his toes, but he jutted out his lip in a pout anyway. "My poor toes, all crushed beneath your feet," he said sadly.

"The attractive people are in front of you, not behind," James informed her with a smug grin, shamelessly referring to himself. He tilted his head at the comment she made about dying it purple. What exactly was she dying purple?

"What are we dying purple?" he asked, a little confused.

[Melanie McKinnon]

Mel pursued her lips at the nickname. "You're just full of these aren't ya, honey?" she grinned at his pout, moving her hands over to his shoulders. "I'm not that heavy." she said, matching his pout playfully.

She propped herself up on her toes to look at something behind James. "Where? Attractive people where?" she grinned, excitedly. She then brought her hand back towards her hair and threaded her fingers through it. "My hair. Purple. Again. It wasn't really working last time, but it's gotten longer!" she then moved her fingers to touch his hair. "Or maybe it would work for you."

Mel moved her other hand down from his shoulder and took his hand instead. "Twirl me around Jackson! Time to show some moves!"

[James Jackson]

James rolled his eyes at Mel and wrapped his arms tighter around her waist, pulling her closer to his body as they moved to the music. "I don't think you should dye your hair purple, I rather like it blonde," he informed her, pushing his fingers into her hair, twirling it around them. "It suits you, I like it more than purple," he confirmed, remembering the woman with purple hair. It had been different, but not Mel. He much preferred her blond locks.

When she touched his hair and asked him if he'd do purple, he gasped. "No chance in hell I am painting my hair. It's my trademark. It's staying blond," he told her firmly.

"All right," he said, grinning, twining his fingers with hers as he pulled her further onto the dance floor where they had a little more space. The song was upbeat and fast, and James didn't find it very hard to let the melody take over.

He twirled Mel out before pulling her back to his body and dipping her. He brought his face closer to hers and grinned. "That what you had in mind?" he whispered huskily, breath ghosting over her face as he spoke. He should probably pull her back up. And not have his face so close. Then again, he should probably not even be dancing with her while drunk, but who cared?]

[Melanie McKinnon]

Mel laughed when James twirled her around, feeling lighthearted and dizzy already. She shrieked and grabbed hold of his arms when he dipped her, clinging onto him for life. "I swear if you drop me Jackson-!" she managed out between laughter, before she grinned up at him. "You're alright at this."

She squeezed his arms slightly. "Your breath smells like alcohol though." she grinned, staring at his face. She hadn't gone dancing in a while really, at least not with people that were good at it anyway and never with James. Usually when she went out with James they didn't spend the night dancing with each other.

[James Jackson]

They were too close. Their faces were too close. Why were they that close again? Oh right, James had dipped her. He pulled her up, but then their faces were still close, and he could feel her breath against his lips. It also smelled like alcohol. It really smelled like alcohol. He wondered if her mouth tasted like alcohol. It should take like alcohol. He wondered if his own mouth tasted like alcohol. He wondered when the hell he'd gotten so drunk.

And then he stopped wondering and pressed his lips against Mel's, sliding his hand back into her hair to hold her closer. He wasn't supposed to be doing this.

Just as fast as the kiss started, it ended, because he pulled away the moment he realized what exactly he was doing, and he just stared at the blond with wide eyes.

[Melanie McKinnon]

Mel stared at James' face, he was so close that she was pretty sure that if she moved her head a little her nose could easily touch his. But before she could test that theory, he was kissing her and their noses were surely touching.

Mel found herself kissing back, without a second thought, but when she leaned in to deepen the kiss, his lips were suddenly gone and she opened her eyes to find James staring at her. She swallowed. What the hell were they doing? Why the hell had he kissed her? Why the hell were they dancing? Why the hell...

Oh what the hell, the blonde thought, bringing her arms up again and her hand pressed against the back of James' head and pushed his face towards hers, before she crashed her lips to his again. Might as well do it twice.

[James Jackson]

Before he even managed to catch his breath, Mel had pressed their lips togehter again. He could feel her fingers in his hair and tightened his grip on her waist, pulling her as close as possible, wanting, no needing to feel her smaller frame against him in the mass of moving bodies.

He was surprised at how easy kissing Melanie McKinnon was. He had no idea if it was because he was drunk, or just in general, and at that moment he didn't even care as he lost himself in the kiss until he couldn't breath anymore.

"Come back to my flat with me?" He breathed out, noses still touching and ips brushing as they spoke. The question was out there before he even got to realize what a bad idea it was.

[Melanie McKinnon]

She wasn't thinking, that was for sure, when she decided to continue to kiss James. Her best friend, her best friend's older brother. James bloody Jackson. But for some reason - she was very drunk, the music was very loud - she kept kissing him, letting her fingers play with his hair and her body press against his as her lips moved all too eagerly with his.

When James spoke at first Mel just stared at him, eyes slightly wide before she felt herself nodding. "Okay." she said, running her fingers from his hair down his neck and until they found his shoulders, still gazing into his eyes. It didn't even cross her mind that everything about this night and everything they'd done tonight was very, very stupid and utterly strange.

[James Jackson]

James grinned happily as Mel nodded. He tried to decide what to do next, and he just did the first thing what came to mind. He grasped Mel's thighs again and hauled her back onto his waist, waiting for her to wrap her legs around him again before he set off to the bar, where they'd left her shoes. He somehow remembered he was supposed to take them. He was quite pleased with himself for remembering.

He hooked his fingers through the strips of the shoes and wrapped his arm back around Mel. "D'ya think we can apparate?" he asked, tilting his head to the side. He, however, didn't wait for an answer and apparated them both away, straight to his appartment. He didn't splinch them, but he lost balance the minute they arrived and fell backwards with Mel on top of him.

"Ow," he groaned, letting his head fall back on the hard surface of his floor.

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