ELECTRIC STARS AND SATELLITES;paul&aurelia;

[PAUL MICHAEL BRASS]

Everything was ready to go. He bit back a smile, though he was the only one in the room. The halls had gone quiet but for the occasional shuffling of feet as someone made their way to freedom, or, more likely, the library. The semester was winding down, with nothing but exams holding the students back from returning home for the holidays. Confined to his room out of respect to his peers working away in their little isolated bubbles, Paul Brass had already discarded his books in a corner. His last exam had been the previous day, and he felt that he may have just scraped a B+ average. That meant all of his efforts could go into what he'd been steadily concocting for the past few weeks- a plan that managed to combine his talents and make it more bearable to speak his mind. His target? The girl who never left his thoughts. His biggest obstacle had been how to approach her, but now he knew.

Glancing at the clock beside his bed, Paul slowly rose, pushing his short blond hair back until it flared up over his forehead, a little faux-hawk down the center. Pausing in front of the small mirror mounted on the wall, he took a deep breath and headed for the main door. He looked utterly ridiculous of course, but it was a necessary evil. One hand on the door, the other safely gripping a small box, he bridged the short gap between his room and Aurelia's with a few strides, hesitation for a second before knocking with more force than was necessary. He was jumping in with both feet now.

"Aureeelia?" He forced his voice to sound a little sing-songish, well aware that he was loud enough to draw the attention of several study-hungry students grouped at the end of the all, pulling back his hand and adjusting his bow-tie. That's right. A black bow-tie that cinched tightly at his neck, complimented by the black vest over a crisp white shirt. The whole ensemble, right down to the dress pants and shoes.

Fighting to hold back what had become a full-blown grin, anticipating one of hundreds of reactions he had imagined from the safety of his room and now had to face, Paul leaned against the door jamb, folding his arms over his chest, bowing his head to the crack in the door and calling for her again.
"Come on out Aurelia."

[/color]

[AURELIA RAMONA OCTAVIAN]

Aurelia had been fast asleep in her bed, taking a post-exam nap, when all of a sudden, she was awoken by the sound of knocking on her door, followed by a loud, yet still muffled by the door, male voice, calling out her name, saying she should come out. She groaned loudly and threw her shoe at the door, but he voice was persistent, and soon she was dragging herself out of bed, with nothing but her underwear, a tank top, and a fluffy yellow robe that she just let hang open. Her hair was pulled together on top of her head and was a bit messy from sleeping, but altogether she looked a bit like she was ready to go to a slumber party and have some pillow fights or something. Except most girls went to slumber parties in frilly girly underwear and lace camisoles, while she was in a batman tank top with matching boy-short underwear on. It was quite a sight to see, really. She looked like she was some sort of bedtime super hero.

Groaning as she tripped over things in the dark of her room, she got to the door and fumbled around for the door knob, before flinging it over and covering her eyes while she adjusted to the light on the hallway. Once she took her hands away from her face, she frowned a bit at the man standing in front of her. Paul Brass, in all his mighty jock glory, with his cute little fucking grin. What the hell did he want? He had gotten his spot as team captain, and he had no reason to be here after their last real conversation, where he pretty much ripped her heart out and tossed in in a pile of ravenous raptors. He had everything he came here for.

"Paul Brass." She said dryly. "To what do I owe this great honour and pride to? Especially in such a classy manner. Do I have the rugby team to thank? Have you come to finally give me my post-exam run-for-my life, or is it just time to make me feel like an idiot, all over again? Lucky me!" he chimed excitedly, holding her hands in front of her. She was a good actress. "The captain of the rugby team is talking to me! I feel so happy, I might just cream my pants!" Her excited grin suddenly turned into an apathetic yawn, followed by and icy glare that settled right into his eyes.
"What do you want, Paul? And why are you dressed like a penguin?" She narrowed her eyes and raised an eyebrow at him, folding her arms right across her chest, covering up the little Batman logo on the front.

.

[PAUL MICHAEL BRASS]

He grinned as she opened the door, eyes appraising while he backed up to get out of punching range. As excellent an actress she was, he would have had to forget the past two months to find her joy believable, especially when her sarcasm became outrageously specific.

Letting her words run out, his brows rose ever so slightly, and he uncrossed his arms to point a finger right at her chest.
"Rude. But not important." His blazing grin returned, and he stepped forward, hands now clasped behind his back, taking a deep breath in preparation for the opening ceremonies.

