11 am Meeting

Avery avoided making eye contact with the men in the elevator as they stepped in. Upon Robin's releasing her, she wrapped her arms around herself as if they could protect her. His questions nearly went unanswered as her mind raced on, ignoring those around her almost entirely. Did he need time? Maybe it was his way of saying so, but wanted to make it seem like it was about her. Avery hoped that wasn't the case, because as much as she knew Mira would support her in this, it wouldn't be very fair to run home and express her thanks that she had been matched with the person of her choosing.

“I- I haven't eaten today, so that would probably be a good idea..” She mused. She had been so distracted that morning that it had not seemed a priority. Now that she thought about it, though, Avery didn't really feel hungry. She was so distracted, and felt rather guilty for it.

After their stop at the second floor, the doors opened again to let the three remaining elevator riders off at the ground floor. Avery stepped out, glancing around. When he joined her, she forced herself to look up at him for the first time since leaving the meeting. It was like that door had closed behind them, effectively shutting her into her own errant thoughts and causing her to fear what he might really be thinking if she looked. What she really needed was a drink. Or Keiran, to convince her that it wasn't entirely madness that she was going through. Oh, Keiran.

“When should we let Keiran know?” She asked as they made their way through the Ministry's foyer. It wasn't like Robin had proposed formally or anything, so it would not be so very strange if he was the first to find out rather than someone's parents or siblings. Avery didn't technically have either of those things, anyways.

Avery suddenly, selfishly, hoped that the Hayes family would sit on her side of the wedding company when the day came. Otherwise she wouldn't have anyone – except maybe Mira or some work friends, but then she didn't really have many work friends, anyway. Things couldn't be just about her anymore. Just because she had ruined things with her family did not mean that she should take anything from Robin. Avery knew that. But that also meant that she could not curl up inside herself – not until they had parted ways for the evening. Then she could do all the sulking, drinking, or crying that she wanted.

Instead, she swallowed and moved herself so that her arm wrapped around his back in a side-hug type gesture as they walked. Avery leaned into him, hoping the nearness would calm her as it had in the meeting room. They were together in this, and in all things in the future, because of this law.

"We can owl him tonight if you'd like." Robin offered, barely noticing how quickly his 'I' became a 'we'. The pair had never spend an enormous amount of time together but Robin was still not eager to let her go. They had a world of things to figure out between them and the questions that had began the second he saw her would not cease until they had been answered.

Robin was traditionally very unwilling to make any compromises around his life, especially when it came to his housing situation. Out of all of the Ivanov homes around the world he had purchased his own apartment and felt extremely partial to it. While he had never visited Avery's apartment in London there was very little doubt in his mind that it would not come close to comparing to the comfort he felt in his current home. He supposed certain concessions could be made if needed but everything would be so much nicer if she would just agree to move to Dublin.

To Robin's slight surprise, Avery's arm curled around him as they walked, a gesture that he returned so that their arms were crossing and their bodies were held close. To anyone walking past it almost looked as if they were holding each other up as they braved the rest of the Ministry lobby. They made it to the door that would let them outside and stepped in, cramped together in the telephone box sized room. It shot upward and in a matter of moments they were revealed to the muggle street.

Robin opened the booth's door and took a deep breath of the about-ground air. Without thinking he leaned down a kissed the top of Avery's head, murmuring "We're going to be just fine, doll." before releasing her and stepping out into the world. Everything was about to change.