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Post by aciaraydon on Dec 21, 2008 1:45:26 GMT 1
"You can't beat autumn mornings, lass. There's nothing like the crisp, cold air to wake up the senses and put energy in your body."
Acia smiled fondly at the memory of her mother's words. At the age of six, she had dismissed these words as another fruitless attempt of dragging the young girl out of her bed for another five o'clock walk over the hills, and had cheekily retorted with "a tea would do much better." Now, she appreciated her parent's words, because she'd found her own love for such mornings. This adoration for the cold, sharp beauty October offered was the thing that dragged her from her slumber, out of her bed and onto the grounds at five in the morning on a Saturday.
The small brunette silently made her way through the castle and out of the Great Hall's doors, that led her outdoors. She paused on the steps to survey the scene. The entire grounds seemed deserted, giving the impression that not a single creature in the vast premises of Hogwarts was awake at this point, and suggested that for now, the entire lot was her serene paradise. Not even the wind disturbed the peace of the landscape by stirring the trees, or rustling the leaves, or even destroying the stillness of the lake. Acia grinned to herself, admiring the magnificence of the land, and, tugging her black cardigan around her, padded softly across the well kept lawn.
Upon reaching an area which, in the summer, would be well shaded by the trees and their dense coverage, she came to a stop and settled herself down in the midst of the fallen leaves. She took a deep breath, trying to absorb the tranquility of her surroundings, and let it out in a happy sigh. It was here that she'd stay for the next few hours, lost in her thoughts, until some person rose and disrupted the peace of the world she'd created for herself.
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Post by ryan on Dec 21, 2008 17:30:19 GMT 1
Ryan had had a similar thought to Acia, deciding that really, it wasn't heaven to stay in his dorm and listen to his roommates snore. Not that he minded that they slept in, he just hated it when he couldn't rest, when he was twisting and turning in his bed, getting tangled up in the sheets and waking from another one of those dreams. Why couldn't he get that man out of his head? Why couldn't he just enjoy the good things life had to offer for once, without fucking it up?
After spending some time reading by the light of his wand, he had decided to head outside and clear his head. As always, his sketch pad and pencils were in his book bag, filled with random sketches of tiny Hufflepuffs, his friends and little doodles. He had tried working on a portrait of Kris and Louis, to give to them as a Christmas present. Sure, he had money to buy them gifts, but years of getting expensive things had proven to him that nothing could beat something that was made or given with love.
As he wandered outside, his feet led him towards the forest on instinct. It was the one place where he felt safe from prying eyes, though when he reached one of his favorite spots, it was already taken. The person who sat there made Ryan smile however, and he sat down next to her in silence, letting her enjoy the peace and quiet Hogwarts had to offer for another moment as he took out his sketch pad.
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Post by aciaraydon on Dec 21, 2008 22:21:07 GMT 1
Acia smiled softly at her welcome intruder. Ryan was one of her few friends, more importantly one of her closest, and if anyone had to pull her from her daydreams, she'd rather it was him than anyone else. As he sat down, she shifted her position slightly and brushed a few leaves off her legs. The cold hit her once again, now that she wasn't preoccupying herself, and she pulled her cardigan even closer. She stayed silent for a few moments, partly collecting her thoughts together, and partly watching the elder boy.
"Good morning, Ryan." She tried to speak softly, but her words still managed to cut the silence a bit more than she'd wanted them to. She picked a red leaf from the floor and absent-mindedly twirled it's stem between her fingers whilst she studied Ryan. He seemed troubled, but in the five years she'd known him she had come to accept that this was quite a regular thing for him. Or at least, it seemed this way to her. She didn't mind, as he was always so courteous and friendly to her, and his positive traits certainly cancelled the moods out, but she definitely noticed them. However, she never stopped asking about it. A bit of polite curiosity never went astray for her.
"Penny for your thoughts?" She more or less sighed these words, and pulled her legs to her chest. She hoped he wouldn't think she was being nosy, because she just wanted to make sure he's reasonably okay. The boy's moods worried her, sometimes. After all, she'd known him longer than anyone else in the school, and he'd certainly been kinder to her than anyone else. In her eyes, he deserved any attention she could give him.
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Post by ryan on Dec 21, 2008 22:47:12 GMT 1
Ryan smiled back when Acia broke the silence, greeting him like it was nothing out of the ordinary to be awake at this hour. Unfortunately for him it wasn’t, even during good times he had trouble shutting his mind down enough to fall asleep. But she knew all about that. The Hufflepuff had wormed her way into his heart with her kind and quiet nature, she was one of the few girls where he didn’t feel like he had to pretend somehow. She saw through most of his charade anyway.
