Milkshakes, grease stains and apologies [Cassius & Gwyn]

‘’I want to take you out.’’ The words were blurted into the handsome face of Cassius, who didn’t even have the chance to set an actual foot into HQ before Gwyn had ambushed him with her proposition. When the words had left her mouth and she thought over what she had just said, she found that her words had missed it’s mark just a bit. Her cheeks coloured by the realisation that she had sounded like she was asking him out on a date.
‘’To apologise, I mean. I want to treat you to lunch so I can properly apologise for what I said at the meeting.’’ She corrected herself, pushing some of her blonde hair behind her ear while taking a few steps back so that Cassius had enough room to walk into HQ and close the door behind him.

It had taken her a good amount of time to convince Dominic that she could take Cassius for lunch without him. She figured that Dominic and Cassius were close, so that she could take him out by herself. After he had given her permission to do so –also his name, which she had to ask with her cheeks red–  and made her promise not to give away the location of the EFA in any way, all Gwyn had to do was wait for Cassius to show up at HQ. Yesterday had gone by without him being over and she had not so subtly been stalking the door the whole day. Even her bathroom breaks were rushed just in case he’d be walking in when she was peeing. Neither had she been able to concentrate on her book, but he was here now and her book lay discarded somewhere in the chair she had been occupying just a few seconds before.

Tilting her head back a bit to be able to look up at him, she once again took in his pale –maybe even too pale– complexion paired with his near luminous grey eyes and dark brown hair. Whereas his dark circles and colourless skin were equal parts of concerning and haunting, Cassius was very handsome and there was no denying that. He had this aristocratic look over him, befitting a prince in a fairy tale story, which could also explain his pale complex as some sort of old aristocratic thingy. Like the blue blooded term they used during medieval times. People of status and money were always the most sickly shades of pale to show off that they had enough money that they didn’t need to do any labour, they had servants for that. Seems like the EFA is collecting handsome men, the thought didn’t surprise her in the slightest. Who she thought of as the main persons here all happened to be quite good looking. They all had their own charm that added to their looks and Gwyn wouldn’t be surprised if this were another world, women and men alike would line up to date either of them. It made her wonder that if they were in another world, would she too… No, she mentally shook her head and banished the upcoming thought before it even had fully sprouted.

She refocused on Cassius, waiting for his answer. It hadn’t occurred to her before but Cassius could actually turn her down. That thought made her nervous, because although she had gone out of her way a bit to be able to properly apologise, it could very well be that the man in front of her had no need for her apology and probably couldn’t care less about her existence.
‘’I’m also sorry for ambushing you like this, but I have been wanting to ask since I got permission from Dominic to have lunch with you and I kind of been waiting all day yesterday and just now when you opened the door I just had to ask right away before I lost my nerve. Not that I usually lose my nerve but I feel like I got a lot to make up for and I first thought about getting you a little something to apologise with but then I figured that I don’t know where your interests lay so I can’t get you something that you’d actually like. For example, with Idés it’s easy. Get him something science or zeal related or a mug and he is a happy bean but..’’ Realising her word vomit, Gwyn felt her eyes go big and bit her lip as she felt her cheeks heat up a bit. You utter moron, couldn’t you just say sorry for ambushing him and not ramble about other things?
‘’Sorry for that, too.’’ She said with an embarrassed smile, hoping that she didn’t just blow her chance by rambling and ambushing him.

I wanna take you out. Those were the words Cassius was met with once he opened the door to the headquarters. He glanced down on Gwyn who stood right in front of him. He blinked a couple of times as a memory he long ago buried deep down, so deeply down that he had almost forgotten it, overlapped with what he saw in front of himself. He shook his head as he tried to bury the memory deep down again as she clarified herself and let him into the room. The memory of what she said at the meeting came quickly to mind. Heartless elite. His eyes darkened as he remembered how those words made him feel like he was just like his father. Though her wanting to apologize, and seemingly properly too, stopped that train of thought for now.

When Cassius was about to respond the girl started rambling. He patiently waited for her to finish. "You don't have to apologize" he said about her apologizing for the rambling. He glanced around the room before returning her gaze back to her, clearly thinking over the offer. “But I guess we could go and grab lunch,” Cassius started. “Since you’re paying” He said as a joke, though his voice sounded serious and his face didn’t really say he was joking. Cassius had never been good at telling jokes, he also seemed to usually have a bad timing for them. "I know a place" He said as he opened the door again, assuming she meant right now and that she did not know a single place to go to here in Erast. He stepped outside and put on a pair of sunglasses, even though it was overcast and the sun didn't quite shine through the clouds, Cassius still felt the need to shield his eyes from the brightness outside. It was an unfortunate side effect of being cursed. He started twirling on the ring he wore on his left hand as his mind started to wander while he waited for Gwyn to follow him outside.

Just for a second, Gwyn thought he meant that she had nothing to apologise for regarding the stuff she had said during the meeting and she was about to comment on the fact that really had to apologise when she realised that Cassius might meant that she had no reason to apologise for her word vomit.

