Birthday Chills and thrills

Ugh... Maura just wanted a small get together for her birthday, not her parents making a big deal out of it.  Why does her parents have to this now that she was back in their lives after so long?  Because they missed you Maura and they wanted to do something like this for your birthday a voice in her head told her.  Besides Maura been gone for a long time maybe she should appreciate what her parents were doing for her, after all she was lucky to have them unlike some people out them were.  It wasn't that she wasn't she just didn't want her parents to make a big deal out of her birthday, it was just another day in her opinion nothing special.

Sighing to herself she looked in the mirror that was in her room of her apartment making sure she looked good before she disapparated in the backyard of her parents house.  The sight before her made her want to gag, the whole backyard was decorated in all different shades of pink to where some colors were pretty she obviously didn't like pink at all.   "Really mum and Dad, out of all the colors to pick you pick pink?!" Maura mumbled to herself.  Although she was going to bite her tongue on this, just by the looks of it her parents worked hard on this and she didn't want to hurt their feelings.  She could behave for one night and not say anything, although she wanted to so badly.


Nathaniel her cousin not only seeing the look on her face but hearing her mumble smirk.  "Aw... don't like the decorations your parents will be so sad to hear that!"said Nathaniel.   Maura glared at her so called cousin, and if looks could kill he'll be dead right there in his spot.  "Nate you knew that I hated pink and didn't tell them?! I should murder you!"said Maura.   "Now... now... Mars I didn't know they were going to pick pink, I just knew they told me they picked a color."said Nate.  "Something about the way you said that convinces me otherwise."said Maura.


Nate laughed.  "See payback from making go dressed from a tux from the seventy's for my girlfriend's prom when I was seventeen!"said Nate.   "Hey! I had nothing to do with that,  it was all Uncle Matt and Aunt Serena."said Maura simply.   "Yeah... I still don't quite buy that, I know you too well."said Nate.  "Say what you want, but you can't be mean to me I'm the birthday girl."said Maura sticking his tongue playfully at him.   "Fine... I'll get you later Mars, this isn't over."said Nate.  Maura laughed and rolled her eyes at him as they went to get some drinks together.


Maura was wearing a red dress that went below her knees her curly light brown hair with caramel curls down in it normal style but some of it in her eyes as she walked with her cousin to get some punch.  Red was Maura's favorite color, it sure wasn't pink, she absolutely hated the colors for her party.  Quite honestly she thought Nathaniel had something to do with this, oh... payback was going to come that was for sure.  Not now... but he was going to get it, that was for sure.  They were so loving towards each other, but they had each other's back no matter what and were protective of each other.

"Merlin, Ry. You really are hopeless."

"What? Why?"

"Oh gee, I don't know. You made me tell her when it was something you should've done yourself?"

The voice of an annoyed recent seventeen year old sounded loudly on the street filled with people. Hit had been spending most of the time she and Ryo had been walking through London to get to Maura's parents house reprimanding Ryo for making her be his messenger. It wasn't that she minded having to tell Maura what she had, it was that she wished Ryo would have told her himself.

There was a certain level of trust he wanted them to have in each other and she felt that because he hadn't told Maura about his issues with dating, that level of trust would take a long time to develop. If she thought about it though, she couldn't say that was a bad thing. That just meant they had a lot of work ahead of them.

"You know how I get when it comes to that stuff Hit, I can't help it. I would've just messed thing up." Ryo retorted, though he insulted himself in the process. Hit sighed and shook her head, dropping the subject at that point. Ryo was a hopeless romantic, but he was also hopeless at romance (ironic isn't it?). He was great at doing corny things, but he was really bad at getting his feelings across clearly.

Poor Ryo.

"You look pretty fancy for your usual wardrobe. Are you trying to impress?" Hit asked with an eyebrow raised.

"No." Ryo snapped back. ".. Just trying to not look like a bum." he added, using her choice of words. The word coming from his mouth made the girl laugh and Ryo tried his best to not roll his eyes at her. "So, you told her about everything? Lillianna and how you found out and everything?" he asked suddenly.

Hit lowered her head and sighed. "Yeah. I went in order and told her everything bit by bit so it didn't overwhelm her." she responded, kicking a small rock that had appeared a little bit in front of her when she reached it.

"Why didn't we just apparate to Maura's parents house?" Hit asked, changing the subject so Ryo wouldn't have time to dwell on the past. She couold tell he was already starting too and she wasn't about to let the memory of that stupid witch ruin the day for him.

"Hm? Oh, because they actually live pretty close so I figured we could just walk. Like old times, when we'd just wander about." he smiled at the younger girl and Hit laughed, lowered her face so he couldn't see the blush that had suddenly appeared on her cheeks. She hated when he did things like that, he always caught her off guard and made her blush like it was nothing. It seemed like he was the only one who could do that, too.

