i just wanted to be one of the strokes completed

@Aphrodite Bloom

It was Gem's turn to raise his eyebrows and be surprised-- hardly any wizard-born knew who the Revolvers were! I mean, that was going off the idea she was, she seemed like it, he just couldn't be so quick to judge.

"Really? Well I'll be damned, I'm sure me dad an' his boys'll be chuffed ta hear about that." He was already looking forward to clacking up that letter, he knew his dad would be all humble or whatever, but the pride would be there, he knew it.

Speaking of surprises and acting humble, Gem felt his face get hot at the prospect of Brielle speaking about him frequently. Obsessed? No way, not over him. There wasn't anything to obsess over! He couldn't even find the words to respond, not if he wanted to look like a damn idiot, stumbling over his words and all that. He'd been so collected before, and now... well, he was a scrambled mess. Christ, that girl had him running in circles.

"Does she know I smoke? Awe, naw, but we've kissed? I reckon she'd taste it-- but a date? Eugh," He made a fake grossed-out face, crinkling his nose up and everything. "Naw, I'd rather not give her an addiction this early. It'll stay my problem, God save me if she has to rely on them as mooch as me."

《 [font=comic sans] @Gem Stuart 》

Aphrodite grinned when he seemed just as excited as she. She wasn't going to lie- They were a pretty damn good band. Nice rock n roll type beat that she really loved. The fact that he was going to tell his dad about a first year that fan-girled over his band was a little embarrassing, but still cool none the less.

When he disagreed with her little date idea, she sarcastically looked hurt and put her hand to her face like that one muggle meme. Honestly, she really needed to stay in her own blood-status, though the muggle world was so much more fascinating, she couldn't help put peek her nose into it.

"Yeah.. She probably shouldn't get hooked on that.." She said with a look of distaste, replaying the images in her head when she had a coughing fit of just one breath. Shaking her head, causing her straight long strands of hair to shake from side to side with her.

"I don't suppose you'd wanna be friends, hm? And hey- we don't even have to call it friends. More like.. 'allies' if 'ya want." She said with a grin, hating and loving how dumb she sounded right about now.

@Aphrodite Bloom

"Allies?" Gem repeated, cocking an eyebrow curiously. Allies, huh? Allies supporting Brielle? Both wanting the best for her? Well, in some certain way, he wanted her to do him no good. She was a certified mind-blower, she was going to break his heart eventually, he knew it. He'd never written that down, he'd never said it out loud, but hell, maybe he should. "Mmm, how 'bout mates, n' allies on the side, aye? We can team up if anyone tries ta mess wiv our lady." He sent her a playful little wink, sipping on his beer-- he was just about finished, sad, he might just have to order another... tempting.

"How'd you lot meet, anyhow? Anyfin' dramatic happen that caused a spark?" It was interesting to watch from afar, a Hufflepuff and a Slytherin being bezzies, but hey, no one would really expect someone like Gem to end up with someone like Brielle, so he supposed he couldn't pick on houses or status too much. They both seemed like they were on the same wavelength-- pretty girls with witty personalities, just the type that made his head spin. Maybe they bonded over that, having those characteristics in common... maybe they hated each other at first, maybe their families just had them meet due to blood status, and here they were.

Hm. Mysterious. He took his final sip of butterbeer, watching her expression, waiting for an answer.

《 [font=comic sans] @Gem Stuart 》

"Dramatic..? No, no, I just had a small thing for one of her friends. I'm over it now but- I certainly tried everything I could to become friends with her. Its funny.. she told me I was the most annoying Hufflepuff she'd ever met before we actually started talking to one another." She said with a grin, unsure if she was proud of that or just content with it.

Whatever it was, she was proud to now call her friend despite it all. She was the person she could run to crying, the one person she could just rant or scream at without questions. They were they for eachother when no one else would be. Part of herself was scared that she had a new boyfriend, though. Aphrodite began to grow worried that she would start shutting her out for Gem instead. Of course, Brielle wasn't the type to do that, but what if it still happened? What if this was the boy that broke the everlasting bond between them?

Shaking her head, she scolded herself for such thought. How could she be so accusative, and worry about a boy she had just met. Brielle wouldn't ever ditch her for someone else, even if it were her boyfriend. Wouldn't she?

Glancing over at her now empty cup, she looked back to Gem and smiled. "Friends it is then."

@Aphrodite Bloom

"Really? Which friend, then? I'm curious," Gem mused, tapping on the rim of the now empty glass, gliding his finger across it with a content look on his face. He'd calmed down since a couple minutes prior, though the subject still lingered right in the back of his head like an unreachable itch. It annoyed him, made him a lot more snappy than he often was. It was very easy for him to pretend like nothing was bothering him, it was all in the face.

A lot had been happening in the past months he'd been at Hogwarts, more than he could count on his fingers. It threw him off his balance, that was for sure. He was always so used to just being home, listening to his dad record guitar patterns and shout into a tape recorder to give to Leland, while Gem would listen in between the thin walls and try to mirror those tunes on his own guitar. He missed it, he missed Sheffield, he hated Hogwarts, he just wanted to go home. He'd always read books about how romantic boarding school was, but they never amounted to something like this. They never mentioned how harrowing and difficult it was to deal with homesickness, they never told you how hard it was to go around and act like nothing about this school bothered you.

He hadn't even realized his knee was thumping against the table until he hit it too hard, causing a brief shock of soreness up his thigh. Ow. He was suddenly very desperate for something distracting.

"How about another round, then? It's on me."

