(Untitled)

[andraleigh]

Week Name/Date/Time: Meeting of the Minds / Saturday 1st October / 2 pm
Location: Hogsmeade
Open To: Tobias
Currently Involving: Andra

Comments

[andraleigh]

Andra wasn't quite sure if the colour completely drained from her face, or if her cheeks only burned brighter. She was so far past caring at the moment, anyway, because all she could do was put two things together in her mind, two things that were causing her to breathe erratically and fidget uncontrollably.

She didn't tell you anything embarrassing that I'd prefer you find out on your own?

--

He's a good kisser.

Oh, she might as well just go out into the streets, paint a big red 'X' on her forehead, and declare it open season. Someone just kill her now.

She closed her eyes for a second, determined to not stutter when she spoke. She did quite well, if she did say so herself. "N-no, nothing embarassing," she replied, giving him a warm smile. "So no worries." She nodded, then busied herself with opening her own bottle.

As he asked what she'd like to do, she gave him a sheepish grin. "I'm out of Sugarquills," she confessed, taking a long sip and feeling the warmth spread. "I've been out all summer and have just been waiting for this trip. So, if that's okay, I'd like to stop there. Otherwise? Nothing in particular."

[tobias_kingston]

That answer was certainly not as sure as Tobias would have liked it to have been, so he resolved to ask Lauren what, exactly, she'd told Andra about him. It was obviously something more than just if he was a nice guy or what-have-you.

He could only hope that it wasn't anything too terribly embarrassing, though from Andra's reaction, he could only assume that it was pretty bad.

Merlin.

"Okay, then." He decided to just let that subject drop, since she was looking so incredibly uncomfortable with it. Thank Merlin that he'd asked what they should do.

Nodding as he took another sip of the smooth butterbeer, he replied, "Sure! Like I said, I haven't been here in a while, so wherever you'd like to go is fine with me. I'll just trail along after you like a puppy or something."

[andraleigh]

Andra nodded, then looked down thoughtfully to her butterbeer. She had to get a grip; she wasn't ever like this-- well, to be honest, she wasn't ever like this because she'd never really... liked anyone before.

Which was an absolute disaster, she knew; Lauren had teased her about it enough that it didn't sting as much to realize she'd never dated or had a boyfriend. It was merely that she'd never an interest in any of the guys around school. Most of the guys back home had little interest in her because of the fact that she was away all year, and.. well. It all sort of came together to create one pitifully inexperienced seventeen year old.

She didn't even think Tobias liked her in that way, so why was she spazzing over it so much? She took a deep breath, drank a few more large sips, then smiled and looked back to him. "The shrieking shack's always fun," she offered, giving a small shrug. "They say it used to be haunted, but no one's heard anything out of it in a long time."

She felt slightly stupid for saying that; of course he knew the story of the shrieking shack. Why else was it called the bloody shrieking shack??

[tobias_kingston]

Merlin, something was clearly very wrong, but Tobias had no clue whatsoever what that something could be. He was completely clueless when it came to the possible way that females felt over him, so he couldn't even fathom why she was looking so nervous and taking deep breaths and such of that sort.

Maybe it was something that she'd eaten.

"Ah, well, the Shrieking Shack's always on my list when I actually come to Hogsmeade, so we'll put that at the end, yes? I always like to visit it as it's getting dark outside. It makes it feel like it's haunted again, if only for that one moment."

Shrugging as he took another sip of the butterbeer, he added, "Even though it's quite obvious that the 'ghost' is gone now."

[andraleigh]

"Okay," she replied softly, nodding. It was nice that he expected to spend the day with her, she had to admit; she didn't think she'd keep him entertained enough to spend so much time together. But knowing that it was only midday and he planned to go near dark? That was something.

"Too bad it's not snowing," she said absently, gesturing outside. "I always like coming here when it's snowing. Makes the butterbeer better, I think." She laughed lightly, trying her best to regain that easy banter between them.