When Cassius agreed to having lunch with her, on her of course, she felt a little weight being lifted off her shoulders. At least this part of her plan was working out. Her embarrassed smile changed to a genuine one, saying a soft ‘thank you’ before she spoke with a clearer voice: ‘’Yes, it’s all on me! You can get anything you like!’’.  The only thing she had to figure out was where they would eat, but Cassius beat her to it saying that he knew a place. ‘’Great,’’ Gwyn replied before she looked down at herself. Her oversized baggy t-shirt and biker shorts weren’t exactly appropriate to go out to lunch with. ‘’Just a second, give me five minutes please.’’ Gwyn said quickly when she saw that Cassius had opened the door.

She flung herself to her suitcase, zipping it open as quickly as she could and grabbed a pair of white trousers together with a black bandeau top and a camel coloured blouse. Slightly surprised by the fact that she was lucid enough in her panic to pack these things, she was also quite thankful because if she had to go somewhere dressed like a beggar.. Yeah, no.. Not this time. If it were just groceries, then she wouldn’t have minded it but to apologise it was a no-no. Gwyn also got herself a strapless bra –not really caring if anyone got an eyeful of her underwear because it was likely something everyone had seen before– before she ran off to the bathroom, hoping to find it empty. For once, luck was on her side because said bathroom was indeed void of any residents. Hurryingly she undressed herself before throwing on her other outfit. Her hair she decided to leave it down, but she’d take a scrunchie with her just to be sure. If the place that Cassius would take them ended up being quite warm, she’d just put her hair in a bun or a high ponytail.

Feeling satisfied with the total look of it all, though she decided not to put on makeup because that would be too cumbersome. After grabbing her discarded clothes, Gwyn switched off the lights in the bathroom before hurrying back towards the living room where she dumped her previous outfit into her suitcase and grabbed her phone and her pair of white sneakers. Walking while putting her phone in the pocket of her trouser and putting on her shoes wasn’t an easy task but she managed without falling on her face.
‘’Sorry for the delay,’’ Gwyn muttered when she reached Cassius, who was still waiting for her at the door, ‘’I thought the clothes I was wearing weren’t really appropriate.’’. She eyed him when she noticed that he had put on sunglasses, it wasn’t that sunny outside but in the end, who was she to judge. Maybe he was suffering from a hangover for all she knew. In that case, even this overcast weather might be too bright.

‘’Lead the way, please.’’ Gwyn told Cassius after she walked outside and closed the door behind her. She had no idea where the place was, so she wasn’t about to take the lead because she might just end up walking the wrong way.

As Gwyn went inside, most likely to get ready, Cassius stood outside the door and breathed in the air in the streets of Erast. It was not a pleasant smell, but in it laid memories. So many memories for him. Memories of good days and bad days. Memories from his teen years when he used to wander the streets to escape the reality he lived in, a time of simpler worries to the ones he had know. There were many things Cassius could think of that he missed, that made him sometimes desperately want to go back to that time. He had been so deep in thoughts that he hadn't noticed that time had passed and Gwyn now stood ready in front of him. He told her that he knew a place and she told him to lead the way, which he did.

Cassius walked down the streets. He knew the way like the back of his hand, he had spent a lot of time in the diner he had in mind. He could guess that she most likely would find it weird how someone like him knew the streets of Erast so well, it would make sense. After all, he came from a different world, a world only a few had access to. Cassius didn't say anything as they walked. He honestly did not know what to even say to her. The guys in the EFA was easy to talk to, even Fallon, he had known them for years. He could easily speak to people in high society due to him learning for his entire life what he was supposed to say and how to act and behave when socializing there. Gwyn was from neither part of his life. She had been lucky enough to stay out of both of those worlds until now.

Cassius had several times thought about saying something, anything really, just to break the silence between them. Though when he was about to he saw the diner. "Here it is" He said as he walked towards the run down building. It looked like any other buildings in Erast, though when you looked more closely there was an old sign outside one of the doors. 'Greasy Jim's Diner' was written on it, the letters were faded. "It might not be what you're used to, but the food is good" He said, his voice was the same it had been each and every time he had spoken to her, cold and calm, showing neither positive nor negative emotions.

Once they were inside and seated, a middle aged woman, most likely around her fifties nearly sixties, in a waiter uniform approached their table with two menus in hand. Other than them there was an elderly man sitting at the counter drinking a cup of coffee. The waitress' expression looked like all her joy in life had been sucked dry out of her. She hadn't looked at them until she placed the menus down at the table and her brown eyes lit up with recognition once she saw Cassius sitting there. "Now that's a face I haven't seen in a long time! What has it been? Ten years?" She said with a smile. "You have grown up to be a fine young man if I say so" She added with a wink, her expression seemingly more friendly now. She only talked to Cassius, occasionally sending Gwyn a glance as if she was occupying someone else's seat. "Well, I will be back when you two have decided what you want" She said and went back to the counter before Cassius could even respond to anything she had said. Cassius grabbed one of the menus as he took of the sunglasses, skimming through it before he glanced back up at Gwyn.

"Where did you recognize me from?" He asked, thinking of how she clearly had to know him to recognize him as one of the elite. He had been slightly curious and worried about that fact. He didn't even hear how he sounded like he was suspicious and accusatory of her. He glanced back down at the menu, which seemingly hadn't changed at all since the last time he was here.

