24 Oct 2024, 04:48
A Disappointing Turn
october 16th, 2024 wc: 950ish interacting with: Zyair Ona'je
A lot of people got hurt, and Scout was miffed to hear that Casey Stone was one of them. Well, maybe miffed wasn't exactly the right word, because she was worried about his well-being (not more than Emily was). Though she convinced herself she was completely heartless, it still made her uneasy to know that he had passed out at the scene and had to be basically carried out, apparently with the help of Zyair. That thought was a little sweet, he was far too lovely for his own good.
She bounced on the balls of her feet, waiting until she'd see him. After the chaos had settled, she had given Pebble a small note to give to him (even though he was only a little bit away). At first she had wanted to give him the letter herself, but she was still nervous about such a breach of trust. Her letters had still never been signed by her name, though he definitely knew who she was. It was unmarked territory for her, he probably knew more about her inner feelings and turmoil than Emily did.
Zyair is so tall that Scout can spot him from her spot by the Great Lake. He's awfully lanky, too. At the mere sight of him her lips upturn an inch or so, but her face falls to a neutral one once she realizes how much she's actually smiling. That's stupid, she doesn't smile at boys! Well, except maybe for Aston, but that's because he's one of her friends! And she has definitely laughed at one of Colin McCoire's crazy antics, but she'd rather die than even think of admitting it.
If she wasn't miffed by Casey getting hurt, she was definitely miffed about thinking Colin was anything other than totally weird. She wasn't comfortable enough with comparing his confidence to hers yet.
"There you are."
Zyair has a voice that reminds Scout of silk, smooth to the touch and rich in color and material. Though she prefers material that's rougher, it's harder to tear her flannel shirts when in comparison to the satin dresses she notices her extended family wears. Why is it that more expensive material is easier to catch on her nails or teeth? Shouldn't the more expensive a fabric be, the harder it is to destroy? Or maybe the whole idea was to make it easy to rip so you'd buy more...
"Hey! Are you okay? I heard from Emi that you and Casey got hurt at Hogsmeade!" Her feet move before she can stop them, dirty tennis shoes scraping against the mud below her as she paces up to him. While she has enough discipline to keep her hands to herself, her knobbly knees bend and she examines him for any external injuries. She knows nothing of healing magic, despite learning about them in lessons, but she can still tell him to visit the nurse if she sees even a hint of a scratch. "I'm okay, don't worry." He insists, shaking his head.
"How can I not worry? I heard all of the carriages went up in flames and people died!"
Zyair shakes his head again, and the two unanimously begin walking around the Lake, his voice filling the silence with answers to her unasked questions. "Yeah, there was a lot of fire. Actually, that's not what I'm really concerned about. I... have to confess something." Scout gives him a curious look, brown eyes boring into his. "I had noticed something in one of the carriages, the one that the Headmistress of the Japanese school had been in prior... when I went up to the carriage to inspect it, there was nothing. Just burned wood and metal."
Doesn't that make sense, though? If she were trapped in the carriage when it exploded, she'd probably be ashes or something. She tilts her head, "Isn't that normal? She'd be... you know, gone."
"No. I would've seen something of her."
"Oh..."
"Yeah."
Silence fills the air again, a twisting knot unravelling in Scout's stomach. Does that mean the Headmistress had used Apparition to get away right before the explosions happened? Or maybe someone used magic far too complex for her to understand to get her to safety? The idea that someone as powerful as a Headmistress would just leave at such a chaotic moment and not help her students made her feel even more uneasy. If she was okay, why wouldn't she try to help? It didn't make sense to Scout, and she bit the inside of her lip.
"Ah- sorry for ruining the mood like that," he nervously laughed, "your owl said you wanted to talk, yes? Let's do that."
"You recognize Pebble?"
"Yes, he is a lovely bird. Though I must admit, does he usually eat ten or so treats every day?" Scout stops, grabbing Zyair's arm and tugging him to face her. "What?! Are you feeding my birds ten treats every single time he goes to you?!"
