A balanced diet is having a cupcake in each hand

Hannah smiled at Mariella as she said she was sure that it would work. Hannah was confident in the same thing and nodded. “Sure, we will,” she said with a smile. The door opened and even though Hannah didn’t look, and hadn’t even met him that often, she had already picked up his smell and the way he walked. Her heart gave it away immediately. She tried to act as normal as possible and not look towards him too quickly. When he got closer Mariella noticed who it was and even said his name. What? Did she know him? Hannah looked up and found Elroy’s eyes. Why was he here already? A lot of interesting thoughts ran through her mind. As he looked at her, she felt mute for a second. I caught your scent. Hannah could be swooning. He had also remembered her scent. Hannah was about to tell him that he wasn’t interrupting when Mariella chose to reply. He could join them, and she was leaving soon anyway. Her head was spinning. How did they know each other? “It’s all good,” she assured him, seeing him walk up to get himself something to drink. Hannah turned her head towards Mariella again. You know him? she mouthed and pointed discreetly towards Elroy. She pulled out her phone, not taking her eyes off Mariella if she mouthed anything back. Without even looking, she started typing a message on her phone before she made sure that the date and all matched. Sterling would always arrive early

Avoiding romance that was for sure. Mariella tried her best not to laugh by how completely swoon Hannah was just in the presence of Elroy, and wondered if it was even smart to leave her alone in this state of mind. Then Hannah looked towards Mariella again. "He is a friend of the family," she replied, well it was easier than to say, it was Nigel's former girlfriend's nephew - then she would have to get in on the tale about how it seemed like Nigel and Irina had started their own little tribe, people coming in closer and staying around them. Like their own little pack some could say. So, family friend was easier for now, which was of course also the truth. Then checking in on the phones to make sure that the information stood correctly before they send the messages. Then she started finishing up her drink, because if they wanted to sit by themselves, then she would not take up more of their time. Elroy returned to them with a cup of coffee in his hand and lifted a chair over with his free hand and placed it by the end of the table before sitting down and placed the cup on the table.

Hannah widened her eyes a little. A friend of the family. Well, now she was very curious of how well Mariella and Elroy knew each other, and if Hannah was doing something stupid. After all, some people believed she was an idiot for seeing something good in Quentin. She folded her lips together slightly terrified of what this could end out in, of if Hannah just had to shove her affection for Elroy down the drain.
The girls managed to text their brothers to meet up and while Mariella finished her drink, Hannah folded her hands around the hot chocolate she had. “I’m so glad I walked in on you on work today,” she spoke softly to Mariella. She had really missed her. She looked up when Elroy placed his stool with them. “Hi,” she almost mused – hearing herself made her bite her lip. God, she was wearing her feelings on the outside. This wasn’t good. What should she say that would be appropriate for all this company? She couldn’t just start explaining that Ella and she knew each other, could she? “The world is kinda small, huh?” she laughed a little, looking over at Mariella before she looked back at Elroy. Why couldn’t she keep her eyes off him?

"Likewise," Mariella confessed. It was about time she met someone from her past that put a smile on her face. Not that she had a lot of people in her life that she didn't appreciate, but on and off the two girls had always been two peas in a pot whenever they had the chance of spending time together. Mariella looked from Elroy to Hannah again, this girl was seriously like melted butter around the thunderbird it was hard not to give Hannah her best teasing little sister smile. Because well Mariella did know just how Hannah was turning into jelly on sight. Elroy chuckled a little bit looking at Hannah, then at Mariella and Hannah again when she mentioned it was a small world. "It indeed is," he chuckled. "I hear you are helping with finding Madelaine?" Mariella emptied the last sip of her drink and placed the empty cup down. Elroy nodded, so she knew about Madelaine, interesting. Actually it could be helpful on what he was getting into, he had discovered that Hannah and her family were from a hunter clan, so it didn't surprise him on that note that Hannah and Mariella talked, knowing what family the fairy was raised in. Then again he had always judged less than his father. "Correctly - my father has been helping," Mariella nodded a little with a warmer smile, "so that was what you were working on. Daisy did mention you two were working on something," she took a deeper breath in. "By all means. She is all yours, and you - keep in touch," she looked towards Hannah and pointed a little at her. Then Mariella got up from her seat and gave both of them a warm smile, before she made her way over to give Hannah a short hug, before hoping leaving her swoon friend wouldn't be the worst choice. Then she took her leave, waving at them in the window as she walked down the main street to get home.

"Would you look at that, you were right - sometimes it does surprise me just how small the world is," he laughed a little before taking a sip of the coffee he had ordered. "How long have you two known each other?" He wondered, even if he could somewhat guess the answer, it was also just a way of getting to know each other, right?

