Your day (Ella)

[Deleted]

Milan hoped his current actions weren’t too creepy. While they probably were, it would still depend on how Ella took them. After all, the shadow walker had checked the dorm monitor’s schedule to make sure she would not be in her room the second he stepped out of the shadows with a big carton box in his hands. Given he only had a general idea on how long she tended to take on going around the corridors, Milan made sure to not be too slow. For a couple of seconds he hesitated, simply because he had to convince himself again that the young woman would appreciate it, but after that he quite smoothly caught up with his plans.

He had only been able to find one string of birthday flags and a couple of balloons at home, but at least that kept him from overdoing it as he decorated Ella’s room for her birthday. Part of him actually hoped she thought he would have forgotten it, or maybe even that she didn’t think he would have remembered it in the first place since the date had only been mentioned once. Hopefully she didn’t have any other plans either… Surely Milan would find out soon enough. For now he inspected the room after having taken a plastic bag with takeout Chinese food from the carton box as well. Perhaps the latter had not been such great plan given he wasn’t sure if it would still be warm enough by the time Ella returned. And maybe she had eaten already.

Now that he thought about it… Milan hadn’t really planned this as well as last time. The only thing the recruiter was positive about right now was that he should not hide and jump out in surprise. A nose bleed did not sound like a great start of the evening. It’s why he just plopped down on her couch, trying to keep his mind from wondering just how foolish she might think this was.

[Ella Robbinson]

Ella's birthday warranted something of a minor instance for the hemokinetic. She got a call from her mother, and they talked for a while about how she really should have considered coming home for the day. Or a few days. Despite how easy it might have been to actually take some time off, she reasoned that she couldn't. Aside from that moment in the morning, the day was relatively normal.

Save for the moment where she ran into Dean - he was the only person who knew about her birthday, and gave her something for it.

In that moment, she was walking the halls of the dormitories. As it stood, she'd been having an increasingly worrying amount of run-ins with drunk students. How this kept happening, she didn't really know. But she most definitely felt concern either way. Thankfully, she didn't have any uncomfortable moments as she walked. She didn't find any trouble, and that was rare. Call it birthday luck.

Returning back to her dorm, Ella unlocked the door and pulled it open. However, the moment she did so, she froze. Her eyes widened as she took in the sight of her dorm - it hadn't looked anything like this when she left not too long ago. She briefly wondered how this would have happened, but her mind caught up with her moments later. Who else would do something like this?

"Milan." The hemokinetic denoted lightly. And as she stepped in, closing the door behind her, she quickly noticed the man in question sitting on the couch. As soon as she saw him, she couldn't help the genuine smile she wore; "You remembered."

[Deleted]

Milan felt a tad bit concerned. Technically this could be labeled as him breaking into the private area of someone else – surely something Ella had scolded some students about. What the gesture might take place with good intentions, he was not sure how appreciative she would be of it. Heck, the longer he sat there, the more he began to consider to get up and take everything down again. As a replacement, the recruiter should just knock at her door like any normal person to wish her a happy birthday.

By the time he made up his mind, however, a key could be heard being turned in the lock. It actually made him freeze for a second, hands gripping onto the fabric of his jeans at his knees. Milan was kind of convinced his name reached his ears, but no footsteps had been heard, so he doubted Ella had taken notice of him yet. At least not until she appeared into his sight.

And it was the smile on her face that settled him at ease as he shot up like an arrow off of the couch. “Remembered what?” Attempting to hide the playful grin, the man stepped over to the dorm monitor. The second he stopped in front of her, the smile took over.

“Happy birthday, Miss Robbinson.” He smoothly leaned forward to steal a gentle kiss. “I hope you didn’t eat already. And that you like Chinese food.” In all honesty… Milan had no idea. Of course he would feel stupid if she didn’t, but he would also make sure to resolve it.

“Oh, and that you won’t kick me out for trespassing…” He added jokingly.

[Ella Robbinson]

Ella raised her eyebrows slightly when he quickly moved off the couch. Her smile threatened to grow when he opted to play the gesture off in such a way. Her birthday was such an under appreciated day by most; herself included, usually. She was convinced no one knew, and those who did simply didn't recall it. The fact that he did, and felt he need to act on the information, was important to her.

The hemokinetic was quick to quell the way her heart rate elevated when he stepped closer. Especially when he leaned in and kissed her, which was an act she reciprocated willingly.

"I wouldn't kick you out." Ella admitted, exhaling on a quiet laugh as she reached forward and pressed her hand to his cheek, "It's really sweet." She allowed her fingertips to trail along his jaw as she pulled away, "And no, I didn't eat yet. Excellent choice."

[Deleted]

Birthdays had always been a must-celebrate occasion when Milan grew up. He liked it when people didn’t forget his, so in turn he tried to keep up with other birthdays as well. It even went as far as him noting down the dates of his recruited students. None of those, however, had a doodle cake next to it in his agenda. Just to make sure he didn’t forget, which of course he wouldn’t.

“Good. I am glad that you like it.” Lifting up his hand, he took hers that was just about to break contact with his jaw. Then he guided her to the couch, simply because it was way more cozy to eat at the coffee table than at a normal one, right? Unless Ella was opposed to this. In that case he would just oblige and apologize for his lack of manners.