It was hard. And she didn't like that.

"Er, how was your week?" she asked, attempting again.

[tobias_kingston]

Tobias smiled faintly at mention of the snow. He wouldn't know how the snow affected the butterbeer, really, but it was a rather nice thought. It might even have actually happened; the chill making the butterbeer taste smoother or something. "I bet it does. It would make sense anyway, seeing as the weather affects so many other things."

He took another sip, shrugging lightly. "But I won't get into another babble about the weather. I'm sure I've quite exhausted you on that topic."

Ah, so she did want him to talk after all. When she asked how his week had been, he took another drink from the cool liquid, thinking about it. "Well-- it was quite good, overall. I got an owl back from Mum, which was nice, but she was telling me that I've got too many female friends. That was a bit baffling, but I owled her back saying that I tend to just get on easier with girls, so I hope that will ease her mind. Other than that, it was completely uneventful."

Eyeing her with that same faint smile on his lips, he raised an eyebrow. "And how was your week?"

[andraleigh]

Andra smiled, nodding as he told her about his week. At the mention of his mum's concern over all his female friends, her brow quirked. She wasn't sure whether to wonder if he had so many female friends because he was so good with the girls or if--

She blinked, then shook her head of any thoughts like that. He'd dated Lauren. That was good enough proof for her. She really didn't want to think that he might not be interested in... well, girls.

Eeep.

She looked to him with a smile, then shrugged. "It was okay!" she replied. "I was pretty down earlier in the week, as you knew, but then.. well, things started looking up, I suppose." Her smile was a bit more shy, and she looked back down to her drink with a happy smile. "She was concerned with the amount of female friends?" she asked, grinning as she looked back at him.

[tobias_kingston]

"Well, that's good, then."

Leaning forward slightly, almost conspiritorily, he lowered his voice. Glancing around to make sure that no one would hear him, he smiled brightly and asked, "And I hope that I had something to do with that cheering?"

It would literally make his day to know that he'd picked up Andra's week. He loved being able to make people happier; it made him feel like he had more of a purpose being in this form, in Hogwarts, on the earth.

Grinning as the conversation shifted back to his Mum's concern, he nodded. "Yes. She thinks I don't have enough proper male influence in my life. She's probably worried that I'm -- not interested -- in girls, because I have so many of them as friends."

Shaking his head, he chuckled, drinking some more of the smooth drink in his hand. It was almost gone; he'd need to get another one. "I've never been able to shake her concern."

[andraleigh]

Andra's smile turned more and more genuine, and her cheeks pinkened. "Well.. yeah, you did," she replied sheepishly, picking at the label on her butterbeer bottle. "If you must know."

She grinned, then leaned back, relaxing as he talked about his mum's concern. Her eyes widened slightly, and she gave a rather nervous, sputtering laugh. "Well, that's silly!" she replied, before looking to him, still smiling despite the fact that she'd just wondered the same thing. "Isn't it?"

She had half a mind to say that he should date a bit to prove her wrong; but that couldn't go well. So, instead, she shrugged. "Well, maybe you're just too busy, huh?"

[tobias_kingston]

Tobias couldn't help but burst out laughing (something that he very rarely did) when Andra asked him if it was silly. She sounded almost as concerned as his Mum did!

"Yes, it's silly. I'm..." He forced himself to trail off for a moment, thinking about how to word what he wanted to say. He couldn't very well just say that he was very interested in girls, because he specifically meditated half the time to get girls off his mind.

Desires and all that, you know.

Clearing his throat and finishing off his butterbeer, he set it on the table in front of him, peeling at the label as she was doing. "I'm quite interested in girls." Pausing again, a blush started to form lightly on his cheeks. "But most of the girls that I might be interested in think of me as a friend. Or a freak. Or... perhaps both?"

He looked up as he finished, smiling again. He wasn't going to feel awkward by this conversation. No, not at all. After all, he'd had a very similar conversation with his Mum many times. Granted, that was a bit different, but the words were mostly the same, anyway.

