Athena Graves
Teacher
Mindf***ed™
Posts: 746
Grade: Alumna
Age: 27
Relationship Status: Dating
Dating: Bastian O'Brien
Hover Image: http://i64.tinypic.com/515wd0.jpg
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Post by Athena Graves on Jan 12, 2019 22:34:51 GMT -8
"Doesn't matter to me, as long as it is away from high traffic areas and isn't downwind from the stables," she replied. The house elves were so quick. Their food was some of the best she'd ever eaten. That was saying something, since she'd eaten at some of the most expensively catered galas and finest restaurants. She wondered what their secret was. Since Bastian had thanked them, she didn't feel there was a need for her to express her appreciation.
Athena didn't know of any specific places to picnic. He spent a lot more time outside than she did. Turning, still holding his hand, she walked out of the kitchen to get out of the elves' way. They could discuss a location while they walked.
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Bastian O'Brien
Teacher
Posts: 718
Grade: N/A
Age: 29
Relationship Status: Dating
Dating: Athena Graves
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Post by Bastian O'Brien on Jan 12, 2019 22:41:46 GMT -8
"Well that narrows it down," he said with a chuckle, though he almost felt a little offended that she wanted to be downwind from the stables. He kept those things as clean as possible, at least he hadn't gotten any complaints yet. And seeing as how he wouldn't be housing any large creatures for a while, it was plenty of time to air them out.
He thought of a spot, not downwind from the stable, but up a small incline to where they had a good view of the castle, but very little foot traffic. He led the way, giving her hand a gentle squeeze.
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Athena Graves
Teacher
Mindf***ed™
Posts: 746
Grade: Alumna
Age: 27
Relationship Status: Dating
Dating: Bastian O'Brien
Hover Image: http://i64.tinypic.com/515wd0.jpg
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Post by Athena Graves on Jan 12, 2019 23:01:20 GMT -8
If Bastian had been the one cleaning the stables recently, she'd probably not be so wary. She knew he had a little helper, a girl serving detention by tending to the stables, and she didn't trust some kid to do as good a job as him. If he was going behind the girl and cleaning further, the girl wasn't working hard enough. That would also mean he was going easy on her, as if it wasn't supposed to be a horrible experience. He was far too soft on his students.
Athena walked with him to his chosen spot and looked around. That would do nicely, she decided, looking over at him. "Did they put a picnic blanket in there, by chance?" she asked, motioning to the basket.
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Bastian O'Brien
Teacher
Posts: 718
Grade: N/A
Age: 29
Relationship Status: Dating
Dating: Athena Graves
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Post by Bastian O'Brien on Jan 12, 2019 23:10:24 GMT -8
He released her hand and opened the lid of the picnic basket, the blanket was in fact attached to the lid. "Yup," he said as he unfastened it and set the basket aside. He unfolded the red plaid blanket and with a couple of flicks of the wrist, spread it out on the ground. He then grabbed the basket and set it down in the middle before taking a seat, careful not to get his boots too much on the clean blanket.
He opened up the basket again, and withdrew a pair of spoons, holding one up to Athena before grabbing out the bowls of soup and the freshly made grilled cheese sandwiches. After dividing them between the two of them, he pulled the lid off of his soup. He noticed that the house elves had even gone so far as to cut the sandwiches in half for more easy eating. He picked up one of his halves and dipped a corner of it into his soup, and then took a bite. He sighed contentedly and looked over at Athena, hoping she was enjoying this as much as he was.
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Athena Graves
Teacher
Mindf***ed™
Posts: 746
Grade: Alumna
Age: 27
Relationship Status: Dating
Dating: Bastian O'Brien
Hover Image: http://i64.tinypic.com/515wd0.jpg
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Post by Athena Graves on Jan 12, 2019 23:33:23 GMT -8
Athena settled onto the blanket beside him. When he held out the spoon toward her, she looked at it then up at him then back to the spoon. Shaking her head, she took the spoon and placed it on the blanket in front of her. After unwrapping the sandwich, she picked up the soup. The bowl was so warm. Her hands were nice and toasty while she held it and removed the lid. The lid was placed upside down on the blanket to prevent stains.
"Cheers," she said, holding up one half of her grilled cheese before dipping it in her soup and taking a bite. "Mmmm. My favorite cold weather meal."
