"Maybe." Aurora replied tentatively, still not entirely convinced that someone could actually plan daydreaming. His next question of course, drew all speculations out of her mind and almost caused her another spit-take on her almost finished coffee. "Uh....yeah.....I guess."

"So Christmas is your favorite holiday, right? So how many girls have you kissed under the mistletoe?" She asked, her eyes glittering with amusement.

"I only ask because I am surprised how many teenagers I have met who introduced themselves complaining about their hatred for children and animals" Charles replied with a shrug and a smile. He then considered her next comment and shuddered before he could stop himself "mistletoe? I tend to avoid it ... germ filled weed ... if we are talking girls in general then that is a different story. What about you? Do you like to get cosy under the mistletoe?"

"I like kids and I adore animals even though I have never had a pet in my entire life." Aurora explained, finishing up her coffee and dutifully looking for the dustbin to throw it in. Thoughtfully, she added, "I guess I would like to have my family some day but at sixteen, I believe I am much too young for it."

"I think it depends on who the guy is." She replied, laughing at Charles' shudder before she could stop herself. "So what is your favorite animal?"

"My favourite animals has to be the hamster, because they are cute and you can put them away in a cage and only have to deal with them when you feel like it because they are not big on people contact" Charles replied with a nod of satisfaction as he decided upon his answer. He noted her answer for use in the future and then tried to pick another question. They were getting harder to come by at this point "what is your favourite country?"

"You like hamsters because you can put them in cages?" Aurora asked with a hint of incredulous outrage in her voice. She tapped her chin in a cliche-ed action of thinking as she pondered over her answer. "I think any country that i haven't visited would be my favorite country. I like travelling."

"What are your hobbies?"

"Not because you can, but because they like it, I mean you could put a dog in a cage but that does not mean they would be okay with it ..." Charles replied when she clearly did not fully understand his point before turning to her question "gymnastics, cleaning, reading, spending time with my friends ... that is kind of it really ... what about you?"

"Yes they are easier pets to handle but I like dogs more. They are so much more lively, even if, you know, they like to lick a lot." Aurora replied, smiling brightly as she thought of the dog that used to tag along her friends. Even though she had to take a bath after every time she saw him, she still loved the dog. "Reading.....filling up my schedule with insane amount of activities....stressing....hyperventilating.....and I guess, experimenting."

"If you had a choice to take someone out for a date to anyplace in the world or out of it, where would you choose?"

"I like dogs from a distance, say on the other side of a TV screen" Charles admitted when he thought about it, and then an idea occurred too him and he changed his mind "though we had this little Panamanian when I was young and it was reasonably sweet, I could have another one of those ... yeah"

"I would have to say Iceland, because it is amazing, and the ring of fire has a view that would make any date unforgetable" Charles instantly replied with a happy sigh.

Aurora laughed at Charles comment and rolled her eyes at his next one. "You mean, Pomeranian?" She asked, slightly confused by the breed he had stated. "Dogs are very sweet. And loyal."

"I have never been there but the way you describe it makes it sound very pretty. I would like to go there."

(That was my computer self correcting - though why panamanian makes more sense than pomeranian don't ask me ...)

Charles moved closer to Aurora and once the gap was smaller he asked in a softer voice "my turn ..." Charles then took all his courage into his hands and pushing his compulsions as deep as was possible he finished his sentence with "would you let me kiss you?" He had been thinking about it for ages, well ever since she had moved close to him and he had breathed her scent it. But it had taken a while to talk himself into the idea of physical contact.

Aurora blinked stupidly as Charles moved closer to her, trying hard to control eh r racing heart and blushing cheeks. "But....I thought you didn't like physical contact." She blurted out in an unsure, confused voice. The less distance between them both were really messing with her brain. "but if you want to, okay."

Charles closed the gap and gave her a soft, gentle, albeit brief kiss. He then happily settle back on his bean bag chair and announced "I don't ... and neither do you ... but as far as I am concerned despite everything that was worth it." It was not only a big step for him, but it was also pretty nice kissing Aurora.