"Right. So, you may have noticed that I've made myself scarce these past few weeks. I like to think that it was a calculated retreat." He nodded solemnly, voice quick and clipped. "Now, obviously I was not ready to be the good guy way back when, and I said I had to think things over. But-" He held up a finger, stressing the point. "I couldn't just turn around once I'd stopped being a colossal douche, so I had to wait, and that's why I'm only bringing this up now." Rolling his eyes, he took another step so that he was right in her doorway, bracing his hands on either side and leaning down close to her face.

"I know it's asking a lot, but I have things to say to you. The only choice you have is to decide if you want to do this the easy way, or the hard way. But I can probably guess what you'll choose." He smirked, wiggling the small box in front of her face, a little red bow tied to the top.

[/color]

[AURELIA RAMONA OCTAVIAN]

Aurelia blinked and raised an eyebrow at him, arms still folder firmly across her batman-insignia donned chest, staring him back right in the eye, even though there was a box in front of her face. It was very hard to resist his grin, but she eventually pulled back from him and stepped aside to her room.

"Let me change..." She grumbled, going off to the bathroom. She re-emerged a few minutes later with her hair flattened out as much as it would go, some jeans, and the same batman shirt, although it was less wrinkled now that she had smoothed it out. sighing, she grabbed her coat and stepped outside her door with her little booties on, narrowing her eyes at him.
"Alright, so... What is this about?" She eyed the box and raised her eyebrows, before frowning.

"You're not going to propose to me or anything, are you?" She laughed dryly and walked beside him, before cutting him off and stopping in the middle of the hall. The study-hungry students who were still sitting at the end of the hall were watching them now. Aurelia had the overwhelming urge to punch something now. Was this a setup? Was he trying to humiliate her like Dixon had? She frowned and looked around, before letting her eyes settle on Paul, looking at him suspiciously.

"You're not going to try and humiliate me again, are you?" She suddenly looked very scared, despite the fact that he looked like a big ol' idiot in his cute little dress pants and crisp white shirt with his vest... and bow tie... She was a sucker for bow ties. She bit her lip and looked at the floor, sighing softly. Maybe she shouldn't have been out here with him...

.

[PAUL MICHAEL BRASS]

Paul shot her a thumbs up as she turned away to get changed. Left lounging against a wall in the hallway, his smiled returned when Aurelia did, now properly prepared to be walking about, snug in her coat and boots. It may not have been necessary, but he'd let her be the judge of that.

He followed obediently, hastily stepping back when she turned on him, feigning innocence again. The suspicion was evident in her voice, the fear a little less so. As she demanded to know what he was doing, he couldn't help noticing how she said he would humiliate her again. Had he been any less self-assured it might have bothered him to be lumped in with who he assumed was Dixon. The difference between them was in his eyes, huge, but when it boiled down to it, Dixon humiliated her publicly, while Paul had done it from the comfort of her dorm room- though he was fairly certain that he had just as thoroughly wounded her.

Yet just as he had pointed out to her weeks ago that he held on to some pretty serious prejudices, he knew he couldn't simply take back what he had said, or try to build anew over top of it, not when he fully expected her to remain pissed. But that was good, that could work. He knew how to be stupid, and goofy, and annoying, and it was exactly what he was going to employ to get ever so slightly in to her favor.

"Gee, I bet you'd really just hate for me to embarrass you with something like that- in front of other people, no less. By the way, you chose to do this the hard way." He shot her a rueful smile, closing in with a grin that could only be described as faintly menacing. Swiftly grabbing her hand so she couldn't get away, he got down on one knee, propping up the little box in his palm. His good intentions kept him from feeling truly guilty for playing off of her fears, but he could only hope that her surprise and amusement would protect him from any angry backlash.