During their walk to whatever place Cassius had in mind, you could probably hear a pin drop if it weren’t for the noises that were Erast. So instead of making conversation, Gwyn spent their walk taking in Erast. Never before had she been here, mainly because she never had a reason to. The state of most of the buildings was quite bad, which made her feel somehow a bit sad when she thought about families living there. How cold it must be in the winter. She was even more thankful now for her parents’ suburban home in Paendley with good isolated walls and central heating. Winters in Ilomar could be very brutal, and she hoped she would never have to experience one without the protection of a good home.

The lack of greenery around the streets was also something she noticed, where there was the occasional street sign and fire hydrants, the trees seemed to be missing. But what she actually did was comparing Erast to Paendley and that was a dangerous thing because Erast wasn’t Paendley. Deciding to stop that train of thoughts, about things that Erast ‘missed’ and how different it was from Paendley, Gwyn decided to think about other things. How she’d formulate her apology for example. She wasn’t sure yet what she’d tell him, except for that she was sorry for calling him a heartless elite. There was a chance she’d have to plead her case but there was no excusing what she’d said. It had been wrong and uncalled for and she wouldn’t sugarcoat that fact. While she had been thinking about what to say, they reached the place in question and Gwyn looked up when Cassius stated they had arrived. A diner, called Greasy Jim’s Diner, stood before them. Classic, was the first word that ran through her mind. The exterior reminded her a lot of those diners that were popular in the 60s and 70s. Would they have an old fashioned jukebox?

It was looking a bit run down, in need of a lick of paint but at the sight of the people sitting inside, Gwyn guessed that the place that Cassius had taken her was good and authentic. No one seemed in a foul mood when she glanced through the windows inside, which wasn’t hard since there was only one guest sitting inside. It made her wonder how long Greasy Jim’s had been around in the streets or Erast. A part of her wanted to comment on what Cassius said, because she herself ate plenty of junk food when she wanted to and the way he said it made her feel like she gave off the vibe that she was above greasy burgers and double fried French fries.
‘’I’m sure it’ll be.’’ She said instead, as they entered the diner. Taking in her surroundings, the theme was indeed that of a 70s diner, albeit run down like the exterior but maybe that’s what made Greasy Jim’s. Gwyn followed Cassius to one of the tables, taking a seat on the couch across from him when a middle aged waitress walked up to them with two menus in her hand. Upon closer look, the waitress didn’t seem all that happy. There wasn’t a smile on her face but something that resembled a permanent frown paired with the corners of her mouth drooping downward. Is her life that bad? She felt bad for the woman as she placed down their menus in front of them, thanking her as she picked up her menu to study it.

Gwyn’s eyebrows shot up a bit when the waitress started talking to Cassius. She let her gaze go back and forth between them, wondering what business an Elite teen would have in an Erast diner like Jim’s. Whatever it was, they were good memories to the woman as a smile appeared on her lips, making Gwyn too smile a little. The wink she sent to Cassius even made her giggle. Her giggle quickly died out when she noticed the look the woman gave her, it wasn’t exactly welcoming. Feeling like she had been a naughty child, Gwyn instead chose to focus on the menu again. She wondered what she had done wrong in the eyes of the woman to deserve such glances. Cassius couldn’t have told her what she had called him, since the waitress just said it had been a good ten years since she last saw him.

Once the waitress was gone, Gwyn glanced over her menu towards Cassius. He too was studying his menu and Gwyn couldn’t help but get lost in the colour of his eyes just a little. Him suddenly looking up made her cheeks redden, like he just caught her staring at him which in reality, she did.

His question threw her off and it took her a few seconds to comprehend it. ‘’I saw you on campus, hanging with the Elite a few times, that’s how I recognised you.. I remember seeing them the first time, you were there too and I guess I was a little starstruck. Like every one of them was just so regal and good looking that I might have stared at them for a few seconds. Sadly, all too soon they caught wind about me and…’’ Gwyn paused, trying to best find a word to describe the situation she was in, ‘’let’s just call it my situation for lack of a better word. The taunting started maybe a few days after my enrollment at ICU. At first it was just offhanded comments when I walked past, later they would just insult me in my face. In the beginning it really hurt, as I didn’t know why I was their target. Later on I learned because I am not some pure blooded warlock person and some of them seemed to have an obsession with it? But that’s not for me to judge since I do not know their, your, world. After a while I learned to ignore it all but I wasn’t able to lessen the hurt their words caused me.’’ She shook her head, this was turning out to be about her and that was not what they were here for. Laying her menu down again, having yet to decide what she’d order, she looked Cassius in the eye.
‘’But that’s not why I asked you for lunch, to be all woe is me. I wanted to sincerely apologise to you for the way I acted and the things I said during the meeting. Everything was way out of line and should never have been said. So I am very sorry for that, I had no right to judge you the way I did.’’

