Reminiscing and free time {Open}

Kieran hadn't played Quidditch at all really since he left Hogwarts, but he still loved to go flying occasionally when he had the time. There was nothing as freeing as soaring through the air with the wind blowing through your hair. He was between trips right now in his work so on his time off he decided to go and check out one of the new brooms that had just been released. Even though he wouldn't buy it, he still enjoyed keeping up on the brooms available and maybe a few years down the road when it wasn't ridiculously expensive he would purchase one.

When he got to the Quidditch shop he vaguely recognized the woman looking at the broom through the shop window. He knew she was a year younger than him, but couldn't recall anything other than that about her. She was one of those he recognized by face in Hogwarts but the name had never stuck. The girl he remembered had matured into a lovely young woman, but his eyes noticed the engagement ring on her finger so knew there was no use trying to do anything more than catch up with an old classmate. "Hello, did you come here to check out the new broom as well?" he asked. "Come on, I'm sure the owner can tell us more about it than we'd learn from looking at it from outside." he said, and opened the door, holding it for her.

Kieran was more than a little surprised that she knew his name, and he tried to remember hers but couldn't no matter how much he racked his brain trying to find it. "I'm sorry, I know we went to school together but I can't recall your name. Care to enlighten me?" he asked, feeling guilty that she knew who he was but he was clueless aside from her having been the year below him in school. Hopefully she wouldn't think too badly of him for not knowing it, after all it had been years since Hogwarts for both of them.

Oddly the talk of the broom seemed to be causing her to remember something bad that had happened, at least if the expression on her face was anything to go by. However, since they were at best casual acquaintances it wouldn't do for him to ask prying questions about her personal life or why she looked so sad. Instead, he simply chose not to comment and filed away the information for later. Cataloging things about people was something he'd always done, and the more he learned about somebody the more interesting they became to him. People were so different, but aside from a few bad eggs here and there most were good at heart. At least, that was his rather optimistic opinion on things.

A little surprised when she started humming as she walked by him, Kieran thought she had a lovely voice. "You're quite welcome. And, may I just say you have a beautiful voice." he told her honestly, smiling at her. Even if it was simply humming a tune he loved music, and whether or not she knew it, she had an awesome voice if her humming was anything to go by. Following her inside, he found a card that explained the qualities of the broom they had been looking at and he looked over it curiously. Definitely an improvement in handling, though the top speed hadn't changed too much.

The name sounded familiar and a brief image of what he thought looked like a younger version of the woman before him flashed in his mind. "A pleasure to remake your acquaintance, Miss Harris." Kieran said, smiling back when he received one from her. For some reason he noticed the girl shudder and shake her head, and he wondered if he'd done something wrong or if she was merely having a rough time with other issues. "Are you alright?" he asked, a tone of concern in his voice. It probably wasn't his place to pry as they'd really just met after barely having known each other during school, but if he could help he would do his best.

The blush that he earned from her with his compliment had him smiling wider, thinking it was rather cute that something so simple would make the grown woman blush so easily. "You are most welcome. I'd sing something with you, but I wouldn't want to scar your ears with my voice." he joked. In actuality, he had a decent singing voice of his own but he was always self-conscious about singing where others could hear. Instead, he only did it when there was nobody around to notice.

Hearing the way she talked about this Kai person made him realize that they had probably been very close. Perhaps married, fiancees, or at the very least lovers of some sort. Feeling he should do something, he placed a hand on her shoulder and gave it a firm squeeze before taking it back. "I take it you and Kai were close?" he asked, not really needing confirmation. "I'm sorry for your loss. If you ever need somebody to talk with...let me know." he offered, knowing that he couldn't do much but wanting to do what he could for her. Kieran hated seeing people hurting if he could in any way help make it less.

Her question had him smiling and he nodded in confirmation. "Back at Hogwarts I did, yeah. Haven't played much since as I keep fairly busy with work, but I enjoy flying for fun when I get the chance." Kieran explained.

Kieran blushed and nodded when she told him to call her Adaline instead of Miss Harris. The way she talked though made it sound like detention was a regular thing during her school years. "Alright Adaline. But tell me, did you have detention a lot? You sound like on who's speaking from experience." he commented, curious to hear if she was a troublemaker. He wasn't much of on himself but he knew they always had the most interesting stories. "Okay." he said, when she told him it was just reminiscing. Personally he thought she still looked kind of sad, and he just wished he knew how to help.

Upon hearing her say she wasn't that good herself he shook his head. "From what I heard I beg to differ. Although I'd have to hear you sing proper instead of just humming to give a final judgement on the matter." he said with a wink. Perhaps if they became friends they could to a muggle karaoke bar or something. Kieran would have to sing too, but he thought it might still be fun. "Have you ever been to a muggle karaoke bar? It's a place where they have a huge list of songs and you sign up to sing one, and you can get drinks or food. If you want, maybe we could go to one sometime?" he asked, hardly believing he was basically asking the girl out after only just meeting her.

Kieran listened when she told him about Kai, smiling sadly. It was terrible that he was gone, but at least she had two kids with him. He'd always wanted children himself, but just hadn't found anybody that he would want to settle down with yet. "I'm sorry. So I assume you have people who help take care of the kids when you're busy?" he asked. "That must be a lot for a single mom to deal with."

When he heard her talking about loving flying but it having been a while he shook his head. "Well we will have to fix that then. I have a spare broom at my place if you don't have one of your own. We should go flying together." he suggested with a wide smile.

Kieran grinned widely when he saw her blushing and rubbing the back of her head, knowing he'd hit the nail on the head with his guess. His time in school had only included one detention, and that was only because he'd lost track of time studying and was late walking back to the Ravenclaw dormitories. It had only happened the once, and after that he mad sure to set an alarm on his watch to give him the proper amount of time to get back. "Only had detention once myself, but I was the good little nerd during school. You have to tell me a good story about one of the times you got caught, though." he said, really curious as to what her troublemaker side was like.

Slightly surprised when she actually agreed, he nodded and thought about when they could go. "Awesome. Sadly, I'm leaving soon for my next trip with work, but when we get back I'll send you an owl and we can set up our date." Kieran told her, before realizing he'd never actually asked if it could be a date and not just two friends hanging out, blushing brightly. "Umm, is it okay if we call it a date? I mean, I've been wanting to ask you out but if you're not comfortable with that it doesn't have to be." he said, inwardly cursing himself for how awkward he could be sometimes.

Kieran felt a little relieved when she explained that she had family helping her as well as Victoria, who he assumed was a best friend. Raising a kid on your own couldn't be easy at the best of times, and especially not when part of you was still trying to get over the death of your lover. "That's good, I'm glad they're all so supportive." he said, smiling back just a little as he spotted her tears. Moving over he gave her a gentle hug, not caring if she cried a little on his shirt. "Easy there Adaline, it's okay." he told her quietly.

Her enthusiasm made him laugh, and he figured they could either do it the same day as the karaoke thing or set up another time. "We'll have to make it happen, then." he told her with a wink.