"Aurelia Octavian," He began in a very carrying voice, pursing his lips with mock solemnity, shaking his head a little. "I know that we've only known each other for a few short months, and the road has been long and difficult." He was projecting quite well, and was momentarily pleased with himself for doing the world of theater justice. "And I know that you'd love nothing more than to punch me right in the face. Really hard. But you need to master that impulse." He held up a fist to symbolize strength, jutting out his chin for a second. "So that I have a chance to tell you that I promise to make you laugh rather than cry, to remember that you wear the pants, and-" He slowly stood up again, looking fit to burst as he held back a broad grin, blue eyes watching her face for a sign of the oncoming storm. "I can ask you...to be my goddess. Or half of one." He flipped open the little box, revealing a small silver bracelet with a tiny golden lightning bolt charm, rather than a ring, his voice lowered for the last part. Chuckling, he held it out to her. "Don't worry, it's just a peace offering, you're not selling your soul." He dialed back the obvious desire to tease her, speaking quietly again. "But if it's good enough to get me an audience, then maybe you would consider hanging with me over the holidays?" He tilted his head, brows raised. "I'm staying in Seattle, and Scarlet Lancaster invited me to her place, you could come too. If you don't already have plans." He said the last part as though he were offering her some kind of bargain, trying to wheedle a 'yes' out of her.

[/color]

[AURELIA RAMONA OCTAVIAN]

As Paul sunk to his knees, she stared at him, eyes getting progressively wider as he propped himself up and held the little box up to her. Her face went into an immediate frown and she backed up, and little bit scared, although the students that used to have their eyes glued to their textbooks now had them glued to her, as if waiting for her to faint or punch him or do something rather than just stand there and stare at the man in front of her. She started to breathe heavily as he got into the little speech he was giving her, and she commended his acting, somewhere deep down. It was rather good for someone with no theatrical experience whatsoever-except kissing her on the stage in the giant school theatre-and she was mildly impressed with the way he handled the speech, although she couldn't stop her heart from racing a thousand miles per minute. Here was Paul brass, on his knee, pretty much pouring his heart out-as much as he could, anyway-and all Aurelia could do was stare at him. Then she really cracked when he moved to stand up, the words slipping out of his mouth.

"I can ask you...to be my goddess. Or half of one."

Aurelia's eyes went really wide and she looked frantically around, nearly slapping him, although when she went to, her hand collided with his chest, because he was already standing up. The box was opened underneath her vision, but she couldn't stop staring at him. She was so angry. And happy. There were too many emotions going on in her head, but the only one that really stood out, was her default. She needed to protect her reputation. Looking down slowly, she looked at the little bracelet and picked it up slowly, eying it. When her eyes rested on the small lightning bolt, however, she looked up to him with huge eyes and blinked rapidly, trying not to break form. She needed to be strong. She kept willing herself harder and harder to say something quirky, witty, anything but emotion. She couldn't cry. Not now. She took in a deep breath through her nose and let out a shaky one through her mouth, before looking down at the bracelet again. How could he do this? She frowned a bit and put her other hand over her mouth, trying to keep calm. Another shaky breath in and out, and she slipped the bracelet on, before admiring it.

Suddenly, without warning, she shoved him gently and tucked her hands into the pocket of her coat, still staring at the floor.
"It fucking took you long enough..." She mumbled under her breath, looking up at him and smiling weakly. She pushed him again. "Bitch." She took her hands out of her pocket and reached up, grabbing his face. The static was pretty controlled, although when she tugged his face down to kiss him hard on the mouth, it got a bit more... electric. When she pulled back a few seconds later, she shoved him back and stuck her hands in her pockets.
"Not like I have anything better to do over the holidays. Might as well come to dinner at Scarlet's." She shrugged casually and blinked a bit. "Wait. Is that why you're dressed up? Do I need to change for dinner?" She looked down at her clothes, eyes wide. "Jesus, Paul!" She smacked his shoulder. "You could have done this a little sooner!" Now she was all worried about making a good impression; and she still had no idea if he was dressed up for dinner, or dressed up to look like an idiot for her... Either way, she felt paled in comparison.

.

[PAUL MICHAEL BRASS]

Aurelia seemed to wrestle with herself, a deer panicking in the headlights as she glanced around the hallway. As she plucked at the bracelet, he extended a hand, suddenly worried that she looked close to passing out with the way she kept heaving those shaky breaths. He was grateful that she seemed too stunned to really fight back as she hid behind playful insults.

