Today, I have seen the Dragon.

It had been days since Letha's funeral, days since Roman had said his final goodbyes to a person he had loved so much, one of the few people who knew him more than anyone and knowing she would never be around anymore probably hurt more than anything.

Roman was in his childhood house, a house that had never felt much like a home, too upright and too clinical, he had Olivia to thank for that.

Shelly had long left, Olivia too; good riddance to the second, and he was left to pick up the pieces of a life that had crumbled around him. He packed box after box, some that would take with him to new house, his new home, while everything else would probably make good for a bonfire in the backyard.

Roman stepped into the kitchen, grabbing a glass of water and downed a few painkillers, maybe for the pain in his head or maybe for the pain his heart, he wasn't sure anymore.

To be honest, Aria wasn't sure about this. She had been close to Letha, though, and, honestly, Letha had been one of the very few friends that she ever bothered to have. And the girl always talked about her great cousin, Roman. Aria had only run into the boy on occasion, but they hadn't ever really spoken.

And, now, here she was, in front of the Godfrey home, mentally debating whether she should knock on the door or run for the hills and never look back.

But, she couldn't do that. No, she had to honor Letha's memory. She had to make sure that her family understood that she felt bad for them, that she wished that they still had the girl in their lives. She had already spoken to Letha's parents - and, though the two had treated her kindly, it was clear that her being there was painful, that she was a reminder of the daughter they lost, even if the two adults weren't together anymore.

So, taking a deep breath, she tried to calm her nerves. Lifting her hand, she lightly knocked on the door, though she wasn't sure if it had been audible at all - so, she knocked again, only a little louder.

The knock startled Roman as everyone he knew had come by in the past few days, bringing him food he would never eat or to offer their condolences of losing Letha so he couldn't imagine who would be knocking at the door, he let the noise go on a few more times before he dropped his glass hard enough into the sink that it probably broke; one less dish to pack.

He pulled the front door open, a bit surprised to see a girl standing there, she was definitely pretty though, her face a bit familiar but he couldn't quite place her, maybe a one night stand? "Yes?" He asked, raising an eyebrow toward the girl standing on his front steps.

Aria had been close to leaving, just turning around and walking away and, probably, never look back. But, by the time the thought crossed her mind and became a complete idea, the door had opened and Roman was standing there. At first, she wasn't sure what she should say - what I'm sorry that you're going through this or I'm sorry this happened could actually make any of it okay?

Still, she cleared her throat and tried to offer a smile, though it didn't last and she fiddled with her hands nervously. "Um, sorry if I'm disturbing you," she said after she let out a sigh, "It's just that I was a friend of Letha's, so... I figured that I should, um." She really wasn't good at this, she knew that, but she swallowed thickly and tried again. "I'm really sorry for your loss. Letha really was a great person and I know you two were pretty much best friends, probably the closest cousins I've ever seen, so I know you're probably going through a lot. I just... wanted to say that, I guess."

Roman would have written off her condolence, it's all he had heard since the night of Letha's untimely death and usually, people said it because it's an automatic thing to say when hearing of a death, especially to a young girl that everyone knew and loved because Letha had that effect on everyone.

"Thanks." Was all he said before clearing his throat because he wasn't use to using that word much less meaning it."It means a lot. Did you know Letha long?" He asked, wondering how the girl came to know Letha because he was sure he had known just about everyone Letha hung out with aside from himself.

It was awkward, just standing there and talking to Roman. Aria wasn't really used to talking to many people; she kept just a small circle of friends, an even smaller circle of acquaintances and was mostly just to herself anyways. But, Letha had been the closest friend Aria had had, so it was only proper.

"A few years," she said honestly, nodding slowly, "We were friends in elementary school, but my parents wanted me to focus on my studies after that and we didn't talk much until Freshman year. Then, it was like those years between elementary and high school hadn't existed."

Roman couldn't imagine high school without Letha by his side though he spent more time sticking up for Shelly and smoking in the basement more than anything, just knowing she was there was a relief and she was probably the only other person who didn't think he was some sort of freak, well, besides Peter but Peter had his own issues to handle so they were an equal match in that department.

Roman jutted his thumb behind him."Do you wanna come in for tea or something?" He asked as he backed inside, letting her come in."It's a bit of a mess right now." He sheepishly apologized as he hadn't planned on being interrupted in the packing but he would take the distraction.

Aria was beyond surprised with the invitation, but smiled nonetheless and nodded. "Sure," she decided before she stepped inside, "Besides, I don't mind a mess. It can't be worse than my room." Because she wasn't the most organized of people.

Once she was inside far enough, she glanced around, though it didn't take her long to notice the boxes. "Are you moving?" she asked, looking over at him with curiosity. "Oh, I just realized that you probably don't know who I am - sorry, I'm Aria." Unorganized, as always.

Roman moved some of the boxes out of the way as he led her down the hallway and into the kitchen."Kinda. Yeah." He shrugged as he popped the kettle on the stove and rummaged through what was left in the cabinets for the tea he had seen."There's really nothing left for me here." He shrugged, plus all the bad memories that the house itself held from the suicide of his father and the bloodstains that just wouldn't come out of the wood panels in the attic but he was still stuck in Hemlock Grove as the heir to the white tower, unfortunately.

He grabbed two mugs just as the kettle became to scream."Aria." He tried out the name on his tongue as he poured the hot water into the mugs and seeped the bags inside."It's a nice name." He wondered if he invited her over to his new place one he got settled it was too forward much less would she accept.

