Closed this can't be by chance

[Elio Zephyr]

It had been almost two weeks since Elio had arrived on Ava's doorstep, breaking down to his best friend that night everything in his life dissolved. In truth, he didn't like to think about it. Didn't like to think about the things he'd said to Rowan that day, or to imagine how she'd left him without so much as a goodbye. The next few days following, Elio had barely moved from Ava's couch, unable to decide on what he was meant to do next. How was he supposed to do anything when everything he had was so closely tied to Rowan? On the fourth day, he'd returned home to pick up some more things he'd failed to pack, do some laundry, and check to see whether or not Rowan had been back. She hadn't. What Elio did find however was that the house had been moved to his name. Just like that, Rowan had handed over her half to him entirely. Elio still didn't even know where she staying, presumably with Zennon or Ilija, but at least she knew what she wanted, or didn't, he supposed. He couldn't think about any of it too hard without feeling as though he was losing the reigns again. He didn't need a repeat of that night as he'd sat with Ava for hours trying to comprehend what happened. Shortly after that, he'd found Rowan had removed herself from their company listing too. The business they'd been working on for years, she just walked away from that too. Was there anything or anyone she hadn't removed herself from? Had she been to see Honey? Elio knew he hadn't either, he was in no place to criticize, although he didn't want Honey to see him as drained as he was. Soon, he would write a letter; if nothing else, just to let Honey know that he hadn't left her completely, too.

Over the next few days, Elio had more or less moved in with Ava, residing in her flat above the bookshop, at least until he could figure out what he was doing next. He didn't want to run the business without Rowan, didn't want to return home where the only thing there was his own thoughts for company. Ava had persuaded him to at least get out of the house when he could, to walk to the nearby markets if only for the fresh air. And he had, not because it was what he wanted, but because he knew he had to pull himself together, sooner rather than later. Perhaps Chrys wouldn't want Elio anywhere near his daughter now he didn't have Rowan's influence, but after the last five years of taking care of Honey for him, Elio knew he had to make the effort to see the commitment through. He'd told Honey once that whenever she needed him, he would be there, and he wasn't about to start breaking his promises now.

Walking through the bookshop that sat directly under the flat, Elio was peering through the latest novels, more from curiosity than anything else. He couldn't remember the last time he'd read a book by choice. His eyes weren't really reading the titles on the spines, however, more than he was going through the motions of someone who may have been trying to fit in. The small bell over the front door rang out, and Elio turned his head toward the noise but lingered when he saw who came into the room. ​

 

[Zara Woodlock]

It was barely a week since Zara had returned to New Zealand. It was so weird to be back after years of traveling. Weirder still was to have an apartment of her own to go home to instead of traipsing around and all of her belongings packed neatly in a bag. Well, semi-neatly. After the short stint in St. Mungo's and a very unexpected reunion with her brothers, she had found herself an apartment just off of Obsidian Harbour. It had two bedrooms and a cozy bathroom, was on the third floor, and overlooked the busy streets of the shopping area. It was also very bare. And so she'd been spending her days shopping for furniture, decor, and everything in between just to make the apartment look lived-in rather than a box.

Shopping and decorating took a lot of effort, apparently; Zara had never thought of that before. She's been coming and going into the apartment since she kept on finding things that needed to be bought. The furniture had been easy until she realized that just having a bed and couch made the whole place feel emptier. And so she'd bought the dining set and nightstands the next day. And then she bought kitchen stuff. And then shelves and wall decor. Merlin, she bought plants yesterday. Looking at the apartment that was coming together made her feel satisfied. It filled the days, especially right now, when she hasn't started looking for another project to work on. And well, it gave her a reason to procrastinate meeting up with family. She hadn't seen them in 4 years, save for birthdays, until she'd found herself in St. Mungo's a week ago. She wasn't really ready for them to get to know her now.

Today, Zara found herself out of the house once more, and she promised herself that this was the last one because it was getting out of hand, and if she wasn't careful, she wouldn't even have money to last for a month on food. But this was really the last because her shelves were looking so bare and empty. And that warranted a trip to the bookstore. She decided, though, that heading to Flourish and Blotts wasn't really worth the effort when there was another bookstore just around the corner. Entering the bookstore with purpose, she halted just a few steps into the shop when she met the eyes of a semi-familiar man. She didn't know him at all. But she could've sworn that she kept seeing him around. And considering she'd only moved into the area a week ago, kept seeing meant a lot. "Uhh," she said rather awkwardly when she realized she'd been staring too long, "Imma just... see if they have," she paused with her fingers pointed at a random direction in the store because she didn't even think of what books to buy yet, or what books the store sells. "Cookbooks," she finished lamely before scurrying to be a little out of sight. How many times can a person bump into another person and still have it count as a coincidence?​

 

[Elio Zephyr]

Elio was sure that the woman looked at him with the same expression that he was now looking at her. The man said nothing as she excused herself for cookbooks, but his eyes followed her as she crossed the bookshop and headed around the corner. He didn't know anything in this area beyond Ava and a few of her friends, and perhaps this woman was just a regular to the town, but wasn't it just a little bit strange that she seemed to notice him, too? If she were a local, why would she seem concerned that Elio was here unless, of course, she was keeping tabs on newcomers, perhaps even to find out what they were like? His family had had a neighbourhood gossip when he was younger before he'd even started at Hogwarts, maybe that's what this woman was.

