Catching Up Private Mari Haynes Closed

Lamik was surprised that the bathrooms weren't repaired yet. In fact, the boy was surprised that they were going to be repaired at all. They were named the Abandoned Bathrooms for a reason, after all, and Lamik could see no use in repairing them unless someone planned on getting them operational again. It didn't really matter to him, of course. He still wanted to go there, and he knew that the worst thing that could happen was detention. "I don't really mind if it's against the rules. It's not like I'll be hurting anybody by entering, and curiosity tends to get the better of me. Thanks for the warning though, I'll keep in mind to watch out for prefects when I sneak in."

When Mari brought up that she was the only one to be stabbed by a maniac, Lamik couldn't help but feel slightly off put for the first time in the conversation. "Unfortunately, there was more than one victim that day." The boy laughed. "You were probably unaware of it at the time. I heard that pain does that sometimes. But yes, everyone who was there was a victim in some way. Some were physically hurt, sure, but even I was hurt. Not physically, of course, my suffering couldn't compare to what some of the others went through, but I was still hurt by it."

Panic set in as the Gryffindor ignored everything she said and proceeded to tell her that he was going to try to invade the Porcelain Palace. "N-N-No!" Mari blurted instantaneously with the end of his statement. "It's dangerous in there, don't you think that crazy Kaegen will come back and stab you again? That toilet bomb thing was not an accident. I don't want to lose you, you..." She breathed, reluctant but knowing that it just had to happen, it was her last hope: "You saved me. I've been um...missing you...and um...I don't want you to get hurt!"

She hoped that the conversation would not go further or else she'd have to run away and vomit. The only reason she even slightly knew what to say was because of Lucy, having heard her speak to her boyfriend, Oliver, over the holidays. Boys, in Mari's opinion, were gross, but if a stupid preteen boyfriend protected the Porcelain Palace? The summer holidays were soon, she wasn't going to summer camp...Lucy would help her write an owl to break up with him. It would be okay.

The boy continued on, and Mari could not help but repeat her worries, even if she still did not believe that anyone else was damaged as much as she. She even managed to fight a scoff when the blond boy said he was hurt (of course not), thinking of the Porcelain Palace to keep her on track. "That's what I mean b-" - why the heck hadn't he told her his name yet? - "uh... I mean, you could be hurt! And to think that you'd want to go back there? I have to protect you, you protected me, it's only fair. We can hang out, maybe do some homework together? Maybe get to know each other more? Seems only fair, now that our histories are intertwined."

Yep, she'd really need to vomit after this one. Lucy would probably have added some commentary about how handsome he'd look, but Mari wanted to refrain from the expulsion of bile unless Choi was around. All she could hope was that this attempt to make the boy think he was a hero would be enough to keep him away from her only love, the Porcelain Palace.

As awkward as every bit of Mari's phrasing was, Lamik was completely oblivious to any form of flirting. He had never approached or has been approached by anyone romantically (Which made sense given his age), so the boy had no idea what flirting would even entail. Instead, Lamik took her comments with an awkward smile, nervously scratching the back of his head. "And you do notowe me anything, don't worry. I was just doing what anyone would. Hanging out would be fun though. It's always good to make new friends- Saying that our history is entwined is a bit melodramatic, don't you think?"

As for her comment about Kaegen coming back to the Abandoned bathroom, it took Lamik a few moments to figure out something that eased his mind. "Well... he wouldn't be back. You said the prefects go in there, and I doubt that he would risk being caught." Has Lamik known that Mari was such a stuck up, annoying, terrible girl simply intent on manipulating him, he would have said it with a smug look. One thing the boy adored is those few times when he managed to outsmart bullies when they contradicted themselves, and while Mari definitely couldn't be considered a bully, she wasn't the nicest person either (not that Lamik knew about it, of course.)

Goodness.

Was there anything that could serve as a place for her to throw up near this corridor? Because with what she knew she had to do, Mari was going to have to vomit immediately after this interaction. The perfect, not at all annoying or stuck up Hufflepuff reached to grab the still unnamed boy's hand. She had seen her parents do it when they were especially disgustingly loving, so she figured that that would be enough to get him out of the Porcelain Palace for once and for all. She would then attempt to give it a playful squeeze, then said, "But that's all just rumors that they go in there...I mean, I haven't actually seen them. And what with everything that happened this year, I don't know about you, but I just don't trust the staff that this school has put in charge of us."

If he continued this, Mari would have to try to kiss him to get him to stop. And she did not want her first kiss to have to be with an invader of the Porcelain Palace. Especially because it would also be her last kiss, given that she would die on the spot if she had to kiss a boy anyway.