“Soooo, chopsticks!” He took them out of the plastic bag, along with the food itself. “Came across some troublemakers during your tour?” Milan asked as he now sat down on the floor, opposite of where Ella was located. “I could accompany you later on if you have to go on another one.” It was more of a suggestion than a question, just in case that might be weird or in case she wanted to keep this, them, as private as possible.

[Ella Robbinson]

"I really do." Ella replied in time. She allowed her hand to be taken with ease, following along as Milan guided her. She had no issues with where he chose to sit - being near him was more than enough for the hemokinetic.

Reaching out, she took the chopsticks first as he offered them to her. Her lips pursed lightly when he asked if she ran into any troublemakers. Truthfully, she felt as if she always did in one way or another. "Thankfully, it wasn't the worst walk I've had this week." She replied, her voice sounding relieved by the fact. And her eyes seemed to lighten when he offered to walk with her.

"I do have to." she said lightly, "If you're not busy, I'd love you to come with me."

She never really considered keeping what it was they had a secret. Given the few relationships she had around the school, she couldn't see a reason to anyway. "So how old do you think I am?"

[Deleted]

A playful reply was given to Ella as she accepted his offer to join her during the next walk monitoring the hallways. “I’ll make sure they never dare to leave their rooms again at night.” Heck, Milan could linger in the shadows and tell students to get back to bed right away – even those who snuck out the moment Ella was out of sight. They would never see him coming.

As for the question to followed… The recruiter was less quick to answer it. In all honesty, he had no clue how she was now. Probably around his age, right? Hence the reason he opted to take off a year or two to secure himself. “Old?” He asked. “You mean, how young you are?” And to throw in a compliment first. “But I would say twenty-two?”

Eating some more of the Chinese food, Milan plucked two cans of coke from the bag, figuring that had been the safest way to go. And one plastic bottle of water. “I would have brought champagne, but that’s not exactly allowed at work, huh?”

[Ella Robbinson]

Ella couldn't help the way she laughed at what he'd said. Truthfully, walking the halls at night would be a lot easier with Milan beside her. She almost looked forward to the next one. "So long as you're with me, there's no way you can scare me again. So I'm definitely happier for it." She added. After all, there was no way she'd forget how they bumped into each other like they did.

Age was simply something that had never come up between them, and so she didn't hold it against him for guessing the wrong age. Her lips pulled into something of an amused smile as she dashed around the container as best she could with chopsticks. She wasn't exactly a master with them, but she wasn't completely useless. "Twenty-four now, but good guess."

She shrugged her shoulders at the thought of champagne, idly. "No worse than some of the stuff kids manage to bring back into their dorms. I'd say we could have gotten away with it." Still, she wasn't upset about the notion in any way. "I'm not really sure what people do for birthdays when they're older. I don't usually celebrate mine." Or rather, she never had anyone to celebrate with. But she didn't want to bring the night down like that.

[Deleted]

It was always safest to bet younger than your initial thought. Milan figured he could have been spot on, but at the same time he also hoped that Ella took it as a compliment that he estimated her to be younger than she really was. “One year younger than me. That makes me wonder how it’s possible that I never bumped into you back in the Hammel days.” He simply assumed she had been a student there as well. “I would have remembered.”

Then again, at the same time he had never really been one to mingle due to his weight back then. Milan tended to keep to himself, let alone pay a lot of attention to girls since they never took notice of him in the first place. Anyway, a lighthearted chuckle broke free as blue optics briefly scanned the room to locate the shadow he had used to step in here. “You know, I do have champagne in my fridge at home.” A suggestive eyebrow was arched, yet he was not sure if Ella would take the subtle offer (of him disappearing for a second to go and get it).

As for the remark about her not celebrating her birthday… it made Milan frown. “Well, we better make up for that lost time then. You should feel special on your day.” Picking up some more food with the sticks, the recruiter plopped it into his mouth. He made sure to swallow before speaking again. “Why… don’t you celebrate it though?” Perhaps there was a reason, and maybe Milan had stepped out of line by ‘organizing’ this. This was his attempt at finding out.

[Ella Robbinson]

"I kept to myself, mostly." Ella replied, though she didn't really mind dwindling down to her memories of younger years at Hammel. Approaching anyone she found remotely attractive wasn't exactly the easy. And beyond that, her friends were more than likely people who'd approached her for a conversation in the first place. "I'm guessing you did too?"

She followed his sight line to the best of her ability, but shadows never really stood out to her for such obvious reasons in comparison to him. "Are you offering?" She asked, her eyebrows raising with clear cut curiosity. "So long as you aren't gone for too long." Because that would surely be a shame, and she still didn't quite understand how shadow travelling worked.

Ella caught the way he frowned and had to wonder if she did that too often; dampen the mood with her sadder stories. Settling the food she held down, Ella reached towards him and rested her hand against his cheek lightly. She didn't want to be the thing that made him feel remotely unstable here simply because he deferred from the normality of her life. "You make me feel special." She replied finally, "And I'm glad you cared enough to do this, so please don't worry."