"We're here." Ryo said, pointing to a house that was just another few steps away. Hit looked at where he pointed, her eyes filled with curiosity. She was curious about Maura's family, and thought it would be fun to get to meet them, though she knew this more of Ryo's big chance to say something to Maura about his feelings now that she knew everything.

The two of them walked up to the door, Ryo swallowing hard like he was nervous (of course he was) and knocked on the door.

Ryo

Hit

Talking to her parents Maura heard a knock on the door before she ran  through the house t the front door before she looked out the peek hole and seen it was Ryo.  Seeing who it was she smiled.   "Oh... is that Ryo outside Maura sweetie, lets let him in."said her mother opening the door.   "Mum, dad don't saying anything embarrassing ok?"Maura asked them.  "Of course not dear, we never do."said her mother opening the door.  "Hello you must be Ryo and Hit, Maura talks about you two a lot especially you Ryo."said her mother. Maura face palmed herself and groaned inwardly to herself. "You going to let them in mum or we just going to let them stand there?"Maura asked.

Maura looked at Ryo and Hit and smiled at them once they were in her parents house.  "Glad to see that you two can make it, glad to talk to someone besides my family!"said Maura chuckling.  "Come on before my parents bother you two some more!"said Maura.   Leading them outside to the back yard she winced again at the colors.  "Don't ask, honestly please don't ask I hate the colors."said Maura.  "Think Nate my cousin told them I liked pink out of revenge and payback or something I didn't have anything to do with."said Maura.


Maura looked at them and tilted her head at them confused.  "How did you two know that it was my birthday today? I didn't tell any of you when my birthday was."said Maura.  "It was all me dear, I sent Ryo an owl inviting him to the party."said her mother.  Maura didn't have to ask where she gotten Ryo's address she knew she had to snoop through Maura's stuff to get his address or so.  It wasn't that she didn't want him here,  it was just today wasn't a bug deal to her that's all.

Don't get Maura wrong, she didn't hate her birthday, she just hated that it was the day before a holiday she really didn't celebrate.  Maybe it was she didn't believe in love, maybe because the last time she did it completely broke her in so many ways. That one thing lead her to not believing in love anymore, and believing that it was just a chemical reaction that made you feel that way. Although Ryo was slowly making her think differently of that, was she in love with him? No... but she sis have feeling for him, that she never had before.  Maybe over time it could lead to more but who really knew.


Walking over towards a table she lead to she set down brushing some hair out of her eyes.  "So... how have you two been lately?"Maura asked them.  She honestly didn't know what to talk about, but she didn't want them anywhere near her parents or her cousin to embarrass her and say stupid thing.  "Maura! come join us on the dance floor!" said Nathaniel dancing as Maura laughed.  "Nate what are you doing?"seeing him do a weird dance move.

As her cousin  grabbed her hand and lead her towards the dance floor twirling her around she giggled.  Looking at Ryo and Hit.  "Come on, join the fun!"said Maura.  She just hoped that a slow song didn't come on, god that would be awkward as hell.  So far so good, maybe she'll make an excuse once that happens, yeah... that's what she'll do.

Mars

How they were was a question that could be easily answered for Ryo, but for Hit? Well, that was a little tough. She could've been better, obviously, but she was managing. After rescuing Ekko, you'd think she would be proud of herself and all but she was more upset about the fact that Dylan had injured her.

Mostly because Ryo was peeved off about it and wanted to get back at Dylan for hurting her. Hit had managed to get him to forget about it for now, though. But considering he worked in the Magical Creatures department of the Ministry, she doubted he wasn't doing anything to locate the werewolf. Hit chalked it up to the werewolf/vampire rivalry.

She sighed and said, "We've been fine." in sync with Ryo and she laughed with him after looking at each other in surprise.

They had a habit of doing that.

Maura was dragged away by her cousin to the dance floor and Ryo watched her with a smile on his face. Hit watched Ryo with a raised eyebrow, almost to suggest that he should be the one up there with her. Ryo missed the gaze, though, since she looked away from him just as he glanced down at her. It was funny that Maura told them to get on the dance floor as well because she didn't know that they often danced together and had a few dances they'd made up together.

Hit laughed and reached out for Ryo's hand.

"You can impress her with your dance moves, you're an awesome dancer." She said.

Ryo shook his head and laughed. "I'd rather just enjoy myself, Hit."

She blinked but nodded at his response. "Let's do this then."

The music was perfect, a song with a lot of rhythm and something they could actually improvise into a dance. Which is exactly what they did, and it was a ton of fun. It was great when two people could be so in sync that something improvised could look like it was planned.

