the morning smiles. [ Acia ! ]

[levi]

♥ ♥ l e v i.
there's always some reason
to feel not good enough
and it's hard at the end of the day.

Sitting in a large beanbag in front of the library's ornate fireplace was a boy, wrapped in his yellow-lined school robes and grasping a book lightly between his fingers. Just as he was normally doing, the kid was reading, his eyes wide and the emotion of the story reflected in his posture. He was tense, his entire self absorbed into the pages as the hero fought his way through the novel's climax. It had taken nineteen chapters of rising action to get to this point, and it was nothing less than captivating.

During the Winter months, it was not uncommon for Levi to be found in such as place as the Library. The room was almost a sanctuary for him -- it was quiet, warm, and filled with books. There were no distracting voices to tear him out of his story, and there was always something else to read when he finished a book. Sometimes he wished that they had bookshelves in his Common Room, but the boy figured it would be of little use, anyway. Hufflepuffs weren't normally known to be avid readers, and so the boy doubted that anyone would frequent the bookshelves save for himself.

Not to mention, it was slightly loud in there at this time of the year.

Today, Owens had planned to spend the entire day in the library. He'd woken up early, meditated as he normally did, and then crept down into this room to avoid his friends. Of the few he had, most of them insisted that he hang out with them and be social most of the time, which wasn't exactly what Levi always felt like doing. He felt awkward in conversations, and especially awkward when his friends attempted to introduce him to new people. He'd much rather spend a day alone with some books and his sketch pad.

[aciaraydon]

Having been rudely woken in the early hours of the morning by Nisa, her kitten, pawing at her face, Acia had been up for hours. So far, she’d given the adorable piece of fluff some milk, spent about an hour writing letters to her brother and her parents and had written christmas cards for everyone she could think of. When she’d finally finished them all, she peeled herself off her bed and changed out of her pyjamas. She wasn’t sure what to do now, but figured she’d send her letters, then hunt down the people who she had cards for until she found something to do. Grabbing her grey messenger bag, she stowed the cards away in there and made her way up to her first stop – the Owlery.

This journey proved to be uneventful, and it wasn’t long before she’d tied her letters to two owls and sent them off to their respective addresses. Having not discovered an activity on the way up, she now began to work her way back down the castle to deliver her small, rectangular envelopes full of festive cheer. She started with the closest place that could play host to any of her friends, which happened to be the library. As soon as she entered the gloriously warm room, her eyes found the familiar shape of her black-haired friend. Smiling to herself, she placed her bag on the floor, pulled his card out of it, and padded over to him.

She had considered throwing the card at him, or hitting him on the head with it, to get his attention. However, when she saw how he was completely immersed in whatever book he was reading, she settled with sitting silently opposite him and waiting for him to realise she was there. This proved harder than she’d first thought, and she barely stifled a laugh when she saw the look on his face. This must have been a good book.

[levi]

♥ ♥ l e v i.
there's always some reason
to feel not good enough
and it's hard at the end of the day.

The boy didn't even notice his friend enter the library, and he was only vaguely aware that someone was making their way over to the fireplace and sitting in front of him. Levi was much too lost in the novel's pages to really register what was going on around him, and he honestly didn't care much to know about what was happening around him, anyway. He read to escape the real world, and escape was exactly what he did. Fingers flipped the page and his eyes continued to fly over the words, his pace slowing a bit when the climax spilled into a temporary break. His intense expression dulled for a moment, and his mind opened to reality for just a short moment -- long enough, however, to realize that there was a human sitting hardly a foot away, facing him.

Levi lowered the book quickly, eyes widening once again as he recognized the girl who was watching him. Her lips were spread into an entertained smile and she looked as if she was about to crack up any second now. Acia Raydon.

Face splitting into a grin, Levi dropped his book and pounced at the girl, exclaiming "Acia!" in a playfully irritated voice as he did so. Arms wrapped around her back in a hug and he toppled her over, laughing throughout the entire thing. "Don't just sneak up on me like that!" He chirped, then released her from his greeting/attack hug and sat back up. The Librarian was glaring and scolding him for being so loud, but Levi was oblivious to her. He was naturally loud around Acia -- she was by far the person he knew and trusted the most and they were almost like siblings.