”Morning. I just...couldn’t sleep.” He dug up an apple from his robe like it was something completely natural for him to do. Truth be told, he only really had started eating since Professor Blake mentioned how skinny he was. Ryan couldn’t tell why, but the words had bothered him. For the first time he’d been in front of the mirror, looking at his frail body and deciding that maybe it wouldn’t hurt to eat something. It wasn’t anything but healthy, but it was a start for a boy that had lived off a minimum amount of calories for Merlin knows how long now.
Digging out his sketchbook he handed it to her, knowing fully well that most pages were covered in little doodles and the occasional real drawing of Tristram Blake. He’d been working on a piece for a few days now, drawing from memory a Tristram that wasn’t alltogether there. He looked a little more relaxed, a little less guarded and simply happy, the way Ryan liked to see him. The Slytherin was hoping that he might work up the courage to give the drawing to him once it was finished, but for now Acia would see what, or rather who, was on his mind.
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Post by aciaraydon on Dec 22, 2008 0:04:45 GMT 1
Acia simply smiled and nodded at Ryan's response, but her smile grew larger at the sight of the apple. It was no secret that the boy needed more food - It was quite obvious, in fact. The idea that he had decided to eat anything at all brought joy to her heart.
"You're eating!" She practically beamed at him. "That's great." Acia didn't know what'd caused this change in the boy's mannerisms, but she was glad it did. In all honesty, she cared for the older Slytherin, and had hoped for a long time that his eating habits improved. She never mentioned it to him, though, because she didn't think it'd help him much to bring up a problem he already knew he had. In her mind, she silently thanked whatever (or whoever) had changed the boy's eating habits.
But after recieving Ryan's sketches, she knew exactly who to direct her appreciation to. She knew the shy substitute teacher had captured his heart. She'd heard all the stories - who hadn't? But after hearing of a repeat performance, and seeing how dramatically the tall, shy man had affected her friend, she'd guessed that Ryan wasn't just doing it for the kicks.
The drawing was quite outstanding. The petite girl always admired his artistic skills, and even if his new found obsession wasn't very healthy for him, it has to be said that it seemed to spark inspiration in him, and stirred such a devotion that was shown by the detail he'd managed to put in. To her, it seemed as if all the elder's thoughts and feelings were poured on to this page. She looked up at him.
"It's amazing." She assured him, being completely honest. "Your drawings always make me so jealous, Ry. You know that?" She grinned at him, and paused for a while before continuing "I think he'd like it."
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Post by ryan on Dec 22, 2008 19:29:09 GMT 1
Ryan just smiled at her when she mentioned his eating. It wasn’t something that needed to be discussed – she knew who was to thank for it. At least, she should know. The Slytherin didn’t often talk about Tristram Blake, in fact, it was often other people who brought him up and he almost always cut the subject short as soon as he could. He hadn’t with Acia though. No matter how awkward and uncomfortable it had been, he would answer her questions honestly.
Ryan was often grateful for her silence, for the way she seemed to accept things without having to discuss them. She had noticed his eating problem long ago, he knew she had, but she had never brought it up, which made him thankful. It was partly why he liked the Hufflepuff so much, her kind accepting way worked perfectly with his nature. He repaid her with the best parts of his personality, the way Ryan Robins could be, but wasn’t most of the time.
It was good that she knew about his feelings, because if he had to put them into words he’d freak out. As much as others could say he was in love with the Professor, he would never say it. Not to his best friends, though he might mention there being certain...feelings. But the word love? Ryan was terrified of it. Terrified of feeling it, of losing it. So when she saw the drawing, his eyes glanced over the details, knowing fully well that his adoration would be in every detail. When she didn’t comment on it, but rather mentioned his artistic abilities, he breathed a sigh of relief, smiling even wider.
”Like it? As in...he’d actually see it? Not bloody likely” Chances were, the man would get an aneurism or something. Or faint. That seemed to be a constant thing between the two of them. Whenever they got somewhere, Tristram would lose consciousness. Maybe it was a hint, that they weren’t supposed to actually go anywhere. Not together at least.
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Post by aciaraydon on Dec 22, 2008 21:07:17 GMT 1
The younger girl turned to face Ryan, and, tilting her head to a side, fixed him with a thoughtful stare. She changed her position once again to make herself more comfortable.
"Ry, he's a nervous man. You've always known that. He'd faint if it started raining too suddenly." She spoke softly, playing with a strand of hair as she did so. This was something she often did, when she was nervous, scared, worried, tired or just generally talking. It comforted her in some way. She didn't know why, but it worked.
