Closed Can we just be happy now?

[Elio Zephyr]

Elio longed for the evenings that he got to spend them doing something with Rowan, although he couldn't doubt he thought he'd made a good choice in their arrangement. Having time to themselves was beneficial, even though he missed the life out of the Gryffindor, but ultimately maybe that meant that when they were together their time was much more precious and focused on what was most important. Tonight they were free to be themselves and update one another on what was going on in their lives, and after classes Elio had been excitedly waiting to find out how Rowan was getting on with her new friends, and to find out more about how her rekindled close bond with Elsie was going. The twins had always been close as far as Elio was aware, but recently Rowan had mentioned spending even more time helping her sister out. They'd invited Elsie and Agnes along to join them in the gardens too, in the hopes that things would be a little more relaxed in the group than if they didn't. Elio saw the was Agnes still glared at him from time to time and he partly wanted to put her mind at ease, even if it was with just becoming her friend, and besides he didn't want Rowan to miss out on another night she could spend having fun with her sister when they were clearly both working hard during the week. Astronomy had proved that. ​

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The prefect had slipped his hand into Rowan's on the walk down from the castle, feeling as though this was the one chance a week he had to show her properly that even with everything going on between them, she was still his main priority and he wasn't about to waste his time beating around the bush with her. She knew what she meant to him, but that didn't stop Elio wanting to prove it. As they walked, he was filling her in with the recent episode with Onyx too, since it was probably one of the more important things that had happened to him since they last spoke. "And it just felt, wrong you know? I'm sure he's a great person to be friends with, but I can't help him. He said at one point that I should have kissed him because, and I quote, no ones paid you enough attention recently. I mean seriously! I don't care if he thinks I have no bloody friends which in itself is stupid because c'mon have you seen me, but what did he think that was going to win me over?" Elio was having secondary anger from the whole experience as he relayed it. "So that blew that completely out of the water," he wasn't sure exactly what that was, but it had confirmed a couple of things for him in his head. Elio went on to tell Rowan that he'd shot away at him touching his hair, something strange considering how much he really quite liked it when his friends did it, and how he was really quite grateful that a first year didn't end up needed to squeeze through in the few minutes they'd been talking in the stairwell. "I'm not having him attached to my hip thank you very much. I wanted to figure myself out not get tied up with someone else's issues in the meantime." Elio knew that it probably sounded selfish of him to say so, but that's what he had to be a little of if he was going to do this, at least for now. There was nothing that Elio felt he could give to Onyx after their last encounter. Of course he'd never have said the same thing about his own friends, although putting his friends above himself wasn't unusual and as such if they needed his help of course he'd get involved, but that didn't mean picking up the pieces of a Gryffindor that wanted his attention in ways Elio now knew for sure he wouldn't be able to do. "What about you? You had any interesting experiences with someone yet?" he asked, curious to know if and who'd she'd chosen to approach. "I mean asides from me, obviously," he teased, moving them out of the way of the newly planted pumpkin patch.​

 

[Rowan Baros]

Rowan had missed Elio and that was a fact. She couldn't believe how long it had taken to get to Friday. She'd basically counted down the hours until she could leap onto Elio and just hug him so tight she thought she'd heard her arms pop out. Luckily they hadn't though and even if she'd been finding ways to occupy herself, it was nothing on being with Elio. Even in class she always just looked for him everywhere she was. She would seek him wherever she was, so it wasn't like she was without him completely. Of course she had to remember that they had boundaries for a reason and honestly, she was starting to feel a bit okay about it all, especially since she had times now that she could look forward too, she could experience things on her own. It wasn't that Elio didn't push her when she needed it, but sometimes he didn't push her because he agreed with her. This way, she was challenging herself and her own beliefs by getting to know other people. She even, maybe, had a duck walking partner, which would be cool if Ilija actually mean what he'd said. For the most part she'd been hanging out more with Elsie, so having Elio around was a blessing so she could maybe get away from the dancing a little. Elsie was a hard task master that was for sure. She had assignments and everything, which weren't that fun. Honestly she was beginning to remember why she'd given it up in the first place, since she had never enjoyed the more technical aspects of dancing. Still, she knew she wasn't going to let Elsie fail, how bad of an older sister would she be if she let that happen? She would never let anything happen to Elsie. She'd protect her sister with her life! She was a little tired tonight, granted not as tired as she had been for Astronomy, since that had been five hours of an intense work out that her body just had not been up for at all. But she knew she would get used to it. Elsie was all toned and firm as she should be, Rowan had some toning to do if she was going to catch up. Of course she knew her body would never be exactly like Elsie's but she didn't have that much in the way of body issues, she was lucky in that regard. She'd always had really supportive people around her and been pretty active, so it made sense. She was sure Elio would never allow her to feel bad about herself, and she often did the same for him, it was mutually beneficial vanity, really. A little vanity never hurt anyone!​