On campus… Of course. a slight confusion wandered around in his mind at her saying he hung with the elite, until it clicked. The group of kids she talked about weren’t his friends, they were other children from powerful families hanging around him, trying to gain a connection to the Seymour family. They didn’t see him, they saw his family name, the power and prestige. He looked at her as she continued telling her story. When she spoke about the taunting, Cassius couldn’t really remember taking part in such things, he would never do so. At the mention of the obsession some had of pure blooded warlocks brought forth a faint memory. He knew some of the people she had mentioned were indeed obsessed about it, in fact they sometimes would not shut up about their bloodlines, their famous ancestors and such, some of them even brought up Cassius’ bloodline and ancestors. He also did remember some talking about a ‘faulty warlock’ on campus. Putting two and two together, Cassius could guess that it might have been Gwyn they talked about. He hadn’t taken part and mostly just ignored all conversations about the faulty warlock. He glanced down at the menu once again. He had ignored those conversations in hope the others would stop talking about it. He too was a faulty warlock after all…

“Thank you for the apology” He started as he glanced up at her again. “Naivety like you showed is something that will get you killed one day… I’ve seen it before” He said as he glanced out the window, though he did not look at the streets outside the window, but more the streets of a day far into the past. His right hand subconsciously touched the old and worn black string bracelet he wore on his left wrist. When his eyes turned back to Gwyn, the waitress returned.

“Are you guys ready to order?” She spoke as she looked at Cassius. Cassius thought for a moment before he answered. “I will take the number 4” he said with a slight smile to the waitress. A smile spread across her face. “Oh how I remember you and that kid, may he rest with Iosta, getting that almost every day, what was his name again? something Willow wasn't it?” She reminisced her expression being a bittersweet one. “Such an awful thing to happen to him” She continued. “I’m sorry for talking about something that happened so long ago” She said with a pained smile as she glanced from the bracelet on Cassius’ left wrist to him. The smile disappeared when she looked at Gwyn. “And for you sweetie?” She asked, continuing with her work.

Cassius expression had darkened as the waitress had spoken, his mind somewhere else. He hadn't heard nor dared to speak that name the waitress said so effortlessly in years, no a decade. the name was on repeat on his mind as memories flew by in his head. Memories he had buried when anger hadn't been the solution. He didn't even notice how hard he was clenching his fists until the waitress asked Gwyn for her order. As if he snapped out of a trance, he glanced up quickly at the two women before looking out the window once again.

As their eyes met when Cassius looked up, Gwyn let his words sink in. Even though he had thanked her for her apology, she wasn’t sure yet if he had accepted it too. There was a difference between the words she heard and the words she needed to hear. What he had said after he thanked her; those gave her a chill. It threw her off, and she had trouble understanding what he meant with them. Gwyn knew that her words had been naive and blind, she assumed just because she had seen him around the Elite that he was like them, judging a book by its shiny cover but that it would get her killed? That was what she couldn’t wrap her head around. Gwyn’s gaze went from his aristocratic face to the movement of his hand touching a string bracelet. The material looked quite worn, shy of threadbare and as black as coal. Had it belonged to the person who had been killed, or was it a gift from them to him?

While she was still thinking and mulling over his words, the waitress returned to take their orders. Her voice snapped Gwyn out of her train of thoughts and she hurriedly went over the menu, again. Though she had looked at it earlier, she hadn’t really read any of it. Most of the menu consisted of burgers and fries, so there was plenty of choice.. A regular hamburger, a hamburger deluxe, a cheeseburger, a double cheeseburger and so on. Cassius placed his order first as he seemingly had already decided while Gwyn had been distracted, followed by the waitress starting to talk about a kid who used to take that order all the time, a deceased kid that Cassius knew apparently. Gwyn was sure that it probably wasn’t for her to know who this kid was and what they had been to Cassius, but somehow she felt like he had something to do with Cassius’ earlier words. That the worn bracelet that he wore had either belonged to that kid or that it was a gift and it was their naivety that ended a precious life too early. In hindsight she could also be totally wrong and they were two separate people.

Once again distracted by the words that had been shared by the waitress, she almost missed the waitress asking for her order without the smile she had given to Cassius. As Gwyn opened her mouth to order, something changed in Cassius’ demeanour. His fists had become balled, the knuckles even more white than Gwyn had thought to be possible and his gaze went over her and the waitress before he averted his gaze back to the world outside of the diner. A few seconds went by as Gwyn in her turn stared at Cassius before the waitress spoke to her again.
‘’Do you know what you want to order?’’ Her voice lacked the warmth it seemed she reserved for Cassius only. Gwyn quickly looked over at her menu once more before choosing the first thing that her eyes fell on.
‘’Could I have a double cheeseburger please?’’ Returning both Cassius and her menus to the waitress, she thanked her before turning her attention back to Cassius. A part of her deemed that she should let him be, but another part of her said that talking might be good. Gwyn wasn’t his confidant, far from it actually but maybe because she was so far removed from everything that he knew, he could get something off his chest without any consequences. It itched to ask him if he was alright, but she decided against it and asked him something else that she was slightly curious about.

‘’How did you get to know everyone?’’ Waiting for the waitress to be as far away as she could get, she softened her tone so that not even the patron who was enjoying his coffee might have heard it, she looked at him still with a kernel of curiosity in her expression that she failed to hide.

The waitress left their table as Gwyn handed over menus, she moved towards the counter where a window to the kitchen could be seen. When Gwyn asked him a question, Cassius looked at her with the same old unreadable expression, as if nothing was wrong, as if everything was fine. Like he wasn’t a shell of the person he used to be. He pondered her question for a while, trying to remember.

