Boys, boys, boys (tagged)

[Hayden Ferrera]

Hayden looked toward Sean as Nathalia walked over but didn't make full eye contact. He wanted to apologize to Nathalia for how things went the other night, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. He knew she thought he rejected her, but it was actually the complete opposite. All day he had been thinking of ways to get her to see that he didn't reject her, and he still hadn't come up with anything good. Hayden thought about even asking Roland, but he couldn't do that either because he knew Roland was busy with his own family and he didn't want to burden his brother with his small issues.

Hayden thought about asking her to dinner as she walked over to their table. However, he didn't want to really ask right in front of the boys. Sean, it wouldn't be a problem, but he knew that he would have to explain himself and he didn't want to explain himself to Damon.

Once Nathalia reached the table, Hayden put on a smile that she could see. "Hey Nathalia," he said greeting her. He was going to do his best to act normal. If she was going to do that, so could he. "I'll go with what I had before."

[Sean Leviner]

Sean caught the look from Hayden, and he took a keen interest in how Hayden knew the girl's name, and that he'd obviously been here before if he expected the blonde to know what he wanted.

And it clicked, at least a little. The comment that he'd be able to figure it out for himself what was bothering his friend, the careful way the barmaid barely met his eyes. Something had gone on between them, or was going on. He didn't think his friend was the one night stand kind of guy... so what was it?

He gave Hayden a meaningful glance back, just to say that he got it, he understood, at least a little. And then he dropped it. "Firewhiskey for me, thank you." He nodded to Damon and T.

[Damon Dearborn]

Damon, meanwhile, was blissfully oblivious to all of this. He'd thought up a perfect "fake drink" name for her, and was eager to try it out. So after Hayden and Sean had ordered, he leaned back and tried to look very cool. Of course, when one tries to look cool, the effect is usually anything but, and this was no exception.

"I'll have a Godfather," he announced boldly, giving her his most charming grin.

He took a quick glance around at his friends, expecting them all to be impressed, or at least to laugh, and was a little surprised to see the odd tension that seemed to be hanging in the air.

[T. Vega]

T had to snot at the obliviousness of Damon as he ordered his drink. "Firewhisky for me too," he said, sending Nathalia a friendly smile.

He sent a look at the other three. He clearly missed something important while hanging around his books at the library.

[Nathalia Webb]

Nathalia nodded to Hayden. She remembered his drink, but if any one of them, Hayden included, asked about it, she was just going to claim she remembered everyone's drinks.

Another nod to Sean, and Damon flashed his Paul McCartney smile at her, announcing his drink, and she actually had to force a laugh, though it sounded real enough, as often as she used these kinds of laughs. "Why don't we make that one a double?" She asked, winking at him, and a final nod went to T.

She didn't waste much time at their table. She needed to regroup, and it was scaring her. She couldn't even think what to put in Damon's drink, and she was never stumped.

Somehow, she came up with something, and headed back to the table quickly. She didn't want to give them any time to talk about her, actually (was that arrogant?).

"Firewhiskey for the guy who looks like he's carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders," she commented, setting the drink in front of Sean, giving him a sympathetic look. "Another for the guy who looks like he has a good sense of humor. A Godfather for you," In front of Damon, she set a drink that looked black with a bright red cherry floating in it. It looked dangerous enough, but she didn't bother to tell him what was in it.

"And your regular, Hayden. You all just give me a shout if you need anything."

[Hayden Ferrera]

Hayden cast another glance to Sean, knowing that he caught on. As Damon named his drink, he looked over to his friend and gave a shake of his head as usual. He noticed that Nathalia wasn't quite meeting his eyes and he could understand why.

For a moment, he watched her at the bar. She seemed a little out of sorts, but he didn't think too much of it. Hayden glanced to T and before he could ask his friend a question, Nathalia returned to their table. This time, he purposely looked at her face, just to see if she would look at him.

Hayden also noted that she only used his name when she passed out their drinks. Granted she might not have known all their names, but still. She did use his name.

"Thanks Nathalia," he spoke up before putting his hand around his drink. Giving her one last glance, he turned to the boys and raised his glass a little. "To tonight," he told them.

