and the armor falls. (Shawn)

[Deleted]

July 16th. Shawn Ashcrofts birthday. She was in charge of planning for his birthday and he was in charge of planning for hers, which was next week. She wanted to do something he would both like and that wouldn't be incredibly awful for her. So, she chose this O2 thing that she'd heard about before. It was a giant arena that you could climb on top of - with supervision - and see all the amazing sights of London. Callisto had chosen the "Twilight Climb", and not because it was advertised as the most romantic time of day to do this. Though, that kind of swayed her choice. She was trying her hand at this whole romance thing... So why not give in to advertising?

She told Shawn to meet at her apartment, so she could lead the way from there. She was lucky Mina was working at the moment, but also kind of wished her sister was around to talk to. Mina would just make fun, but Callisto wouldn't mind something to distract her from the fact that she was getting ready for her second real date with Shawn, on his birthday, to somewhere supposedly romantic, at night, when they would have to decide whether to stay together longer after the activity or go home for the night, where Mina wasn't there to give her advice on what to wear (not that she would listen). No, she didn't have a sister there to distract from all that.

She settled on a black v-neck sweater and black pants, simple and nice. Callisto almost always wore her hair up, it was more practical that way. But tonight she let it out of it's usual style and stared at herself in the mirror. The hair was dark and curly and... Looked really nice. She knew she was good looking and always made herself look nice. But that was presentable and professional nice. Not beautiful nice or attractive nice. Not like she looked now. She had a feeling Shawn wouldn't really CARE either way, but she didn't think he'd complain about her looking... Well, this way. Whatever word he wanted to give her tonight would do.

She jumped at the sound of the knock on the door and spun around. She took in a deep breath and crossed the apartment to open it.

shawn lesley ashcroft
info

[shawn lesley ashcroft]

Here Shawn was getting nervous all over again over a date with Callisto. This time he was home alone with no one to direct all this nervous energy toward. To be fair his best friend hadn’t been much help the first time either anyway. He also wasn’t as nervous as before but this wasn’t just a second date. It was also his birthday and Callisto had decided to plan it while he was going to plan her birthday. That was another thing that was getting him nervous. She already had plans for his birthday and in the same amount of time all Shawn had were loose ideas on what to do. Which didn’t help as her birthday drew ever closer. He was less worried about enjoying whatever Callisto had picked for them to do and more worried in her enjoying what he might end up deciding to go with. He had faith in Callisto in whatever she might have come up with, if not he was easily entertained and Callisto would still be there. What more did he need to have a good time?

He couldn’t really remember ever being nervous for dates before. Normally he just went with the flow and if it worked it worked and if it didn’t at least it might have been fun. With Callisto though Shawn lacked a word for why he was nervous other than he just really wanted it to work. Still he couldn’t just walk around his living room thinking to himself. Well he could but then he would be late to meet Callisto at her apartment. He’d have to worry about what to do about her birthday later. He had his birthday first after all. Shawn got ready to leave deciding on somewhere between fancy and causal, just jeans a collared shirt and a jacket. He didn’t know exactly what Callisto had planned and could only hope he wouldn’t be out of place by not being dressed properly.

Keeping an eye on the time he was a little early as he neared her apartment, still it was better a few minutes early than late. He knocked on the door once he got there and waited. It didn’t take long for the door to start to swing open but it still seemed to catch him by surprise. Something he blamed on being nervous again. Once open there was Callisto, first thing he noticed was that she had her hair down. He couldn’t remember if he had ever seen her with it down but if he had his mind was blank. In general his mind was blank for a second as it seemed to have just stop working at the sight of this beautiful woman in front of him. “I.. ah...” Shawn stopped talking as his brain started to process words again and he shook his head. “Can we just shut the door so I can get a second try at that? I feel I can do that a lot better now that my jaw isn’t on the floor.”

@callisto

[Deleted]

When she opened the door Shawn apparently forgot how to speak. She held perfectly still, and then he said he wanted to try again, saying that his jaw was 'on the floor'. She shook her head, too, then shut the door. She caught her breath, looking down at her shoes as a huge smile broke across her face. She counted, one, two, three, four... five... and then she wiped the grin off her face but opened the door again, but this time she spoke first. "Hello, Shawn. You look very nice," she said with a firm nod, her tone businesslike.