“Through the EFA,” He answered. Cassius didn’t elaborate, partly because he didn’t know Gwyn well enough to share just everything with her, another part because it didn’t just involve him. Gwyn had just been staying at the HQ for almost two weeks at this point, who knows how long she would stay? What would she do when it was safe enough for her to return to her life? What would she do with the information she learned during her stay with the group? The uncertainty of that played a large part in how much Cassius was willing to share with her.

“You and Idés must be good friends” He started saying, trying to keep a conversation going, as he realized his answer probably seemed short and final in a way. “since he brought you the HQ” he said. He didn’t know what else to talk about, all he knew about her was that she seemed to be a friend of Idés. His hands had moved on to fiddle with the silver ring on his left hand. His gaze had been on her the whole time he had talked, though now his eyes would occasionally dart outside the window, the reason? Cassius didn’t know it himself. Eventually the waitress returned with their orders, giving them a quick ‘enjoy your meals’ before returning to the counter. In front of Gwyn was her double cheeseburger and in front of Cassius was a chicken burger and some fries. He let out a polite thanks to the waitress before grabbing one of the fries and popping it into his mouth.

The answer that Cassius had given her was the one she had expected, but still Gwyn had hoped that he would give her a kernel of information. However she would not dig any further, doing so would not give her any more answers at that moment. Likely he’d ignore her question or tell her it wasn’t her business to know, which it indeed was not. It didn’t render her less curious though.
When Cassius changed the topic from him to her, by mentioning her friendship with Idés, she let out a soft snort. She wouldn’t really define their friendship as good friends, because she never knew where he stood. What Gwyn did know was that he cared enough to risk his reliability for her and for that she’d be eternally grateful. She would’ve liked it a bit better if Dominic wasn’t so hellbent on making her stay less pleasant. Getting permission to go out to apologise to Cassius had taken them arguing for him to finally grant her permission. It had been exhausting and while she was glad he had complied, she did feel a bit bad that she had to fight him constantly.

‘’I’m not too sure if Idés sees me as a good friend since I’ve only known him for around half a year, but I guess I must be important enough for him to care about my safety. I don’t know where I’d be now if it weren’t for him, but I imagine it won’t be a pleasant place.’’ Not elaborating that she also meant the fact that Idés took her as his lab assistant after she had applied for the job. Without the prospect of Idés at the end of the school day, she would have probably locked herself up in her room and withered. The thought sent a shudder through her as her gaze went to Cassius’ fiddling hands for a split of a second before flicking back to his face. She noticed his wandering gaze to the window but thought nothing of it.

‘’I guess we have more of a brother and sister bond at this stage? Like he’s the person I’d turn to if something were wrong, as you have seen.’’ Smiling a bit and halting her story as the waitress returned with their meals. Thanking her for the food, Gwyn picked up a fry and popped it in her mouth, stifling a moan. These fries were good. It had been a while since she last had fries and a burger but this might be more tasty than the fries she had gotten from some fancy burger place downtown.

‘’I made sure he ate during the day and went home at a reasonable time instead of working until the next morning so I guess I acted quite sisterly towards him while all I wanted in the very beginning was for him to notice me. The sole reason I took the job of being his lab assistant is quite pathetic now that I look back but now I guess Des is like the big brother I never had.’’ Chuckling while grabbing another few fries, she put them in her mouth as she thought a bit more about her relationship to Idés, surprising herself that she had referred to him as a brotherly type while just a month ago she was still hoping and making up scenarios in her mind. Conjuring up an image of him, she suddenly noticed how she didn’t feel the fluttering in her stomach anymore at the thought of him. Maybe it’s because you’re seeing him less? But didn’t the saying go that distance makes the heart grow fonder? While she had kind of missed him the past weeks, she just… Mentally shaking herself, she pushed Idés from her mind. She’d look into that later, when she was back at HQ. Now she’d focus on Cassius since it was her who had wanted to go out.

As Gwyn spoke, Cassius ate his food silently and just listened to her. He couldn’t help but think that Gwyn was a chatty person who loved to talk. When she spoke about her acting sisterly, made Cassius think about his own siblings. None of them would act as Gwyn told him she acted towards Idés, but they showed their love and care in their own ways. “ My sister would never act like that” He said without thinking. Artemia, like Cassius, was identical to their father in looks. She was also a cold person, Cassius was just unsure if it was because of her powers or if she had inherited some of their father’s personality traits. Luckily, Artemia wasn’t an uncaring type of cold person, despite her coldness, she still cared for her brothers and wanted the best for them. A small smile made its way onto Cassius’ lips as he remembered the time she had beaten up and scared away some of Lysander’s bullies when they were children.

Cassius continued to eat his food, unsure what to even say. If Gwyn had been a high society member, he could have easily found a random topic to talk about. But Gwyn wasn't, she had been a normal girl who now was on the run. Luckily, they had food in front of them and eating was a good excuse to not say anything.

Cassius eyes kept darting around, first around the diner, then everywhere he could see outside the window. He could never get rid of the feeling that anything could go wrong, that he had to be on the lookout for something. After all, that day had very much been like this one. A day that had started out normal, Cassius going about his day doing something he no longer could remember. And then that had happened.

Cassius hadn’t noticed he had spaced out before he saw something outside the window. Familiar red hair in the sea of people outside. He had only seen it for a second. Though with a blink it was gone and Cassius sat there wondering if he had really seen what he had. It was impossible after all.

