Closed And when he's lookin' at me, I wanna get all sentimental

[Elara Chatelain]

Elara had been distracted by so many things that she had missed one of her favorite events at Hogwarts - roses. She had wanted to send roses to her friends and a few to Zay, but the deadline passed before she realized all the notes she'd written sat undelivered on her nightstand. While she was sure she'd give them to her friends, eventually, there were some missed roses she had to make up for first. Having spent the week since arriving back from break discreetly making trips to the cliffs, Elara had spent most of the Saturday setting up the scene. She had hung some string lights from the branches of trees which sat above a blanket laid out, fluffy pillows and some extra blankets, and a basket of food. Around the area on the cliff, she had placed out tea lights on the grass, along with rose petals scattered around. As the sun had begun to set and stars appear, the lights were starting to twinkle from a slight breeze.

As Elara found herself waiting, starting to pace a little, she hoped Zay had actually found her note. She had snuck it into the boys dorm while everyone else was in class by bribing a first year. And it may have not been the smartest choice. But she just wanted to spend an evening with her boyfriend before life got crazy again... and continued to be crazy forever. They had put off talking about the future in a serious manner, and with the pressure the next few years were putting on El, she wanted to be sure of what it held. And all those thoughts led her to sitting on the blanket as she waited, hoping her boyfriend would show up.

Spoiler: note

Date night. The Cliffs. 8 on Saturday.
- El xx

 

[Isaiah Thompson]

Isaiah had been a little surprised when he had found El's note on his bed. Mostly because it had left him wondering how it had gotten there and who she might've bribed to get it in, but also because they normally just made plans for their dates together. So her setting up a date on her own was both surprising and intriguing. Although he was sure that was exactly why she had done it. To surprise him. Which lead him to decide he might as well put in a little extra effort. Like putting on a button-up under his denim jacket instead of a shirt and taking some more time to tame his hair before heading out.

While he was making his way across the lawn Zay stuck his hands inside the pockets of his jacket, squinting when he thought he could see more light than usual upon the cliffs. Lights that become more and more clear the closer he got. To say he was surprised would be an understatement by now. Zay was gobsmacked when he could already notice the effort Elara had put into this from still some feet away. "Hey!" He called out as he walked up to her, a wide grin present on his face when he noticed her waiting for him.

 

[Elara Chatelain]

Elara felt the sun going down and made sure her hand was on her wand. Students weren't really supposed to be up here, and you never knew if something could wander up from the forest. She sat for a while before hearing something coming towards her direction and hoped it was her boyfriend. Thankfully, Zay appeared, and Elara pushed herself up from the blanket.

"Hey," she said, waiting until he got closer to give him a hug. She hoped he appreciated all the effort she'd gone to setting things up, which she was sure he would. She went to take his hand and lead him over to the blanket, taking a seat again. "I'm glad the note made it to you. I wanted it to be a surprise, and I wanted to send roses to tell you and had this whole plan for a scavenger hunt. But.. anyway, I forgot," she said with an apologetic tone. "But I'm just glad you're here. I... wanted us to get some time together away from all that," she continued, gesturing towards the castle. "And to talk."

 

[Isaiah Thompson]

Isaiah beamed when El walked up to him, giving her a kiss on the cheek when she hugged him. Admittedly, he was still taking it all in when she started talking. The lights. Her outfit. Just the general amount of effort she had put into it. He was glad he had at least tried to put in some extra effort into how he looked himself. "I- Sorry, what?" Zay responded when he finally realized he should probably listen to what his girlfriend was saying. Be it with a little delay, his mind started to process what she was saying and he shrugged when she mentioned she had this whole plan but then forgot to send him roses. "It's cool." He smiled. "I mean a scavenger hunt would have been fun, but it's cool. I don't need a rose to know you like me." He added with a soft laugh.

Zay had to admit the idea of getting away from the castle a bit was a good one. Especially with everything coming up. There was quidditch, exams.. graduation. Things he knew he needed to focus on but could get a bit overwhelming. "Talk about..?" He questioned, observing her face for a second. Had he been any less confident that almost might have made him worry, but when he looked at the effort El had put into this he highly doubted this would be any bad kind of talk. Which did made him wonder what she did want to talk about.

 

[Elara Chatelain]

Elara laughed softly when he reassured her that a scavenger wasn't necessary. But she wasn't going to use it to tell him she liked him. Zay was right, that they both knew they liked each other, but Elara had stronger feelings than that. Having only been in this relationship, and being so young in the first place, it had taken her a while to come to terms with what those feelings actually meant. She had never wanted to just give her heart to anyone, having heeded many warnings from her older sisters, not that they were really experts in relationships themselves.