Before all of this, Elio had been an outgoing student and found it easy to make friends with new people. However he realised as he debated going up to the woman to ask her.. well he wasn't quite sure what he should ask, it occurred to him that it had been a long time since he'd tried to speak to someone outside his inner circle. Elio had never been the type to overthink a conversation, nor find it difficult to approach a stranger, but for some reason breaking the ice with this woman who seemed to be following him was a daunting prospect, perhaps just because he wasn't used to it anymore.

Elio's head turned to face the shelves a few feet away from him. The cookbooks sitting right next to the Crocheting for Beginners, Landscape Photography, and 101 Ideas for Your Child's Summer Holiday 2063 Edition. Elio grabbed one of the books about cooking without even glancing at the title, before heading off in the direction the woman had disappeared to. It didn't take long to find her. "Do you live in the area too, or should I be concerned that you're following me?" Elio offered with a smile, presenting her with the cookbook she'd apparently been looking for.​

 

[Zara Woodlock]

Zara did not end up in the cookbook aisle, much to her disappointment. In front of her were books on Herbology, Potions, and Creatures. Definitely not what she had been looking for, but she couldn't very well go back to the front to check the shelves when she'd most definitely just run from the random man that wasn't so random at all. Besides, she was pretty sure he'd noticed her too, considering she wasn't the only one who had been staring. Zara kept telling herself as she looked at the books that it was probably all just some weird coincidence. That's been happening all week. But still a coincidence!

Or at least, Zara had been telling herself that until the man came up to her, presenting her with a cookbook. That made her flush a little because she wasn't specifically looking for a cookbook, but he'd taken her by surprise, and it was the only book that came to mind on the spot! Still she took it but gave the man an indignant look when his words sunk in. "Excuse me?" she blurted out, and who could blame her? He'd just accused her of following him! As if she would! Why would she even?! "Why would I be following you?" Was this man famous or something? If he was, then Zara didn't recognize him, so he must not be very famous. If he wasn't, then just why? "For all I know, you've been following me," Zara said as she took a step back, looking at the man rather suspiciously. Like she was gonna admit to him that she lived just around the corner when he could be a stalker. She wasn't that stupid.​

 

[Elio Zephyr]

A small smile had crept onto Elio's face as the woman tried to deny that she'd been following him, although clearly, she must have thought similarly for her to ask him the same question in return. Elio leaned against the bookshelf, still watching as she took a step back. "How else do you explain it?" he asked, knowing full well she would know what he meant given just how often they seemed to have found themselves face-to-face with one another over the past ten days or so. This was a busy area, but it couldn't have been a coincidence that they kept running into each other. The smile grew on the man's face, "Besides why would I be following you, I just told you I live here." Technically speaking, he only lived here on a temporary basis, but this woman didn't need to know that detail.

According to her face, she was appalled that he'd approached her at all, although Elio wasn't going to ignore the voice in his head that told him that he wasn't making this up, that something was happening. "I've seen your face around here one too many times for it to be an accident," Elio continued, "So, either you're like me and you live here too, or for whatever reason, you're on my tail all while looking for.." he glanced down to the book between them, "cookbooks." Perhaps if she hadn't lied about what she was really in here for, Elio would have been less suspicious, but given that this woman had actively tried to hide her intentions from him the moment she'd walked into the bookstore, he had to ask the question even if she didn't want to hear it.​

 

[Zara Woodlock]

Zara could tell that this guy was amused. Honestly, she was too. Just a little. It was slightly overshadowed by the thought that what if the guy was a random stalker that was out to kill her. He'd already cornered her in the bookstore so what else was she supposed to think? Of course, there was the little nugget that he thinks she's stalking him. She didn't even know how to explain it because she hadn't even really noticed just how often they've been bumping into each other until there literally was no crowd. "Yeah, in the area you said," she said, and Obsidian Harbour was quite the big area. It would have been hard for anyone to dispute living here. She wasn't about to give her address willy-nilly. "Why would I tell you where I live? You could be some random stalker," Zara had been at quite the number of parts of the world, and while Obsidian Harbour in New Zealand was safer than most, she was still a woman living alone. So unless the guy had some pretty decent proof that he lived in the area, she wasn't about to confirm nor deny where she lived, even if the whole thing was just getting ridiculous.

Zara had to agree that they've been running into each other a lot but she definitely had no fault. It wasn't her fault the shopping district was right here. And she just lived right over there. But she kept telling herself that she wasn't going to tell him that at the moment because they still haven't cleared up that he wasn't a chainsaw stalker or something. "Excuse you, I've been shopping," she said affronted because she was definitely not on his tail. Okay, fine, so the cookbooks made her suspicious but they had clearly surprised each other inside the bookstore and stared at each other and she'd panicked. "And okay maybe cookbooks weren't the exact goal when I came in here, but I am looking for books to stuff my house with since I just moved and cookbooks are good decor thank you very much," she said crossing her arms, the cookbook dangling in her hold. She swore to Merlin this was definitely going to be the last shopping trip for home decor.​