Wandering Gaze PV

Aiden had barely tasted a single bite of dinner, despite the fact that he’d gone through the motions of eating it. He sat alone at the Slytherin table, his usual spot across from Aleks conspicuously empty. He wasn’t sure where his friend had wandered off to this time, and the absence left the hall feeling louder than usual. Which he thought was kind of ironic, since Aleks always had shit to say about something.

His fork-hand and mouth worked simultaneously to finish his plate, but his mind was elsewhere. And so was his gaze, glued to a brunette by the Ravenclaw table. Lorenzo did not notice him staring in the midst of talking to his table neighbour. It could have been a mutual acquaintance of theirs, though he didn’t pay enough attention to the person beside him to put a name to the back of their head. Damien, maybe. From what he’d gathered, they’d gotten closer after some mentorship extracurriculars in astronomy. Deeply suspicious. Anyway, that wasn’t what interested him right now. Aiden’s attention was solely focused on watching the first year's lips move, trying to distinguish any words to get a hint about what the conversation was about. The Slytherin had never been a lipreader, and neither was he now. Whatever was said, though, he looked to be in a pleasant mood. Smiling at the other person, acting completely unaware of the effect that smile had on people. Aiden frowned slightly, annoyed by himself that he even cared. Yeah, that’s enough.

Deciding dinner was over, he put the fork down on his largely finished plate with a light clang and pushed it away from him. He stood up, but instead of storming over to Lorenzo and forcefully inserting himself into the conversation, turned in the opposite direction and made his leave. Shoving his hands in his pockets, he walked with his eyes downcast, following the movements of his own shadow. A taller shadow appeared from behind and closed in on him. Aiden had time to lift his gaze and turn his head to the side, when an arm belonging to a bigger, older boy wrapped over his shoulders.

“Hey buddy.” The boy greeted him, a face he vaguely remembered seeing at the halloween costume contest the week prior. The only difference from then was that he wore more clothes now, and minus the makeup. Aiden watched him with a questioning look, but didn’t shove him off immediately. He should have, even if he was good looking enough that he didn’t exactly mind the proximity. Still, he didn’t know this guy, so what did he want?

“That was a pretty handsome Ravenclaw dude, huh. I think I almost caught you staring a hole into his forehead. Almost thought you might've drooled into your dinner."

There it was. Aiden was surprised to hear that someone had noticed his wandering eye. Not that it had been subtle at all. The teasing, while annoyingly expected from a Gryffindor — Quidditch player, no less — was pretty harmless, for now. Accurate, too, with some exaggeration to embarrass him. Though he didn’t doubt that the guy would say it louder for anyone in the back to hear, if provoked. Aiden rolled his eyes. The teasing was somewhat annoying, but two could play that game. Going from his previously deadpan expression, a small, teasing smirk grew on his face. Mirroring the arm still on his shoulders, Aiden wrapped the arm closest to the other guy around his more muscular waist from behind, leaning in against him. His head tilted upward, to accustom the height difference. The smirk was in place but didn’t quite reach his eyes, betraying slight annoyance. “Yeah. So? No one is giving you enough attention?”