She shook her head, "okay, okay. One more time," she shut the door again and this time didn't even count to one before opening it. This was going to get exhausting, She was going to let Shawn speak again first this time, because he was (usually) much better with words than she was. She would let him find a way to get her out the door so the two of them could get moving. He could figure out a greeting that would work for both of them... why were her cheeks feeling so hot? She was sure they'd be red. As a medical professional she knew that the blood was rushing to her cheeks because of adrenaline and embarrassment, and that her smile breaking onto her face was bordering uncontrollable.

shawn lesley ashcroft

[shawn lesley ashcroft]

He had always thought Callisto was beautiful ever since he started running into her a few months ago. Granted he didn’t say anything till they started dating for sake of not wanting to sound totally creepy. Yet with her hair down, it was just something he hadn’t seen before and while he wouldn’t ask for it but he wouldn't mind seeing it more often. Shawn could only laugh as Callisto shook her head and started to close the door. It looked like he was getting a second chance at speaking. After a pause of a few seconds she opened the door. This time she spoke first in a professional tone that he looked nice. She wasn’t happy with how she greeting him and Shawn just laughed as she closed the door saying one more time. “If this is going to be the date I can live with that.” He joked just moments before the door opened.

Again the door opened and there she was once more. Still just as beautiful and this time blushing but still smiling. He could actually speak now and it looked like it was his turn to say something first. “Well, looks like I found my present and I have to say it’s the best one I’ve ever gotten.” He finally spoke with a smile looking at her standing there. That would have to do, he didn’t feel like it was going to get much than that. Not so long as he was still just caught staring at her. “So, what did you have planned for today? Besides looking amazing obviously.”

@callisto

[Deleted]

Through the door, he said that he could live with the idea that this was the whole date. She rolled her eyes, not responding before opening the door again. She let him speak first, and he said that he had found his present and that it was the best he had ever gotten. Her brow furrowed in confusion until she realized what he meant. He was talking about her. Her face burned even more crimson, as if she had rubbed crushed rose petals over her cheeks a little too much. "This isn't... that's not," she paused, shaking her head, then straightening. "I'm glad you like it," she finally said, letting herself smile. She raised an eyebrow at him again as he asked what she had planned aside from looking amazing. She rolled her eyes and stepped out of the apartment, toward him, shutting the door behind her. She looked up at him, "well, it's a bit of an adventure," she explained, holding her hands out to him for him to take.

Then, she apparated and appeared just around the corner from where they needed to be. It was a giant stadium, the 02, where they would be climbing to the top for the sunset into evening climb. This meant they would see the city of London all twinkling and aglow in the night. Callisto took a deep breath and held one of his hands, leading him over to the group where the instructor was telling them how to adjust the straps so that they could begin the 'climb', which was really just a walk along the middle of the rooftop.

shawn lesley ashcroft

[shawn lesley ashcroft]

Their was a slight confused looked over Callisto face as he claimed to have found his present. Finally she seemed to understand what he was implying as her face started to get red while she attempted to explain. She didn’t need to explain, while he was only kidding he would have be perfectly fine with this being any kind of gift Shawn could have gotten from her. Callisto really did look amazing in this moment. Not to say she wasn't beautiful before. She finally just said she was glad he liked it which was probably obvious without him saying so just on how he couldn't speak properly when she first opened the door. Callisto walked out from her apartment and held out her hands as she explained how the date was something of an adventure. “I can’t wait even if there is a chance I'll just be staring at you the whole time.” Shawn replied with a smile as he took her hands and they were gone.

They reappeared moments later and Shawn wasn’t sure where they were which wasn’t that big of a problem. He was a trusting person but even side-along apparition could be a bit off putting. Still he didn’t have a problem with traveling wherever Callisto was going, especially as it was a surprise he supposed. Callisto took his hand once more and led him over to a group of other people around the corner. One of which had begun to instruct the group on how to get ready for the climb over the stadium. This hadn’t been what he was expecting at all and he loved it. He really didn’t know what he was expecting anyway but this wouldn’t even have been a guess from him.

“Well that’s a relief, when you said adventure I almost guessed sky diving which would have ruined your birthday surprise.” Shawn teased for a moment quietly while the instructor continued on. He was only kidding as he had been working on what to do for her birthday and he felt like he had an idea. The instructor began to lead the way toward the start after they were done explaining, finally they were free to talk once more. “So is this the part where you’re going to push me off the top?” Shawn asked smiling as he looked over to Callisto while they walked. “If so I can live with that, I saw an angel so I can die happy. Doesn’t mean I’m still not going to haunt you.”