[andraleigh]

Whew.

That was a load off her mind, to be sure.

She was smiling more freely now, listening to him with interest. This was something she could talk about all day! She wasn't being specific or really saying that she might think of him as more than a friend and definitely not a freak. It was all very general.

"You never know until you try, right?" she offered, shrugging. "I mean... some girls might be too shy to come out and say anything. But maybe you are too? I don't know.." She trailed off, then gave a shrug.

She looked down, finally peeling the label completely off as she continued. "Some people are just more difficult with relationshippy stuff." Like me.

[tobias_kingston]

"In that sense, I'd have to say that I agree completely."

The barmaid came over and he ordered another butterbeer for both of them. He wasn't sure how much more she had in her bottle, but if she still had plenty, then she'd just have another one ready for her.

"Lauren was actually the only girlfriend I've ever had, and I was not the one to initiate anything." Tobias wasn't sure if that was the best thing to admit, but it was him, so it wasn't something that he could just lie about. Besides, he didn't want to lie anyway.

Tracing a finger along the grain of the table so that he wouldn't exactly have to meet Andra's eyes, he continued, "So I guess I'm stuck with a bunch of girl friends until I find someone who'll just come out and tell me she likes me. Either that, or until I find someone who I can just be forward with."

[andraleigh]

Agh, that wasn't good.

She watched him, grateful that he was looking down and not at her; had he been, he'd have been able to see her look of complete defeat.

Andra looked down, too, thanking him softly for ordering her drink. Her mind was still wrapping around what he'd said, and it was unnerving. He was stuck with a bunch of girl friends until he found someone who could just come out and tell him that she likes him.

That?

That was not her. At all.

Of course, she hadn't even pondered whether or not she was someone he could be forward with. She doubted it, though; they'd just started being friends not that long ago.

"She'll be lucky," she offered, smiling as she looked back at him. "So here's hoping .." What? Here's hoping you find her? Here's hoping she finds you? Nope, just that. Here's hoping. "Cheers!"

[tobias_kingston]

"She'll be lucky."

That, perhaps, made Tobias blush more than the adorable grin comment had before. That was saying that he was worth that kind of affection from a girl, and while he knew that he was a good person, to hear that he was worth it from someone else?

Well, suffice it to say, he blushed.

"Thanks," he murmured, shifting in his seat and thanking the barmaid as well when she brought the drinks. He assumed that they'd be leaving the Three Broomsticks soon, but another drink wouldn't hurt.

Taking a sip, he cleared his throat. "What about you, Andra? What kind of a... relationship are you in right now?"

[andraleigh]

"You're welcome," she replied, always of the opinion that a compliment was only sincere as the way one received gratitude. To bat her hand and say that it's nothing, or to just shrug and be like, 'Well, it's the truth' would only lessen what she'd said.

She quickly finished her first butterbeer before sliding the glass bottle across the table and gingerly taking the second. She couldn't recall ever having taken the time here to have more than one drink. Usually, she came to Hogsmeade to pick up something, and only stopped to grab one on the way in or out. She rarely sat and socialized; it was nice.

As he asked about her, she sputtered lightly with a laugh. "Me?" she asked, as if completely baffled as to why he'd even ask. She looked up, shaking her head. "I'm not... Definitely not in any kind of relationship," she replied, shrugging. "I've not really been interested in it before... Or rather, the boys that I have been interested in either didn't know or... didn't reciprocate. You know."

[tobias_kingston]

"Really?"

Tobias sounded incredibly surprised as he looked up at her with a curious and wide-eyed expression. He couldn't believe that, so for a moment, he wondered if she was just kidding around. But no, she looked quite serious about that fact.

"I would've thought that any guy would snap you up in an instant, honestly."

Shrugging as he traced the table once more, he realized that he was probably blushing again. He wasn't used to just complimenting someone, because he wasn't sure how she'd take his words.