Hannah spotted how quickly Mariella had emptied her cup and knew that it wouldn’t take long before she would have to leave. Who knew, maybe Hannah would be able to focus a little better when she wasn’t here, so she didn’t have to think about both Mariella and Elroy. Hannah blamed it on that. Having to focus on more than just him.
And just like that, keep in touch. “On it,” she said with a bright smile, feeling how her heart slowly picked up a little speed. Why was her body acting up like that? She should be collecting herself. She gave Mariella a short hug and waved to her through the window.

Hannah looked back at Elroy with a kind smile as he spoke to her. It felt like a stone was put in her stomach getting a hold of the feelings. She felt more serious. “I actually think we’ve reached half of our lives by now,” she chuckled a little, looking down at her cup for a moment before she looked back up, “As in thirteen years,” she informed him. She let her cup roll a little around in her hand. “And Mariella was a family friend?” she wondered, wanting him to elaborate just that.

It was a long time knowing someone, he couldn't say he was in contact with a lot of his childhood friends. He had followed along with his father for many years, and people moved on. Well, he did have some contact with his brothers on his mother's side of the family. "That is a long time," he added with a soft chuckle, before taking another sip of her coffee. "Well, my aunt used to be in a relationship with Mariella's brother a long time ago, not that we met or talked much back then. But I got back in town in December for Christmas, since it's my aunt's favorite time of year, and she needed my father's help back then. Well, we got to spend more time with that part of the family, and I met Mariella through my cousins again," he told with a warm smile, telling it pretty much just how it was. Elroy pressed his brows a bit together, and nodded a little bit to himself.  It was also time to tell her about what him and his father had found out. They had found the location to where Madelaine was, but no he wasn't going to tell where, not yet. Because he wanted to make sure with the knowledge he had now, that his older half brother was okay with a visit. And that Madelaine was of course. But he needed those things figured out first, and he had texted his brother to meet up in a few hours time to talk things over. "I got news on your sister, as promised and all," he nodded with a tender smile.

Hannah shrugged a little as she said it was a long time since. Well, she agreed. For her, half of her life was a long time. Besides, when she was just a simple human, it was a long time. She nodded and tried to hang on to the explanation. So, they hadn’t really known each other for that long. It did explain something.
He mentioned what the meeting had been arranged about, and she collected herself straightening up with her cup in her hands. “Yes,” she said preparing herself to whatever news he had. He hadn’t really said it was good news, so she just hoped… Well, she really just hoped that she was alive and not being threatened. She wouldn’t know what to do if her sister was being threatened. She sank a little lump in her throat.

He could see she was bracing herself for what would happen next. He would have done the same thing, so he didn't blame her for it, he hadn't really said it was bad news either. "She is in Gaia, lives with a boyfriend. The precise location is still a bit unclear, but I know someone here in town I will meet up with later to see if he can help me," it wasn't the honest truth but it was a version of it either way. "Hopefully, it shouldn't take long before the two of you can get a chance to see each other again. But I know the guy she is with, I trust him," Elroy trusted his older brother.  Elroy wasn't sure that Hannah's older brother would, just like he wasn't sure he himself could after he had figured out that Hannah's family came from a line of hunters. Well, his father had discovered that. But if Oliver was with Madelaine, and Hannah seemed like anything but capable of going on one of these so called hunts - she looked like someone who would rather pick the spider up in a glass and let it outside rather than killing it.

Hannah’s already big eyes widened as he mentioned that Madelaine was indeed in Gaia and lived with a boyfriend. It seemed so… Odd. He was able to meet with someone who could help him. It seemed like a bigger project than Hannah might have expected. What did he need help with? He had more to add. Hopefully, it wouldn’t take long before they would be able to see each other again. I know the guy she is with. It made Hannah furrow her brows. “But-” she licked her lips, blinking a little trying to figure out how to explain her confusion without seeming like she was unsatisfied with the process. “If you know the guy… And she lives with him…” If he could see where she was going with it, and already had an answer for her question, she wouldn’t continue, but if he didn’t figure out what her question was immediately, she would finish the question, “Why don’t we just go to his place?”

Elroy folded his lips a little bit, letting his smile pull by the corner of his lip, "well he is a very structured person, so I would have to call and make some plans with him and explain the actual thing. And since we don't know what has happened, it would be best to just lay low and ease into it," he explained with a soft nod and drank a sip of his coffee. Now Elroy was perhaps the one who was structured. But either way he would never just show up unannounced at someone's house. "Look," he reached his hand out with his palm upwards, hoping she would put her hand in his so he could hold it for a moment. "I'm going to met up with him as soon as possible, get the last pieces of the story and get right back to you about it, okay?" Elroy gave her a warmer smile, no it wasn't nice to wait. He however believed she could wait a little longer now that she knew that Madelaine was somewhere safe. "Besides, gives me an excuse to meet up with you again," he confessed with a softer chuckle.