"Yeah, sorry I kept you waiting-" He managed to laugh before she kissed him. He could feel the cold of the bracelet as she held his face with her hands, the familiar buzz of contact with her growing, though it wasn't quite so frenzied as it had been in the theater. She released him rather roughly, pushing him back and shoving her hand back into her pockets as he snapped the little box shut, holding it out to her so she'd have a place to put the bracelet once she took it off.
"Glad you like it, I was worried that you might think the lightning bolt was too much." He grinned as she casually accepted his invitation. Suddenly her eyes widened- apparently she wasn't as collected as she would have liked.
"Whoa, down girl!" He grabbed her gently by the shoulders, tweaking the collar of his shirt. "I just felt like doing things right- don't worry, we're not going out right now. And I thought that this would bug you the most." He let go of her and struck a pose, thumbs jammed into his vest, snorting. "I'd never wear this out to a dinner. I'm not that ridiculous. Now, let's get you back inside before you hurt yourself by blowing an artery or something." He teased, wrapping and arm around her shoulders to steer her back to her room.

Paul paused at the door, smiling serenely, scratching at his now slightly fluffed out hair.
"Er- now, don't let this scare you off, but my parents are also going to be there. They're in Seattle for a few weeks, so we're going out for Scarlet's birthday on the thirteenth- but it's no big deal." He waved a hand- she needn't be flustered, his parents were chill with whoever he dated, even if he hadn't mentioned a great deal about her. If he was being honest, he felt a little divided on how he should introduce her anyway.

[/color]

[AURELIA RAMONA OCTAVIAN]

Letting out a loud sigh of relief, Aurelia ran her fingers through her still slightly tangled hair and bit her lip as he steered her towards her room. Blushing, she stopped at the door and raised an eyebrow at him, folding her arms across her chest.
"The thirteenth is in five days, Paul. You haven't spoken to me in forever, and you want me to meet your parents in five days?" Her hair flowed around as she shook her head and laughed a bit at him, before resting her hands on his chest.

"You sure have a knack for procrastination, you know that?" She backed him up against her door frame, smiling coyly at him. "Five days to learn everything about the new and improved Paul Brass before meeting his parents..." Her voiced mused slowly, before she pulled away from him. She had been close enough to kiss him; but if she let that kind of physical stuff get in the way, she'd never get the upper hand in the relationship.

Sighing loudly, she took his hand and lead him into her room, shutting the door behind him. Since the last time she had had him in her room, she had gone a little crazy and cleaned everything to the point that it shone, and nothing was left unorganized. Humming, she went over to her dresser and pulled out a small hook from the side, hanging her coat onto it, before turning towards him with a small smile. So what did this mean? She twirled her hair up and tied it back into a messy bun before grabbing a pair of boxers and rushing off to the bathroom to change, once she returned, she grabbed a little container of ice cream out of the fridge and plopped down on the bed, kicking her feet up into her nightstand.
"So, does this mean you're going to date me?" Aurelia paused, putting a spoonful of ice cream into her mouth, letting it melt slowly as she stared into space thoughtfully, before grinning at him.

"Or, since you said I wear the pants, are you expecting me to ask you on a date? Because I can assure you now, I like to be romanced a little, Mr. Rugby-Team-Captain." With a small salute she gave with her spoon, she stood up in front of him and looked at his clothing.
"To be honest, I think you look rather fetching in those." She poked his chest and kind of lingered there, before sitting back down on her bed.
"So, is this our first date? Because I'm pretty exhausted..." She mumbled, one of her hands running through her hair. "Exams took a lot out of me..."

.

[PAUL MICHAEL BRASS]

Paul shrugged, completely nonplussed.
"What was I supposed to do? I wanted to sneak up on you, not give you enough time to get away." He shook his head despairingly at her as she pinned him in the doorway, putting her face close to his.
"You already know me." He pointed out, keeping his arms obediently at his sides. "You just happened to experience the unpleasant bits before I was ready to share." He laughed, bouncing back as she took his hand and closed the door behind him. At least all of this seemed rather positive, that cold gleam banished from her eye as she rushed about, dashing between the bathroom in the fridge. He stood out of her way, waiting until she flopped onto the bed with her ice cream to stroll over, hands in his pockets.

"So, does this mean you're going to date me?"