Nothing special went on with Maura lately, but then again did anything exciting ever happen with her?  Nope. She was odd and considered strange to others so nothing exciting happens to her.  Although Maura did meet a new friend, that was something exciting right? she always needed more friends.


Maura sometimes seem to think she was the most boring person ever, nothing interesting happened to her.  Although she thought she was herself, she was nothing special she was just her normal odd and boring self. Although Maura was very nice and sweet, it didn't make her less oblivious and odd.


Maura laughed and smiled.  "That's good that you two are doing good I'm glad."said Maura.

Maura looked at her cousin shaking her head.  "Why are you dancing so weird? you know how to dance!"said Maura.  Nathaniel laughed.  "True I do, but if I danced stupid maybe someone would save you from the embarrassment."said Nate smirking.  "So you're going to embarrass yourself to have someone save me from it? that's the stupidest thing ever!"said Maura rolling her eyes at him.  "Just dance normal Nate really, it's not no big deal."said Maura.


Dancing normal with Nate now, she seen Hit and Ryo on the dance floor dancing, she lifted her eyebrows in surprise at him.  "Come on Mars, show them what you got you're a great dancer as well."said Nate.  "I... I don't know, it been ages since I danced Nate."said Maura.   "Come on, you got this."said Nate.   Looking at Hit and Ryo she cheered.  

Dancing with the music she started dancing with Nate again, but then again they been partners with each other since they were little so they were just in sync with each other then Hit and Ryo was.  "See? that's it, just let the music take over you Mars."said Nate.   "Fine... I'll let go."sid Maura dancing along with him as they both did a back flip and the splits. Getting lost in the music Maura dance her heart out just like she did when she was in gymnastics and just having fun, whish was something she was doing. She almost forgotten Ryo and Hit were there until she seen them dancing.


"You two are really good, I didn't know you were such a goo dancer Ryo, more that I'm learning about you."said Maura smirking at him. Maura turned to Hit. "You're an amazing dancer as well Hit."said Maura.

Though Hit would never admit it, Ryo knew that sometimes she felt like she couldn't keep up with him. His life was more established than hers, he had a career, he was a shop owner and he'd graduated already. She could barely decide what she wanted to be once she graduated half the time. The Auror thing seems to have stuck for now, but Ryo knew at some point she'd doubt that was what she really wanted to do.

Her thoughts when it came to dancing weren't any different. He was a great dancer, always coming up with routines and new dance moves. Hit must've always felt like she couldn't do any of that by herself whenever she was around him. Ryo always felt bad, but she seemed content with following through in his routines to help him out, so he never thought much about it.

She was a pretty good dancer, too.

While Ryo did the harder things, like flips and faster movements, Hit danced the way she normally would. She threw in a few new moves she'd been practicing with Ryo and the entire thing just came together. Once the song was over, Hit and Ryo looked at each other. They were out of breath but managed to laugh at how much fun they were having.

Maura walked over to them, complimenting their moves and Hit turned red almost immediately. Compliments still weren't her thing. Ryo laughed, placing a hand on Hit's head and smiling. He looked at Maura, "Thanks. You two weren't bad yourselves. You seem like you dance together often." He could tell, their moves were so in sync it would be strange if it had been their first time dancing together.

Like Hit, Maura felt the same way around people more around her cousin.  Although he was only a year older then her, he was well off then she was by any means. Although he definitely disagreed on it Maura knew that it was true and always will be. Although they were both graduated Maura thought her cousin was more established then she was, he had a house to where Maura was living in a apartment trying to get herself a house. Although she loved being a healer more then anything, she knew that she had to save some money up to get her own place, although Nate offered she simply refused to take any money from him or family members for that matter.

Maura always the outsider out f her family, to where her cousin and brother were popular beyond belief Maura was what you called shy, quiet and odd.  Although as Maura always says, she's not odd she's unique in her own special way.  Although she knew that she could never measure up to her brother or cousin, so why bother trying when she knew she couldn't .  Maura gave up on trying to measure up to her family members, she was just Maura and she quite liked being herself.


While both Nate and Maura were doing flips and hard dance moves,  Maura threw in some of ballet dance moves she learned with Nate.  Once the song ended Maura and Nate high fived each other and hugged each other laughing.  Weird they were cousins, they acted more like best friends then anything, which what they were more then cousins.

Maura herself blushed at Ryo's compliment.  "Um... I wouldn't say that I was that great, obviously your a much better dancer then me Ryo."said Maura.  "Nonsense Mars you were the best in our class besides me of course. she's just being modest and humbled about her amazing dancing talents."said Nate.  "I...I been dancing since I knew how to walk really, my parents seeing my talents put me in dance and gymnastics and Nate here been my dance partner since we were four."said Maura.   Hearing a slow song coming on, Maura walked off the dance floor heading to get some punch.


