When Callum suggested that there might be a wound involved in what she said, Akiva giggled and rolled her eyes.  “As if you’d expect anything else,” she commented with lightness.  Callum was not the sort of person, in school, that Akiva would have expected much of.  Ravenclaws had a reputation to uphold.  Even if Akiva never finished school, there was still something there, and Callum hadn’t exactly been the picture of the house.

Expectations had obviously been wrong though because Akiva was just making her way by and Callum was becoming a professor: so obviously, somewhere along the way, things had changed and Akiva became the one to look at with a skeptical eye.  She supposed it was all working out, despite everything, but… she just imagined that somewhere there had been a vision of what her life was supposed to be like – minus all of the unfortunate complications. 

She was just happy now, despite anything in the past, that her life was what it was.  Even losing her husband – as hard as it was – took a different perspective.  Maybe it was supposed to be that way… in a strange way.  Another difficult transition wouldn’t kill her.  Nothing had yet, and rubbing her wrist with the healed brand under the bangle, she realized it probably wouldn’t be the last hardship either. 

Right now, however, she could enjoy warmth and friendship – the sorts of things that one needed to get through the hardest of times, and took her pie from Maiko with a bright smile.  “Thank you,” she beamed, “it’s perfect,” and took it back to the table with her son to help him enjoy.  She hoped this wasn’t the last time all of them would get together – Akiva could tell it was (at the very least) another facet of the support network she’d built around herself . 

Mai had gone from being downright irritated and bothered to amused and pleased with the two friends before her. She still harbored some irritation towards Kohaku, for feeding into it all—he was such an enabler when it suited him. She knew that if she were to enter a relationship with someone, Kohaku would be the last person to be okay with it. Probably. He just liked to see her get riled up over nothing. And while Mai tried not to feed into it.. She usually did.

If brothers weren’t good for pushing their siblings’ buttons, than what else were they good for?

Kohaku took his slice of pie and ate it smugly, a bit too smugly if you asked Mai.

“I’m glad you like it.” She said, “And Gabriel too.” Despite the fact that Akiva and Callum had the potential to be an evil pairing—Mai was happy that they got along so well. Callum didn’t seem too disturbed by Gabriel, either… Which was a plus. A huge plus.

As the evening wore on, they all settled down and exchanged stories of their lives (Callum sharing many tales of his misadventures while traveling).

"... And that's why you never want to yawn while in the presence of a moth," Cal finished his story, and shuddered at the memory. Moths were one of his biggest fears.

Eventually, they realized the time as Gabriel started falling asleep, and Akiva began to gather her things and get ready to leave. Cal noticed Mai's attempts at subtlety, and gave her a pointed look as he got out of his seat as he didn't want her to eavesdrop. Though he knew that she would anyway.

"I'll walk you out," Cal offered with a smile, and opened the door for Akiva. And shut it as he walked out with her, as he saw Mai sneaking towards them from his peripherals. "I had a good time tonight, thanks for coming over. I was wondering if you might want to do something like this again sometime. Without the chaperones," Cal nods towards the window where the top of Mai's head was clearly visible.

When you totally forgot what time it was and the annoyed restlessness of a very tiny child were what snapped you back into reality, you knew you were having a good time.  After Callum’s story about the moth (Akiva’s laughter and Gabriel’s fussing aside), it really did strike her what time it was. 

She had to get her things together, gather her son in his pram to say their goodbyes.  It was rather adorable that he curled up with his cover blanket and was already dozing.  She’d need to get him home in short order (as well as the food Maiko had made sure to load her up with).  Giving Maiko a last hug – trying to ignore her “gentle” prodding and very unsubtle whisper about how “well things went,” Akiva then placed a firm kiss on her cheek and bid her goodbye.  She was surprised when Callum actually offered to walk her out.   

“Oh, sure,” she smiled a little, and then looked over her shoulder at possibly the widest smile she’d seen on Kohaku’s face all night too.  Shaking her head, Akiva turned back toward the door and thanked Callum as he held the door for her to push the pram through.  There was a part of her that was very happy he closed the door behind him – though she supposed that was no match for the window that she saw Maiko fiddling with – or near, she didn’t know, it was probably weird to stare at that rather than the person who was talking to her.