[aciaraydon]

She seemed to watch the whole event unfold- Levi buried in his book, flicking through pages like a whirlwind, his body seemed to relax for barely a second when the intensity lapsed, the book came down, he broke into a grin. And then he leaped at her. Acia laughed joyously as the boy bowled her over, enveloping him in her arms on the way down and hugging him back tightly. She adored her bright and bubbly friend, and through the years that they’d known each other, she’d learned to accept the possibility of being knocked to the floor when he was about. The boy got so excitable when she was around, and normally spread it to her, too.

”Leeeeee-viiiiiii.” She whined back in an equally ‘irritated’ voice, and laughed even more, ruffling up as much of his hair as she could reach. ”I’m sorry! You looked cute with your book, I didn’t have the heart to break up whatever you had going on!”

When released, she struggled back up to a sitting position and straightened herself up a bit, brushing down any crumpled clothes and making a lame attempt at neatening her hair. She chuckled happily, ignoring the Library Lady’s complaints, and thrust the Christmas card under her friend’s nose. Levi’s card had taken longer than most of them, as she’d known him for practically all her life, she’d decorated it with little drawings, doodles and sentences that had occurred at some point during their life. Childish, maybe, but it was more personal than a picture of a Christmas tree and the standard ‘Merry Christmas!’ greeting. The boy was practically family; he’d been there for her all his life. He deserved better than some cheesy, simple Hallmark product.

”That’s yours!” She sang to the boy, speaking loudly and quickly with a huge smile printed across her face. ”How comes you’ve hidden yourself away in here?”

[levi]

♥ ♥ l e v i.
there's always some reason
to feel not good enough
and it's hard at the end of the day.

His friend ruffled his hair and told him that he'd looked cute reading, and Levi attempted to respond with a pouty expression. His smile ruined the effect, however, and he ended up simply looking quite silly, with his lips curved upward and the lower one sticking out. He realized after a short moment that he probably looked ridiculous, and so he replaced the smilepout with a laugh and a grin.

His attention was redirected when the girl pushed a small rectangular object toward him, explaining to him that it was for him and asking why he was hiding in the library. The boy took the card, still smiling, and lowered his eyes onto the front, absorbing the little sketches spread about it. "I was planning on just reading all day," he admitted, opening the card and reading the sentences that his friend had recorded on the inside. His eyes lit up at the words and he laughed softly, memories of their past returning to him as he remembered saying and hearing the phrases Acia had scribbled down. "maybe drawing some, too."

He finished reading the card and closed it, holding it tightly in his grip and beaming up at her. "This is great, Acie! Thanks!" He leaned forward and hugged her again, then returned to his normal position and glanced at the paper between his fingers again. He needed to hurry up and make some cards for people, too; Winter break would be here in just a few weeks now.

[aciaraydon]

Acia watched her best friend, an amused look on her face. She giggled at the mixture of emotions that flashed across his face in under a second, and grinned happily when his face lit up at the card. She loved making people happy. Especially Levi, his happiness was extremely contagious and whenever he was cheerful, the room seemed to light up.

She nodded at the boy’s plans for the day, and hugged him tightly back when he thanked her, before getting up and tugging over another beanbag. A day in the library with Levi didn’t sound too bad, even if all she was doing was reading. The company would be more than worth it. Flopping down in it, she gave her friend a large grin.

”You’re welcome, Levs!” She chimed, ”It’s the least I could do, really. So, how’ve you been recently honey?”

((VERY VERY Sorry for the crappy short post ><))

[levi]

♥ ♥ l e v i.
there's always some reason
to feel not good enough
and it's hard at the end of the day.

Acia didn't waste any time in grabbing another beanbag chair and dragging it closer to the boy, plopping down into it shortly after and grinning. Levi returned the smile. He didn't mind company -- especially Acia's. She was fun to hang out with, easy to talk to, and she wasn't always dragging him around exclaiming "Omigod Levi this is ___, you two are going to get along great!". In fact, his friend was almost as shy as he was, so the two of them stayed away from strangers for the most part when in each other's company.

”You’re welcome, Levs! It’s the least I could do, really. So, how’ve you been recently honey?”

