Closed Letters don't cut it

[Cassius Styx]

Cassius Styx was unsure if Aubrie Dragonova would show up. He did not really give her a reason to. He just asked it, saying that he would get them a couple of hot cocoas in this winter weather at Brightstone. His school shopping was already done so he had some time. And his siblings did not need him to watch over them for anything. They were old enough to go shopping on their own. Cass thought that this might be sort of... Well a friendly date. He would love for it to be an official one, but to save face, he could just say that it was a casual meet up. Cass was prideful after all, and did not want to come off as someone who was too eager. He wanted something with Aubrie but was not sure what it was just yet. For now, he would just take things as they were, since last time he sought someone out, he was betrayed in the most horrible of ways. He never wanted to go through that again. At least if he had to, he had two hot cocoas to himself. He also secretly hoped that if Aubrie did show up, she would not bring any babies along. It might be nice to have a day without children nearby. He was legally an adult anyway.​

 

[Aubrie Dragonova]

Aubrie didn't know what to expect about Cassius Styx. Calling him an enigma would be giving him too much credit, but he was... baffling... to say the least. She hadn't yet asked her mum or Misha about him though she was pretty sure either or both of them would know about him. She wanted to try and figure him out for herself and well, the letters and what she remembered of that one meeting they had painted quite a bizarre picture. Still, she couldn't say she wasn't interested, because she kind of was. Which is how she found herself in Brightstone Village on this cold, winter day. Warming charms would be absolutely heavenly right now, or a hot drink. Thankfully, the place Cassius had chosen was quite known in the area for their hot drinks. She was a little late because she didn't want to seem too eager, and just to make sure that he would be there first - if he wasn't, she was going to leave immediately. She was maybe a little relieved when she saw him as soon as she arrived. "Were you waiting long?" she said by way of greeting.​

 

[Cassius Styx]

Cass hoped that he hid the expression of relief and excitement in his eyes when he saw Aubrie come in. She actually decided to come in and see him. So, the drink, the extra one, won't go to waste after all. She asked if he was waiting long, which he shook his head. "No, not at all. Please, sit down. I got a hot chocolate for you in case you did show up." Cass would definitely understand if she did not want to. It was not like they knew each other well, but he wanted to. Aubrie came from a good family, and she was not a doormat. She was cute to boot. At least he knew that this was not a rebound feeling since he felt the same since he met her the first time around. Without the confusion bit.​

 

[Hinata Edogawa]

The Edogawa household is on lockdown as mandated by her mother so Hinata is most definitely not in Brightstone.

 

[Aubrie Dragonova]

“Were you expecting me to not show up?” Aubrie asked curiously as she took her seat. Sure, she had been unsure about the meeting he’d requested, but she hadn’t really contemplated not showing up at all. At worst, she would have brought a parent to chaperone. She wasn’t really offended as the assumption though, it must have been confusing to ask the daughter of school staff, she knew she would we weirded out by the whole prospect. Still, she was interested enough in who Cassius Styx could possibly be to try and figure him out. She took the cup of hot chocolate, the heat was a blessing on a her frigid fingers. And then she took a sip, and a pleased hum left her lips. Okay so the place did not the disappoint. “These are good.”​

 

[Cassius Styx]

Cass almost blushed at the thought of her asking him if he were expecting her not to show up. He didn't want to say no, or yes. Both could be labeled a loaded question. He thought over his words very carefully, "I was just hoping that you would take up my invite. I didn't want to put any pressure on you." Cass felt that was satisfactory. If only he had the ability to woo women like his dad did. His dad had several women in his past before he married his mother. Wait, did he want to woo Aubrie? Oh no was he heading back into that? He didn't want to get his heart broken - again. Now he just felt like an idiot. Probably because he could act like one when he did not think first. "Oh, please, sit. How are your little twin brothers?""​

 

[Aubrie Dragonova]

It was amusing to think that he thought he could put any pressure on her. She knew she could say no and she'd never felt otherwise. Though she supposed she could see why he thought there was a remote possibility of pressuring her. His bulky frame was probably enough to set anyone off. Not to mention, his less-than-ideal demeanor. But their first meeting was sort of - well it was hard to be intimidated by anyone who thought that no one else but his grandfather would have the name Kalif. It wasn't a common name but it's not like it's a weird or totally one-of-kind name either. "You didn't," she said, amused before taking another sip of the hot chocolate. "Loud. They have quite the energy so there's a lot of screaming that goes on at home sometimes. They can be forgiven though because they're adorable when they're not making everybody go deaf," she said with a fond smile. "How'd the semester go for you?"​

 

[Cassius Styx]

That was good, and a relief, though Cass didn't want to show it on his face either. He worked hard to keep his emotions in check over the years. He knew that his emotional state could be a flaw. It really hurt someone before because he overreacted. He could be dramatic. He was getting a control of that now. Cass was still flustered even now with Aubrie, he made such a bad first impression and he was feeling nervous about it still. He wanted to make himself look good, and real. He didn't believe in portraying himself as someone he wasn't. "I am glad my folks are too old to have anymore. I have a few nieces and nephews so I can relate to how you feel. Not every day though." Cass felt for her though. She had to deal with it. And she mentioned the d word which he sort of averted his eyes. Not just because of Gregory, but his twin too. At least that one was not his fault. "It went pretty well. I'm teaching that guy I mentioned sign language, and I think he is taking up with it well. I wanted to transfer out to another school, but I don't want to break my promise to help until we graduate. But what about yours?"​

 

[Aubrie Dragonova]

He was so serious. And stiff. It was very hard to keep from being amused merely because that was the case. He was big and gruff. Aubrie could only see how utterly awkward he was. The only thing that would have made it any more obvious was if he started to fidget in his seat like a five-year-old. He seemed to controlled for that though. Still, it was hard to not tease. "You think babies are adorable?" she said an amused lilt to her voice as she took another sip of her drink whilst keeping her eyes on him to see his reaction. He did say he could relate. And she thought the twins were adorable. Loud. But adorable. Hopefully they would outgrow that. She was pretty sure they would. She did feel a little bad though at bringing up deafness. She'd just sort of forgotten. They weren't really close enough for her to remember such tiny details about him. She was interested, but they also didn't know each other. She supposed this was what this meetup was for. Perhaps it was a date that neither of them wanted to acknowledge was one. She wondered if she should apologize for bringing it up though. No. She would just own up to it and continue through the awkwardness that she'd started. "I think it went pretty well. I'm just waiting on the OWLs results but I'm pretty sure I did pretty well in all of them."​