@callisto

[Deleted]

He said he was excited even if he would use the whole time staring at her. "Trust me, there are other things to stare at," like all of London from above, on top of the stadium. Callisto head his hand tightly as the leader gave instructions. She wasn't afraid of heights but she was assessing every little bit of how safe this really was. Muggles did insane things sometimes, even without magic. That horrified Callisto a little. Still, it was a safe as far as she could tell and she relaxed a little. Then she noticed Shawn was speaking and she leaned toward him to hear, but didn't turn from the instructor. He brought up the skydiving again and Callisto squeezed his hand more, "you're going to be the death of me," she muttered, a little breathless. Maybe she was afraid of heights and just didn't know it?

The instructor wrapped up and people were stepping forward to get strapped into the rope that locked into a harness around their waists. He asked if this was the part where she pushed him off the top, saying that would be fine since he saw and angel and he'd still haunt her and all. All she could do was chuckle nervously. They reached the harness point, and Callisto still couldn't speak as the muggle strapped it in place and locked her in. It was a little hard for them to do it with Callisto refusing to let go of Shawn's hand, but they did it.

Once they were both attached, the ascension started and Callisto breathed in sharply through her nose. "Maybe you should go first," she squeaked out.

shawn lesley ashcroft

[shawn lesley ashcroft]

Callisto explained how there were another things to stare at which was true from a logical stand point. “Yeah but there’s a difference between things I can stare at and people I’d rather stare at.” Shawn replied with a small smirk, while it may of sounded like he was teasing it didn’t also mean it wasn’t true. Once there and listening to the instructor Shawn couldn’t help but think that muggles did find odd ways to have fun. Even without magic they tried their best to find adventure even if it made life far more dangerous without magic to help them. Shawn was a muggleborn after all but he hadn’t been part of any muggle community for so long even he could feel out of place nowadays. Shawn laughed silently attempted to not draw too attention from the reason the people around them as Callisto spoke and squeezed his hand a little tighter. “ I wouldn’t dream of it, the beautiful princess isn’t allowed to die. The knight in armor on the other hand.. well I’m done for.”

As everyone started making their way to the harnessing point their turn came and Callisto wouldn’t let go of his hand. He also wasn’t trying to make her let go either but it probably would have been easier for the people to do their job if they had. Still they could deal with the small inconvenience if it meant Callisto didn’t have to let go if she didn’t want to. Once everyone was ready the climb started and Callisto suggested he should probably go first as she sounded a little nervous. Shawn just smiled not having a problem with that. “Of course, it's easier to push someone that way.” He just smiled back toward Callisto taking the lead as he joked. It did look like a steep climb but they had the harness and it was made for muggles after all. It had to be safe enough Shawn assumed. They started going up slowly but Shawn made sure to keep looking back toward Callisto. “Are you going to be okay, we could do something else if you like?”

@callisto

[Deleted]

Shawn said that there was a difference between things he could stare at verses people he'd rather stare at. "Don't you mean person? Unless you've got another date after this," she suggested casually. He said she, the 'beautiful princess', wasn't allowed to die but the knight in shining armor - aka himself - was doomed. She rolled her eyes, "oh come on, I'm not the princess," she leaned toward him a little, her eyes narrowing, "I'm the dragon."

It wasn't easy to keep up the brave persona when they were walking on the roof. It was easier to stay calm with his hand in hers for support, but it still freaked her out. He said he'd go first, that it'd be easier to push someone that way, and she wanted to laugh at the joke but instead just froze for a second before finally starting to move. He asked if she wanted to do something else and she just shook her head. "No, no. I think once we're up at the view holding still I'll feel much better," she explained.

And she was right. As soon as they got to the top and could see London laid out before them they stopped, people going silent for a moment as the view stretched out. She sighed, squeezing his hand and pressing her shoulder against his as she looked to the city, "Happy Birthday."

shawn lesley ashcroft

[shawn lesley ashcroft]

Shawn just smirked slightly as Callisto teased him for a moment about if he meant staring at a person and if he had another date later. “I did mean person but that doesn’t mean I might not have another date after this.” Shawn replied intentionally pausing there for effect obviously. “I don’t know how we can squeeze in two dates on the same day but I'm willing to see if it can happen.” Finishing his explanation after he felt he gave it enough time to both tease her and not live her possibly confused for too long. “Yeah I was scared of that, if your the dragon then I’m dead for sure being the knight.”

All he could do was smile as Callisto did her best to walk up the building. Even if she was trying to hide it, it wasn’t hard to see she was uncomfortable doing this climb up the building. She said she’s feel better once they were done climbing and Shawn hoped that was true. All he could do was attempt to keep her mind off the climb as much as he could. “This reminds me of back when I was in school. As a student not a professor, probably my second year.” After all he was back at school now, he should clarify or it might have seemed weird. “Some of my friends thought it would funny to put some of my things on the very top of the Gryffindor tower.”