Not that she was staring, of course.  Her smile widened as he indicated that he had a good time, “I’m so glad,” she immediately cut in – happy that he could say that, even when Gabriel had mashed food in her hair and practically had a tantrum.  “I had fun too,” she reached up and pushed her hair over her shoulder and behind her ear.  She heard a muffled whine from the carriage, her eyes straying there for a second – he was just asleep. 

Her grip on the handle of the pram tightened when he asked if she’d like to do something – which wouldn’t have fazed her at all… until he said ‘without the chaperones.’  A surprised look must have registered on her face before a small, kind of shy smile.  “Um – okay,” she answered, her voice picking up confidence, “I mean, of course.  Yes.”  Wow, she was as awkward as she was when she was fifteen.  She could do this: “Why don’t you send me an owl?”

Cal beamed when Akiva said that she had a good time as well, hoping that would make his asking her out less awkward. That hope was almost shattered when he noticed the surprised look on her face, and the initial rather noncommittal "okay", but Cal refused to let his expression falter. And his dimples became even more pronounced as his grin grew when Akiva hastily tacked on a more fervent response.

"Why don't you send me an owl?"

He had been out of the Wizarding world for far too long. The idea of actually writing a letter and then having it delivered through owl post was almost alien to him. Even with Mai and Kohaku, he generally would simply text Haku (and sometimes Mai, though she rarely remembered to keep her phone on her. Or charge it. Or how to respond to text messages.), and simply have him relay the messages to his sister if they were especially important.

"Right, owls. Writing by hand. That's a thing we do," Cal grimaced. "Please forgive my sure to be atrocious chicken scratch. But yeah, that sounds good! We can decide on a date and time that works for us both."

It shocked him how giddy he felt about hanging out with Kiva again. It would be easier for him to talk without Mai eyeing them both the entire time. Even now, he held his tongue on certain subjects - like how pretty Akiva looked with the street lamps illuminating her hair. No way could he let Mai bear witness to just how incredibly rusty he was at giving compliments.

“Don’t worry,” Akiva smiled easily as he apologized about his handwriting before he had even sent her a single owl.  “I manage library requests for a living.”  The corners of her eyes crinkled in amusement.  For the past three years she’d managed a lot of odd things at the library, and handwriting was probably the one thing she could always get through. 

She reached forward to touch his arm around his elbow, a sign of reassurance that it’d be okay.  “I’m really looking forward to it,” she added as her hand slid down toward his wrist and then let go, as if suddenly aware she was still standing in front of Maiko’s house and she was probably still looking out of the window. 

Clearing her throat, Akiva played idly with the bangle on her bracelet for a moment, looking at the ground and then back up.  “Well – um,” she bit her lip, “Looking forward to hearing from you,” she turned her body back toward Gabriel’s carriage.  “I should get this guy home though – or he’ll be a nightmare tomorrow.  Way worse than bananas in hair,” she quirked a smile.  “Good night, Callum.”

She walked a little, flashing another smile over her shoulder. She stopped halfway down the walkway though and looked behind her.  “Don’t let Maiko bully you into telling her anything,” she smiled again and waved (practically shyly) again, turning her eyes back to the window and waving a little bigger – figuring Maiko was probably still there.  When she turned back to the pram, Akiva continued her walk – hoping her pace would beat Gabriel’s full-on sleeping by the time they got back to the house. 

Callum mentally high-fived himself when Akiva assured him that she was looking for to meeting up again, as he was pleased that he didn't put his foot in his mouth too much over dinner. He didn't shy away from the touch, though he didn't react particularly strongly as Mai was already going to pounce on him when he reentered the house; he didn't need to fan the flames.

"Oh yeah, you should definitely get the kid to bed. I wouldn't want to imagine a situation worse than bananas in your hair," Cal chuckled, and flashed a grin. Though to be honest, he was terrified of the notion that that wasn't the worst Gabriel could behave. "Good night, Kiva. I will get an owl to you soon!"

He barked a laugh when she turned around and told him to not let Mai bully him into telling her any details, as he knew that was most likely about to happen in a minute. He waved at her and smiled, chuckling slightly to himself as he realized that Mai actually managed to introduce him to someone he wished to get to know better. When Kiva moved out of sight Cal turned back and walked into the house, mentally preparing himself for the flood of questions.