[Damon Dearborn]

Maybe it was the lukewarm response to what he thought was a brilliant joke, or maybe it was the way Hayden and Nathalia both seemed to call each other by name but didn't meet each others' eyes, but it was beginning to dawn on Damon that something was going on here.

Taking a sip of his lethal-looking drink (which was actually pretty good--better than the Angry Frenchman), Damon leaned forward and fixed his eyes on Hayden. Being the self-appointed jokester of the group, Damon was, unfortunately, rather lacking in tact, so it shouldn't have come as a shock to anyone when he blurted out, "OK, Hayden, what's up? Something going on between you two or what?"

[Sean Leviner]

Sean, who was pretty oblivious to things like this in his own life, thought the tension between Hayden and Nathalia, that they were both trying so hard to pretend wasn't there, was painful to him. He wanted to lock them both up in the back room. And then let them have fun. He was really curious to know what this was all about, but kept his cool.

Until Damon broached the subject with the subtlety of a Norwegian Ridgeback. He couldn't kick Damon under the table, because that would just encourage him, but he felt the need to jump to Hayden's rescue. Even if he did want to know the question.

"Hayden's not really the type to pick up a girl in a bar, ay? Besides, we're leaving her to you." If Hayden wanted to spill the beans, fine, but he gave Damon a look that said he should probably drop it. And of course, regretted doing so. Still, there were more tactful ways to approach this.

For instance, "But out of curiosity, though, how do you know her?"

[Hayden Ferrera]

Before Hayden could take a decent drink from his glass, he looked at Damon with wide eyes. For a few moments, he thought that the interaction between he and Nathalia had been hidden. He forgot that others could really see what was happening.

He placed his glass back on the table and was going to answer Damon, but thankfully Sean spoke up first. He gave Sean a quick thankful look, but he raised an eyebrow as Sean still questioned how he knew Nathalia. There was no way he could lie to his friends.

Sighing, he rested his arms on the table and looked between T, Sean, and Damon. "I came in here for a drink not too long ago," he began, "she was bar tending at the time. We started to have a conversation. We talked for awhile. It got late and I asked her about walking her home. She accepted, so I walked her home, and that's it." Of course he left out the other details as to why there was tension between them, but he did answer Sean's question.

[Sean Leviner]

Sean's eyebrows went up and he actually had to stifle a laugh. Oh yes, sleep had done him wonderfully well, because he had to bite back a smart comment.

He had expected something along the lines of a shrug and a "I've been here once or twice." But no, it seemed like Hayden had something on his chest, and whether he acted like it or not, he wanted to talk about it. Anyway, there was no way Damon was letting the conversation drop now. He glanced at T and gave his friend a smile.

[Damon Dearborn]

Yeah, there was more to that story, Damon was sure of it. Of course, his imagination immediately began working up the most extreme situation. A slow smile spread across his face, and he reached over and gave Hayden a playful punch on the arm.

"You dirty dog!" he laughed. "You and Nathalia, huh? Good job, mate. I told you she liked Aurors... guess the rumor was true. So, how 'bout it? You guys going out again? You never struck me as the one-night stand type."

[Hayden Ferrera]

And there was the comment Hayden was waiting for. He put a hand on his forehead and then shook his head. He looked to Damon and raised an eyebrow after he hit his arm. "It's not like that," he said. "We didn't do anything." Hayden wanted to cast a glance at Nathalia, but refrained because he knew that would bring more teasing along.

"I literally walked her home and that was it." Of course, that being it is one thing that was causing a bit of tension between the two. At the question of if they were going out again, Hayden shrugged. "I want to ask her to dinner," he admitted. "But right now I don't know if that's a good idea."

[Sean Leviner]

"You're blushing," Sean pointed out, almost quietly. He could buy that nothing happened between them, but the way they wouldn't meet each other's eyes said differently. Whether or not it was sex, something definitely had happened between them.

"I'll bite," he decided, leaning forward, and now not trying so hard to cover for his Auror friend. "Why don't you think it would be a good idea to ask her to dinner right now? Especially if nothing happened."

[Hayden Ferrera]

Sean's comment about him blushing caused him to look over at Sean and raise his eyebrows. As a result of someone noticing caused his face to turn a half shade brighter. "Thanks," he mumbled to Sean sarcastically.

