A break from the Wizarding world.. sort of

Chase felt as though the wind had been knocked out of her when he hugged her. His arms around her tightly, her eyes snapped open, and she felt a smile cross her lips. He had murmured something, but it hadn't been quite understandable. "I'd love to meet Pac Man.." She said suddenly, knowing full well that she really did want to meet his fish. It was so important to him, she just.. couldn't help but want to! She laughed and looked up at him when he finally let go. She reached up and pushed a strand of hair out of his eyes and then blushed deeply.

"Let me just pay for the drinks." She said going over to the table and picking up the bill, going to the counter she pulled out a small bag from her purse, and almost feeling ashamed, pulled a few coins out of it and gave them to the bartender. Smiling happily at him, she tucked the rattling bag back into her purse. It made her feel funny when she paid for things for other people, maybe because she didn't want them to see just how much money she had. Both in muggle money, and in wizard gold. But whatever the reason was, she was afraid of showing Calvin. Afraid he would see her as a critic saw her, and automatically plastered 'SNOB' on her picture and put it out for the internet to see.

Chase could feel that her face was as red as her hair as she went back to where Calvin was. "I really would.. like to meet the fish I've heard so much about." She said giggling. "He must be really important if you yelled out that you loved him when you thought you were going to die." She said laughing again, her whole face alight when she laughed, her head thrown back like it was the funniest thing she had ever heard. "I have a dog, but he's at the vet right now.. he's not been feeling well." She said with a small sigh, before looking up at him and grinning. "So.. where to next?" She asked happily rocking onto the balls of her feet and back again, crossing her arms in front of her and clasping her hands.

“Uh…” Calvin croaked awkwardly when he felt Chase brush his hair out of his face. He opened his mouth, but no words came out, and so he closed his mouth tight, biting his bottom lip, only making him appear that much more embarrassed. He looked down at the ground and folded his hands, twiddling his thumbs as if he were a shy little boy in kindergarten once more. “Thanks,” he said when he finally managed to get his voice box to work again, but he sounded rather squeaky; a talking action figure turned rubber duck.

He watched Chase return to their table to pay for the drinks they had ordered, and stood there smiling. He was excited to introduce Chase to Pac Man; he was sure that Pac Man would really like her. Calvin leaned back slightly so that he was leaning against the table nearest to him, but his hand had slipped, and he had stumbled backwards and fallen into one of the chairs at the table instead. He sat there with his eyes wide due to the shock of nearly shattering his skull on the hard floors of the Leaky Cauldron.

The geeky man noticed that Chase was blushing when she returned, and couldn’t help but grin widely. He held up one of his hands, extending his index finger, and poked one of her cheeks, “Ha! Your blushing,” he announced, and it almost sounded as if he were mocking her, but the tone of his voice had been too dorky for it to sound mocking at all. “I’m afraid of dogs because one bit me once when I was four- I still have the scar on my arm, see”- Calvin drew up his sleeve and pointed to a small squiggly scar that was etched into his skin –“but I’m sure I’d like your dog because most pets are a lot like their owners- or does that only work with Pokémon? I honest can’t remember,” he spoke, inhaling afterwards as if he had never tasted air before. “To my house!” he cheered and dashed out of the door quickly.

"OH! Calvin are you alright?" Chase gasped, running to help him up. "I guess I just can't leave your side now can I? You seem to fall whenever I'm not around.. well, you fall when I'm around too, but at least I can catch you if you fall when I'm around. "She said without thinking, but the second her own words got to her head, she blushed a shade of red so deep, it was darker then her own blood red hair. When he touched her cheeks, because of her blush, she blushed darker. "Heh.. yeah, I.. I guess I do that a lot don't I?" She said giggling lightly. In reality Chase almost never blushed, just around some people, like him and Andrew, but mostly him, she hadn't blushed this deeply in.. well a long time. Way before she had lost her family.

Looking at his scar she bit her lower lip. "That must have hurt Calvin.." She said softly, looking up at him with a smile on her face. "Dragon wouldn't hurt a fly, he's only about as big as my arm, and I can carry him everywhere I go and he loves people, the worst he'd do to you is lick you." She said giggling at him. Chase frowned slightly when he said something about.. Pokémon? She bit her lower lip, wondering what the heck that was, but suddenly Calvin was dashing out the door. "Oh!" She yelped and ran after him, knocking into a table on the way, before righting it and dashing out the door, searching frantically for Calvin. What if he had run into the street? What if he got hurt? She didn't know what she'd do! She bit her lip and turned her head this way and that looking for his familiar ruffled up hair, and odd glasses. "Calvin!" She cried out, turning in a full circle, looking for him.

