Nate chuckled at the idea of those outfits. "Those poor future models," he shook his head. "The charts are also based on old information," he murmured. "Professor Starling pointed out that what we see when we look at the sky is no longer the same thing out there. Something t...

Nate smiled softly at her and chuckled at her saying they would probably stumble a bit, "Yeah, we'll at least be there to help each other up." He smirked when she brought up needing to study Astronomy. He snorted at the visual of Nova trying to make the stars outfits, "More of how to ...

When she looked at him after pulling out the chair, he wondered for a moment if he had done something strange, but then she smiled, and he relaxed. When she told him it wasn’t his fault, he tilted his head side to side, “I should have probably thought things through a bit more before acting. Just af...

Nate nodded when she said the gardens, and again in agreement with her own reasoning for the choice, "Hopefully she can find something else to be doing this evening," he murmured, not sure he had it in him to deal with even Nova right now. He walked with her, getting the doors as they went...

Nate smirked a bit as she showed him she had enough food. He shook his head a little, but looked around at her question about where to eat, and he brushed his fingers on her. "Let's make sure to grab some water at least before we go, just in case any of this is drier than it looks," he mur...

"I wouldn't have to lecture if people just listened," Nate laughed shamelessly at the fact that he, in fact, lectured regularly, "To be fair, I am usually just trying to help, I just end up sounding like someone's disappointed father," he snorted. "Both?" Nate turned t...

Nate shrugged a bit at her pointing out what he was doing in a "I can't help it" kind of way, though he was smirking to say he wasn't entirely sorry for it either. "Well, I would hope all the lectures from the break might sink in," he chuckled softly. "I would hope I wouldn'...

Nate gave a huff. "I just want her to be careful, not feel guilty," he shook his head. "My sister probably wishes I'd be meaner, which I can be when it's earned, but Sophie's just naive. Maaaaybe a bit malicious in her gossip, but nothing so bad as I think she deserves to sit in that ...

Nate smiled softly as she said she didn't want out of it and that it was because it was him, "Too good to me, Ili," he murmured softly. "It doesn't," Nate said when she teased about tea not counting as a meal, "Your brain needs more than caffeine to function." He said a...

He gave a small smile at her response, at her understanding why he just didn't seem to have an answer. When she drew his attention away from his growing self-consciousness, he looked a bit more closely at the other students. Sure, a couple had glanced that way, but they were worried about their own ...

Nate looked to Ili as she said his name, and he nodded, not resisting as she led him away from the rest. Her touch on his cheek had him closing his eyes for a moment, just taking a breath, and his brow furrowed as he tried to think of what his answer even was. "I don't know," he finally sa...

Hearing her say his name, he looked over at Ili like he was so relieved she'd shown up. He swallowed hard as she took his hand, his other hand going to his face, rubbing at it like he might rub off this wave that hit him. Sophie looked at Iliana as she spoke to her, seeing the effect she had on her ...

Nova laughed, "It seems like it would make the most sense." She shrugged, doubling a little as they walked. She laughed at Ili saying Nate had no mercy, and he made a face that said maybe she wasn't wrong. When he told her to duck first, he chuckled, shaking his head, "See you soon,&q...

Nova laughed softly. "Well, I have an idea to make it so it can fit multiple occasions, like maybe the longer part can come off if you're going somewhere more casual." She tapped her pencil on her chin as she considered it. She looked over again when Nate defended Ili, then smirked at Ili ...

Nova just guffawed at Ili's teasing her before they made it into the hall. Hearing she liked the idea, Nova beamed, and Ili might realize that the note on the side read "night sky," with little stars drawn around it. She looked away as she realized there was a moment happening between the ...

"That's fine, and I'll even get you an extra butterbeer to repay you for the absolute travesty of wasting your time," Nova said, still being utterly dramatic. If there had been a theater class at Hogwarts, she'd be unstoppable. She did look horribly offended when Ili corroborated that she...

"Good," Nova whispered, "Because you'll probably get the lion's share." Nova gave a dramatic sigh of relief, hearing Ili say she had the homework and would look at her answers, "Thank you. I usually am overthinking it, it always just sounds wrong to me," She shook her ...

"I mean, I've been doing it since the beginning, might as well make it an official job," Nova snorted in response to Ili's comment as she passed. He watched as she pulled it together again, smirking a little as she walked away before he'd followed. "I don't know if I know how to do n...

Nate held onto her hand when she took it, smiling softly at her as she did. He chuckled lightly at her dramatics before Nova had come up. He huffed at Iliana's comment about Nova never being silent, shaking his head. Nova laughed a little, "Look! I just don't see why I shouldn't say hi! Especia...

Nate chuckled lightly at her "careful", an actual smile coming to his face, softening the edges of his usually hardened expression. When she kissed his cheek, he felt his own cheeks burn as his heart did a little flip. He smirked at her quiet statement before straightening himself out. He ...

Nate seemed to ease again as she held onto his hand, like she was an anchor, a buoy in a storm, letting him feel like he could breathe for a minute. He took a deep breath at to defend privacy and safety, like a part of him hadn't even registered that that was what had been pushing him forward. It wa...

The kiss was enough to snap him out of the haze, like a jolt to a system to reset it. He rubbed the back of his neck with his other hand, "Oh no, I know her well enough to know she'll go until she either realizes the gamble isn't worth the rush or until it blows up in her face," he muttere...

As soon as Iliana's hand found his arm, something in Nate's posture shifted. His shoulders dropped a fraction from the rigid line he'd been holding, and he looked down at her, the hard set of his jaw easing just slightly. "She made it clear she wasn't going to linger," he muttered, by way ...

Nate stood across from his cousin at the base of the moving stairwell, her back to the wall, his arms crossed over his chest. "Why are you even still writing that trash?" he scoffed at her, talking about her gossip pamphlet. She put her hand on her chest in mock offense, "Trash? Natha...

Nate closed his eyes as she curled up into him, "Mmmm," was his answer to being "stuck. At her grounding him from what he knew aited for him, he did relax a little more. "Tea does not, in fact, count," he chuckled, a little exasperated, at her answer. But she was snuggling i...