One would think she'd have more refined tastes, given her upbringing. However, she certainly didn't seem to have refined manners. Athena took a drink of soup right from the bowl, explaining her reaction to the spoon. "Well, technically, my favorite is tomato bisque with Italian grilled cheese, but this is close enough," she clarified. Ah, there's the refinement.
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Bastian O'Brien
Teacher
Posts: 718
Grade: N/A
Age: 29
Relationship Status: Dating
Dating: Athena Graves
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Post by Bastian O'Brien on Jan 12, 2019 23:42:33 GMT -8
He smiled again, committing the information to memory, as he raised his bowl of soup to her in a cheers like fashion. "Well it's certainly hitting the spot," he said as he once again dipped his sandwich into the thick tomato soup. He took another bite and looked out over the castle. He couldn't believe how far he and Athena had come since the beginning of the school year when they realized they would both be teaching. Now they spent as much time as they could with each other, making up for so much lost time.
"Not a bad spot," he said with a sigh, even the chill in the air couldn't kill his smile. He wondered if an early winter would come this year to Mt. Greylock. He wondered what Athena thought of snow and if she liked playing in it. He could imagine her throwing a snowball at his face, but he could also picture her making snow angels as well. He'd have to wait and see he supposed.
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Athena Graves
Teacher
Mindf***ed™
Posts: 746
Grade: Alumna
Age: 27
Relationship Status: Dating
Dating: Bastian O'Brien
Hover Image: http://i64.tinypic.com/515wd0.jpg
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Post by Athena Graves on Jan 13, 2019 0:14:42 GMT -8
Quickly finishing off the first half of her sandwich, she started in on the second half. Athena didn't want to give the cheese nor the soup time to cool too much. "Mmhmm," she nodded as she chewed a bite then swiped her wrist over her lips. "Mm. What's your favorite? Chili? Beef stew? New England Clam Chowder?"
Bastian struck her as a beef stew kind of guy, but he might surprise her. Following his line of sight to the castle, she wondered what he was thinking about. "Nope, not a bad spot, at all," she agreed, gazing at the castle with him. How much longer would they have opportunities to do this before it got far too cold? It was still a little too early for snow, even up on the peak of Mt. Greylock, but the temperature had dropped considerably in the past few days. It was only going to continue dropping. Away from school, she didn't mind the snow. She wasn't sure how she'd feel about it at Ilvermorny, knowing how students behaved when she was one. As a teacher, the thought of snow was not appealing in the slightest. The running, screaming, snowball-wielding brats all over the place. Heaven help any poor soul that pegged her with a snowball.
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Bastian O'Brien
Teacher
Posts: 718
Grade: N/A
Age: 29
Relationship Status: Dating
Dating: Athena Graves
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Post by Bastian O'Brien on Jan 13, 2019 0:30:54 GMT -8
"No bean chili," he said after swallowing down a hunk of tomato soup soaked grilled cheese. He sighed just thinking about it, "Sprinkle a little cheese on top, with a side of freshly made cornbread."
He polished off one half of his sandwich and then took a sip straight from the bowl, as Athena had earlier. He then started in on his next half of sandwich, enjoying the quiet peace that they were in. Occasional questions or comments, but merely being in the vicinity of each other eased his heart. He was going to miss the extra time once she became the advisor to the gardening club, but he felt it was worth the sacrifice and would likely make her happy in the long run. And he was in it for the long run.
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Athena Graves
Teacher
Mindf***ed™
Posts: 746
Grade: Alumna
Age: 27
Relationship Status: Dating
Dating: Bastian O'Brien
Hover Image: http://i64.tinypic.com/515wd0.jpg
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Post by Athena Graves on Jan 13, 2019 0:58:51 GMT -8
"No bean, huh? I like my chili without meat," she chuckled. If they made chili to suit the both of them, it would basically be chunky tomato soup. "With cheese and saltines and sour cream. You're not one of those people that drinks milk with their chili, are you?"
Athena eyed him suspiciously, dabbing the last quarter of her sandwich into what was left of her soup. She understood why people drank milk, to counter the heat, but it just wasn't an appealing combination of flavors to her. After drowning the last bite of her sandwich, she ate it then chugged the last few gulps of soup. For such a small, simple meal, it was pretty filling. Not that she couldn't have eaten more if there was more, but she was satiated. She crumpled up the sandwich wrapper, placed it in the bowl, then put the lid on.
