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Post by Arden Patricks on Dec 16, 2007 21:18:48 GMT
I smile very slightly to myself, holding my hand up to eye level as I watch my pet spider amble across it. Originally smaller than my thumbnail, some fairly simple spellwork has made him nearly an inch and a half in diameter, so that he’s harder to misplace. I’ve actually managed to train him a bit also… at least I think I have… and I no longer worry about letting him ride on my shoulder, as he doesn’t seem inclined to escape.
The day is slightly overcast and cool, though still bright enough that I’m thankful for the shade of the tree I’m sitting under. And I haven’t felt so perfectly content… maybe even happy… in longer than I care to think about.
I’m having a very good day…. Either that or someone slipped some kind of happy pills into my coffee.
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Post by Luke Dallas on Dec 16, 2007 21:24:19 GMT
Luke put a hand to his lip lightly as he tasted blood, and watched with mild interest as his forefinger came away crimson. He'd obviously fallen back into a nervous habit of biting his lip without noticing it.
Maybe you should be on the move again.
With a soft sigh he tore his gaze away from the lake, slipping his hands into his pockets as he ambled without direction or purpose across the grounds.
Hogwarts made him nervous. It was a place of the birth of most of his neurosis, and all of his bad childhood memories. He was sure he'd had worse experiences at other times, but the ones at Hogwarts stuck out most, painful and aching as soon as he thought of the place.
To a lot of people he knew, they'd have thought the opposite. But to him, the castle was just a castle. Hollow and a reminder of years of seclusion.
He wasn't even all that sure why he was back here.
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Post by Arden Patricks on Dec 16, 2007 21:32:25 GMT
Something in the background catches my eye as I continue to watch my pet, and I lower my hand to get a better look, noticing some guy wandering more or less in this general direction. If I was anyone else I might call out a hello to him, but even unusual giddiness can't change my inability to raise my voice. I shrug and continue watching the as-yet-unnamed spider, tugging my sleeve away from my wrist a bit as it starts trying to crawl inside.
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Post by Luke Dallas on Dec 16, 2007 21:40:27 GMT
Luke forces himself to glance up eventually, spotting a girl under a tree nearby. Even from here he can see the yellow emblem on her robes.
Hufflepuff. Nothing wrong with Hufflepuffs.
No, something seriously wrong with all students, he reminded himself. He was struck by the sudden thought that it's extremely immature of him to hold childish grudges of his own inability to be friendly and blame it on generations of students that he never even knew when he was at school. Which is followed by a wave of guilt and the sudden urge to apologise for it. But there was no one to apologise too. Besides the Hufflepuff girl just over there.
He sighed softly through his nose then raised a hand in a half-hearted wave, "Hi!"
The greeting sounded strange on his tongue. He couldn't think of any time he'd ever spoken in such a light airy tone to a complete stranger and he couldn't remember the last time he'd initiated conversation with another human being without being forced to. He wondered if it was obvious.
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Post by Arden Patricks on Dec 16, 2007 21:46:58 GMT
I raise my eyebrows, jumping slightly when the guy says hi to me, and immediately don't want to talk to him anymore... partly because he's distracting me while my spider crawls farther up my arm.
Now you're just being silly.... I know you're contrarious, but that's just ridiculous. Deliberate antisociableness just 'cause he said hi?
I sigh, letting the spider wander up my shoulder. "Hello," I call back, pulling my left sleeve up to the elbow to math the other one, then scooping my pet into my left hand. "... Lovely day," I add after a moment, shrugging.
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Post by Luke Dallas on Dec 16, 2007 21:55:26 GMT
"Beautiful," He agreed, glancing up at the sky and around the grounds.
He couldn't remember the last time he'd said beautiful either. He couldn't remember the last time he'd commented on the weather.
What has gotten into you Luke?
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Post by Arden Patricks on Dec 16, 2007 21:59:39 GMT
"Not too sunny," I nod, wondering why in the hell I'm discussing the weather. Pointless conversations, Arden. I think you ought to know them when you hear them.
"Uh... anything in particular.... Any reason in particular you're out here?" I ask curiously, tipping my head up at him, then looking down again immediately to catch my spider as it drops off of my hand.
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Post by Luke Dallas on Dec 16, 2007 22:10:40 GMT
"I really don't recall," He admitted, glancing up at the castle as if it'd remind him why he was out here then having to look away again as the hollow sick feeling clogs up his windpipe.
He watched the spider for a moment, then back at her, "Your friend have a name?"