Finally they were on the top of building, the narrow path they had climbed was now more spacious. They both stood looking out to the city below them, it was an amazing sight and went to show muggles could still do plenty of things without magic. Shawn felt Callisto squeeze his hand and her shoulder on his before she said happy birthday. “Thanks. You didn’t have to do all this though. I would have been happy with anything.” It wasn’t that he didn’t appreciate what she had done, in fact this was an amazing birthday. Still it didn’t help that she felt uncomfortable during part of it. “I don’t know how I’m going to top this for your birthday.” Shawn also added with a small laugh but it was true after all.

@callisto

[Deleted]

Shawn implied that he may have another date after this and Callisto just glared at him as he said that he was willing to see if that could happen. Then she realized a way she could spin this. "Well, I guess we could go on a second date after this. We'd have to separate and change clothes or something for it to really count as a second date instead of just a really long one, but we could make it work," she explained, a small smile on her face. As for her being the dragon, he said he was dead for sure being the knight and all. She shrugged, "that depends on if you can befriend the dragon or not."

As they climbed, he spoke more which was a god send to her. It was better if she was distracted. He said that his friends put his stuff on the tower, implying that he had to pull some similar stunt to retrieve the stuff. "Did you have a professor help you? Who am I kidding, you probably had a great time risking your life as a twelve year old," she said, letting out a nervous chuckle.

He thanked her for the birthday wishes, saying she didn't have to do all this and she shrugged again, looking over at him. "You don't have to 'top' anything. In fact, the closer to the ground we are the better," she joked. "And I hate to make your attempt to make my birthday more special harder but... there's one more thing," she took in a deep breath and leaned her face toward his.

She wasn't really one to understand the obsession with kissing, but she had found that she did enjoy holding his hand simply because it meant she was closer to him, and she liked being close to him. Kissing was about as close as you could get, right? Well, at least in public. She'd deal with that other stuff much, much later. If ever. Not worth thinking about now.

So, here she was, trying to kiss him. But she wouldn't go all the way, she'd make him come to her. Just to be sure he really wanted it.

shawn lesley ashcroft

[shawn lesley ashcroft]

“I’m a little torn with that.” Shawn replied after Callisto explained how they could have two separate dates in one day. “I’m the one who said I’d be willing to have a second date but like you said that would involve leaving you to begin with.” He laughed for a moment thinking back to how the date had started also. “We’d also have to get past greeting each other again and we both know how well that went back at your place.” Shawn teased for a moment but he knew he was the one to make it a little awkward at first but how could he have helped it when she looked so stunning. Callisto spoke that he might live if he could befriend the dragon, “And how is that going so far?”

Shawn laughed as Callisto questioned if he had gotten help before correcting herself. “I wouldn’t say a great time but I wasn’t about to get a professor. I had a school broom and was determined to not give them the last laugh.” He replied, it wasn’t the best time he had ever had. He loved flying but flying that high and trying to carry his things wasn’t a comfortable flight. He had been too worried about dropping something or even falling. Possibly more worried about dropping something as he didn’t have much money as a kid to replace anything that might have broke during the fall. “Can’t have the Gryffindors being known as the only house to do reckless and brave things.”

All he could do was laugh for a moment as Callisto explained that he didn’t have to top anything and that in fact anything closer to the ground was better. Shawn did have to wonder if Callisto had known she had a problem with heights before tonight or not. He was about to make a comment about being able to plan something on the ground but Callisto soon said that there was more as she leaned her face closer to him. Shawn had half expected a gift or something along those lines when Callisto explained there was more to tonight. This wasn’t even on a list of things that crossed his mind. No, actually it had crossed his mind. Quite a bit actually but not as something Callisto would bring up or be the first to start.

Still Callisto just leaned there waiting for him, she didn’t come all the way to his face. Possibly just in case she thought he didn’t want to kiss her. Like that was possible but this was Callisto after all, he could only imagine her wanting to be sure. Shawn leaned closer pressing his lips to hers, thinking of only how soft they actually were. While he could have kept kissing her for far longer this was just a first kiss for them after all. Couldn’t be too greedy with his kisses just yet, especially if he wanted more in the future. So despite everything he really wanted to do he pulled away but still didn’t get that far, only a few inches from her face. “I’d like to change something I said before, this is actually the best gift I’ve ever gotten.” He whispered with a small smirk and a small squeeze to the hand he was still holding.