Hannah kept her eyes at Elroy as he explained Madelaine’s boyfriend. Structured. She nodded, understanding that the boyfriend clearly had to agree, but… Her thoughts started spinning, because it really didn’t make sense to Hannah why she couldn’t see her sister. Her sister had been missing and should just get into some safe arms, and wouldn’t Madelaine want to reunite with her family too? Was this boyfriend keeping her away from everyone? Was he that kind of possessive?
The thoughts stopped as Elroy put his hand forward for her to take. It seemed like an oddly intimate thing to do, but she took it. Immediately, she felt the light summing from his touch. She couldn’t really place what it was, but there was just something about him that was electrifying. Jesus, had she been trusting him too easily? Was there some kind of background that she actually needed to know? His words however calmed her. It truly sounded like he put his heart and soul into the case, and it warmed, even though the boyfriend Elroy was speaking off seemed very… Odd. She nodded a little, even though she definitely didn’t want to wait. She let her eyes glide to their hands for a moment, mostly picking up on the contrast. It was difficult not to smile when he mentioned an excuse to meet her again. She straightened herself a bit up which made her hand glide out of his and the electrical feeling disappear, “Are you flirting with me?” she wondered, her cheeks almost like apples and her smile maybe a bit daringly satisfied. 

He took a somewhat deeper breath in as she took his hand, and he let his thumb caress over the back of her hand, while they talked. Letting her also pull her hand back a little bit after, and he just kept his eyes on her. Then her question made his lips pull up in a little smile and he licked his lips a little bit looking shortly to the side, just for a second. It wasn't often people really called him out, or that he actually found this sort of interest in another person. Elroy was known to get the work done quick, from a to b, and here he jumping in completely different lanes just to get a chance to talk to her again. How had this human girl just found her way around underneath his skin so easily, he hadn't even realized it. His eyes locked with hers again however rather quickly, "and if I was, would you be okay with that?" He wondered for a moment. Well, to be fair he wasn't the best in the game, far from.

She noticed how he looked away for a short moment for being called out. He hadn’t really expected that she would be that blunt, huh? Well, she hadn’t either, but she just had to play pretend that she wasn’t self-conscious about how she had been thinking out loud, right? She licked her lips and blinked a little slowly as Elroy asked if it was okay. “For now,” she replied, looking slyly at him. Mysterious lady, right? She kept the cool for a moment before she looked down at her hot chocolate and removed some of the big hair from her face before she looked back up with her cup in her hands, “I mean yes, I’m okay with that, but you better not be hiding anything about my sister,” she warned him, though speaking completely calm. Now it wasn’t really a normal situation for any of them, but he could bet his ass that if he lied about her sister’s whereabouts, health or simply just kept them apart for some reason. That was quite logical, right? Of course, she also knew that if Elroy did actually try that, there would probably go some time before she would realize it.

For now, her comment made him chuckle a little bit. Observing how she looked down for a second, "I know just as much about this as you do," he assured her. It was true, well other than Madelaine was seeing Elroy's half brother - then there wasn't really much more to the story Elroy knew by now. I'm just a guy who was lucky enough to pull a beautiful girl out of the danger from a bicycle water attack some time ago, that happens to help finding her lost sister and hopes that she doesn't forget about me the second case is closed," he then added keeping his eyes on her. "However, not even that gorgeous smile of yours would have me lying to you about stuff like that, like I said last time, I've had a few family members being taken hostage over the years. I would never lie about anything on the matter," which was one thing he was serious about.

Her smiled got a bit calmer as he mentioned that he knew just as much as he did. It was comforting and she really appreciated it. Sher smile widened again as he started to tell his point of view. Beautiful girl, bicycle water attack, lost sister and most importantly he wished she wouldn’t forget about him as soon as the case was closed. It somehow spread an excitement in her that she couldn’t really place anywhere else. It was an unknown excitement. She loved how he kept his eyes on her when he said something as important as this. It made him much more trustworthy. Why did she love it so much? It wasn’t really like everyone she knew had been untrustworthy or anything? Her smile never got any rest, and a short chuckle left her, making her look away a moment as he complimented her smile. “I’m sorry,” she said shaking her head a bit before she looked at him, “I guess I just got a little cautious. You’re really kind,” she sighed of herself, smiling apologetically and took a little sip of her hot chocolate. While she drank it, she remembered the cupcakes. “Oh, I got something for you,” she said and turned a little towards the little box, “Or us,” she corrected herself and took the box and gave it to him. “We’re paying customers, so it’ll be fine,” she assured him. She would gladly buy another cup of hot chocolate if the café thought of the cupcakes as a problem.

