new in town

This wizard certainly lived a decently muggle life, Kipp was extremely pleased. The problem that Kipp had was the conversion of muggle money into wizard money; there wasn't one. So he had given much of his finances away to various muggle charities supporting the study of history.

"Ah, well I had a license but I've not renewed it in quite some time. It was something my parents insisted I do during one of the summers off from school. My grandparents thought it was silly because, well, I can apparate. And they never let me forget it anytime I drove to teach the muggle children but I felt it was important to keep up appearances. But, it's been a while since I've even been in a car."

Kipp spent many of his days off at the library navigating all sorts of different titles. He rarely left the castle and he felt a sting of jealousy at the thought of Scott having somewhere to go. But he reminded himself that he also had a place to go but he elected not to. He was getting to know the castle well though on the weekends and had never had so much time for reading. Though a cottage where Mort could move freely sounded wonderful - and it was as that thought popped into his head he felt something hop into the back of his chair.

With a brief almost lazy "meow" Mort settled on top of his shoulders. Kipp quickly glanced down at the large dog at the feet of Scott.

"You know, I'm quite the fan of historical dramas and horror films. But I'd say one of the best musicals I've seen on the stage, right and proper, was 'cats'" and he chuckled pointing to the tom cat on his shoulders. "I hope this won't upset Max too much."

"Haven't seen Cats yet, but it's on my list of things to see if I can get tickets the next time I see it's playing. Say, have you seen any of the older horror films? There's this American chap that does some downright stunning things for his time with make up. Chaney---buggar, what is his first name? Can't remember. His Dr. Jeckle took me by surprise. For such an early film, he did some masterful work. I actually like some of the muggle horror films, though I don't find much appeal, personally, in the ones where some strange character races about with saws or blades and kills everything in radius. The more masterful things? Now, those I like."

He watched as Kipp's cat, Mort came and settled himself with Kipp.

"He's quite a handsome fellow, and it doesn't appear he's bothered by Max whatsoever." He looked down at Max and saw Max look up at Mort and yawn. He was far more interested in watching the house elf coming towards them with the coffee tray. The elf uncovered a small cloche and picked up a beef bone and resized it to a large bone and tossed it far enough that it would make Max move away from where Scott was sitting in order to fetch it. Scott released his hold on the leash in order for Max to get his treat. Then and only then did the elf bring the tray that held coffee and two tarts and put it down on the table between Scott and Kipp. Max came back and settled at Scott's feet to gnaw on the large bone.

"Lovely. Thank you so much," Scott said, as the house elf tried to keep a wide berth between Max and himself. "And thank you for the bone for Max. My apologies for his mischief. He will get better as he figures it all out. I promise." The little house elf nodded and hurried away.

"Coffee?" Scott asked Kipp, pouring coffee into one of the cups.

"You and Mort should come with Max and me on the next weekend we both have off," Scott said. "You might enjoy it, and Mort might be able to rid the house of a field mouse that I would really rather not have indoors, quite honestly. Our 'boys' here would be alright at the cottage and we could go get the car. If you feel like driving, I'll let you have a go if you want. License or no, we'll be upwards enough in Sutherland county that I doubt if we'll run into another soul, or at least no one interested in ticketing us. It's largely open and empty road, so it's a good place to put the car through her paces. After all, how much trouble can a couple of wizards in a sports car on the open road get into?" He flashed a boyish grin at Kipp. "You seem like a man of adventure, yes? It could be a good change of pace. There's plenty of room at the cottage. We can leave the car at the cottage and take broomsticks back, I'd wager. I haven't checked the actual distance, but it can't be all that far."

A weekend in the country sounded lovely - he hadn't been to the countryside in quite some time. He took the coffee with a smile and sipped it slowly careful not to burn his tongue. He was terrible for doing that, the elves made such good coffee. He rubbed under Mort's chin and he felt the familiar rumble on his shoulders followed very quickly by the sound that signified happiness.

prrrr

"Gosh, I'd love a break. I feel like I've been moving at a near unstoppable pace for long time. It's sort of in my nature to just, keep going. I've always got some study going on or a book I've been reading." he said between sips of his coffee. He took a bite of one of the tarts, delicious as always.

Perhaps driving was an adventure for another day, however. Especially in something as nice as a sports car. He gave Mort the last bite of his tart and felt the cat begin to kneed his claws into his shoulder. He winced slightly but he was used to it. Now, broomsticks he was alright with having played on the Gryffindor Quidditch team many years ago; Keeper. "I could do broomsticks but I'm not too sure about a car at the moment. Maybe start me off again in something a little more introductory; it has been quite a while. But I'd be very interesting in joining you at your cottage. Do you have a library? I have a portable one I could bring if not."

"You sound like you are sorely overdue for a change of pace," Scott told him, sniffing the coffee in his cup before he took a sip, and completely savoring the fresh roasted flavor. "I need to find out which elf makes the coffee because this was made by an elf who certainly knows what good coffee should be. This is heavenly. I might need to bribe this elf on a regular basis."

"It sounds like the cottage might be just what the healer ordered," Scott said. "It always has been for me, anyway. It wasn't worth much when I found it. It was abandoned for a long time, and it took me awhile to find anyone that would even claim it. They were happy to get rid of it, and I had to do a lot of restoration work. Now I'm down to refurnishing some old pieces of furniture to add to it. The barn has good bones, and it makes a great workshop for all sorts of projects. In fact, the last thing I refinished were some bookcases and an old drop front desk. In answer to your question about a library, I have a room that I've designated as a library, and that's where the bookcases and the desk all are, along with some crates of books. Is it all assembled yet? No. I suppose a good sorting charm would work it all out in a jiffy, though. Most of the rest of the rooms have been sorted so they're livable sense, and the larder is stocked. When I plan to come home, I usually send an owl ahead to a neighbor of mine that goes daily to the local farmer's market, and he stocks me with fresh things. I pay him monthly, and he looks after the place for me while I'm gone.

"The last I was home, he left me an old book with old local lore in it. There's a legend about my property, oddly enough. Some business about an old sorceress who fell in love with the son of a wealthy merchant. When the young man's father found out his son was in love with a witch, he sent his son into hiding, and the sorceress supposedly killed the merchant and made off with his fortune. Legend has it that she left it somewhere in my woods. Probably all poppycock, but I keep saying I might need to take a more careful walk in the woods and see if there's something to it.

"Come to think about it, it doesn't sound bad. A weekend away from the castle, perhaps cooking some fresh fish over an open fire--enough for us and our 'boys' here, a run in a speedy car, and a wee harmless treasure hunt, and some quiet time with your portable library. Just about sounds like a perfect weekend. I'm looking forward to it already."

(I'm winging the entire local legend/treasure thing. we can do anything we like with it, or not at all. whatever you want.)