"Well yeah, if you want me to." He chuckled when she refused to be the one doing the romancing, holding up a hand as he shook his head. "Nah, don't worry about it, I fully commit to trying my best to romance you- no work needed on your part but to be a good sport." He flashed a cocky grin, approaching the bed until she sat up and jabbed him in the chest. He slowly made to grab her hand in mock retaliation, but she had already thudded back down. Instead he held open the vest, looking down at it skeptically.
"Really? Because I'm pretty sure you likened me to a penguin earlier." He gave a little 'tsk tsk'. "That's not the way to inspire confidence in someone." He turned and sat with her without really asking, but at least he didn't lounge with his feet up as she had been doing, though it was tempting. When Aurelia asked about it being a date, his brows rose a little, quiet contemplation easing on to his face.
"I never really considered it that way, but sure, if you want to count it. But if you were going to do that, then you'd have to consider the first time we kissed, because that was pretty important too." He smirked, leaning back slightly, gazing sidelong at the girl who seemed to be fading away. He hesitated for a second before reaching behind her and grabbing one of her pillows and thrusting it playfully at her. "And if this is a date, well, I won't be offended if you fall asleep. I'll take it as a compliment that I'm a soothing kind of guy." He laughed again, blue eyes alight with amusement. He really didn't mind, he was just glad to get to hang out with her again, to be around her even if she was slowly slipping into unconsciousness. After all, she'd done the same for him when he got the stuffing knocked out of him by Dixon.

Sighing quietly, he clasped his hands in his lap, looking to the ceiling, apparently for inspiration.
"How about you sit back and chill, and I'll tell you about my folks, since according to you I didn't do them justice." He cocked a brow- he felt that she ought to have a good grasp of the sort of goofy guy he was by now, but her earlier jibe about the new and improved Paul contradicted that. "And there's not much to me that's changed- I was being stupid before, and now I'm not." He lost a little enthusiasm, looking down at his hands for a moment. Would he be fine with being blindsided by any other Thaedeus student? Probably not, but what mattered was that Aurelia's status as one was no longer an issue. If he could automatically be friends with Scarlet, and begin to accept that Jon perhaps had good reason to be a jerk to anyone and everyone, then the least he could do was to support Aurelia as much as possible, especially when he felt so strongly about her. His outlook was the only thing that had changed, and he told her as much.
"As for my parents coming to dinner, I don't think it's anything to worry about." He slanted another look her way, clearly finding something funny. "I honestly didn't think you'd be concerned about it, or I probably would have brought it up before now. I always figured you just let other people's opinions roll off of you- like a duck. Besides, my parents are totally chill." He shrugged, grinning like an idiot again.

[/color]

[AURELIA RAMONA OCTAVIAN]

Aurelia couldn't quite tell when, but at some point she had stopped listening to his words, and started watching his lips move. It at least looked like she was paying attention, so she just nodded slowly and kept her eyes fixated on that one spot. Memorizing the way they moved, and the way his tongue flicked over his teeth when he made simple consonant sounds. The "luh" and "tuh" sounds were what got her most. His tongue would touch the tip of his front teeth, before clicking to the bottom. Smiling slightly at the sudden realization that she was probably being creepy by noticing these things, she bit her lip and played with the small charm on her bracelet, humming in her head. When he had stopped talking-now that she was paying attention-she shook her head and shrugged slightly in response to his statement.

"I normally don't care what people think of me. But it is your parents... I mean, if you were to ever meet my mum..." She paused and frowned slightly, before shaking her head and smiling at him. "Nah, nevermind... I'm sure I'll be fine though. I'll just have to charm them like I did to you." She crawled over to him and grabbed his feet, tossing them up onto the bed. After that, she turned him and flattened him out onto the soft mattress, and put his arm out to the side, nestling herself right in the little crook where his arm met his shoulder. When she looked up at the ceiling into the mirror, she grinned.
"Muuuuuch better." She nodded and curled her legs into his side a bit, before closing her eyes.
"You may proceed with your rambling of your parents... Or whatever, for that matter. We haven't spoken since my birthday. Which you suck for, by the way. 'Cause if that was a date too, like the whole theatre thing, you're a pretty lousy birthday date." She smacked his chest gently, more gently than she normally would have, but kept her eyes closed.

"You going to tell me what happened with you and Chelsea, too? Or shall that remain a secret for all of eternity?" Aurelia flipped onto her stomach and propped her face up with her hands, resting on her elbows as she watched him with a smile. He was so cute, laying there half-underneath her.
"I'm fine with not knowing, but, c'mon. Best friend and girlfriend. I gotta give you the whole best friend point of view, too." With a little smirk, she kissed the corner of his mouth and grinned a bit more widely. "Then I'll give you the whole girlfriend experience. Promise." With a firm nod, she finally went quiet and waited patiently for Paul to start up about what had been going on for the past semester.

.