Things had been progressing well. Or ... well, Roderick liked to think they were. He'd actually taken Aland to his real home (and not the one he went to when he felt he might've been being followed) and the man had been coming over more and more frequently. Despite the fact that it invaded his personal space, Roderick found that he didn't mind in the least. In fact, he'd started to relax around Aland.

It was a strange thing to think about. He stretched lazily on the couch and lolled his head to the side. Aland looked like he was about to pass out.

"Come on, the holo-film isn't that boring, is it?" Maybe Aland had just had a hard day at work - there was no telling, and Roderick rarely had the mind to ask past superficial things. No need to accidentally slip up to a stranger because he'd been learning too much about the other man. It would make people suspicious if he knew everything about him.

Who: Roderick Dearborn and Aland Avery
What: MANLY STUFF
When: Saturday night
Where: Roderick's freakishly clean flat
Why: ...

He was aware that Aland had been ignoring him for the past few weeks, but perhaps that was his fault. He'd been rather stern about still talking to Erin (he still had an infatuation with her whether it had resulted from transference from Aland or not) and he supposed he was less than willing to completely deny that he was attracted to the other man.

Roderick tapped his fingers against the table while he waited for both the take-away and Aland to show up. At least one of the two was bound to come, if only because it was bound by the fact that food places liked to be paid for their goods. Hopefully the food would show up first, because Roderick was currently six blocks from his house and waiting on the doorstep of a place that wasn't his own. No need to let anyone know where he really lived unless they were family and he felt he could trust them.

The pizza boy showed up and Roderick handed him the coins, waiting until the young man turned his back and then apparating to his own step. He unlocked the door physically and then with an unlocking charm and stepped inside, setting the box on top of his counter and continuing to wait.

Beer and pizza -- that wasn't a date, right, so Aland wouldn't freak out. Sure.

Erin had tried to keep herself busy, to keep this bad idea from fully formulating and taking effect. Because it could definitely go as bad as the badger case that Priyaranjan had to deal with yesterday, except it didn't involve wild animals. Puff wasn't a wild animal. Neither was Aland.

All right, she was going nuts. Erin knew, she knew that Aland had gone into her flat (was it her fault that she hadn't had time to fix wards? Not that she particularly saw him as a threat, but--that didn't give him the right--). It was seriously becoming an obsession. She couldn't find evidence, and after working in the lab for so long, Erin found that she couldn't do much without evidence or cold hard facts. It did make things easier, but it also made things long and---okay, not easier, but it made them right.

Anyway--she'd been doing a sidejob for the charms committee in Aland's neighborhood when she'd finally grown the nerve, and knocked a few times on the front door of his house and then panicked. Oh fucking Christ, what was she going to do? Scold him? Accuse him? Cause a scene? She hadn't talked to him face to face in months, and now she was going to come and---and what? Oh, oh fuck, fuck fuck, bad idea--

"Aland! Hi," she exclaimed as the door opened. Erin's eyes were wide with shock, never having been good at hiding her surprise or nervousness, "I--was in the neighborhood. Hi! How are you?"

Ohhhh, fuck.