Cassius was starting to think that this was becoming a weird day. His mind kept going back to the past. Maybe it had been a bad idea to bring Gwyn here out of all the places. His hand was now unconsciously clenching the bracelet he was wearing. His gaze returned to Gwyn.

“What did you used to do?” He asked. A random question out of nowhere. His mind trying to convince him that he asked out of an effort to appear friendly, when in truth he asked her as an attempt to distract himself, distract himself from the past, to appear and maybe even feel a little bit normal. It was half succeeding.

Taking the cheeseburger in her hands, she took a big bite out of it. Making a content sound as her taste buds happily started dancing around, she slowly chewed her food and made a mental note to come here more often. If she was allowed to leave, that is. Surely a quick burger run wouldn’t hurt a fly, wouldn’t it? Did this place accept contactless payments? If not, then she could kiss her burger goodbye since Gwyn still didn’t have her debit card. That rectangular piece of plastic was still back at her dorm. She really ought to find a way to get her debit card back, because she couldn’t keep paying with her phone just everywhere. Smiling softly over the excellent quality of her food –despite the exterior looking quite forlorn– she cocked her head when Cassius mentioned his sister. He has a sister? The thought ran through her mind for a second before she put her burger down and picked up another fry.

‘’You’ve got a sister? That must be nice! What is her name?’’ Maybe by showing interest in his sister she could also get to know some more things about Cassius. ‘’My parents had trouble conceiving so it’s just me. I do wish I had a sibling though.’’ She added, without much thought. As a kid all she had wanted was an older brother, but that didn’t happen. It was likely that if her parents had a son, Gwyn wouldn’t be here today. Or maybe she would have. She’d never know.

Their conversation had stalled a bit as they both continued to eat their food, but to her slight surprise Cassius tried to make some more conversation. What she used to do? Well, she’d barely done a thing before she was hauled to ICU. She hadn’t even managed to get a job after graduation, how pathetic was that?
‘’Not much.’’ Gwyn muttered before devouring a few fries. Damn, those things kept on being tasty even though she ate nearly most of them off her plate. ‘’I had finished university and gotten my accounting degree a few months before this whole thing started. Thought that pursuing accounting would surely get me a job after graduation but that turned out to be a joke.’’ Letting out a little scoff at the memories of every turned down application. It was just ridiculous that no company seemed to want her despite her degree. ‘’Sometimes it felt like the universe was against me. But yeah, I went to a party in August, had fun and then boom! Chaos. The next day I was at the testing centre and not long after I was freshly enrolled at, or rather forced into, ICU as a freshly labelled Kirsha.’’ And ever since then she felt like she had accomplished less and less. Even the simplest of magic was impossible for her.

Plucking a piece from her burger bun, Gwyn started staring out of the window. Feeling a bit forlorn suddenly. What would her life look like if she hadn’t turned out to be a Kirsha? Would she have a job she’d like? An apartment of her own? A relationship maybe? Her group of friends? Because all of that was missing from her life right now. There was zero stability to be found. Letting her eyes roam over the people walking the street outside, she went to pop the piece of bread in her mouth and chewed on it for a few seconds before turning her attention back to Cassius.
‘’What about you? What’s your major in university?’’ It was only polite to ask him those things, but she also wanted to know the man a little better.

One more time she let herself look at the pedestrians outside and just when she was about done ogling people, her gaze snagged on a familiar figure. Gwyn felt her heart drop to the core of the earth, sinking lower than she ever expected to feel before it started to beat impossibly fast. She even felt the colour drain from her face. The curly hair, chocolate skin, the familiar facial features… It was the Godia Warrior that had interrogated her on campus. Even without her uniform, Gwyn was sure she recognised the woman. Shit, shit, shit shit! Her breath stocked, her heart raced even faster and mind went numb. She couldn’t stop looking at the woman that was walking at the end of the street. Was this what panic was like? Because it wasn’t like the stress and panic she had felt when she’d gone to Idés after another Godia Warrior had gone to her dorm.

Without much more of a thought , since she couldn’t even think straight, Gwyn did the only thing that felt natural to do at that moment –hide. And fast. Ducking underneath the table, she managed to bump her forehead against the edge of the table, and rattling the contents on it, before she was hidden from sight.
‘’Fuck.’’ Gwyn cursed as she started rubbing the sore spot on her forehead. She wished she’d worry about the possible bruise that could form on her forehead but instead all that went on in her head was the silent hope that the Godia Warrior hadn’t spotted her sitting in the restaurant.

Cassius really didn’t mean to say anything about his sister, but it felt a bit nice when Gwyn showed interest in his sister. It must be the big brother in him, he was after all quite proud of his little sister. “Artemia,” he responded. Cassius didn’t say anything when she said she wished she had a sibling.

He listened as she answered his question. Cassius wasn’t prepared for her to say so much when he had asked, he expected a short sentence or something. Definitely not a whole story that she was now telling him. He tried to think of a response, a comment that wouldn’t sound insensitive. He got the feeling that she wasn't quite glad about her new status, he could slightly understand that. How would his life had been had he not been born as a kirsha? He for sure would never have gotten sick. Though he didn’t get the time to respond as she asked him about his major. “I am double majoring in economics and business,” he answered. Majors his father had decided was best if Cassius were to take over the company. He had a slight feeling with all these ifs his parents said that they were not really sure how long he’d live, but then again, Cassius was way past his expiration date by now.