Nate looking at her cousin shook his head following her, getting some punch he took a drink of it before looking at his cousin.  "So, you walked off the dance floor awfully quickly when a slow song came on, that thirsty huh?"Nate asked her smirking.   "I...I was thirsty after all that dancing, I needed a drink!"said Maura.   "Mhm... sure you did, just face it your scared to close to Ryo after what happened!"said Nate.  "I am not!"said Maura crossing her arm as Nate gave her a stern look.  "Ok... fine, I just don't want to act like a idiot which what I'm afraid I'll do."said Maura.

(Omg, I'm so sorry I haven't replied to this Mars!)

"That makes a lot of sense." Ryo nodded at them. Basically being life time partners was a way to get as close as the two of them seemed to be. He and Hit started dancing together a short while after being introduced to one another and it had all been on accident. Neither of them had expected to become the other's dance partner. Hit especially. The younger girl didn't like to dance much, always being self-conscious but Ryo had managed to get her out of her shell just a little bit and now she danced with him all the time.

Apparently, she didn't dance with anyone else, though.

Hit blinked as she watched Maura hurry off the dance floor once a slow song started. Ryo, obviously trying to be cool about the entire thing, looked off in a different direction so as to not catch the look Hit was giving him. If vampires could blush, Hit was sure Ryo would be beet red by now.

A giggle escaped Hit's lips and she shrugged, pulling on Ryo's sleeve. The man finally looked down at her, the tug having meant he had no other choice and found a grinning Gryffindor looking up at him. He was sure she was going to have a smirk rather than a sweet grin, so he blinked in surprise as he looked down at her.

"Let's keep dancing. Maybe Maura will get comfortable enough to come back on the dance floor."

"Alright." Ryo nodded, taking Hit's hands in his as they began to slowly move to the music. The two of them didn't dance to slow songs often, so it was nice to be able to now. Ryo was sure Hit thought the same thing, though she did seem keen on having Maura come back onto the dance floor.

The seventeen year old glanced at Maura every chance she got, silently telling her that she should dance with Ryo. Hit really just wanted to see the two of them dance together. She wanted to make the image in her head a reality.

Drinking her punch in silence Maura looked at the corner of her eyes seeing her cousin staring at her with a look of displeasure on his face.  

"Will you stop looking at me that way, I'll get back out there soon."said Maura simply.  

"Why not now Mars? you know that you want to dance with him."said Nate.

Seeing Maura blushing he smirked knowing the answer to his question was answered by the look on his cousins face.

 "Ok so I do, but still doesn't get over the fact that I'll get so nervous and do something wrong."said Maura.  

"Just relax Mars, it's dancing not rocket science."said Nate.


Maura loved dancing, and slow songs were her favorite to dance to, just something about holding each other close while looking into their eyes as the world disappeared was something Maura found interesting.  Of course she never had experience that, but seeing her parents look like that when they danced,  was something that Maura wanted.  Yes Maura was an odd one, you didn't gave to tell her that, but she didn't care she just liked stuff that a lot of people thought was silly or stupid.  Maura had a lot of dreams people thought were silly, and slow dancing and experiencing that was something she always wanted to do since she seen her parents slow dancing when she was little.  Maura was slowly believing in love and all that again, slowly but surely but she wanted a love like her parents had.


Maura looked and seen that Hit was glancing at her every second she possibly could, as if telling her to come dance with Ryo.   Maura bit her lip looking at her cousin as he pushed her gently towards the dance floor.  

"Go, you know that you want to Mars, so stop being so shy and go."said Nate.

 "I can't intrude while they're dancing, that's rude Nate."said Maura.  

Nate rolled his eyes.  "Oh come on, even I can tell that they want you to cut in!"said Nate.  


"Alright fine, I..I'm going."said Maura although her feet wasn't moving at all.

 "You're still here Mars, your feet aren't moving."said Nate.

 "I..I'm nervous Nate, really haven't danced with anyone else but you and dad, I don't want to make a fool of myself in front of him."said Maura sighing.  

"You'll be fine, just act natural and let the music take over you."said Nate.  Maura swallowed hard and nodded her head slowly walking over towards Hit and Ryo.


Hey, I'm not back there by Nate anymore, I'm actually doing this. Maura thought to herself.   As she stopped and looked back at Nate, he nodded and gave her an encouraging smile, as if telling her that she could do it.  Maura nodded once again before heading out completely back on the dance floor.  Reaching Ryo and Hit she tapped on Hit's shoulder giving her a soft warm smile.  "Hey Hit, you don't mind if I cut in do you?"Maura asked.