@callisto

[Deleted]

Shawn said that he was torn about whether or not to make the second half of the night a second date, due to them having to separate. Callisto rolled her eyes, "don't start the separation anxiety this early, Shawn. We still have plenty of time to get that attached," she said, her tone was as though she was just spouting a random scientific fact, not making any sort of prediction about their relationship. She didn't even realize how committed that sentence sounded. It made sense to her, you eventually did go through a phase where you couldn't stay away from each other, right? At least that was what she had heard. Then he asked how 'befriending the dragon' was going and she raised an eyebrow at him, "juries still out, can't say," she answered quietly. Truth be told, he was doing very well, obviously.

Shawn said the prank of him having to get on the roof wasn't a great time, but he still didn't grab a professor. A broom was a smart move, too, but she still thought it would have been smarter to get an adult. "Well, that sounds like you," she agreed with a nod. She liked the idea of him teaching people a lesson by outsmarting them in that way, so she understood it. He said that he couldn't let the Gryffindors be the only ones known to be brave and reckless and she smiled at that. "I suppose that's true. Though, some of us often call them the stupid house, due to that... recklessness," she explained. Ravenclaws, Ravenclaws called them that.

The moment before Shawn kissed her back Callisto tried not to panic, but it wasn't a long wait. His lips pressed again hers and they felt nice, she understood why people liked it so much. She didn't necessarily need that kind of touch in her life, but she was happy to have it since it was Shawn. He pulled away a little and said that this was actually the best gift he'd ever gotten and she giggled, her face flushing a little. He tightened his grip on her hand and she did the same. "how ever will you beat it for my birthday?" she said softly.

shawn lesley ashcroft

[shawn lesley ashcroft]

“It’s part separation anxiety but mostly I just realized I’d have to change also.” Shawn replied mostly joking about the second part. Still she was right after all, something he had a feeling he was going to have to get used to sooner or later. “I only have so many nice outfits. I can’t use them all up on one day.” Shawn added but it wasn’t too far off from the truth, at least not many outfits he thought nice enough for a date anyway. Callisto said she couldn’t say how he was doing at befriending the dragon, the dragon being herself. “Well that’s reassuring.” He replied jokingly as he felt he wasn’t doing to bad at the moment at least.

Callisto said that him trying to get his own things instead of getting a professor sounded like him. “It wasn’t like I didn’t completely deserve it either. It wouldn’t be fair to run off and get a professor when they hadn’t gotten a professor on some of the things I had done.” Shawn explained a little more on his reasoning. While he had felt leaving his things on top of a tower was a bit over the top he wasn’t about to rat on any of the people he considered friends. She explained about what some people called the Gryffindor house also, those names did fit for them at times. “What a lovely time to talk of recklessness and it being stupid as we climb on top of a building.” Shawn teased for a moment, only bringing it up as hey had just reached the top.

As Shawn corrected what he said saying this was the best gift he had gotten Callisto laughed for a moment. Probably the cutest laugh he had her from her yet, something he hoped to hear more of again. “I have no idea but that sounds like a challenge, which I’m up for. I can at least promise it will be on the ground... maybe.” Shawn replied while still close together unwilling to move away just yet even if he knew they would have to eventually. "Okay, no promises on anything actually besides me trying to top this somehow."

@callisto

[Deleted]

Callisto shook her head when Shawn said it was mostly just realizing he'd have to change that made him not want to separate mid date. She nodded, "Alright, alright. We'll save the next nice outfit for the next date," she agreed. She had pretty much only nice clothes. If he ever wanted to take her on a more casual outing she'd really have to think it through. Well, this outfit was pretty close to casual, but she didn't really have t-shirts or anything. Shawn was doing well at 'befriending the dragon' so far. She was glad he was reassured, but also glad that she hadn't completely given in to him yet.

He said it wouldn't have been fair to bother a professor with his problems, especially since his own friends hadn't turned HIM in to a professor in the past. "How noble," Callisto responded, chuckling a little. She never understood the pranking types. Well, aside from that one time her and Rory messed around on their horse date to freak out Emmy and Shawn. Shawn commented that they reached the top of the building and Callisto immediately tried not to look down. "Awe, yes. Quite reckless," she said, swallowing hard for a moment.

He said that her birthday plans sounded like a challenge, promising that they would 'maybe' be on the ground. She narrowed her eyes at him a little but didn't shake her head like she wanted to. She didn't want to break that eye contact yet. "I'm sure whatever you come up with will be perfect," she encouraged softly.

shawn lesley ashcroft
(wanna end it and then we can do her birthday? lolol)