Last edited by Scout Fu-Hai on 25 Nov 2024, 19:51, edited 1 time in total.
don't look at me; you can't understand, right? i'm just like a monstrous flower that bloomed too soon
scout fu-hai & zyair ona'je
24 Oct 2024, 05:19
A Disappointing Turn
august 7th, 2024 wc: 850ish interacting with: Scout Fu-Hai
Scout smacks him hard on the chest, immediately shaking her head. "No! You're spoiling him so much, that must be why he loves flying to Africa! You need to cut back on those treats." Zyair laughs at how cartoonish she looks, like a T.V. show character getting so angry they turn red and steam leaves their ears. "If he wanted less he'd eat less." He jokes, only earning himself another smack. "You're abhorrent!"
Zyair finds himself smiling so hard that his cheeks hurt, and his face stiffens once he comes to this realization. He was very conscious about his demeanor, soft smiles that may have been smirks once or twice, but never true grins. People trusted you more if you always had a pleasant smile on your face, Zyair found, so he always made sure to keep his face relaxed. Not too expressive, not not expressive. It wasn't like he never smiled, of course he laughed when Chichi or Mariam did something silly, or if his friends fell off their bikes, but he just tried to keep everything lowkey. He liked it better that way.
"Oh, right, I wanted to ask you something." He didn't even realize they had both fallen quiet, the world seemed to flow naturally when he was around her. That... sounded really lame, now that he thought about it. Man, if Eba heard his thoughts right now she'd totally tell him he was getting a crush, but he brushed off the idea before it even began to form. That just wasn't him.
And of course there was the matter of Sabrina, the girl he had talked to over summer that he had asked to go with to the Gala. It wasn't right of him to think about having a crush on Scout if he was literally going on what was equivalent to a date with another girl. That was rude, no matter the person. Zyair was not rude, he was raised better than that- even if he was having doubts about the whole situation. If only him and Scout had met sooner...
"You're going to the Gala, right?" Zy nodded, dreading the idea. "Well, here's the thing. Me and Emi are going to go and stuff, right? I know she wants to go with Casey so they can hunt mysteries and I'm definitely gonna tag along even if I hate Casey right now. But I figured before that all goes down, you and me can go to the Gala and get snacks and stuff! My dad made this really pretty dress for me that's really on theme..."
Scout continued to speak, waving her hands as she described the process of picking out fabrics and materials with her father, every minute that inched by made Zyair more and more aware of the question she had asked- or more the question she hadn't asked. 'We should go together', and the pit in his stomach grew. Damnit. Why didn't he think about his actions more? It was so unlike him- being around her made him feel so unlike the self he had carefully built up. The self that thinks before acting, why did he want to dive into every situation headfirst now?
"Actually-" When she catches his gaze, he almost feels like he's in Hogsmeade again. "I'm going with someone, I promised a-" Zyair stops himself, how does he bring up Sabrina? She is just a friend, but also he knew she got red in the face around him, and it'd be wrong to say they were nothing more than friends, at least given how Sabrina probably felt about the situation. "A friend of mine that I'd accompany her." Well, he wasn't totally lying...
"Oh! No worries then, I'll just hangout with Emily."
He sees through her smile, and why in the world did he agree to go to this Gala at all? He should've stayed at Uagadou- he wouldn't have been near carriages blowing up and he wouldn't be around Sabrina who he felt horrible about going to the Gala with even if he did really think she was a nice girl- and he definitely wouldn't be the reason Casey got hurt- and... but he wouldn't be around Scout, huh? Did that one effect cancel out everything else?
Of course it did, spending time with her was a good thing. Even when they were just sending letters, it always made him feel better, though the letters were often vents of frustration, knowing that she thought she could rely on him made him feel more okay about his responses. Sometimes they weren't super helpful, but he never felt like he was wrong in expressing his thoughts on her situation honestly.
"Sorry."
Scout has a serene smile, even if it's entirely forced. He's not going to claim himself as a genius of human emotion, but he's not daft. She continues talking and they continue walking, her voice is sweet. Serene. She, she, she, how come he never thought this way about anyone else? Hearing her talk as they paced around the Lake made him almost giddy...?
But when she looked at him, her face twitched in soft disappointment, and the giddiness died.
don't look at me; you can't understand, right? i'm just like a monstrous flower that bloomed too soon
scout fu-hai & zyair ona'je