Curiosities in Pride Finished

It was almost as if he could see the radars behind her eyes move and how she was calculating whether or not to take him up on his offer to go on a walk together. Suddenly she nodded and came closer to him. She took his arm and agreed with his earlier argument to win her over. Erik his smile broadened as he made a mental note of his small victory. At least I'll come across a familiar face when I find myself alone in the common room again. It seemed they were heading for the forest and back to the common room after that. That sounds like an utterly delightful idea, Santario. Tell me though are yo-... Erik stopped midsentence and halted his movement as he smelled something. It was something other than the strong scent of vanilla and almond. He had almost overlooked it. It hit him like a truck as he recognised it. A werewolf. Here? Just as he had met an intriguing girl. Just my luck., was all he thought before he saw and heard the other werewolf.

He analyzed the werewolf. This boy was wearing some armor and a bat. Erik noted that he must've been on one of the Quidditch teams. The werewolf seemed to stare him down. This wasn't the first time he had encountered a werewolf and he wasn't impressed by him. If this was an attempt to be intimidating it was a bad one. It took more to scare Erik than just putting on some armor and having a bat in hand. The question was if the boy would use it as a weapon as well. He had seen it a few times before. Most dogs were all bark, but no bite and Erik was fairly sure this werewolf would be as well. On top of that, it seemed like he was insulting Santario. The Slytherin boy couldn't let that slide.

Take that back... Buddy. The last part he spat out like it left a bad taste in his mouth. Her name is Santario and you will treat her with some respect. Erik took his wand out of his robes he had casually flung around his shoulder, but now he disregarded his robes and shoved his wand in his back pocket. He took a step forward standing in front of Santario and crossed his arms whilst locking his venomous green eyes with the grey blue eyes of the hostile werewolf. Besides, can't you see she's occupied? So, I would suggest you move along.

Erik faltered on his sentence and it was very shortly before she heard Kyle’s voice speak the nickname that he had given her. She turned around and when she laid eyes on Kyle within the darkness of the evening Jake’s words came back to her… Big, brown hair, a scar running down his face… and in armor. Her heart skipped a beat as this was the moment that made her see what Jake must have seen that day. She was another step to not being able to ignore the wheels that wanted to spin in her head as she bit her bottom lip.

Then, however, Erik moved in front of her was he trying to protect her from Kyle? This was clearly a huge misunderstanding. Santario reacted quickly and put herself between the two boys an outstretched palm in both of their directions. “Time-out! Her once relaxed silvery voice now edged on formal and cold. Close to the first time, Erik had heard her speak, but not quite. This was the tone that Kyle had come to know that San used when she was masking her emotions. Her head turned to each of the boys leveling both of them with a warning gaze.

She stopped first on Erik and addressed him. “As much as I appreciate the gesture this is my friend. Although, Muppet is normally an insult it is also what he calls me something that became endearing instead of insulting.” Now those sharp sapphire eyes turned back towards Kyle, she could see how hard he held his bat and she didn’t understand why. “I’ve already eaten, so I appreciate the offer, but I’m all set.” She took a step backward from both of them, her right eyebrow quirked up, but her arms lowered to her side. There was obvious tension between the two right away and she had no idea why, but she did know that it needed to stop.

“I plan on taking my walk and quite frankly I don’t need either of you to do so.” It was a challenge but not a hollow one. She had no issue with walking away from both of the boys and leaving them to measure it out by themselves. Unbeknownst to her, she was a human girl standing between two werewolves who probably wanted nothing more than to fight each other. 

Interacting with | @Erik Tharaldson | @Kyle DeRook 

Before Erik knew Santario threw herself in the midst of the growing tension between the werewolves. This was going to escalate and she knew it. Even with that in mind, she had thrown herself willingly in the midst of them. Remarkable., he thought. He wondered if she would know his secret, but he quickly snapped out of his pondering. He needed to be focussed. This boy could go feral on him anytime now and he couldn't be taken off guard. If the situation hadn't been so serious he would've laughed at her now cold and serious tone mixed with a stern gaze that got thrown his way.

Santario went on to explain why the werewolf had insulted it her. It turned out he hadn't. Well, not exactly it seemed. Wait, a minute. That's a friend of yours? Erik was baffled at this revelation. How was it possible to call this bad mannered, hostile and to top it off werewolf a friend? Let alone consider it even? She really did have a bad choice of choosing her friends. There was no questioning that fact anymore. Then Santario went on to berate the other werewolf. You heard that? It's better you leave her alone. All this time Erik had set his jaw and kept his vision deadset on the other boy. Ready for anything.

