An attempt at Normality (Jake+Mari)

"Sorry, I just don't want to push too quickly."
"I know" she nodded, "Trust me, I'm not going to thrust myself into the world. I'll be careful. Someone's got to make sure you don't worry yourself to death." she quipped with a wink.
At his raised eyebrow and frankly somewhat horrified look she laughed, "Jeez Jake, I'm joking. Merlin. Look how fine I am, I'm even joking. That's new. I don't usually, but today I am. So today was good. And yes, I do need to go grocery shopping. But I also need to function in a crowd. And I need to be stable enough for missions. I don't want Professor Clement to notice any of the..." she bit her lip searching for a word to describe her state, "mess...in my head. I don't want to lose my chance because I can't deal with life. So relax. I'm going one step at a time. I promise." the witch said sincerely, leaning comfortably against Jakes shoulder, using her friend as a pillow. Merlin, trying life was exhausting.

Marilyn was so exhausted se pretty much dozed off then and there, waking up periodically. She was awake to greet his mother and was much more at ease after she'd reassured her of how welcome she was. And once again to greet Jake's father, whom she already knew because he had been her first ministry contact after her escape.
After that she'd dozed off again, only waking up to Jake's gentle nudging to go to bed.
The witch had nodded and followed Jake up to her room at the top of the stairs where she said goodnight before turning to change and sleep, her things all in her bag in her hands.

Marilyn had awoken about half an hour before jake knocked and was in the process of getting ready. Avoiding the mirrors as usual she just pulled her curls into a sleek ponytail and pulled on some athetic clothes so she'd be all set for flying later, a windbreaker covering most of her scarring.
So that was how she came down into th kitchen with a small smile and a "Good Morning" all around and sat down, joining the others in eating. She still didn't each much, but she ate enough.

"Sure, I'm ready." Marilyn thanked his mom for breakfast and followed Jake out, grabbing her tiny bag and putting her wand in the designated inside pocket of her jacket.
Soon she was standing in the hall, double checking herself to see if she had everything and biting her lip, because she was a little bit nervous. The witch had no idea what to expect. Flying was something she'd always avoided in school, simply because she'd been drawn more to other activities. Now there was no getting around it. And she wanted to be able to fly.
It was just a slight fear of the new. But Jake was there and he was going to help her so that relaxed her a bit.

"See how you get on with that, then build. I won't show you anything complex because that gets scary. But turns, different speeds, heights. We'll cover that today."

"I do this if I remember correctly..." She put her hand over the broom and said "Up."
It bumped up a little. So she focused a bit more, "Up." It hovered closer to her hand, very slowly, until it was in her hand. Marilyn sighed in relief. "Oh good, I was afraid it was going to whack me in the face, like when my sister first did it." she laughed.
"Do you always have to summon it? Everytime you ride?" the witch asked.

As he explained the witch nodded, her eyebrows furrowed slightly in concentration, biting her lower lip. then she gripped the broom with two hands and took a deep breath as she mounted it, both feet still firmly on the ground and wondering if perhaps a firebolt was not a broom for complete beginners, however as Jake had reminded her. he was there.

This fact was oddly not comforting during the first few seconds of pushing off. She had indeed taken his advice to heart and very softly pushed off, but obviously this was a broom that wanted to fly and it hook her about six meters off the ground to a steady hover.
Her next thought after the initial uneasiness was whether or not she could put a cushioning charm on a broom because bloody hell that stick was uncomfortable.

Her shoulders still quite tense she turned her head to look at Jake questioningly, "And Now?"

Marilyn let her friend adjust her position and tried to relax more. "Little tense, feels weird to have no feet on the ground." she nodded at the next instructions and gently pushed forward which just made her tilt slightly forwards about two inches. "Okay a little bit more..." she bit her lip and eased forward a little bit more. And she moved about one foot and came to a jerky stop.
"Okay well at least now I know I'm a nervous flyer." she shook her head, sighing, unfortunately, leaning back seems to translate to 'back it up' and she suddenly went back about four feet.

"Tell that to the broom" she laughed, steadying herself. Then the Auror in training (a dignified position, she told herself, despite how utterly undignified she felt) leaned forward a little bit more, her broom scooting forwards in little spurts,then smoothly moving for two meters.

"is this...in any way...right?"

Marilyn smiled at his reassurement and nodded.
Then she tried to lean to turn around to Jake and ended up tipping over, luckily her legs were locked up to the broom, hands tight on the broom, clinging to her broom.
"Jake...this is...not right." the witch voiced from her upside down position.

Marilyn remained quite composed (a proud moment for the aspiring auror) when she was pulled onto Jake's broom and managed to not even bristle at his hold on her. It was Jake, she though, of course he'd be gentle. Nothing to worry about. And now her chances of falling were zilch. And it was much warmer now, and safer. Mari focused on the 'safety' aspect for a few minutes, while Jake was steadying them, and managed to remain completely calm.

"If you just hold on, I can show you how it's done, so that you can feel the way you need to shift your weight to turn, speed up, and everything else."

She nodded silently, lips parted slightly from surprise still as she was really not used to close contact. And now she was remembering why she avoided it. Suddenly she was hyper conscious of everything, body heat, the way she was breathing, the way she was moving, the way he was moving- it was a sensory overload waiting to happen. So she used every ounce of auror-esque discipline she had and focused utterly on how he was moving the broom to get it to work and she realized she was going to need a lot of practice.
It was...unlike anything she'd ever experienced. When she had flown it had been jerky and awkward and, honestly, rather un-magical. But now flying with someone who knew what he was doing...a whole new world.
It even brought a smile to her face and when they were finished she stood in front of him on semi-shaky legs with a grin on her face and windswept hair.
"That was...amazing."
So they agreed to find a day to give it another go and, as per usual, he apparated to her apartment with her and made sure she was safe before leaving her again.

And that night she decided to perhaps skip the dreamless sleep potion and try that on her own as well.