[Deleted]

The chuckle that came from Milan quite probably said enough. “Yeah. Believe it or not, I was a pretty chubby child. I did keep to myself, yet that did attract the bullies.” He paused for a second before a smile formed upon his lips. “Never the pretty girls though, so that might be a more valid explanation as to why we never really came across each other.” He definitely wasn’t saying that Ella might have been vain or superficial! He attempted to compliment her beauty.

Anyway, yes, Milan was offering. And was already working out details in his mind while also wondering why birthdays were not being celebrated by the brunette. The recruiter didn’t get to mull on it too long as she reached forward though. For a second it made him rest his cheek into the hand and then fingers gently held onto hers before bringing it to his lips to place a soft peck on top. “You are special,” the man mused. He successfully stole the softest of kisses and then stood up.

He announced to be back in a second and without hesitation disappeared into a nearby shadow. While it might have been longer than a second, Milan did reappear within one minute – bottle of champagne and two glasses in hands. “Perfect temperature,” he mused before slowly sitting down next to Ella again.

He popped it and made sure to pour some in her glass first. Then he rose his to hers. “To you.”

[Ella Robbinson]

Ella offered Milan something of a sympathetic smile. As far as high school experiences went, hers were all about keeping to herself. Staying in hiding. Pretending not to be the girl who felt every individual's pulse racing at the sight of said pretty girls. And boys. "Still, I'm sorry I missed you." She replied. It would have been nice to have a genuine friend in Hammel when she was younger.

Being told she was special still made her heart race just a little faster. Because when he said it, she believed him.

She was only on her own for moments, and in those moments she wore the most uncontrollable smile she owned. It was impossible to keep her composure when he wasn't around. He really was perfect.

When he returned and offered her a glass, she took it without hesitation. The corner of her mouth dragged into a genuine smile as he raised his glass to her. For her.

"To me." She replied, tapping the glass against his before she took a sip. "Are you busy tomorrow?"

[Deleted]

Milan kind of wondered if it was safe for him to assume that they were, well, together. While he was pretty positive that Ella was not one to hop from one guy to the next, he didn’t want to scare her off by moving too fast. Perhaps this fear was a leftover of his lack of relationships when younger. Having something serious was not something he had lots of experience with. He probably should be able to tell though; asking about it would be ridiculous.

Anyway, when the dorm monitor asked about his plans for the next day, Milan had to think for a second. “So far, no. If a recruitment comes up and the other recruiters are busy, I will be…” He hoped Ella would understand that he had no control over that and that he did not have a daily routine because of his job. Nevertheless, a little smile appeared on his lips after having sipped from the glass again.

“Anything you wanted to do?” Making arrangements was a risk – one that he was more than willing to take. In the meanwhile he slowly finished his dinner and took a napkin from the plastic bag, placing it down for her. Then another followed for him with which he wiped at his lips.

Now he just hoped she had asked it with the intention to spend some more time with him...

[Ella Robbinson]

Ella felt a touch of pressure on her shoulders as she asked the question. She wondered what her chances were for him to actually be dragged away to go to work. The school had a fair amount of recruiters, but there was always that lingering possibility. He could easily be gone for days at a time, and who knows where he might end up next.

It was a daunting process, and a lifestyle that took some getting used to. But he was worth it.

With the question given to her, Ella took a second or so to ponder over it. She took the time to gather her nerve. She settled the glass down, her dark eyes glancing towards his bright ones.

"You could stay." Ella reasoned, but quickly took a breath and continued on; "If you wanted. If you didn't mind me getting up in a few hours." Keeping an eye on the dorms at all hours was a little draining; even she had to admit that much. "Unless you don't want to. If you don't want to, I understand."

[Deleted]

Milan knew that the chance of being summoned was rather limited at this point, simply because he had been doing quite some recruitments as of late. Then again, it wouldn’t be the first time for such assumption to be wrong. Despite that risk, however, the Irish man did not take long to mull on the suggestion. He kept the answer to himself a tad bit longer though, giving Ella a chance to babble off the nerves that wording this option had brought along.

He found it endearing, the way she seemed to consider it a possibility that he wouldn’t want to stay. Placing his glass down as well, the recruiter rested his hand in the middle of the table, palm facing up as fingers wiggled to wordlessly indicate it was waiting for hers. “I’m even willing to get up with you in a few hours.” He stated the second Ella caught on, and he entwined their fingers, giving her hand a gentle squeeze.

“Anywayyyyyy,” the teasing tone to his voice easily supporting how the word got dragged out. “Given you normally don’t celebrate birthdays, I figure it is a good thing that I kept the receipt of your gift.” Milan paused, briefly faking the fact that perhaps he was mistaking. “Unless you wanted it?” During that question, he took it from the floor next to him, inspecting it for a second before lifting it high enough for Ella to see as well.

With an arched eyebrow, Milan slightly dipped his head to the side, holding it forward some. Despite the decent sized present, the gift inside was a bracelet. Couldn’t go wrong with that, right? He didn’t exactly have much experience with buying something for women. It seemed like a safe bet.