"Besides," She continued with a grin, "You're pretty. You can't blame him for being nervous around you. Anyone would be." Another one of her blatent compliments, used in hopes of raising people's self confidence. She always meant what she said, of course, especially when she was talking to her friends. Sometimes, she got the feeling that Ryan didn't appreciate how wonderful he was, which seemed crazy to her. She couldn't see anything to dislike about him. Then again, she tended to see the positive side to everyone. Maybe that was why she didn't understand?
She shook her head to get herself back on topic, and looked back down at the page. She examined it for a while, then glanced back up to her friend. "Maybe you won't let him see it, but I think he'd like it if you ever decided to." She assured him, clasping her hands together. She paused for a few minutes, opened her mouth as if to say something, then closed it again and gave him a small smile.
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Post by ryan on Dec 23, 2008 16:41:20 GMT 1
"Ry, he's a nervous man. You've always known that. He'd faint if it started raining too suddenly."
Ryan couldn’t help but giggle at that comment. It wasn’t often that he let down his guard enough to produce this very un-Slytherinesque laugh, but he could just see that happening. ”Yea...well, if he sees that drawing he’ll get a heart attack or something.” It wasn’t just a joke either. He knew that Tristram was observant enough to see the detail, the devotion that had slipped out during his work. If he showed him that...there was no way he could hide his true feelings.
The comment that he was pretty enough to make anyone nervous made him roll his eyes, letting out a small defiant sound. Honestly. ”Apparently I’m pretty enough to make him sick. Or faint. Or both. Which sounds a lot more fun than it really is.” It wasn’t too much of a compliment and knowing that Tristram Blake had only kissed him because he was intoxicated was about the worst rejection he’d ever faced.
”Besides, he’s a teacher. I’m his student. Not that it matters because he wouldn’t ever even look twice at me. The only reason he kissed me was because I drugged him.” Ryans voice was casual when he stated this new fact. It had only happened a few days ago and he hadn’t been able to tell her before...that they’d kissed, that it had only taken place because of a stupid dare. ”Which doesn’t just make me stupid, it makes me a candidate for expulsion.”
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Post by aciaraydon on Dec 23, 2008 23:04:26 GMT 1
”Apparently I’m pretty enough to make him sick. Or faint. Or both. Which sounds a lot more fun than it really is.”
Acia sighed and shook her head at his disregard of her comment. She would have argued her point, but she decided it was pointless. She figured that nothing would change Ryan's image of himself at the moment.
However, when he revealed that he'd drugged and kissed the jittery substitute teacher, she did react. Her first reaction was an automatic reflex. Her eyes widened slightly and her eyebrows rose a bit, but this lasted barely seconds. True, it wasn't that much more shocking than anything else she'd heard, but it was new to her. New news always shocked her.
Her second reaction was a small, thoughtful frown. She could ask why he did it, but she saw no point in that. It'd already happened, there was no point in asking how or why.
"But as far as I understand, drugs can't create emotions." She said, in a thoughtful manner. "They just exaggerate them? Or is that only alcohol?" Acia started tugging on her hair again, feeling rather foolish now. She was pretty confident in what she said, but drugs was probably the thing she knew least about, simply because she didn't really want to know about them. But she shrugged it off.
"But... I think it's more likely Professor Blake'd be punished, rather than you." She mused, then added hurriedly "I know you wouldn't like that. Maybe we can keep it quiet, though..."
Acia trailed off with a sigh. Teenagers were so difficult.
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Post by ryan on Dec 23, 2008 23:22:29 GMT 1
"But as far as I understand, drugs can't create emotions."
Ryan had thought about that before, which was shown by the quick reply he gave. It was nothing more than a curt shake of his head at first, then a deep sigh before he lapsed into an explanation. Maybe drugs didn’t create emotions, but the only emotion had been there was curiosity. Tristram wanted to know what he felt like, what he tasted like. It had nothing to do with love, or even a small thing as like.
”He didn’t want to kiss me. He just wanted to know more about me.” The Slytherin sounded slightly bitter, running a finger over his own bottom lip. When he closed his eyes, he could still feel the others lips on his. Could still remember how he’d felt. How scared he had been of falling in love with this man. This man that would, in no circumstance, ever be his.
"But... I think it's more likely Professor Blake'd be punished, rather than you. I know you wouldn't like that. Maybe we can keep it quiet, though..."
He frowned at that, another thought that had entered his brain before. ”He can’t be punished. It was all my fault...I made him. If I hadn’t drugged him...I mean...he would never do something like that. He’s...He’s one of the few decent people around. They can’t fire him...” The boy chewed on his own bottom lip, looking at Acia as if she was supposed to have the answer to all his inner turmoil. ”I need him here.”
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