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Post by Arden Patricks on Dec 16, 2007 22:14:12 GMT
"Not just yet he doesn't," I say, shaking my head and watching him, finally sitting mostly still in my cupped hand. "I had a cat named Killer once, and currently a puffskein named Agnes and an imaginary dragon named Fluffy. But nothing's really struck me yet for this guy, except also possibly Fluffy." I shrug, looking up at the guy. "How about you? Have a name?"
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Post by Luke Dallas on Dec 16, 2007 22:16:10 GMT
"Fluffy? I like it, might get the piss taken out of him by other arachnids though," He replied fairly.
"Yeah, got a name. Luke. You got one too or still deciding on that as well?"
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Post by Arden Patricks on Dec 16, 2007 22:19:05 GMT
I laugh slightly. "Cute... you a Ravenclaw? I'm Arden."
I watch the spider a bit longer, nodding to myself. And Fluffy he shall be.
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Post by Luke Dallas on Dec 16, 2007 22:29:52 GMT
He raised an eyebrow at the term 'cute'. Not normal.
"No, snake," He answered, ready to lift his guard again if her reaction to that was anything other than indifferent. He couldn't stand that.
"Arden," He nodded, repeating it more so it'd stick in his head, "Arden...the Hufflepuff," He nodded at her robes.
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Post by Arden Patricks on Dec 16, 2007 22:33:58 GMT
"That I am," I say semi-cautiously, nodding, looking at him somewhat more measuringly.
You know some decent snakes now. Shatter the old prejudices.
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Post by Luke Dallas on Dec 16, 2007 22:35:03 GMT
"Huh," He said, not sure if he was just being paranoid or if she genuinely was slightly more cautious now than she had been a minute ago.
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Post by Arden Patricks on Dec 16, 2007 22:38:42 GMT
I relax a bit and smile. "Sorry about that. I didn't like snakes for most of my life. Silly of me really, but my brother was one and that just kind of tainted the lot of you." I shrug. "But I think it's nice to meet you."
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Post by Luke Dallas on Dec 16, 2007 22:44:04 GMT
"Well, I think it's nice to meet you do," He said, thoughtfully touching his fingers to his wand handle in his pocket.
He didn't intend to use it, but it was reassuring to know it was there. It had always been a weird reassurance thing.
"If it makes you feel better, I'm an auror," He added, knowing this put some of the people who tended to be wary about Slytherin's minds at ease, "So I'm not one of the...well, I'm not sure what the word would be."
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Post by Arden Patricks on Dec 16, 2007 22:49:11 GMT
"'Bad guys'?" I suggest, shrugging. "And technically that doesn't mean anything... but no, doesn't matter. I know some decent Slytherins now."
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Post by Luke Dallas on Dec 17, 2007 18:43:31 GMT
"Yeah, that'll do," He nodded, then shrugged, "I know it means fuck all, but it puts some people's minds at rest. You know decent Slytherins?"
He raised an eyebrow, rubbing a hand absently across the nape of his neck, a sign he was thinking that he didn't even notice he was doing.
"Hogwarts has changed since my day then."
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Post by Arden Patricks on Dec 17, 2007 21:45:04 GMT
I laugh slightly. "Not too fond of your own house then?" I ask curiously, while automatically double-checking my own statement in my head.
Okay, so Logan's maybe not what most would consider decent... Ian probably too. But they can be. And Andy is a Slytherin.... And anyone who takes the time to talk some random stranger out of suicide probably counts as decent. Yeah, I know decent Slytherins.
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Post by Luke Dallas on Dec 19, 2007 19:09:22 GMT
"No, my house are...uh...okay?" he settled on saying, "Okay, yeah, that suits."
He shrugged lightly, "Just a house, right? Can't mass generalise."
Even though it's extraordinarily easy to mass generalise. And you just hate the thought that you'd be mass generalised into that category even though it is irrevocably where you belong.
Be quiet Voice.
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Post by Arden Patricks on Dec 19, 2007 19:12:46 GMT
"Well, you do get Sorted in there for a reason," I shrug. "But then again, people can change between eleven and the rest of their life. So I guess you can generalize, but be prepared to change your mind on an individual basis."
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Post by Luke Dallas on Dec 19, 2007 19:14:49 GMT
"That suits too," He nodded, although he wasn't sure he entirely liked that idea either.
It was one of the things he was most stubborn about, that he was not like them.
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Post by Arden Patricks on Dec 19, 2007 19:17:24 GMT
I nod, picking up Fluffy where he's crawled to my shoulder and transferring him to my knee so he's easier to keep an eye on.
"So what are you doing back here then if you're graduated and an auror?" I ask curiously, though not expecting much of an answer.
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