Aaron had been in the middle of his earring-hiding when a girl in a lovely green dress (come to think of it, the same girl who’d been staring at him earlier) approached him. Aaron barely even noticed her until she was nearly upon him, and jerked to some semblance of attention when she arrived. 

[i]”Don’t. I think it looks great on you.”[/i]

Aaron raised his eyebrows, but left the earring in its place. “Why, thank you,” he replied quickly, yet hushed, “But I’m sure you can understand the certain… [i]ideas[/i] people might get if they see a young man in my position wearing an earring.” He shrugged. In all honesty, he would love to be able to wear his earring. He’d love to be able to wear his charms outside his shirt, leave his rings on, flaunt his mother’s pointed hat and freely talk to others about the finer points of medicinal magic as it related to the modern practice, but of course he couldn’t. He’d love nothing more than to publicly embrace his culture, but if he were to do so, he had no doubt that some terrible things may befall him and his family. Besides, he had enough oddities as it was. 

Snapping himself out of his longing reverie long enough to pay proper attention to the woman, Adrienne, in front of him, he smiled and offered a friendly bow. “Charmed, Ms. Adrienne,” he greeted, smiling inwardly at his pathetic little pun, “And no, not weird at all. I can’t think of a better use of this class’ time than meeting new people.” It wasn’t a lie; of course, he generally tried to avoid prying friendships, but networking was important, especially in his future profession. Besides, he couldn’t deny that it got a little lonely, sometimes. This was precisely the reason he didn't question her staring earlier, either. 

Adrienne produced a pair of similar earrings to his from her bag, a miraculous coincidence in Aaron’s eyes. He smiled, more sincerely this time, at her effort to make him feel acceptable. To her question, he replied, “Oh, mine? Mine was uh, a gift. From my mother.” He grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck, a slight sadness in his eyes. “It’s actually been in my family for quite some time.”

Noticing that the doorway had cleared out, he gestured toward it, where through the door streamed the early evening sunlight. “Where are you headed, Adrienne? I’m off to the library myself, and I’d welcome the company if you were headed that direction-“

He was interrupted by the loud purring and mewling of his monster of a familiar, rubbing up against Adrienne’s leg and flopping down at his feet. He looked down with a fondly annoyed expression that Leo had been seeing since he emerged from a grimoire when Aaron was a child. Nonetheless, he reached down and petted the cat on the head, who would have to deal with it whether he liked it or not. 

“Yes yes, you’re hungry, I get it,” he sighed down at the cat, propping one hand on his hip, “Aren’t you supposed to be home? You know, where you’re not being a pest?” Aaron was perfectly aware that Leo found himself on university grounds every day to meet him here, but enjoyed patronizing him anyway, as was their relationship. 
Suddenly remembering Adrienne’s presence, Aaron cleared his throat once more and gestured down to the animus, introducing him. “Oh Adrienne, this is Leo, my pest of a cat who likes to rub his fur on my good shoes.” He grinned mischievously, like a child who knew he was doing something wrong.