“Chase!” Calvin shouted, standing a foot or so away from Chase. He waved, raising his eyebrows slightly; “What are we shouting for?” he asked, fallowed by a grin, his eyes sparkling innocently in the sunlight. The sun was still high in the sky, and it felt good on Calvin’s skin, even if he would much rather have had a portable AC of some kind- did they even make those? Calvin stretched his arms out and lifted them up to the sky, as if it was raining, and laughed. The sun’s rays were probably burning his pale skin, but the thought didn’t cross his mind as he stood there happily.

He turned to looked at Chase, dropping his arms at his sides once more. Calvin tilted his head to one side like a pigeon and stepped forward slightly, “Would you look at that…” he breathed, staring at the female’s hair, which had caught the sun’s light, and looked as if it had been set alight. Normally, such a sight would have startled Calvin due to his fear of… well, people catching their hair on fire- but instead, he stood there wondering why her hair looked the way it did, or, to put it in a better way, why he had never seen someone’s hair look that way. It amazed him- or, at least, until Calvin remembered his fish and got all caught up in that.

“My house isn’t far from here,” He told her with a grin, balancing on his toes absentmindedly. Calvin didn’t know how to apperate because he had never taken the lessons due to a story about some man loosing a limb or something, that his father had told him without actually realizing how terrifying that story had been for ten-year-old Calvin to hear. And so, they would walk, because it wasn’t a long distance, and because if they ran they would certainly die of heatstroke.

Chase felt herself visibly relax when she saw him, standing not to far from her. "Sorry, you scared me! I thought you had run off and forgotten me!" She said laughing happily, before seeing him tilt his head at something. She turned to look over her shoulder to see what it was he could be looking at. Nothing was there but a few American tourists, but they were everywhere now a days. Looking back at him, she saw he was still staring, and then she realized what at. Her face went red again, and she ran her fingers through her hair, as though trying to straighten it out under his gaze.

"Oh good! I don't know how to apparate." She said laughing happily. "It's probably a good thing you don't live to far.." She said more under her breath then to him, a smile still on her lips. "Well come on, lets get going!" She said laughing, and taking his hand without really being aware of it. It was hard to be.. unhappy when you were with Calvin, it was like all of her worries just disappeared when she was with him. Every bad thing that had ever happened to her, just blew out of her head like a fresh breeze had blown the cobwebs out.

"So do you live alone Calvin?" She asked, half expecting him to tell her he lived with his wife or something. A guy like Calvin couldn't possibly be single, not as innocent and charming as he was. And at twenty four, he was in the prime of his life, of course he had a wife.. she probably shouldn't even be with him right now, but she couldn't tear herself away. She could just imagine the look on his face when she said she had to go. And it almost made her heart break with sorrow. She didn't want to make that look appear on his face. Not today, she would go with him and see his fish! She was actually excited to go see his fish, it made her want to run there, but it was so hot.. she'd probably die on the way.

Calvin looked down at his and Chase’s hands (is that correct grammar?), which were intertwined, with wide eyes. He glanced at the female’s face, at their hands, at her face, at their hands; like a tike listening to a conversation, moving his eyes from each person who spoke, to the other. He tried to get the blush on his cheeks to leave, but it didn’t, and so he just grinned and swung his arm, making hers swing as well, as if were asking her why they were holding hands, and if it was OK.

Walking down the sidewalk with Chase at his side, Calvin replied to her question, not in the least bit curious why she had asked such a thing, “I share an apartment with a friend of mine. We split the bill and it makes it easier to pay the bills since my job at the Ministry doesn’t pay too well anymore. He should be home trying to beat his new videogame still, so maybe you’ll get to meat him too,” he said with a nod of his head and a spring in his step as usual. “What about you, Chase?” he asked in order to keep the conversation going; though the conversation ending wasn’t really a problem when someone like Calvin was involved.

Calvin turned around the corner, stumbling over one of those cracks in the sidewalk that had been made a little too wide, nearly falling forward. He had waved his arms around frantically in order to keep his balance, but had managed to just fine, and had continued walking forward as if nothing had happened at all, humming a song that he couldn’t remember the name of.

Humming was a big thing with Calvin.

A roommate? He.. wasn't married? She could barely keep the blush off her own cheeks now. It didn't seem to want to leave now that it was on, and it just progressively got darker and darker when she blushed. She laughed when he started to swing their arms, but didn't mind, she kind of liked just.. holding his hand, and making she he made it alright, and was even able to pretty much save him when he almost fell, though she had almost fallen with him. Laughing she ran a hand through her hair and smiled at him. "Oh.. I'm staying with a friend right now..." She said carefully. "Though I have an apartment picked out and everything, I'll be moving in there soon, by myself of course, don't have many other friends to share with!" She giggled and looked up at him. Why did he have to be so tall? The sun shone right behind his head, making his whole body seem to shine.

Chase frowned when he started to hum, and she carefully, tentatively as though she were afraid he would tell her to stop, started to hum with him. She knew the song, but she just couldn't place it, but the tune was so familiar, she was almost happy to hum along with him. His almost kiddish tune, matched almost perfectly with her voice. And the smile spread across her face again, reaching her eyes and beyond, almost like her whole body smiled when she did. Her hair seemed to flip up at the end, and her body did a little skip dance step when she walked, happy with just walking down the street, holding onto Calvin's hand, and humming softly.

