Working the Charm...Sort Of [Elenora]

[Aidan d'Amory]

There was probably only one place, other than his own chambers, that Aidan felt comfortable. Well, alright, that wasn't entirely true. Usually wherever he and Arthur were was somewhere he could be comfortable - the prince was one of the few people who actually accepted Aidan the way he was. He'd been a good friend since they were children, but now he was getting older he was being given more and more responsibilities and so Aidan was finding himself alone more frequently. He didn't mind though, he'd spent a lot of his life alone, it was just what he was used to. And it gave him more time for reading, one of his greatest pleasures. When he wasn't in his own chambers or with Arthur or being forced into some horrible situation with Struan he could be found in the castle's library. It had everything he could possibly want in there, and more, and this was not the first time he'd completely lost track of time while he was there. He'd only been intending to borrow a book but he couldn't decided which one he wanted and ended up on the floor surrounded by piles - that's when he saw her.

Elenora hadn't seen him, or at least she hadn't acknowledged him. Maybe she'd forgotten who she was, it had been a fair few months since they'd met, and it was only a short meeting in which he was awkward and unable to hold a conversation and she'd been pulled away by some dancing dimwit - or at least Aidan liked to think he was a dimwit. Not that that was important right now, he was far too busy watching Elenora finding her own books and remembering that she'd said she had a passion for reading. He thought he heard something behind him, turned around to find nothing and when he looked back she'd disappeared. Well that was just brilliant, wasn't it?

Fortunately, that was not to be the last he saw of her. He'd been on his way out, literally in front of the door, when he remembered he'd forgotten one of the books from the pile that had been on the floor. Just as he turned around he felt someone collide into him and heard a load of books falling to the floor. Immediately he bent down to pick them up, not noticing who they had been held by. Wait a moment-

"Oh God! I'm so sorry!"

He knew that voice! "Lady Elenora!" He half exclaimed, surprised to see her again. "Please don't apologise, I-I should have been looking where I was going." He continued to gather the books together, accidentally brushing his hand against hers. For a moment he just stared at her hand before remembering himself and looking back at her. "It's not a problem at all." Of course it wasn't a problem. This was his chance to actually have a conversation with her - a proper one without awkwardness or his brother making comments or the dancing dimwit and he was going to make the most of it.

[Lady Elenora]

"Lady Elenora!" Nora heard someone half exclaimed in surprise. Oh my god, Nora thought. She knew that voice. Looking up her suspicions were correct -- it was indeed Sir Aidan. "Please don't apologise, I-I should have been looking where I was going." He stammered out, sounding very apologetic, though she knew that it was her fault not his.

Aidan continued to help her gather the rest of her books together, when he accidentally brushed his hand against hers. For a moment -- thought it felt way longer to Nora -- Aidan stared at her hand and Nora felt a warmth from where he was touching her spread throughout her body. Then she heard him say in a quite flirty, deep voice, "It's not a problem at all." And it made Nora blush even more -- so much so Nora was sure that her cheeks must be the color of tomatoes. Embarrassed, Nora stared at Aidan's face -- then realizing that she was not saying anything she quickly muttered, "Well I'm glad... I hope I did not hurt you when I-I collided with you," God, Nora hoped so because what kind of impression would that make. Other than she was a complete and total klutz that is.

Finally all of the books were collected and Nora stood up. "Thank you, Ai- My Lord for your assistance," Nora smiled shyly at him. Not sure of what to say next. Maybe she could ask him what brought him to the library. Though, of course it was to look at books -- she knew that of course, they were in a library after all. But then she remembered that night at the ball when they had started to make some head way when she had mentioned that she liked to read and he seemed to share that in common. Unfortunately, they were then interrupted by the gentleman her sister kept instancing that she dance with so they were unable to continue they interlude.

"So what brings you here, My Lord?" Nora asked him a little animatedly, excited with the prospect that they might be able to pick things up from before.

[Aidan d'Amory]

Apologies for the wait

Was she...blushing? Aidan was confused. Blushing would mean she was embarrassed, hmm, alright, that might make sense but it seemed an awfully silly thing to be embarrassed about. He was actually rather glad she'd bumped into him. It had given him the perfect excuse to engage her in conversation again. He shook his head at her question, even if Elenora had managed to hurt him he was far too preoccupied to care. "Oh, no, I'm fine. How about you? Are you hurt? Well- are you well?" Obviously he was determined to be as smooth and charming as he had been during their first meeting. He had hoped his social skills would have improved but apparantly that was a hope unfullfilled. Usually he didn't care - he'd never been one for socialising, despite his brother's best efforts. He'd just amuse himself and not bother with what anyone else was doing. But, rather confusingly and irritatingly, he found himself wanting to bother with Elenora. He wanted her to think he was actually capable of conversing with people, only he wasn't any good at proving that.

"Oh it wasn't a problem. Not at all." He smiled. Picking up her books had hardly been a taxing task, and, as he had previously thought, it had given him an excuse to talk to her. He wasn't one for just announcing his presense, he was one for standing awkwardly and waiting for people to drop their books all over the floor. "Me?" Well, of course him, he thought, cringing slightly at his stupid question. "I was looking for, well, something to read." He shrugged, lifting his own pile of books slightly as if to emphasise the point. "I thought I'd try some science." It was all herbology mainly, last week it had been histories of other kingdoms in Albion. Aidan had a habit of finding everything interesting for about five minutes and then moving onto something much more exciting. As a result, he hardly finished any books but just kept adding new ones. "What about you?" Yet another stupid question - there were only so many resons why Elenora would be walking out of a library with so many books in her hand. "I mean...what are you reading?"

[Lady Elenora]

Nora could not help but notice that Aidan seemed to be rather glad to have bumped into her. Or maybe she was imagining it. "Oh, no, I'm fine. How about you? Are you hurt? Well- are you well?" Aidan asked her, and she thought maybe she wasn't imagining it. Though he seemed rather flustered. Nora smiled up at him again -- she could not help it, he had gorgeous eyes -- and reassured him, "I'm fine. A little embarrassed..." She admitted to him. Why? She had no idea, she just said it without thinking about it, realizing that its probably not something you say to someone you may be attracted to. "Oh it wasn't a problem. Not at all." He smiled brightly down at her when she thanked him for helping her collect her fallen books.Nora returned his smile and once again found herself immersed in staring up at his sparkling blue eyes, like she was a mermaid and he was the ocean.

"Me?" Aidan asked awkwardly and Nora noticed him cringe slightly at his question, making Nora wondering why he was so flustered. Surely it wasn't because of her. He continued on, "I was looking for, well, something to read." Aidan shrugged his shoulders, before lifting up his own pile of books slightly to emphasize his point. "I thought I'd try some science." Science, Nora thought -- interesting. "What about you?" He asked her eagerly, and once again she saw him cringe inwardly again. Then he expanded his question, "I mean...what are you reading?"

Nora grinned brightly up at him before answering his question, "Well, at the moment, I'm very much interested in the politics and history of the Celtics. I've also got a guilty pleasure in reading some novels -- though my father and tutor think they are a waste of time, I just enjoy reading them so much." She finished and stood there, smiling awkwardly. For now she was at a loss as to what to say or do rather. God, she sighed inwardly. I'm completely terrible at this...