Some more words would probably be a good defense mechanism, so she wouldn't have to kiss him. What did Lucy say to her boyfriend over the holidays? Something gushy. Something like, "Look, I like you. I...really don't want you to get hurt. Can't you just trust me?"

This moment was worse than being stabbed.

"I trust them." Lamik shrugged. "As often as these things seem to happen, you need to remember that this school houses thousands of children for almost an entire year. They've been doing a pretty good job at keeping everything safe and organized." He thought for a few moments before continuing. "Besides, even if they are only rumors, I doubt he would be willing to take the risk." The boy was obviously determined to face his fears and venture back into the abandoned bathrooms- it was very probable that nothing would be able to stop him. Not even a kiss Mari please don't do this sob.

As for her comments about liking him, Lamik remained as oblivious as ever. "Well, I would hope you liked me. Why would you want to hang out if you didn't want us to be friends?" He did notice that her phrasing of... everything... was rather awkward, but that didn't really seem to be much of a bother. As for trusting her- It wasn't that Lamik didn't. He had no reason to distrust Mari, after all. It was that he really didn't care at the moment. He needed to get to the bathrooms to ensure that he could continue his stay at Hogwarts without panicking every time he entered a certain floor.

This wasn't going well.

Mari took a deep breath as she realized what she'd have to do. The hand holding, the profession of liking him...it should have been enough. Mari now realized that she forgot, however, one important detail: the Gryffindor was a small, preteen boy, likely no more than twelve. This mean, of course, that he was dumb to any social cues around him.

"I..." she began, uncertain where to start. She paused a moment to see if there was a wastebasket anywhere. None was in sight; she would just have bolt, worst comes to worst. "I want to hang out with you because I...more than like you."

Now was the last hope she could think of. Channeling every aspect of Lucy's flirtatious personality that Mari lacked, the Hufflepuff squeezed the Gryffindor boy's hand once more and pursed her lips, closing the gap between his lips and hers. Just before she kissed him, she bit her lip and realized it was incredibly chapped. Oh well.

She attempted to press her lips against his and wondered how people breathed when they were kissing. Mari exhaled, into Lamik's vicinity. Ah, yes. That was it. Just some heavy mouth breathing makes it so she won't pass out.

Feeling bile creep up in her throat, Mari pulled back to take a real breather. All that mouth breathing wasn't as luxurious as pure, cootie-less air. She attempted to press against him once more, like Lucy would do when she was about to finish kissing her boyfriend ("Leave them wanting more," her eleven-year-old sister told her), then backed away.

"I hope that was okay," she murmured, looking downwards in embarrassment. It would appear that she was embarrassed from expressing her love for the Gryffindor, her probably first boyfriend at this point, but really she was embarrassed that he had forced her into this situation in the first place.

Lamik instinctively leaned back as Mari brought their faces closer together. It wasn't enough though, as in a matter of a few moments the boy went from being calm, collected, and cheerful to panicked, confused, and quite frankly afraid. As he stared at Mari with his eyes wide and his cheeks red, the boy searched his mind for something to say. "Look, I-" he stopped, not sure how to continue the sentence. Lamik wasn't completely sure how you're meant to deal with having feelings for someone, but he was pretty sure that randomly kissing them was not the proper way.

Forcing himself to gather his thoughts and put them into words, the boy spoke slowly and shakily with a very obvious stutter. "I d-don't... I don't like you that way, M-Mari." It was true, of course. He barely knew the girl- sure, he may have saved her, but there wasn't exactly a coherent discussion taking place on the way to the medical wing that day. Besides, if he had to choose, Lamik knew who he would say that he liked. It definitely wasn't Mari. It was Saskia Nicholson, another Hufflepuff girl that Lamik had met in the library one day and had (at least on his end) clicked with instantly.

He said he didn't like her that way, but she was desperate. The Porcelain Palace could not face any more disrespect, especially from this goon who was trying to ruin its life.

Mari grabbed his hand in an effort to dispel any of his worries as she smiled tentatively at him. "I-" she began, wondering where to start. How could she keep this going? She may vomit her entire 9-year-old-looking body out by the end of this interaction, but it would be the only way to keep the Porcelain Palace safe.

Like an incendio to the chest (not that she knew, because she'd never try dueling; it was scary), the thought hit her and fired up her thoughts. She had channeled Lucy in every second of this interaction, what was a bit more? After all, she was the only reason Mari knew anything about romance; Mari herself had only ever awkwardly hugged a few boys before. But Lucy had once told her that when you kissed a boy it was forever - or, at least, forever in terms of the fact that it sealed you were boyfriend and girlfriend for the time being. It was pretty sound logic; Mari couldn't argue with it.