Before he could even think of another question to ask her, Gwyn looked outside the window before she ducked under the table. It made him jump in his seat. What was she doing? He then heard her swear under the table. Cassius tried to look outside the window to see what had spooked her, though he couldn't see anything that screamed danger.  “Are you okay?” He simply asked as he peeked under the table at her.

Cassius’ voice made her look up while Gwyn was still rubbing the sore spot on her forehead. If she wasn’t as sore, the sight of the regal looking man peeking underneath the table and asking her if she was okay might have been comical. She nodded and muttered a ‘yes’ before debating to get out from underneath the table. Because what if the Godia had come closer to the diner? She’d be screwed if she was seen. Majorly so.
‘’Just saw someone I’d rather not see.’’ A kernel of truth, because she really rather not see the Godia ever again, but for all Cassius knew she could be talking about an ex boyfriend. Not that Emmett Knightley would ever be found in Erast, alive that is. The pompous ass wouldn’t want to be caught dead in any part of Ilomar City that wasn’t either expensive or trending. Gwyn couldn’t believe that she actually dated him, or even liked him. She almost started to doubt her own taste in men. Maybe she should really doubt her taste, since it hadn’t landed her anywhere good. Her last boyfriend had cheated on her, and her last crush was on someone emotionally unavailable to her and basically married to his work. But like before, the thought of Idés didn’t give her the butterflies anymore like it had once done. Somewhere along the line, he had become more of a brother to her instead of someone she fancied. Truthfully told, she liked Idés better as the brotherly friend than as her crush. It probably made her fickle in that way, but it was simply her.

Taking a deep breath, Gwyn dared to leave her hiding place. Carefully did she make her way back onto the bench, peeking through the window once she could to check if she still saw the Godia or not. A deep sigh left her lips when she didn’t see the Godia anymore. Thank goodness. She was safe from being spotted. Rubbing her forehead one more time –surely there’d be a red spot on it– she sat comfortably again, reaching for her fries before looking back at Cassius.
‘’Sorry about that.’’ Popping the fry into her mouth, she quickly chewed and swallowed before continuing. ‘’So, Artemia is a gorgeous name. I’m sure she actually is gorgeous if she looks anything like you. Is she your age, or younger? Older? Also, isn’t a double major extremely time consuming to manage? I’m impressed.’’ Somehow it didn’t and yet it also did surprise her that Cassius was a double major. She’d heard of people with double majors, and most of them dropped one of them somewhere along the road. Heck, even her accounting major kept her so busy that she spent most of her week working on schoolwork. Eating a few more of her fries, she tried to think of a subject to keep their conversation going. Since he just told her about his major, maybe university related questions could keep it alive.
‘’Do you have a favourite subject in your courses? Or a favourite professor maybe?’’ Gwyn hadn’t been overly fond of most of her own courses, but there had been one professor that she adored. It had been an elderly man who was previously retired but got so bored out of his mind that he went back to teaching. Professor Sorenson had this way of explaining things that even the most boring subject became interesting. It was his students that usually had the highest marks. She kind of missed him and couldn’t help but wonder that if he’d been one of her current professors, maybe she would actually have a breakthrough when it came to her powers.

-

Cassius’ suspicion of Gwyn grew as she dismissed whatever she had seen to react that way. She started babbling again, changing the topic as if nothing happened. Cassius slightly frowned.

“Who did you see?” He questioned. his tone not leaving room for her to worm her way out of it. Cassius had stopped eating, his guard up as to whatever she could have possibly seen could very well be a danger to him and the EFA. Cassius had completely ignored the questions she had asked about his sister or his school life. He couldn't focus on anything except dealing with the potential danger they were facing right now.

“Don’t even think about lying to me,” Cassius also said. There was a warning in his tone that said to just be honest. His mind wouldn’t stop the what if scenarios of the consequences of this. “Remember, things no longer only affect you, they affect the people around you too” He said sternly. Now that she was living at the EFA, everything she did could possibly have dire consequences for someone else at the headquarters. That was a risk he refused to take which is why he confronted her about who she saw.

Cassius thought Fallon was a risk when it came to the exposure of EFA, but it was starting to seem like Gwyn could also be a potential threat to it, whether she meant to or not. No matter what she would say, whether she told him the truth or tried to brush it off, Cassius would have to keep an eye on her, but also he really had to report this to Dominic.

Maybe she shouldn’t have said that saw someone, maybe she should have come up with an excuse of sorts that was believable enough. There were a number of excuses she could’ve used, but yet she chose to tell a partial truth. With Cassius asking her who she had seen, it was on the tip of her tongue to lie, to keep trouble at bay. To tell him it had been an ex that she had seen but before the first syllable was even able to leave her lips, Cassius cut her sentence off by warning her not to lie to him. His stern tone when he reminded her that it wasn’t only her that would be affected made her throat close up, because he was right. Whatever she did nowadays also affected everyone at the EFA. Even the tiniest mishap could have a disastrous outcome.

