Who: Orion and Nora
What: He's going to find out why she's being so evasive
Where: Nora's place
When: Friday night
Status: In progress



Orion liked to think he knew his friends pretty well. He also prided himself on having good instincts, and being a decent judge of character. They were admirable traits, but every now and them they got him in trouble. He had a hard time keeping his opinion to himself, especially when someone asked for it - he sometimes said things people didn't want to hear, but most of the time he wound up being right in the long run. He also had a hard time sitting back and doing nothing when he got the feeling one of them was in trouble.

He had known Nora Peakes since Hogwarts; she and Max had always been his closest friends, so when she started making excuses not to see him, he had to wonder why. She had no reason to be avoiding him, and normally she would have been grateful for a reason to step away from a mountain of paperwork. Now she was saying she was far too busy, and had turned down his offer to help. He didn't want to be too pushy, but he wasn't going to be able to rest easy until he found out what was actually going on with her.

Maybe she wasjust overwhelmed because it was the Christmas season and her workload had doubled - if that was the case, he'd leave her alone - but if there was even the slightest chance that there was something else going on that she just wasn't telling him, he needed to be able to look her in the eyes as she told him she just had a lot of paperwork; that was the only way he'd really be able to determine whether or not she was lying.

He didn't give her any notice that he would be stopping by, seeing how she hadn't been willing to make any time for him, he decided to surprise her. He had a feeling it wouldn't be a good surprise, since she seemed to come up with every excuse to have him not drop by, but he knew something was wrong. He just knew it.

Lifting a hand to knock on her door, he adjusted the bag he had thrown over his shoulder, containing the gifts he had gotten for Nora while he had been in Norway, a plastic bag in his other hand. When she finally opened the door, he turned to look at her. She looked tired.

"Hey," he started, clearing his throat before lifting his hand to scratch at the back of his neck. "Sorry to just show up like this, but...you wouldn't let me buy you lunch, so I settled for dinner." He lifted up the plastic bag to draw attention to it. "I got your favorite."