Hayden realized that he should have kept the last comment to himself. Now Sean and Damon were going to ask questions. He wasn't used to this sort of treatment. Most of this sort of thing was usually geared toward Damon, not him. "I," Hayden started, but no good excuse came to him right away. Nathalia wasn't exactly busy because the place hadn't reached the busy part of the evening.

"I dunno," he said with a shrug. Something did happen, but Hayden wasn't exactly sure how to explain it. Looking between Sean, T., and Damon, Hayden knew he wasn't going to win. "Fine, I'll go ahead and go ask her to dinner before we all have one past our limits and before it gets too busy." He glanced to Sean with an almost teasing look. "That better?"

[Sean Leviner]

Sean couldn't help actually laugh at the look Hayden shot him. "Sorry. Just... thought you should be aware." There was no way Damon would have missed it anyway. And Sean was apparently feeling his oats.

"And too bad for you, Damon. Seems she likes subtlety." He gave his friend a teasing yet gentle smile. "Why does everyone have a love life all of a suden?"

[Damon Dearborn]

"I agree with Sean," Damon said, unsurprisingly. "You should go for it, Hayden. What's the worst that could happen, huh? At least if she says no, then you'll know."

He looked at Sean trying to appraise him. Something was going on with him, too, but Damon couldn't put his finger on it. Sean had always been the most... enigmatic of the four of them, anyway, so it wouldn't be easy to get anything out of him. Maybe after a few more drinks.

"I don't have a love life," Damon pointed out. "Unless you count the cute girl I walked back to the school the other day. But I can't tell whether she liked me or hated me."

[Sean Leviner]

Sean shook his head. "I meant the little love triangle going on with our barmaid, but who was this girl you walked to class? That sounds like Azkaban bait to me." He had a somewhat disturbing image in his head of his friend walking a 4th year to her class. He tried to shake the thought away.

He also conveniently decided not to mention Lydia, because although it seemed like he couldn't get her out of his thoughts lately, it didn't exactly count as a romance. Even if he found himself wondering how her lips would feel if he kissed her. The thought made him blush slightly, and he drew his attention back to the table, taking a sip of his drink.

There was something more to Hayden's story, but Sean didn't push it, instead waiting for Damon to go on about his own story.

[Damon Dearborn]

"Oh, come on, you don't think I'm that desperate, do you?" Damon said, pretending to act shocked that Sean would think him capable of hitting on underaged girls. OK, maybe there was a certain appeal in that, since they were less likely to care that he didn't have a job and still lived with his parents, but still. "She wasn't a student, she was a teacher. Or tutor, whatever. Can you imagine, me dating a teacher? I'll tell you, though, if they looked like her when we were in school, I might have actually paid attention in class."

He was so wrapped up in telling his story that he failed to notice that Sean was blushing, too, which was a good thing for Sean. "Anyway, like I said, I'm not sure if she liked me or hated me. I kinda teased her, because she was a little clumsy. In a cute way, of course. But some people just don't get my sense of humor. Go figure."

[Sean Leviner]

Sean actually laughed out loud. "No... no, you wouldn't have paid any more attention. You would have just looked like it because you'd have been staring quite intently. So... are you seeing her again?"

Ever observant, Sean glanced at each other their glasses. They were all at different levels, but below the half way mark. He nudged Hayden. "Ey, we need more drinks. Why don't you go up to the bar and order for us?"

It was actually his way of being nice to Hayden, figuring this would give him a few minutes alone with the barmaid, without the pressure of his three friends watching and listening.

[Damon Dearborn]

"Yeah, you're right," Damon admitted with a grin. "I would have been looking at her, and maybe even listening... but I'm sure I wouldn't have understood a word of it. Oh well... she didn't seem to hold it against me that I was a crappy student. In fact, she asked me to help chaperone a zoo trip for some of the younger kids. Crazy, huh? I'd only just met her, and she was offering to entrust me with the care of a bunch of impressionable kids."

He shrugged and took another sip from his drink. "Anyway, I think I'm gonna do it. Do you think that's a bad idea?"