Coffee And Conversation PV Alan Finished

Alan still looked confused. She rested her head in her hand for a moment before reworking her plan. What did Ana have to do, wack him over the head with a brick that said "Rafa is a catch and I'm trying to set you up with him"? She kept that as a back up plan, since she assumed bashing another student with a brick was generally frowned upon at school, especially while people were all around them eating. She would have to resort to that somewhere like the Common Room with less witnesses. Honestly though, how did he not get it? She wasn't sure how much more obvious she could be.

When Alan asked if she was allowed to tell him all this, she sighed slightly. He somehow had absolutely no clue what it was she was trying to do. This was hopeless. She would just have to continue hyping up Rafa and hope that she made Alan think better of him. "Oh, of course, seeing as it's for an excellent reason," Ana said. That was an excellent question. She somehow doubted Rafa would appreciate her disclosing his recent relationship history to someone new that he was interested in. Then again, she hadn't told Alan anything that wasn't something that the entire school had heard about by now. She definitely was going to avoid mentioning this encounter to her best friend though, on the off chance that he would be annoyed about it.

"I have, actually," Ana told Alan. She hadn't, but she was an excellent liar, and desperate for a change of subject, since her current approach wasn't working. "He's really quite good."

"What reason?", he wondered out loudly, his voice curious as he questioned Ana about all of this. To be fair he was not making it easy for her but how could he? He had no idea what her intentions were and all of her attempts to make Rafael seem like a hero? He sighed as he leaned back in his seat to watch her in case she planned to reply to his question. It was not all too difficult to answer, he hoped so at least. He just did not want to be confused by this conversation any longer.

Something about all of this seemed wrong but due to not actually knowing her, Alan did not want to jump to any conclusions. The way she behaved just seemed... off and it kind of pushed them further apart as he lost focus on what she was trying to push on him. But he was curious about Rafael's singing now but what he was not sure about is how well he sang, not that he cared much but he was curious and it felt like Ana was exaggerating every detail about Rafael in a way that seemed too perfect for even the third year to believe; not that he would accuse her of lying but... he would force a smile. "I h-hope I g-get t-to hear it e-eventually!", he would respond with a truth in return.

This wasn't working, in any way, shape, or form. Alan somehow had no idea what her reason was, and her brick bashing plan was looking better and better. Then again, somehow she doubted smashing Alan's head in with a brick would actually help her reach her goal. "A very good one," Ana vaguely replied with a grin. God, how were boys this dense? Surely, Ana wasn't like that towards people who were trying to wingman their friends to her. Fortunately for her, Alan seemed somewhat interested in what she had said about Rafa's singing, so she focused more on that. She would definitely need to warn Rafa about the singing thing and make certain that singing was in fact a thing that he knew how to do.

"It really is lovely," Ana told Alan. "I imagine he could make the Happy Birthday song sound good. Oh, his birthday is coming up by the way." The birthday song was, in Ana's not so humble opinion, one of the worst songs ever written musically. What made it worse still was the fact that people with absolutely zero musical talent performed it on a regular basis and were somehow not embarrassed by it. In any event, she needed to move away from the singing thing, and away from Alan's questions about why she was telling him any of this. She was really surprisingly unsuccessful at this whole endeavor, and she wasn't entirely sure where she had gone wrong with it.

Their conversation moved on and finally there was a topic that really struck his interest. It is?", he asked, his voice rising a little in tone due to the excitement. "When?", he would add as he gently drummed his fingers on the table in eagerness for that new piece of information. He would fish a pen from the depths of his school robe pocket and snatch away a unused napkin that he could find on the table. He would wait for Ana to tell him the day, already writing "Raf" in a neat, yet hurried font onto the piece of tissue. Once Anastasia would tell him the date he would add it below the name and pocket the napkin gently so that he would not rip or lose it before he reached his dorms later. It was during summer so Alan had no idea yet, when and how he could congratulate the Gryffindor Captain but he was sure that he would have enough time to figure it out.

Now that this was solved Alan had no idea what to say. They were back to that awkward silence where Alan was staring at the table as he tried to figure out their next conversation topic. But if Ana knew Rafael that well, the she could help him right? "Wh-What does h-he l-like?", he wondered out loud, glancing at the girl in hope that she could answer the question. "Or w-wait, no... d-don't say s-something... I w-want to figure out a p-present on my o-own!"

Perfection! Alan was interested in Rafa's birthday! That had to be a somewhat decent sign, which Ana was more than willing to take given the trainwreck this conversation had been. Considering the context, she really probably ought not count it as a sign of interest in Rafa, at least not in the way she intended, but that wasn't going to stop her from doing so. She still definitely was going to avoid telling Rafa about anything that was discussed in this hot mess, but she would happily take this small victory. "July fourth," she said. She supposed that wasn't exactly coming up like she had said, but in the thirteen year old's mind, time was relative and birthdays always seemed closer than they actually were. In any event, she was thrilled to be able to talk about something and not have to make things up like she had the entire time they'd been speaking.

And Alan was already planning a present? Amazing! Maybe she hadn't been the complete and utter failure of a wingman she had thought she was. She would have said more, when she realized that breakfast was nearly over, and she had charms class to get to. "Ah, I'd best be going, but it was lovely speaking to you," she told the older boy before downing the remaining coffee in her mug. She set down her cup and rose before nodding politely at Alan, gathering her things, and briskly walking out of the Great Hall.

@Alan Vanes

Feuilles d'Anastasia