"Nothing bad," she said quickly, hoping he didn't think she brought him up to break up with him or something. Her statement had sounded a tad misleading. "No, I just, well, I had this whole speech planned, and now I can't remember any of it," she added lightheartedly before looking at him. "I wanted to talk to you about after Hogwarts. My dads want me to take on more with the circus this year, as they're pretty keen to step back, and that means I'll be busy. And I just thought that maybe, if you know, it would make you happy, maybe you could come with me. We would get to travel and you could help or not help. I don't know, I haven't really though it all through, but I want you to come with me. Because I love you, and not like just, you know, throwing around the L word, but like, I do love you," she finally said, slowing down at the end after spewing out the previous part in a very word vomity fashion. It had been much more eloquent when she'd practiced her talking points earlier, but in the moment, everything felt wildly important to get out. She looked at Zay, hoping she hadn't freaked him out; it was okay if he didn't want to go travel with a circus. Any sane person probably wouldn't. But she just hoped that he more than liked her, too.

 

[Isaiah Thompson]

Isaiah hadn't been worried and yet he could feel a faint sense of relief when El didn't want to talk about anything bad. It felt a bit like knowing you haven't stolen anything, yet still being relieved when no alarms go off when you leave a shop empty-handed. "Good, I was never one for speeches anyway." He laughed at El's remark, hoping it would somehow make her feel a little more at ease. He could be wrong but it almost felt like she was nervous to say what she wanted to say. Zay wasn't sure what he had expected, but being invited to join her as she travelled with the circus wasn't it. Not because he wouldn't enjoy that, but mostly because he hadn't even thought about what graduation could mean other than the fact that he'd be free to do whatever. There wasn't much time to fully process the invitation as El went on though, grinning when she told him she loved him.

"I think that would be dope." Isaiah responded when his girlfriend had stopped rambling. His plans of looking into becoming a quidditch commentator could definitely wait a little while. Although he wondered what his dads would think of it. Surely, they'd be glad he had any sort of plan at the very least. Plus, it'd be way interesting to see what went on in the circus. "And I love you too." Zay eventually added. He hadn't much to compare it with and wasn't sure he fully knew what it meant, but he was certain what he felt when he was with El was love. A different kind of love than he held for his friends, his family. "Think your family would be cool with having me around?" He grinned. "Also we'd probably have to invite my family at least once because I can already imagine the nagging they'd do."

 

[Elara Chatelain]

Elara felt a sense of relief and laughed when Zay said the idea was "dope," something that really cemented her ease. He seemed much less anxious about any of it than she did, and while she was relatively chill about most things, she thought that her anxiety had actually been warranted for once. "Most definitely. My sisters adore you and haven't even met you yet. Oh, and Arya and her girlfriend like secretly eloped a couple days ago so we're having a party in August. So, you'll have to be there for that. And of course your family is invited. I think your dads and my dads will get along great. I mean, I hope so," she giggled.

Elara opened the basket behind them and pulled out two glasses and some everchanging flavor sparkling juice. They could still be fancy and not drink. Pouring Isaiah one, she handed it to him before making herself a glass. "I know we still have a few things to look forward to before graduation, but I think we should toast. To something," she said. "Here's to passing all of our NEWT exams and putting some final touches on that party you want to have." she added, feeling fairly excited about the idea. "Your turn."

 

[Isaiah Thompson]

Isaiah grinned when El started rambling about her family, glad she seemed way more comfortable now that little serious part of the conversation was out of the way. Although he did wonder what his dads would think of the whole idea. They'd probably be happy for him though, glad he would be doing something after school. "I am pretty adorable." He joked in return, a little surprised when she mentioned her sister eloping. "Oh, for sure. Wouldn't miss a party like that for the world." He grinned, nodding when she mentioned his dads getting along with her dads. Surely, nothing could go wrong with putting them altogether. "I reckon they would. And Kiara would probably just envy you for having sisters in the first place." He added with a soft laugh.

Zay happily took the glass of juice from El before sitting down, happy to toast to something yet grimacing when she mentioned NEWTs. He just hoped he'd pass them, would actually graduate. He quickly plastered his smile back onto his face when she mentioned his party though. Even if he felt like he was running behind on that. "Here's to.. getting out of here." Zay said in a lighthearted tone. "Being able to roam around and figure out what adult life is all about." He added, glad he wouldn't have to do it all on his own.