To make it alone or keep a straight face.

Aaron laughed. "You don't seem like the easiest person to get frazzled. You seem pretty grounded." He smiled sweetly, not overdoing it--he did not want Ai to go on the defensive, or to freak the poor kid out. "I like that about you. You seem like a good person. Low-maintenance." He looked at him with an appraising eye. "You have lots of walls, though, don't you? You're not an easy person to get to know."

Aiden shrugged. "I guess?" he offered, not really one to judge his own character well. "Actually, it's lucky that I'm talking now. Normally, I'm painfully shy and I stutter around strangers. Guess you're just one of those people that I'm okay around right off." He shrugged again.

Aaron grinned. "You don't seem the type. I am glad you're not clamming up around me, though. That would make things terribly awkward. You're going to see me around a lot for the first couple weeks. It makes things much easier if you are at least slightly comfortable."

It also made things much easier for Aaron to get Ai where he wanted him.

"Yeah, I suppose so...Although the last person I didn't clam up around..." Aiden trailed off there, not sure how Aaron would feel upon him finishing that statement.

"Hmmmm...." Aaron said, mocking thinking very hard about it. "Would that last person be Dodge, by any chance? He really has you wrapped around his finger, doesn't he?" Aaron restrained a wink. That would freak the poor kid out. Best not to handle too much too quickly--it would make Aiden skittish, which would ultimately work out badly for him in the long run.

Aiden frowned. "I'm not wrapped around his finger," he said defensively. "All I was going to say was that the last person I didn't clam up around ended up snogging me, yeah. If that's Dodge or not...you can decide that one."

Aaron tried very hard not to smirk. "Definitely Dodge. You have it written all over your face. It's all good, though. You really seem to like him, so it doesn't really matter. Is he good at snogging?"

That was a joke.

Aiden felt his face heat up a little bit. "It's not really that obvious is it?" he asked, running a hand through his hair.

Aaron grinned. "Just a bit. You really seem to like him. The fact that he can get to you was really the major signal for me, although I do not know whether that was just a good hunch or just plain obvious."

"Oh..." Ai muttered. "I-I do really like him." Then he fell quiet for a moment. "Oh, and for the record," he started again, face breaking into a grin, "he is a really great kisser." Then Ai couldn't help but to laugh.

Aaron grinned. "I figured that one as well. I'm a bit surprised, though. You don't seem to be one who likes physical contact very much."

"I actually hate physical contact. With the obvious exception," Aiden explained. "Also, please don't randomly snog me. Really. I'm never this open and the only person I have been with was Dodger and yeah..."

"No random snogging. Duly noted," Aaron responded, a smile on his face. However, inside, he was a bit put off, because that had been his plan exactly. Oh well. He could do it later anyway.

"Good," Aiden replied not quick sure if he trusted the word or not. He didn't know Aaron to know if he was a liar or not. Hell, he didn't know a thing about the boy at all. "Okay, so you know a boatload about me. Teach me about you."

"Me? Well, there's not a lot to say about me. I'm a Ravenclaw, so I'm not an idiot. I share a dorm with you, but I shall generally have no plans to molest you in the middle of the night, so you don't have to worry about that. And really I don't know too terribly much about you. What are your parents like?"

"Generally no plans?" Aiden asked. "Honestly...that worries me a little. It almost like you'd actually want to." He gave Aaron a look for a moment before answering the question asked to him. "We're not talking about them, okay?" There was an unusual sharp tone in his voice, hinting to himself that he was still pissed at them.

Aaron grinned. "Don't worry about it. You're safe with me." However, he decided to back off a bit when he heard Aiden's sharp tone in regards to his parents. "Ahh. Parent troubles. I've got 'em too. Let me guess... they're important people and they decided to ship you here against your will because you have a thing for Dodge. Am I right?" Aaron softened his voice a bit, knowing he probably sounded flippant, and it was clearly upsetting to Aiden. "You don't have to answer that if you do not want to. It's really none of my business."

Aiden had to force himself not to grit his teeth together. "You're half right," he answered. "They don't...they don't know about Dodge. They just think that this will be good for me...Make some foreign connections or something ridiculous like that."

Aaron nodded. "It is usually best that the parents do not know about the whole gay bit. Luckily, my dad is not really in a position to criticize me for it. He would probably even blame himself, if he knew. Not that I'll let him do that." Aaron's face clouded over for a second--he only saw his father during summer vacation, and it was never a very fun time. His father was still on the run from the Death Eaters, and likely would be until the day he died. "It sucks that they shipped you away like that, though, without even asking. You're handling this a lot better than I would--some heads would have rolled if it were me."

"You...of course..." Aiden muttered, figuring he should have caught that one. Then he sighed, running his hand through his hair and successfully messing it up. "I'm not the type of person to make big deals over things. And if I had shown my parents how upset I was....am, well I'd probably be disowned by now or something, since I would have told them exactly why I was upset, and well...you can imagine...I'm there only child and..."

Aaron grimaced. "That really, really sucks. They're that harsh, then? Who the heck are they that they have so much power to make you afraid of them? Besides complete and utter jerks." He almost smirked at Aiden's response when he figured out that Aaron was gay, but he decided against it. He was learning about Aiden, and he did not want to turn it into a "let's question Aaron" session.

"They're my parents...and until I'm of age then they have basically complete control over me. They could...take me away from Dodge for good rather than just a month or two..." Ai said, looking down and feeling quite sad again.

Aaron's instinct told him to put his arm on Aiden's shoulder and comfort him, but he doubted that the contact was welcome quite yet. "Ahhh. That makes sense, now. Although, you could try and fight it. I know my parents... well, my dad. He could never get away with any crap like that."

"Not in my nature. At all," Ai said with a sigh. "I mean...I couldn't fight them. I can't even talk to my father without stuttering like a maniac. He scares me more than my mom...and she might be more lenient...but his word is law in the house."

Aaron was stunned. Being scared of his dad? He could not even fathom it. Sure, his dad used to be a death eater, but he was never once scared of him in his entire life. "Wow. That bad, eh? What does he do that is so terrifying? I could never imagine being scared by my dad."