"Hey, I'm sorry, but...uh...we kissed. You know what that means, right?" She looked at him hesitantly, displaying what could only be interpreted as a fear of interacting with a crush, though the reality was far more complicated than a schoolgirl crush. "We're...uh...boyfriend and girlfriend now. I'm sorry but...we can make this work, let's just see how it goes." A moment's pause. "Oh I can't wait to tell Lucy! She'll be so proud of me."

Mari's eyes lit up in feigned excitement as she looked at the boy. Never mind that she still did not know his name, she had a "boyfriend." She would continue convincing him of this fact, no matter how hard he protested, even though she did not give a damn about him; anything for the Porcelain Palace. As long as she could continue to ruse until second year, she knew, he probably would forget about going in the Palace by then. It was her only hope.

First day of second year, though? Mari would dump him on the spot. Boys were gross.

Lamik stared at the girl in front of him for a few moments, not sure if she was joking. Of course, he wasn't sure if this was all just some kind of elaborate prank that he would get really annoyed about, but at that moment all that mattered was what was happening in the present. Though he was pretty ignorant about all things romance, Lamik was pretty damn sure that kissing someone for no reason didn't make you their partner. In fact, the boy got the feeling that quite the opposite happened- if you kissed someone you like without them agreeing to it, you're probably gonna get yelled at. "No. I- I'm not. That really isn't how it works."

Lamik took another deep breath as he tried to gather his thoughts once more. Who was Lucy? Was she Mari's mum? Big sister? Little sister? Best friend? Why would she be so proud? Did she matter to this conversation at all? What would he do if Mari didn't understand what he was saying and persisted? Would he ever sleep ever again? Weren't first kisses meant to be something special? This kiss was special, of course, but in a very negative way.

Her eyes flickered in pure bemusement when the boy tried to deny the face that he was her boyfriend. Boys were dumb. This kid was a perfect embodiment of why she did not wish to date right now. Boys of twelve were foolish, immature, tried to steal all the glory, and did not understand perfectly sound logic that when you kissed, you were boyfriend and girlfriend. Mari wondered if the boy would even make it to second year; how humiliating would it be to admit that her very first boyfriend was a Hogwarts drop out! He already wasn't a great catch...she would have to tutor him to avoid this definite possibility.

"It is how it works," the Hufflepuff nodded simply as she looked at the Gryffindor, her boyfriend. How many times could she say boyfriend? It really just rang off the tongue, as though she wanted to say it a million times to rub it in because everyone totally loved the fact that Mari and her boyfriend were, well, boyfriend and girlfriend, even if Mari wasn't actually too thrilled about it. But heck, she figured that her boyfriend would be so happy to be hers, especially because he so badly wanted the glory she had had when she got stabbed. He was predictable, already; the challenge of figuring him out hadn't been too hard. Of course he was thrilled. He probably was itching to tell her that he loved her!

Her boyfriend was so dumb. This was a one-sided love. Mari was already mentally counting down the days until she could break up with him... Ugh. September first could not come sooner.

Mari knew that her boyfriend would just keep arguing with her because he could not understand logic, so it was best to just leave and deal with him later. Unfortunately, there was the last requirement: they had to kiss once more. And then she could finally vomit.

Moving closer to her boyfriend once more, Mari stood on her tip toes to get a proper angle for the kiss as she opened her mouth. Unfortunately, whether it was a lack of kissing talent or just pure misfortune, the act was too much for her, and she nearly screamed as bile crept up her esophagus. If the kiss landed, a small bit of bile would likely brush against her boyfriend's lips, possibly landing in his mouth. If it did not, the bile would simply land on the floor.

Her eyes widened as she moved back to look at the scene before her, mind racing so as to understand how in the world she could explain this. Mari needed to keep her boyfriend around until second year; so long as she had a good explanation she knew she could continue the ruse up with him.

Suddenly, it his her as quickly as her bout of food poisoning with Cheetos. "Uh," Mari murmured softly, "I don't feel very good. Food poisoning, I think - it's happened to me before. I'll see you around, owl you a time, boyfriend...Excuse me... "

Without a further explanation, the Hufflepuff ran off to find a bucket to finish her business in. Kissing was disgusting. She'd have to find a way to avoid it at all costs, or at least protect herself from its aftereffects, the next time she saw her boyfriend.

Mari Haynes has left the thread.