Dresden Academy

Who: Adelaide Legaux and Luka Nikitin
When: The day after this
Where: New York City
What: Luka and Addy talk about 'this thing' that their friendship has become.
Rating: Surprisingly safe with very little language!


Pickle had returned in the evening with one last response from Luka. After reading, Adelaide collected the other notes from their correspondence during the day and cast Incendio upon them. It wouldn’t do if Simone were to find any single one of them, because then she’d be subjected to the ‘I told you so’ dance and accompanying song (and the dance was obnoxious enough on its own).

Late the following morning, she dressed and left the house while Si was in the shower, because she didn’t really want to reveal where she was going after the forged-letter fiasco of the day before. She Apparated to a quiet side street not too far from Luka’s house in New York City, and began the long and lazy walk to his door. The neighborhood was already in full swing for the day, showing no signs at all of having slowed for the summer even as the heat radiated off the sidewalk.

She paused out front of his house, reflecting for a moment on why she’d come today. To find out if things are weird now, for one. She could really have killed Si for sending that letter in her name-- and probably would have if Jesus hadn’t stepped in-- but Luka seemed to take it in stride. At least, she didn’t think he sounded too weirded out, from their exchange yesterday. She hoped it didn’t make things between them awkward. They’d always been good friends, and she’d started to actually enjoy this odd sort of flirtation they’d developed over the past few months. And, even if she didn’t want to admit it, she was a little curious about what that might entail.

She snapped out of her reverie, finally, and knocked at the door.

He bounced off the living room couch and answered the door. He cast a look back through the front hall and decided it would be best to have this conversation away from the all knowing ears of his parents, who unfortunately had been lingering all day when they noticed Luka acting a little.. jittery.

He didn't quite know what to think of this whole situation, but clearly the effort he'd put forth to woo Adelaide was starting to work. Or maybe Simone was interfering. If that was the case... Well, Luka wanted to kick back a few drinks and toast the man.

"Let's go for a walk," he said pushing forward so that she couldn't get past him into the house and promptly closing the door behind him. "Your pick. Outside or in?"

“This weather? Outside. Duh.” As if it was even a question. Personally, she was not a fan of winter. So all summer she’d do her best to soak up the sun, as if she could store the feeling for the rest of the year.

She glanced over at him as briefly as she could manage while still being able to get an idea of the kind of mood he was in. He seemed... well, not entirely his usual cocky self, but not far from it. Probably wondering if things were weird now, just like she was. She rubbed her neck subconsciously, and started down the street even though she didn’t know where they were going. Just moving seemed like a good idea, so that they didn’t act out the nervous pause in conversation that seemed determined to occur. “So...”

He smiled at her sideways, peeking over as he did so. She looked cute today, though he fought the urge to read into that. He guided their steps around a few blocks of tourists and New Yorkers alike until the crowds started to thin and the buildings stopped. Central Park opened up before them bright with sun and dotted with visitors. He'd offer her his arm but that would make this weirder by tenfold.

"So," he replied and shoved his hands in his pockets. "What was that all about last night?"

She wrinkled her nose before she could even think not to make a face. “Si being a dick. Then me freaking out at you, over Si being a dick. Did you feed my owl, by the way? He felt fat.” The change in subject came quickly, and as a surprise even to her. Even if this whole situation had been caused by her brother, she didn’t feel like including him in the conversation they were having.

He owed that man many drinks and Adelaide never had to find out about it. "I gave him a few snacks. Figured he flew back and forth enough times. He earned it."

Luka found a nice area not far from a pond and plunked down in the grass. He patted the spot next to him and looked up to Adelaide expectantly. "So maybe this is ripping the bandaid off, but how do you feel about it?"

“I-- well.” She sat beside him on the grass. She hadn’t expected this to get straight to the point, though she supposed she should be grateful for that. On the other hand though, it didn’t give her a whole lot of time to pussyfoot around and think about an answer. “It’s just... it’s you. And it’s me. And... I dunno. You know. You don’t date. And I don’t fuck around, so. I just... don’t know what this would be.” Or even what ‘this’ was.

That was a pretty fair summary. He nodded, bit his lip, looked off at the other groupings of people scattered across the lawn in this area. "I suppose it could be whatever we want it to be." Though saying so sounded entirely ridiculous. "If you wanted it to be," he added, echoing his thoughts from their notes the previous night.

She shrugged and leaned back in the grass, shielding her eyes from the sun. “What do you want?” Because she certainly had no idea. She would have said he wanted something no-strings-attached, but they both knew she wouldn’t want that as a relationship, and unless they were both on the same page then ‘whatever we want it to be’ didn’t really work. On the whole, she was entirely confused about his supposed interest in her. He knew exactly what she was like and that should be enough to turn him off.

Luka's lips twisted upward into a grin that meant trouble. He knew Adelaide well enough; they couldn't just jump into bed and carry on like it was business as usual. He couldn't ask her again what she wanted. The question would get deferred back and forth until they both got sick of it. Had to just rip the bandaid off, huh?

"I want to see where this could go. Take you out a few times." Kiss you. That was all he could think about really. The way her lips looked so entirely uninviting when she frowned yet he wanted to kiss her anyway. He never had to put this much effort into getting kissed before.

This time she didn’t bother to disguise it, she just turned her head and looked at him completely. As though she could search him for an intent; for clues to his thoughts. But even as she looked, she knew it was pointless. He never revealed anything. Never before, and certainly not now.

In all honesty, she didn’t think it could work. They were just too different and wanted different things; she didn’t think she could give him what he wanted. On the other hand, she didn’t want to just dismiss the possibility like that. Even if she had been fighting so hard not to see him as anything other than a good friend for a while now, the seed had been planted and the thought had started to grow. She was curious, and cautious. Those didn’t go well together.

“Are you really that patient?” She asked, a hint of a smirk curling at her lips.

"Let me put it this way, are you really that crazy?" He smiled though, warmly, openly. He opened his hand, palm up and held it toward her. He hoped she'd take it, almost as a good will gesture. "I'm willing to try." It was the best he could offer her.

The burgeoning smirk turned into a small smile, and after a slight hesitation, she curled the tips of their fingers together. “Well, I’m pretty batshit. So... I guess we can give it a shot.”

He smiled, his dimples doing their best to seal the deal. "First date in the park?"

She looked away, suddenly shy. “Sure,” she replied, not even trying to fight away the silly smile that felt as though it just kept growing. “Not a bad way to start.”