Her appetite gone, Gwyn shoved her plate away from her and instead chewed on the inside of her cheek as she thought about how to best explain to Cassius who she had seen. It wasn’t like they didn’t know about her previous encounters with the Godia –Idés had told them about it when they had burst in during the meeting, but the fact that she had just seen the Godia from the greenhouse in Erast would surely put them all on edge, if not high alert. Raking her fingers through her blonde locks, she grabbed a handful before closing her eyes and gathering her courage to tell Cassius who she’d seen.

‘’A Godia.’’ Two words that never before had sounded so ominous as they did at that moment. ‘’The same Godia who had questioned me back at school, and likely had made sure that the second one had gone to my dorm a few days later.’’ She didn’t dare to look at Cassius as she said the words, instead Gwyn started at her lap, where her other hand lay –now balled in a fist. ‘’I don’t think she saw me, though.’’ Gwyn added, in hopes that Cassius’ reaction would be lighter if she reassured him that she hadn’t been seen. Because despite not really being sure about it, she’d think it would be hard for someone across the street to see any of the patrons inside the diner clearly.

Only then it occurred to her that Cassius would surely tell Dominic what just happened, and it made her eyes widen in fright. If Dominic heard of this, and the possible fact that she wasn’t going to tell, he’d surely get mad at her again. And Gwyn didn’t have the energy to fight with Dominic, again. Lifting her gaze to meet Cassius’, she hoped he could see her pleading look.
"Please don't tell Dominic, he dislikes me already enough as it is. I don’t want to give him another reason to dislike me even more.’’ Even though she knew that there was a near impossible chance of Cassius not telling Dominic, she had to try. Surely he’d level her to the ground for this, possibly even kick her out. And where would she go then?

When Gwyn told him who she had seen, Cassius felt the seed of worry grow in him. Godias in Erast? and not even in uniform? He could guess they weren’t in uniform as he would definitely recognize it when he had looked out the window himself. Gwyn then proceeded to say that she didn’t think the godia had seen her. but how could she be so certain of that? This was quite the security risk and Cassius' mind was running through every possible strategy he could just in the small chance those godias she saw entered this diner.

Please, don’t tell Dominic.

Don’t tell Dominic? Was she crazy? Cassius frowned at the mere idea. This was exactly something he should tell Dominic. Godias in Erast didn’t pose just a threat for her, but every single member and refugee of the EFA.

“I hope you realize the idiocy of your words right now” He said, not realizing how harsh he sounded. He was just focused on how to deal with this information, how to minimize the newly potential threat. Cassius let out a sigh as he looked over at the waitress, who made her way over to the two. “Anyways, we should leave now” Cassius said just before the waitress reached the table. The waitress had their tab with her and asked how they were going to pay, Cassius quickly just took out his wallet and gave her the amount, as well as, to him, was a little tip in cash. When the waitress left to put the cash into the register, Cassius turned to Gwyn. "Let’s go and get you to the headquarters” He said as he stood up, not moving until she too stood up so they both could leave. He had to report this to Dominic, but first his duty was to bring Gwyn back to the headquarters safely and without getting the godias attention, since she was after all now a refugee at the EFA.

Gwyn felt her stomach sink to the core of the world when Cassius’ harsh words hit home. All her hope went flying out of the window and at the thought of the incoming new fight she’d have with Dominic about how much of a childish and irresponsible brat she was, she felt her eyes sting with upcoming tears. As much as she’d love to find a corner to sob in, she wasn’t going to cry in front of Cassius and confirm her status to the EFA as a brat. Instead she let her head hang in a sort of shame. How she screwed up, again. It seemed like ever since the test that nothing had gone in favour of Gwyn. Even apologising to Cassius seemed to have backfired, while he did accept her apology it ended up in a situation. Was she really attracting that much bad luck? Maybe that could be her power, a bad luck Kirsha. She almost wanted to snort at that thought, but thought the better of it as the situation she had gotten herself into again wasn’t all that laughable.

As Cassius mentioned that they should leave, Gwyn looked up and nodded. She knew it would be futile to ask Cassius to stay. In the process of grabbing her phone so that she could pay – it was still her only method to pay with since her wallet and debit cards were still laying around in her dorm, she noticed that Cassius was paying their bill. ‘’W-wait! I was going to pay.’’ Gwyn protested but the bill was already paid for and as the waitress left, Cassius turned to Gwyn again. Letting out another defeated sigh, she followed Cassius out of their booth. With feet that felt like lead did she walk after Cassius, neither of them saying a word during their walk back. Gwyn knew  that small talk would be futile now, it was likely that Cassius was too busy to look out for potential threats to have a conversation with Gwyn. What did she have to say anyways? ’Sorry that I messed up, again? But I didn’t know that a Godia would be walking around here today otherwise I wouldn’t have insisted on going outside?’

With every step that the headquarters came closer, she felt another rock add to the pile in her stomach. It was a bit ridiculous that she was afraid to go in there but she couldn’t refuse to go inside either. She had no place else to go to. What probably made her most anxious was the fact that she had nowhere to hide inside of the headquarters. Dominic and Cadmus could retreat into their rooms if they wanted too, same with the refugees. Gwyn didn’t have that luxury.

Sooner than she’d liked, the building came into view and with the blink of an eye, they were in front of the door. Taking a deep breath, Gwyn resolved herself and mentally put on her armour for yet another tongue lashing.