Well. By the sounds of it, Elsie and Caroline were halfway to being good friends now, and given Elsie’s general demeanour, particularly around people she did not know, his bet was that that invitation was all Miss Delaney’s work. He wondered whether that was just a coincidence, or because she had figured out who Elsie was to him.

“Huh,” Tyb murmured first, a little incredulous about both remarks. Better come clean before it came up some other way, at any rate. “I’m amazed if that’s true,” he commented with a laugh, of the former. “She definitely thought I was a stark raving mad for the first few months.”

He shifted in place, almost ready to roll his eyes. “You remember a couple years ago, that trouble with the Amortentia letters?” This was part of the reason it had not come up: not because anything had happened, under the influence of a love potion or otherwise, but because it had happened during that period, when they had not been together, hadn’t even been speaking, when he’d supposed he would never have the chance to be friends with Elsie again. “Well, I, uh, thought I was in love with her for a minute there. Made a few grand declarations.” He had to snort at the sheer memory of it - if his recollections were hazy it had less to do with being under the influence and more on his efforts to block it all out. But from a distance, he had to admit, it was funny. He had been a little... enthusiastic. And Miss Delaney? “She was quite taken aback.”

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   Elsie Kirke

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She was halfway to the mistake of closing her eyes, so kept them resolutely on his face while he spoke. Els furrowed her brows, confused by the introduction to the story at first. Tyb was animated, certainly, but not stark raving mad.

Of course then he continued and then it made sense. A couple years ago wasn't something they talked about much, if at all. Elsie preferred not to bring it up if she could help it. She instantly felt guilty; she hadn't known he'd gotten caught up in all of that nonsense, but it would make sense as to why Miss Delaney thought him a little delusional at first. Fortunately the way he explained it and his reaction to it relieved any further thoughts from forming in her mind and spiraling downward.

"A peculiar way to make a friend, but I do like her very much." Elsie needed more outgoing friends to pull her from her comfort zone every once in a while. "I'm afraid I may have been a bit transparent today, which is how you came up in the first place." Every wince, and sigh had not gone unnoticed after all. She was terrible at hiding things.

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MJ always makes her so pretty

Surveying her for her reaction was just distraction enough from his aching bones and immediate enough that he couldn’t yet sink into sleep; besides, though she said little she didn’t seem too perturbed. There was no reason she would need to be, naturally, but - it was something they hadn’t talked about, and they known each other for so long now that there was not much that had happened in either of their lives that hadn’t come up, at some point or another.

Elsie had always been good at listening, easy to tell things to... but so too had Miss Delaney, Tyb remembered in slight horror, when Elsie made it sound as if she had been transparent. He could imagine Elsie being a little twitchy, but it was probably his fault if Caroline had already had a clue.

“She’s a peculiar girl,” Tyb remarked with a slight shake of his head, surprised that she had become friends with him after all; surprised that she seemed the consummate socialite and still had seemed almost at home tossing about a quaffle. With a wry grin to follow it, he made a little noise in the back of his throat. “But I, uh, don’t think that was all you. I might have already mentioned... someone to her. Well, you know. You.” He squinted in slight apology, more vexed at himself than anything. He had done so well at keeping this secret all these years, and had somehow let Miss Delaney come along and needle him into it, scarcely trying! Fortunately, thus far she had proved herself trustworthy. (And too observant by half.) “I don’t usually go around telling people, I swear,” he added. “It just came out.”

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Well this conversation kept twisting and turning in quite unexpected ways. Part of her wanted to be frustrated by that choice, she'd never so much as breathed a word to anyone else and sometimes she wanted to combust for the chance to simply talk with an uninvolved third party, to see what it looked like from the outside, but she couldn't dare- not even Lucinda who knew.

But it was for that same reason she supposed she couldn't really blame him. At least he had friends he could talk to, Miss Delaney included, apparently. He'd been vague, admitting to her existence without giving her name, so it was fine. "Well that explains it then." She chuckled halfheartedly and it slowly turned into a yawn.

"I should go, I'll fall asleep soon." Unlikely, as she had a lot to go home and process, but that was better to be done on her own. He very obviously needed some rest and if she stayed too much longer, she would fall asleep, lulled by his presence and they couldn't run that risk again. Reluctantly, she sat back up, stretching out her tired limbs and climbed off the bed. Leaning back down, she kissed him softly. "Sleep well, Love."

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MJ always makes her so pretty