《 [font=comic sans] @Gem Stuart 》

"That one guys she's always hanging out with. I swore they were a thing before you came along. Grayson, I think it is, yeah?" She inquired, acting as if she didn't know his name. God, of course she knew his name. She had been practically obsessed with him the start of the year.

It was a funny feeling though, to have a crush- especially this young. Though she saw plenty of other kids her age in relationships around the school. Sure, most of them were just little flings, yet still amounted to something when it came to relationship status. She wondered if she should seek out someone of her own. The thought was replaced almost immideatly by a shake of her head. No way she was getting into that stuff, no way in hell. She had seen how Brielle got all worked over this guy, and it was not a pretty sight, I tell you.

Aphrodite was brought back into reality by the loud thump against the roof of the bar. She giggled and looked away, pretending to not laugh. She knew it hurt, at least a little, telling by his facial expression. He sort of winced, though then brought his eyes back up to Aphrodite's.

"Hm? Don't think a lady can pay for herself?" She said sarcastically, waving at the bartender once more to signal she needed another round.

@Aphrodite Bloom

Gem squinted, racking his brain for any sort of person who had that name... Grayson, hm. Naw, didn't ring a bell quite yet. He figured he was mildly important, though, if Aphrodite knew who he was. He felt thrown off, though, when she had that snarky statement aimed at him. Well golly, if he didn't raise his eyebrows about that then he probably wouldn't make any expression at all.

"Naw," Gem stated, winking at the bartender for a moment. He felt silly, doing all that so young. "Joost think friends should pay fer one another, aye?" He sniffed, reaching into his pocket to slide six sickles over the counter. He didn't really have anything to say after that, he'd run out of things to think about and feel right to say out loud. He'd enjoyed himself, sure, but he... well, what else was he supposed to do? He swung his legs back and forth, purposefully avoiding the counter so he wouldn't bruise up his knee. Oh hey, there was another conversational topic.

"Do ya bruise easy?" He asked, reaching over to nod and mouth a thanks to the bartender, gripping the handle of his refilled mug of butterbeer, sipping it idly. He'd never get used to how sweet it was, absolutely never. That stuff could rot your teeth out after two sips, he swore it.

《 [font=comic sans] @Gem Stuart 》

Aphrodite nodded and lifted a small part of her dress covering her leg, exposing purple bruises up and down. "Like a peach." She said with a frown, covering it back up. She didn't know why she was hurt so easily, or why she was so fragile, it had just been a thing she'd been born with. You could flick her and she'd have a mark the very next day. It didn't help that her skin complexion was porcelain white either, making the black and blue stick out even more.

She hummed a small tune, one by the Kinks, a band she had come to like by exploration of music. She prided herself in finding music on her own, like it made her unique than just following the trends that made a person 'edgy.'- God, what did that even mean, to be edgy? Punk, even. Walking around in a circle doing the same thing as everybody else isn’t what being punk is about, is it? No, it's about being different, and it could be anything. She didn't understand why people can't grasp a hold of that.

"Tell me- What kinda music you listen to?" Aphrodite asked, raising a brow. She was genuinely interested, if she was being honest. Music taste could say a lot about a person, at least in her eyes it did. What they related to, what they care about, is what makes someone's personality. Looks are defiantly deceiving, she knew that for sure. Though he looked like he meant well, so there really wasn't anything to worry about.

@Aphrodite Bloom

Gem dragged his tongue across his lips, mostly to get rid of the sweetness that taunted the very tip of his tastebuds. He didn't pay much mind to her bruised up leg, he just glanced out the corner of his eye, raised his eyebrows, and hummed. She sure did, wasn't lying about that. What a weird thing to lie about, bruises... he wondered if she was anemic.

"Wot kinda music do I listen to? Loaded question," He spoke the last sentence with an exhale, looking around to try and think up any bands... bands bands bands, what bands? "Well, I do like the Kinks, that's fer one," he prodded playfully, his teeth coming down on his bottom lip, deep in thought. "The Strokes, The Last Shadow Puppets-- ya know, some people say I look like Alex Turner. Can't see it, personally," he sniffed, rubbing the end of his nose... for someone who asked that question, he sure had a hard time answering it. "The Garden, Sonic Youth, the Smiths, the Yardbirds, the Cure... if I say 'the' one more time, I think I'll forget it's even a word."

"I guess rock, mostleh. I personally don't really listen ta musicians here, I really, really like muggle stuff. But the Strokes are me favorite, hands down. Best band ta ever exist, no denyin' that."

《 [font=comic sans] @Gem Stuart 》

The Garden! Her and Brielle listen to them all the time, usually by the Grounds during their free time. She really liked them, found them different than other bands. Of course they still implemented some inspiration for their music, but over all they had a really nice thing going on.

"The Garden, yeah? Wyatt all the way for me if I'm bein' honest." She said with a grin, pleased to hear someone else liked the band. It was also true she preferred Wyatt over Fletcher, maybe because she liked Enjoy more than Puzzle. They we're good musicians all the same though, so she couldn't really pick a favorite.

"Yeah, Muggle music has a different feel than the ones here. I can't really describe it. The Strokes are a good damn band though." She said with a nod, searching her brain for something to say afterwards. It then came to her, something about the Garden. Well, something that related to them at least.

"Speaking of the Garden, I swear there's a little American Ilvermorny boy running around that looks exactly like Wyatt. I swear on it. Donovan.. Don something." Aphrodite stated, taking a sip of her second round of Butterbeer. Since it was irrelevant to the conversation, she didn't bother bringing up that she actually acted as a tour guide to him and his group. It was crazy though, how he looked exactly like him!