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Her hand in Elio's felt right. She couldn't imagine how it could ever feel bad. Elio was the person she loved more than anything else in the world, she would never feel the way she did about Elio for anyone else and though that made things complicated for them, she would never want to change anything. It wasn't ideal, maybe it never would be, but it was currently they best they could do whilst they both discovered themselves. She slipped her other hand loosely onto his arm, holding herself close to him. She was pressed right up against his arm, which was probably a little bit awkward for him since he was so much taller than her, but, she couldn't help it. It was hold herself against Elio, or march right back up to the Gryffindor tower and punch Onyx in the face for upsetting her boy. How could anyone say those things to her Elio? Honestly. Rowan pouted up at him, as she felt the anger at the situation rolling off of him, running her hand up and down his arm in some semblance of comfort. She'd certainly not had quite as interesting as week, but she did have a couple of things she knew she would be able to tell him about when it came up. She scrunched her nose at the mention of Onyx moving to touch Elio's hair. Honestly, that annoyed her a little bit. Elio's hair was perfectly set and she liked it this way unless she messed it up, as his best girl it was absolutely her job to do that. She might have stroked his ego often, but there was a certain way it had to be done. She leaned her hear on his shoulder as they walked, though once they got somewhere to which she could reach his hair, she was absolutely messing it up. She didn't want to be jealous and she wasn't really, she didn't mind all the much that Elio was flirty with people, or that people were flirty with people, because that was just a part of who he was, she was used however by the fact that Onyx had upset Elio and said horrible things whilst doing it. Honestly. Onyx obviously knew that Elio had friends, he knew about Ava surely and herself and probably Elsie she would have to imagine, at least, so he got plenty of attention, maybe not the kind of attention Onyx might have actually meant (which Rowan had no inclination to correct Elio on what Onyx might have intended - let him think what he thought) but certainly plenty of attention. Rowan may not have specifically like Ava all that much, or Alice, and now Onyx, but she would have been vastly more comfortable with the girls touching Elio than Onyx, since they wouldn't upset him. No one upset him. "Nor should you, Baby boy, you did absolutely the right thing." She told him, nodding resolutely. She didn't think she'd have been getting quite this much detail if things had progressed, although she may well have too, given they were going for total honesty and he'd given her a pretty good idea of what had happened during his encounter with Chrys. Still, she maybe didn't want that much detail about Elio's life. "No I completely agree, you don't need Onyx, you're a strong independent boy and you don't need no needy teenagers, baby." There, that should do it. She smiled lightly when he asked her what she'd been doing. "Well, actually, apart from hanging more with Elsie and Zennon, I met someone," she said thinking back to the talk with Ilija. "Well, I make that sound more dramatic than it is. I ran into that Hufflepuff Ilija from Divination. I've adopted him as my new duck walking buddy." She said, looking at him pointedly. She was sure Matilda would enjoy it.​

 

[Elio Zephyr]

Regardless of whether it made it more difficult to walk, Elio loved the feeling of having Rowan on his arm and wouldn't have traded it for anything. He hadn't been entirely sure how things were going to go between them when she about Onyx but it wasn't like he hadn't wanted to tell her. Elio squeezed Rowans hand when she agreed, looking up to smile at her when Rowan said he didn't need anyone. He certainly liked to think that was true for the most part, but independent or not there was still someone he did need. Elio was a little surprised to hear that Rowan had met someone, the indication that he might actually be replaced was one that had threatened them recently anyway, and he wasn't entirely sure how he would deal with the knowledge if the time came that Rowan told him that she wanted to be with someone else. Of course it wasn't like they were actually a couple, but Elio hadn't ever felt this emotionally bound to someone and quite frankly he didn't want it to have to stop and watch another guy take his role. In that second, it was true that Elio was a little jealous, his mind attempting to run away with him before he'd gotten all the facts. He knew he was hardly one to talk, but he was sure that the emotional and physical elements of a partner weren't as separate to Rowan as they were Elio, so in some ways he was worried it was an all or nothing situation. The Gryffindor didn't say anything though, not wanting to influence something he still did believe would be good for her, meeting new people, and he just had to trust that their strange relationship would be strong enough to always find their way back to one another. No matter where they went Elio was never going to just stop caring about Rowan, and he would have done everything and anything for her if she wanted it, she only had to say the words. A grin spread on his face when she told him Ilija was her new duck walking buddy, "Poor sod," he joked, although secretly glad that it was him of all people. He didn't mind the Hufflepuff, well, he didn't really know him, but he'd seemed pleasant enough in their social circle even if he was slightly on the quiet side. "Was that.. willingly.. or?" he looked down with a chuckle. His own fear of ducks now made that very hard for him, and while he'd accompanied Rowan on a few occasions, he was glad she had someone that didn't jump backwards every time Tilds turned her beady little eyes in his direction. He spotted the others girl up ahead, somehow he and Rowan and already managed to be the slow ones despite having the slight head start. ​