Aurora nearly sighed when the kiss was over, because even if it was brief, it wasn't too brief and very, very sweet. "It was very nice." She replied softly, her dreaminess soon shifting over to anger at herself for blushing. "You know whenever two individuals kiss their saliva exchanges information to predict whether the two people would be compatible for bearing children or not." She blurted out stupidly, immediately saying the first thing in her mind. Clearing her throat awkwardly, she ventured, "So....uh....when is the food going to show up?"

At that moment there was a knock on the door. Charles rose and headed to open it. He was not that bothered by the random fact Aurora chose to share. While it was weird he found her habit endearing rather than off putting. Accepting the food and paying for it he bought it back to where she was sitting and dropping into his bean bag share announced "and here we go ..."

"Awesome! I was beginning to starve. I mean you should have given me a minute or so and my stomach would have begin some very unladylike grumblings." Aurora replied jokingly, picking up the plastic cutlery and arranging it neatly, before beginning on the numerous containers. "That's a lot of food. How much was the bill? You know we are splitting, right?"

"We will work out the bill when we see how much you eat, because whatever food goes into my fridge to be stored for later should not really count as the bill right?" Charles replied happily enough as he proceeded to open up the dishes and get them all neatly laid out in order.

"But seeing that you ordered it for me, it would only be fair if I pay for it too." Aurora insisted as she divided the stack of napkins and handed half to Charles. "Do you want to spread something below the food? You know, so that it doesn't drip and stain or something?"

That comment from Aurora, about worrying about stains, was what Charles would class as one of the sweetest things anyone had ever said to him. He could not remove the smile from his features as he went to go and get a table cloth and proceeded to lay it out and place the food across it still in the order he had previously arrange "well alright ... eat first, then we shall discuss the bill!"

Aurora automatically smiled back upon seeing Charles' smile although a small part of her wondered why he was smiling so much. She helped him lay out the food, before she took a deep sniff of the tasteful aroma's wafting around the room. A blissful smile on her face, her eyes snapped back into focus as she remarked, "You have good taste."

"Usually I like to know what I am paying before I begin because my enjoyment levels depend a lot on that but I will make an exception today." She replied, not wanting to bicker over something so petty.

(How am I meant to know what it cost? ... I don't know what my chinese take away costs every week ... I get it on credit ... ugh)

"Well if you really want to know, I get it on credit because I have a regular order" Charles briefly explained as he pulled one of his dishes too him and un-wrapping his chopsticks he began to carefully but thoroughly clear the dish.

"Well then I guess I will pay it off by taking you out to dinner sometime." Aurora replied, shrugging and beginning on her food. All those years of constant training by her mother subconsciously resurfaced as she began eating, her posture straightening up, sow, careful bites that ensured that no food bits dribbled or flew around the room and perfect use of the chopsticks contrasted with her obviously relaxed aura.

(that's cool, we managed didn't we? )

(yep )

"Well glad that is sorted" Charles politely replied in a pause before continuing to eat. He was breaking so many of his rules by what he was doing with her, but somehow it did not matter as much as it usually did. I mean it was still painful, that was not going to go away, but he was just about managing to keep things under control and that was good enough.

"So where would you like to go? I really would have to do some research, I mean, you didn't like Starbucks and I don't really like Fancy restaurants because they have dress codes so uh......the pizzeria? I guess we'll think about it later." Aurora mused, talking in between bites that she chewed exactly 32 times before swallowing. She liked being around Charles, he made her feel safe, happy, reassured even but she wasn't foolish or confident enough to believe that Charles shared any of her feelings.

"I like dates like this" Charles replied as he paused from finishing his first dish and replied before starting his second, he then added "but the pizzeria would not be too bad. I could probably survive there." He nodded acceptance to his own comment before turning to his next dish, the prawn crackers. Eating each one similar to a hamster, nibbling around the edge.

"So you are saying, that instead of you wanting to see me in this skimpy, figure hugging, formal dress, you prefer dates where we are sitting in your Dorm and having take out on an old table cloth?" Aurora questioned in mild disbelief, giggling as she talked, having carefully laid down the cutlery. "And I thought I was a cheap date! You really are something else Charles Drew."