Aria nodded slowly as she followed him. Personally, she didn't blame him for wanting to move out of the house. It seemed so lonely, barren. It would have probably taken a toll on the poor guy to be there, suffering with thoughts of his cousin being dead. "I can't say that I blame you. Good luck with it, though," she told him quietly.

Her eyes fell on the kettle, the loud noise setting her on edge. It didn't last long, though, and she blinked to his words. "It means melody or song." She smiled, then, because she actually adored her name. "Or, more literally, it means air - which, I guess is fitting, since I can sometimes be an airhead." It was a lame attempt at joking, but she gave herself props for at least trying. "Do you know what Roman means?"

"Or maybe by air it means you're a fresh breath of air, bringing new life around." Roman took a sip of his tea, nearly burning his tongue, shaking his head."I actually don't but I do know Olivia named me Roman because I was born with a caul." He didn't know if Aria knew what that was or not and didn't think going into detail of what it was would be a good first impression."And the Roman's believed those who were born with one were destined for great things which I think is just a bunch of bullshit." As Roman hadn't done much of anything with his life because he had no need too, he had all the money he could dream of.

Aria was mildly surprised by Roman's take on her name and she tried to avoid blushing, because it was the closest thing she had gotten to a compliment in ages. "Well, I wouldn't consider it as a bunch of bullshit," she said after a moment, lifting her shoulders in a shrug. "The Latin meaning is just man of Rome, but the Biblical meaning is strong or powerful. I guess the Biblical version kind of ties in with the Romans' beliefs, if that makes any kind of sense. Considering that you're a Godfrey, though, it's kind of expected of you to be destined for greatness or powerful. I mean, Godfreys pretty much own Hemlock Grove, after all. If that's not destined for greatness, I don't know what is." She offered a smile, then, and blew on her tea gently to cool it, even though it was probably only a little, and took a sip, enjoying the taste despite the burn.

Roman thought about what she said, shrugging as he played with the tag of the tea bag that hung from the side of his mug."But does that really count? My father was the great one, not me." He didn't ever wanna be heir to the white tower, he didn't even know exactly what they did there; never really cared to know as it had never been in his plans to tun the place, that was all his uncle.

"Do you plan on going to college?" Roman as Aria, probably none of his business either way but he was probably never going to go either but he wondered what it would be like to go to all those frat parties, maybe date a sorority girl, have all her sisters gossip about him behind his back.

"It would count, if you make something of yourself, make something of your own," Aria pointed out, though she supposed that was just her opinion. Not many people ever really agreed with her, because she tended to overthink things, tried to figure out what would be the right course of action - or, sometimes, just try to figure out herself, honestly.

Making a face at the mention of college, she shook her head. "At one point, I did, but it stopped becoming a priority. My mom died last year and my dad had a mental breakdown - or, whatever they call them now, - so I haven't really been bothering to worry about it anymore," she answered honestly. It was probably more than he expected to hear, and he probably didn't care about half the shit she just said, but she tended to ramble when she was talking to people that she wasn't even used to being around. "What about you?"

And maybe Aria was right on that; the company wasn't his but soon enough would be and if he put some effort into it, then maybe he could turn it around, figure out the backings of it and who knows; maybe he would enjoy it.

Roman shook his head."I think it was just always assumed that I would follow my father's footsteps and now, I guess I will." He emptied the rest of his tea into the sink before turning around and leaning against the counter."I'm sorry to hear that about your mom."

Aria made another face at hearing him apologize about her mom and she shook her head. "It was a year ago," she said casually, as if it no longer affected her - and, yeah, she was pretty good at pretending that it didn't. Finishing up her tea, she turned her attention to him, tilting her head. "I wasn't really close to either of them. Not that they really gave me a chance to be, since they just wanted me to stick in my room and study."

She shrugged, then, because it was expected, it was natural. "Do you need help to finish packing?" she asked after a moment, because she wasn't entirely sure that she wanted to leave yet.

Roman said nothing as he had always had a weird relationship with his mother and had only one memory of his father that always stuck out at him, probably no memory any child should have but it was there; always his mother's fault anyway.

He raised an eyebrow at her question in helping."You want to stick around and pack?" And he wasn't even sure if that was a good thing or not, not many people outside of his family besides Peter had ever been inside the house; not even for holidays or birthdays."I guess you could finish down here? I could get what's left upstairs?" He mainly didn't want her anywhere near the attic, in fear she might be curious of the Godfrey house and roam about and find out his most kept secrets.

"Well, I don't really have anything else to do," Aria said simply, lifting her shoulders in a shrug. "Besides, an occasional kind act is good for the heart." She smiled, then, and stood up to place the tea cup in the sink.

Thinking over his suggestion, she nodded slightly. "Do you have the boxes labeled or would you rather I just put everything in whatever box it fits in?" she asked, stepping away from the sink and looking to him with curiosity. Part of her wondered if she was invading his privacy by offering to help, but, really, she knew he was grieving and figured he could use whatever help he could get so he didn't leave anything important behind. It was just a theory, though.

Roman shook his head."Just throw whatever you can into a box." It had been what he was doing begin with, most of everything was going to the Goodwill has he had no other use for it."If you need me or anything, I'll be up there." He pointed to the ceiling before leaving her and heading upstairs, he decided to tackle the rest of his own bedroom.