Look left, look right, but I'm behind you (Matteo)

[Ember]

Elorein couldn't help the little bouncing dance of joy she did as she entered Benden Hold on a decidedly frigid January day. Minus the cold the young woman was glad to be home again, at least for the brief period of time she could stand being in any one place. But really, that cold was just brutal. Elorein decided she probably should have stayed in Ista a while longer - Vicky and Mattie probably wouldn't have minded if she didn't come back for another couple of months - but at least the journey North had begun the process of reacclimatizing her to the cold.

Speaking of her friends...the first thing she ought to do was find them and let them know she was back. Besides, they were always so fascinating to listen to and watch so how could she resist? Where to find them, though. As with anything over time, habits changed subtly and Elorein never made the mistake of trying to predict the schedules of her friends. She could, however, make an educated guess about their whereabouts and eliminate options as she went along. First off, though, was to determine whether or not they might be eating or not. Well, if they were likely to be eating, at any rate. It was a good two hours after lunch time so...probably not.

Elorein continued to squint into the sky for a moment as she thought before happily skipping into the Hold proper. She greeted a few of the older drudges she passed cheerfully and was welcomed back with many an eyeroll or a smile or a sigh depending on how they felt about her. Elorein happily ignored all the unpleasant reactions as she went on her way to the Hold archives where she thought Matteo might be. Her hunch was proved right when she popped her head into the large place and caught sight of a familiar back.

Well then, she had the element of surprise! Brushing wavy brown hair over her shoulders silently, Elorein zeroed in on her target and started an utterly silent sneak towards Matteo. A smile slowly began to overtake her face and by the time she was behind and to the right of him she was beaming. She leaned in close to his shoulder and whispered, as close to his ear as she could manage, "Boo." Elorein was careful to withdraw quickly to avoid being caught up in the startled flailing, if there was any. Pain was not so fun, after all.

[Avu]

Matteo may or may not have been completely hiding in the library, although it was such a bad hiding spot for him that it really shouldn’t count. Therefore, he totally wasn’t hiding from anybody, best friends included, and he was just working on his stupid reports that were actually due tomorrow morning. Procrastination at its finest, which meant he was scribbling as fast as he could so he could get the damn things done and move on to happier pursuits, like sulking in the records digging out things that were actually nice to read. Without, y’know, half-assing the reports so bad that he had to do them over. Counterproductive, no thanks.

Unfortunately, that meant dedicating a level of concentration to the reports that Matteo rarely applied to anything, so he was totally oblivious to the general flow of traffic around him, never mind one girl set on being sneaky.

His immediate, totally disproportionate, reaction to Elorein’s whispered boo was to stab the quill he was writing with into the paper, sucking in a dramatic mouthful of air (which was the only thing that kept him from shrieking in alarm), and spinning around so fast he tipped straight off of his chair, his slippery grip on the table the only thing that kept him from toppling onto the floor completely. Matteo gaped in alarm at the girl for a second, eyes wide and flustered, before he mostly recovered and yelped loud enough to draw reproving stares from others in the room, “Lore!”

He unfolded himself from the chair rapidly, and promptly grabbed Elorein in a hug, pressing a kiss against her cheek, because personal space? Totally overrated. Matteo did remember to grumble, “That was mean,” into her hair, though, poking her side lightly in an absentminded mimicry of tickling. “I should yell at your or something. Hours of work, Lore. Hours! And now there’s an ink-hole in the middle. You degenerate.” Not that the words carried much weight, given how he was smiling widely, completely unable to keep the glee out of his voice.

He peeled himself off of Lore after a moment to tilt his head at her, considering. “You look hungry,” he decided. “We should get lunch. Or. Um.” Matteo frowned, eyebrows knitting together in thought. “Dinner? Something in between?”

[Ember]

((Closed by mutual agreement that Gather = super fun and Ember needs room for threads. <3))