"I was wondering, if you proposed, and I said no, but you changed my mind - like you did with the advisor thing, if you would continue to try to convince me even after I agreed," she said calmly as she put the bowl and spoon back into the picnic basket. "That's what made my cheeks flush."
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Bastian O'Brien
Teacher
Posts: 718
Grade: N/A
Age: 29
Relationship Status: Dating
Dating: Athena Graves
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Post by Bastian O'Brien on Jan 13, 2019 1:05:40 GMT -8
"I prefer a beer with my chili," he said, polishing off the last of his sandwich before drinking down the remainder of his own soup. "Milk doesn't sound like it would mix well, because I like a little heat with my chili."
He looked over at her and raised a brow, as she explained what she had been thinking when she had blushed in the middle of his classroom. He carefully sat his bowl down and put the top back on it and put it back in the picnic basket, looking rather thoughtful. So she had been thinking about him proposing eh? He wanted to be with her for the rest of his life, that much was certain. And if he proposed, he fully expected her to turn him down, at least the first time he asked. But he didn't plan on asking any time soon. At least until the bed was made, that was the deal he had made with himself.
"Ah, I see," he said, looking over at her finally a simple smile on his face.
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Athena Graves
Teacher
Mindf***ed™
Posts: 746
Grade: Alumna
Age: 27
Relationship Status: Dating
Dating: Bastian O'Brien
Hover Image: http://i64.tinypic.com/515wd0.jpg
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Post by Athena Graves on Jan 15, 2019 15:32:10 GMT -8
"I told you it was stupid," Athena said, avoiding looking his way. There was no way she'd say yes. She had absolutely no interest in getting married. What was the point? There wasn't anything you could do married that you couldn't do unmarried. You could live together, have sex, wear rings, and you could even have children - all without saying 'I do'.
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Bastian O'Brien
Teacher
Posts: 718
Grade: N/A
Age: 29
Relationship Status: Dating
Dating: Athena Graves
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Post by Bastian O'Brien on Jan 15, 2019 15:41:31 GMT -8
"I wouldn't call it stupid," he said as he looked back toward the castle. He picked at the grass next to the blanket as he stared back toward the castle, he drew one leg up and rested his arm on his knee. "I'm sure it's something we'll eventually discuss, but no need for now," he said, shooting her a smile. One by one he tossed the blades of grass back to the spot he picked them from. No, marriage could wait for now while they continued getting to know each other, and there were their families to consider as well. And the bed he was building for them, he hadn't even picked up the wood for it yet, let alone deciding on a final design.
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Athena Graves
Teacher
Mindf***ed™
Posts: 746
Grade: Alumna
Age: 27
Relationship Status: Dating
Dating: Bastian O'Brien
Hover Image: http://i64.tinypic.com/515wd0.jpg
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Post by Athena Graves on Jan 15, 2019 16:28:24 GMT -8
Athena looked askance at Bastian. "There's nothing to discuss," she said plainly, following his gaze to the castle. What was he even looking at? She didn't see anything of interest. Maybe she was missing something.
"Well, we've had our lunch," she pointed out, getting to her feet. Athena didn't want to discuss marriage now or later.
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Bastian O'Brien
Teacher
Posts: 718
Grade: N/A
Age: 29
Relationship Status: Dating
Dating: Athena Graves
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Post by Bastian O'Brien on Jan 15, 2019 16:34:26 GMT -8
He had figured she would be anti-marriage, but he would let it slide for now as it was not the time or place to have such a discussion of the merits of marriage. He looked back over at her as she got to her feet. "So we have," he said as he began to repack the picnic basket. "Thank you for joining me," he said while shifted to his knees and then up to his feet. He would refold and secure the blanket back in the lid of the basket. He tied it closed and picked it up by the handle with a sigh.
"Shall I walk you back to your room?" he asked, wondering if he should drop off the basket first, or escort her back to her room where she had grabbed her jacket and hat.
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Athena Graves
Teacher
Mindf***ed™
Posts: 746
Grade: Alumna
Age: 27
Relationship Status: Dating
Dating: Bastian O'Brien
Hover Image: http://i64.tinypic.com/515wd0.jpg
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Post by Athena Graves on Jan 15, 2019 16:50:05 GMT -8
"Mhm," Athena said in response to his gratitude. She stepped off the blanket so he could fold it. She would have helped, but there was little else to do, and he had it handled.
"Unless you have better things to do," she said, one corner of her lips curling.
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