Oooh, Shiny! (Bastian/Athena)

[Bastian O'Brien]

He saw the smirk beginning on her lips and it made him smile back at her. He reached out for her hand and intertwined their fingers with his free hand. "I am free as a bird for you," he said, his smile growing as he began to trek back to the castle. He'd drop the picnic basket off later as he wanted to give Athena his full attention. She had complained that the gardening club would take up valuable time, thus he wanted to show her that he would always make time for her.

[Athena Graves]

"As free as a bird in a cage can be," she commented, implying their duty to the school - not their relationship - was a cage. Giving his hand a gentle squeeze, she started for the castle, heading for a side entrance nearer the staff living quarters. Athena was mostly just glad he wasn't pushing the issue of holy matrimony. Hopefully, one day, she would be able to convince him it was wholly unnecessary.

[Bastian O'Brien]

He let Athena take the lead to their 'cage' as she called it, smiling at the squeeze of his hand. He squeezed back to signal he had gotten her intended message. He didn't necessarily agree that it was a cage, but his view might be clouded from his thankfulness of the job bringing them together finally after all of these years. He sighed happily, keeping pace with her through the halls of the school until they entered the staff only area.

[Athena Graves]

"This is my stop," Athena said, as if he didn't know, when they reached the door to her quarters. She turned to face him and, reaching up with her free hand, pulled him down by the back of his head for a kiss.

"I'll see you a little while later," She said, releasing him and pulling away.

[Bastian O'Brien]

"Yeah," he said as they reached her door. He was easily pulled into the kiss, a simple yet intimate gesture between them. When she pulled away he was smiling and he nodded. "Of course," he said before holding up the basket, "I have to take this back to the kitchens anyway." He gave her a bit of a wave before once more departing from the staff area to head back to the house elf filled kitchens to return the basket.