Non-Date Night (Loch)

"Thank you," Lochlann said. "Uh, a drink would be good, actually. I'll drink whatever you're drinking."

He followed her into the dorm and took it in with interest.

He'd never stayed at the dorms for the sheer fact that he'd caused too much of a disturbance. He ended up in a small studio apartment near the campus instead. So he was interested in them.

Lochlann sat at the table and took a deep breath, watching her go about, and though he offered help he wasn't sure what he'd have been able to do.

"Do you have roommates?" he asked.

It didn't seem like it, but he was curious.

Despite his well-deserved reputation for getting girls into bed, Lochlann wasn't exactly in a filthy mindset when he asked about her roommates. He was more or less trying to piece together how the room he was in represented Emily.

"Thank you for the drink," he said. He took a sip and seemed to relax a little bit now that they had a thing between them. Since they were inside, Emily seemed more in control now, and it was interesting to see her in her own habitat.

"I have a sometimes roommate," he said. "Vladhilia, the dark arts teacher, sometimes stays with me since she doens't have a place of her own yet. I am planning on moving, though, since the apartment is really small...but I don't know when."

He sighed and shrugged.

Lochlann expressed what he'd been thinking then. "So this is all you? You have a cozy place. I like it. It feels very inviting."

"I don't know if it's allowed," Lochlann shrugged. "I think it's not a problem since I don't take her classes. it probably isn't a good idea."

His cheek darkened a little bit. Yeah, there'd been a few times she'd called him over for office hours. He was not about to bring that up.

Moving. Fuck. There was a concept.

"I have no idea where I'm going to move," Lochlann said. "I used to live on a farm. I miss that. I thought about taking on some of the jobs up there and seeing if they'd let me stay on as a stable hand."

He shrugged again, took another sip of his drink, and sighed.

This night went no where near like he'd planned. He'd fucked it up again.

"I think it's pretty clean," Lochlann said. "And yeah, it doesn't matter whose furniture it is, it's in how you arrange it. it has a nice flow."

He couldn't believe he was complimenting her flow. He chewed on his bottom lip and tilted his head away, but he glanced at her from the corner of his eye, his long lashes obstructing his vision.

"So tell me about..." he looked for a random object that looked like it belonged to her and pointed to it. "Tell me that, and I'll go home. We could both probably use a good nights sleep."

If he hadn't just said he'd gone home, it would almost sound like he was suggesting they'd sleep together.

When she brought the crystal ball over, Lochlann cocked his head to the side and studied it while she spoke.

He reached his hand out and then hesitated at the last moment.

"Can I touch it?" he asked.

He knew what it looked like to him.

It looked like the surface of a lake in the early morning, right before it rained.

"it's beautiful,' Lochlann said. "I think the cloudiness means you get to make your own luck."

He didn't know what that meant for their future.

Lochlann stood up and offered his hand to her.

"Thank you for the drink," he said. "I'm sorry about tonight."

Lochlann grabbed his hoodie and made his way to the door and then hesitated.

"Do you...want to try again some time?"

Lochlann offered her a small smile with an even smaller wave.

"I'd like that," he said. "To try again."

Next time, he would pick something with a lot of distance between the two of them. What was something that didn't involve eating, water, or talking about their lives?

He'd come up with something. He'd make this up to her.

"Goodnight, Emily."