Levi's expression brightened once again, and he carefully reached out to pick up his fallen novel. "I've been pretty good," he tucked the card safely between a couple of the pages, and then gingerly placed the book atop his nearby sketchpad. "what about you?" His tone was light and friendly, keeping to their cheerful mood despite the supposed-to-be strict silence that normally consumed the library. In the back of his mind the boy was worrying that the librarian might come over and kick them out, but he decided that he wouldn't mind too much anyway. He and Acia could always find some other place to hang out.

[ nuu, its good~ :3 ]

[aciaraydon]

Acia’s smile grew when he seemed to accept her presence. She loved being with Levi, mostly because he made her feel so comfortable. Even when her words got muddled and she sounded like an idiot, it didn’t matter at all whenever she was with him. More than that, though, she loved him being around because when she was with him, nothing and no one else mattered. It sounded strange, but it was true. She didn’t care about other people or their problems, or even her own troubles. All she wanted was for her best friend to be as happy as he could be, and if he was, then so was she.

”I’ve been great, thanks!” She answered his question, brushing a few strands of hair out of her face. She attempted to lower her voice a little, to stop them from being told to leave. ”Just been trying to decide what to get people, y’know.”

She’d been carefully considering this for a while, what to get for people. For Ryan, she’d bought a plain sketch pad, figuring that his would probably be full up soon. She also got him a set of pencils to go with it, and to make it a bit more special, she’d decorated the front page with her messy drawings. True, she lacked artistic skill, but she knew he’d like it. For Levi, however, she’d picked something that took a lot longer and a lot more skill. She’d gathered up loads of different coloured pieces of cloth, including magical ones that sparkled and shined, and sew then together to make a teddy bear. She hoped he’d like it, because it was the best idea she’d had in a while.

”Are you going home for Christmas?” Acia asked him. She’d guessed that he was, but thought it was worth asking anyway.

[levi]

♥ ♥ l e v i.
there's always some reason
to feel not good enough
and it's hard at the end of the day.

”I’ve been great, thanks! Just been trying to decide what to get people, y’know.”

Levi nodded a bit; he'd also been trying to think of what to buy everyone, and it was just as difficult to decide as always. The boy hated the Holiday season in general because shopping for his friends was nothing but stressful -- he was always worried that he was going to get them something that they hated. Most of the time the male just bought everyone some cheap chocolate or candy, but this year he wanted to find something a bit more personal for his friends. This year, he planned on spending more than just a few sickles and knuts on Christmas gifts.

"Hehe, yeah, I know what you mean. It's hard, isn't it?" He watched her for a moment, silently pondering about what he was going to get her. Acia deserved the best present of all his friends, and Levi definitely wanted to give her something that she liked. Last year it had simply been some last-minute candies from Honeydukes, and although there had been a lot of candy, the boy hadn't thought it was good enough. Sweets were just too typical.

”Are you going home for Christmas?”

The boy thought about her question for a moment, not completely sure of the answer. His parents had written him just yesterday telling him that they couldn't wait to see him over break, but the Hufflepuff hadn't really decided whether he actually was going home or not. He figured that he probably was; he missed his mum, after all. "I'm not completely positive, but I think so. Are you?"

[aciaraydon]

Acia nodded in response to Levi’s comment about how hard it was to buy people decent presents. She remembered what he’d got her last year well. Even if it was last minute, she’d still liked it. Honestly, she was glad to get anything at all. And she did have a bit of a sweet tooth, anyway, so his present did not go to waste. Last year, she’d not put as much thought into his presents, either, having gone on a last moment shopping spree to get things for people. She’d simply thought ‘Hey, he’d like that’ and picked it up. He ended up with an adult-sized space hopper, a stylophone and a pair of chopsticks with large, googly octopus eyes embedded in them.

"I'm not completely positive, but I think so. Are you?"

She sat for a moment, rocking backwards and forwards, considering his question. She wanted to go home to see her family, especially seeing how her brother promised he’d be there for her. However, she was likely to miss so much here if she did go home. She considered if any of her friends would be here over Christmas, and came to the conclusion that if she stayed here, she’d probably feel quite lonely. Especially if Levi was leaving.

”Yeah, I think so.” She smiled at him. ”I’ll probably miss loads of stuff here, but I’ll still go. This school’s all drama, Levs.”

She added a small sigh on the end of that sentence, to emphasise her point.