Something happened beneith Calvin's chest when he heard Chase humming along with him, and stepping perfectly in-sync with him; it made him so very happy, and he could have sworn that one of the valves connected to his heart had burst, lying there in his chest, worthless now, and his heart was left to flutter awkwardly beneath his ribcage. Maybe too much happiness could cause someone to explode, but Calvin only considered it for a moment, because the possibility frightened him; after all, he was always joyful, and he didn’t want to explode, because happiness wouldn’t be the same after he’d exploded, it would be like trying to make a picture out of a billion puzzle pieces- wait… what?

“Oh! You should try playing Dig Dug with me, I’ve got the best score in all of England!” Calvin announced with a proud smile. He noticed that Chase was looking up at him as if he were as tall as the statue of liberty, and shrunk down a few inches by bending his legs, waddling oddly at his new, shorter height. He laughed, hoping that doing so would get her to laugh again too. Maybe he could get her laugh on recording or something… or maybe that was just a little too creepy- though Calvin actually didn’t think about the awkwardness such an act would lead to.

“We’re here!” The man exclaimed and jumped up and down twice, straitening out once more. He sprinted the last few feet to the apartment complex he lived in, dragging Chase along with him. It was rather dangerous for someone like Calvin to run that quickly, for he could trip and it would be all over once his head smashed against the sidewalk, but as always, Calvin didn’t even consider such a possibility.

He stopped in front of the revolving door that he had walked out of only an hour or so before, “BEHOLD,” Calvin said in a low, dramatic voice that made him sound like a narrator in a videogame or a movie, but he couldn’t think of anything else to say after “BEHOND” and so he just paused their awkwardly, and shrugged.

"Dig dug?" She asked tilting her head to the side and looking up at him. "I'm afraid I've never played it. But I don't doubt that you are the best played in all of England!" She laughed again and grinned up at him when he started to waddle, trying to be shorter. "Oh don't do that! I like how tall you are!" She said and blushed deeper, painfully aware at what she had said, and how it had sounded when she said it. She laughed again, trying to get rid of the shakiness in her knees that had suddenly rushed into them.

She was pretty much dragged to the door, and she laughed, looking at the revolving doors. She didn't know how good of an idea it was for him to be in an apartment with revolving doors. One day he might end up getting himself caught in it, and not be able to find his way out again. The feeling of protectiveness flew into her mind again, and she smiled at him again. "It's a lovely apartment.. shall we go in?" She asked giggling at him, and letting go of his hand momentarily, she stepped up to the door and walked in a tight circle around until she was in the lobby of the beautiful apartment. "How pretty..." She whispered glancing around the room before turning and waiting for Calvin. If he lived here he had better know how to get through his own front door, though worry still crossed her face since she was out of site of him.

The revolving door never had liked Calvin very much. For example, one time when he had been rushing out of the apartment complex to get to work on time, the evil contraption had jammed while he was in between the edge of the door, and the door’s frame, stuck half outside, and half inside. It had been an odd situation for sure, especially when he had had to try and shimmy his way out of the tight area in order to escape.

And so it was natural that there was always some hesitation when it came to entering and exiting the apartment complex using the evil door of doom. Calvin stared at the door, a few inches away from it and drew in more oxygen than he actually needed, and darted forward quickly, only to run straight into the glass of the door. “You win again…” Calvin groaned, sliding slowly downward until he was lying on the hardwood floor of the lobby.

Well… at least he had made it inside the apartment complex. Now that they had gotten past the front door, Calvin and Chase would have to face the elevator- which liked to slow to a stop randomly simply to frighten Calvin- and their journey to the actual apartment would be over. Or, at least, if his friend was actually home, because if not, Calvin would have to then search for his keys, and that never ended well.

Calvin climbed to his feet slowly, clawing at the wall as he slipped on the wet floors- there was a sign that said “Caution: Wet Floors”, but that didn’t really help poor Calvin as his sneakers squeaked loudly and slid about on the floor, making it even harder than usual for him to keep from toppling over. “Stop trying to break my door, Mr. Ransom,” the manager whom sat behind the main desk in the lobby, growled, frowning as usual. Haphazardly, Calvin darted towards the man and gave him a hug, only to be pushed away by the other man grumpily.

“Have a good day!” Calvin exclaimed and waved rapidly, making his way back over to Chase. “Don’t tell me what to do…” replied the man, shaking his head, “or I’ll have you thrown out!” “Oh, he’s such a kidder,” Calvin told Chase, waving off the grouch’s words off as if he actually believed that the man had been joking.

“To the el-e-va-tor!” He shouted at the top of his lungs, drawing out the world ‘elevator’ as if it were the most important word to ever fall from his lips.