 

[Agnes Baros]

Agnes was absolutely dreading this. So far she was doing everything she could to put Elio out of her thoughts. Sometimes she would end up falling down a rabbit hole of her own panic, wondering what would happen if the Gryffindor spilled their secret, and while she trusted Elsie more than anything in the world, and knew she couldn't let her girlfriend think she was letting her down, the idea of spending the afternoon with the Zephyr boy was terrifying. The only reason she'd agreed was because Elsie didn't get to see her sister as much as she used to. It was true that in the last few weeks they'd been spending more days together which she could see Elsie appreciated, but whenever there was a chance for the twins to be together outside of lessons, Aggie was more than happy to support them. It was just the Zephyr boy she had issue with. "Oh god they're nearly here," she said, spotting the pair walking their way. She turned to Elsie, trying not to panic. Really she knew that there was so reason to be getting this worked up over it, but what would happen if Elio decided he didn't like her, or said something out of place, and chose to turn on her? Aggie could only hope Elsie was right about him.​

 

[Rowan Baros]

Rowan pouted at Elio as he suggested she might have bullied Ilija into joining her on a morning walk. True, she might have bullied him into it, but it wasn't like she'd threatened him, he had absolutely offered of his own will. Wondering if she could get Elio to apologise for suggesting anything different, she frowned and stopped walking. "You... don't think he thought... he wouldn't think I was threatening him... would I?" She asked, trying her best to appear genuinely upset and concerned. She was pretty certain he hadn't actually found her intimidating, considering he'd agreed... sort of, to let her go to his house. "Maybe you're right..." she said quietly, looking down as she let go of his arm. "That makes sense, why would he want to walk Matilda with me anyway, he doesn't even know me, clearly he felt threatened." She said, trying to hide the smile as she looked down. She could see they were coming up one Elsie and Agnes now though and looked up to wave at them.​

 

[Elsie Baros]

It had taken a lot on Elsie's part to convince Agnes that being here would be absolutely fine. No one knew anything, save Elio, though he had no confirmations, and she hadn't said anything to Rowan beyond calling Agnes her best friend, which, really, Rowan should have known better considering she was effectively sort of dating but not dating her own best friend. She shook her head at the thought. Merlin, her sister was thick. Elsie turned to grab Agnes by the shoulder and pressed her forehead to her girlfriends. "Aggie, whatever else you want to think, Elio would never hurt Rowan. He'd rather die, which is exactly how I feel about you, alright? Hurting you, would hurt me, which would hurt Ro, so it's not going to happen. Besides, he's a genuinely nice guy, he'd have no reason to not like you and if he didn't like you, he'd have no reason to cause you any harm." She said, running her hands soothingly down the Slytherin's arms. "I understand you're worried, but there's absolutely no need, I promise you. I promise you everything, remember? I always keep my promises and I promise I'll never hurt you, or let anyone else hurt you."​

 

[Elio Zephyr]

Elio hadn't expected Rowan to take his joke seriously. She always knew when he was teasing her, so as the Gryffindor pulled away and asked if she'd been threatening, Elio was mirroring her frown, "What? Of course not.. " he started, feeling like he'd been slapped in the face when she moved away. The last thing he'd wanted to do was to put her down or make her feel like the effort she was putting in was wasted, "hey no I was kidding," for a moment Elio was genuinely concerned that Rowan was upset, but as she looked down something wasn't quite adding up. "It's easy to see why anyone would want to talk to you, honey, you have a pet duck for Christs sake," he chuckled. Elio had always found her fun and interesting to chat to, and it had been one of the reasons they'd managed to click so early on. "Ilija's quiet but he's not an idiot," Elio wondered how much that boy really caught on to, but of what he knew of him in class and in their study sessions, Ilija seemed to be aware of more than he usually let on. Elio didn't like this, feeling as though joke or no joke, that he could make Rowan feel bad. He was still watching her as she waved at the girls, not quite sure he wanted to go over to them if he'd managed to make Rowan doubt herself. "I promise, I was just joking," What had this girl done to him? He never usually felt guilty like this.​