"Well, I would be worried if you weren't," he pointed out with a smaller yet still warm smile. Because if she just blindly trusted a stranger's sweet words, that would be naive, not saying she could or should blindly trust him - they weren't that close after all, but it didn't mean that she couldn't put some faith in him. Then clicking her tongue a little bit as she said she had something for him, or them as she corrected. Then Elroy moved his eyes to the box she gave him, and he took it with a smile, as she assured it was fine since they were buying costumers. "Why thank you Hannah, it was a nice gesture," he thanked her, since he did believe it was a very nice thing to do, giving her a rather bright smile of appreciation.

It made her somewhat glad that he mentioned that he would be worried if she wasn’t cautious. She didn’t want to be the damsel in distress who simply trusted everyone wanted the best for her, because she knew the world wasn’t like that, even though she was quite certain she didn’t have any enemies yet. But one could never be too sure, right? As soon as he got the box in his hands, she pulled a wider smile and waited for him. She narrowed her eyes a little as he thanked her before he knew what it was. “Come on, open it,” she said and pressed her lips excitedly together and looked down at the box before she looked back up at him, getting slightly lost in his eyes once again. She wondered how many would be swooning over such a distinctive feature?

He couldn't really take his eyes of her, that wide smile that pulled up waiting for excitement to just see his reaction to it all. "Okay okay,he chuckled a little bit, and still didn't take his eyes of her for a moment. Then he looked at the box and slowly opened it up, "they look delicious," he confessed, almost magical. If it wasn't because his stepmother was a witch hybrid he wouldn't have realized. "I can't wait to taste them," he then picked one up, and pushed the box towards Hannah so she could take one too. Then lifting it towards hers, "cheers," he said wanting to toast with the cupcake, odd thing to do but it was something he sometimes did with some of his half siblings on his father's side. Then he took a bite of the cupcake and closed his eyes for a moment, "oh my," he nodded a little, "this is the stuff," Elroy mumbled with his mouth still half full then started chewing.

Hannah chuckled a little with her as he was convinced about opening the package. She hummed excitedly as he said they looked delicious. She interlocked her fingers to keep herself from interfering, even though it wasn’t anything she believed she would do. When he said he couldn’t wait to taste them, her eyes studied him to see how he looked at them as he picked one and handed the box to her. “Thank you,” she said with a precious smile and took the one that was left. She laughed a little when he wanted to make a toast with her with the cupcakes, but she didn’t hesitate a moment, “Cheers,” she responded accidentally getting some of her cupcakes frosting onto his cupcake, “Whoops. You got a little more of the good stuff,” she said and winked at him before she leaned back. She was about to take a bite when she noticed how he took a bite of it. She savored the moment and laughed a little in the way he reacted on the cupcake. She hummed a little, “It’s good?” she wondered with a wide smile all over her face. She couldn’t really get down from how he reacted. It was all such a memorable thing. Then she took her bite and closed her eyes. She got some of the frosting onto her nose and as soon as she felt it she covered her face with her hand. She hummed pleased by the taste before she signed oh, sweet Lord. She dried her nose off of best ability without a mirror before she looked at him, “I’m sorry, I sign a lot,” she chuckled with her mouth half full.

Elroy chuckled a little bit and looked at his cupcake as it had taken some of the frosting from hers with it back to him. It was a really good cupcake. Then she used sign language, and Elroy remembered her brother had done so as well. So, he simply just signed back as she apologized, It's alright, which also let her to know that he knew what her mother had asked at the last meeting. Background checks, well Elroy had done his own search as well. And so had his father, but ever since the whole thing with some hunters and some supernatural did live in peace here in Athena. Some at least. Elroy hoped it was the case here, yet he didn't know. "I figured your brother has already run a check on me and all, so now I wonder how much have he told you?" Elroy asked curious and took another bite of his cupcake. Because from a hunters point of view, it was rather easy wasn't it? Supernaturals killing humans, even if it were the humans that had attacked first because they feared what were different.

She noticed that he signed back, and her eyes widened immediately. He knew sign? She felt how her heart picked up speed in a light panic. Why did he know how to sign? “What?” she mumbled before he even got to say anything, covering her mouth while she licked some frosting off her lips. Then he spoke about the checks that Sterling had mentioned, which made her blink rapidly when he wondered how much Sterling had told her. How much was there? She licked her lips again before she removed her hand. “I- I told my brother not to,” she tried to convince him, starting to feel a nervous heat spread in her and how her hands got almost slippery. “If he did do it, I-I know nothing,” she promised him, blinking a little rapidly again. “I’m really sorry if he did that without listening,” he lowered her cupcake. “Is there something you think I wouldn’t want to know?” she spoke softly, almost afraid of his reply. There was something about how the conversation had turned out that made her uncomfortable, but maybe it was just because she didn’t want to let him down.