The Slytherin girl dared them to continue her walk on her own. Little did she know that might be best for her. There was no place for her in this fight. In fact, it was better for her to be as far away from it as possible. It seemed the other werewolf had been looking for a fight and that was what he was going to get if he wouldn't back down fast. Well, let's see if you're bluffing or not, Santario., he thought. That might be the best solution yet. Why don't you continue your late night stroll whilst I... Erik weighed his words carefully before he continued. Talk to our friend over here...

Kyle cocked an eyebrow at the slytherin boy acting like he was someone whose opinion mattered in what he called Santario. She was his muppet and he was her Rook...er... Rather to say they were both friends who had nicknames for each other. Before he could open his mouth to correct this random nobody Santario chimed in and explained how they were friends and Muppet was by no means an insult. At least not between the two of them. Though to his disappointment she continued to explain that she had already eaten. Though if Kyle was going to be entirely honest the fact that she remembered to eat without him pestering her to or dragging her to the great hall after practice was good to hear. the girl forgot to eat too often. he worried sometimes.

The part that troubled Kyle though was her tone, cold and formal. He knew her well enough to know she was masking her emotions and that with her challenge to continue her walk on her own he knew was not an empty one.

Then the slytherin boy continued to talk and it was clear he was looking for a fight, probably some sad attempt at looking tough infront of a girl. Lucky for him, despite how much Kyle would love to make him swallow his own teeth there was a time and a place. And now was not the time, He just wanted to make sure San got back to the castle unscathed and he coudlnt do that if he was getting into a dust up with this nobody.

Kyle chuckled and ran a hand through his hair before he turned to look towards Santario, completely ignoring Erik's bait. "So Muppet, I'm actually glad I ran into you cause I was gonna try to hunt you down, the mildew in the dungeons always makes my nose run" he clips his bat to his belt and slips his hands into the pockets of his pants and he stepped towards San, but made sure to keep Erik in the peripheral. "My Da sent me the bludger and a recap of the Last Kestral Game. Was waiting for you before I broke the seal." he wiggled his eye brows "You interested in seeing whose butt we kicked?"

She watched the two boys as equally as she could, and she wasn’t ignorant to the fact that Erik seemed to want a fight. When she looked back at him as he spoke again the look on her face said easily that she knew, and she wasn’t being fooled. She understood that he knew the game just as well as she did and that he enjoyed playing it, but so did she. It was Kyle however, that took her by surprise and for the briefest of moments, it was shown on her face before she turned to look at him. 

Maybe Jake was wrong and maybe he hadn’t just bullied him for no reason. She had almost been sure that Kyle would have been prone to violence here, but he wasn’t. So if he wouldn’t be prone to violence here why would he bully a small boy? This isn’t the time nor the place to try and figure this out. Deep down she knew Jake wasn’t lying to her but she didn’t know what to do with all of her thoughts when she just couldn’t seem to get a single moment alone… Someone was always showing up.

“I’m not in the mood for it tonight, Rook, maybe after the masque.” She shoved her hands in her pockets before giving both of the boys a half shrug, and started walking back to the castle. “I should probably do some homework so I don’t have to worry about it tomorrow anyway.” She said more to herself than she did to either of them. Maybe she could chill on the couches in the center of their dorm room with Nico or Alexx. She had already finished her work for the headliner and she didn’t actually have any homework to do. At some point, she wanted to try and get a photo of the Squid through their windows but that would mean being in the common room tonight.

Interacting with | @Erik Tharaldson | @Kyle DeRook 
Santario will leave this thread if not further interacted with

Out the corner of his eye, he saw Santario throw him a look that spoke volumes. She saw through his charade. Can't blame a man for trying. So, he merely shrugged at her in response. At the moment his mind was set on this hostile individual. He would take him down, but then something unexpected happened that caught Erik off guard. The boy completely and utterly ignored him and on top of that made him look like he was the villain in this encounter. The werewolf went on to lessen the tension of the situation between them by just relaying all of his attention on Santario and steer the conversation to something more mundane and innocent. Erik rolled his eyes at the display and performance. That was how he wanted it to be perceived as Erik wasn't fooled by him and his acting skills. Smart., Erik thought. You're smarter than you look... At the very least. He kept his arms crossed in front of his chest and didn't let his guard down. However, he allowed himself to avert his eyes, but keeping the other werewolf within his line of sight.

Santario seemed to powder her friend, as she liked to call him, off and was heading back towards the castle. Mind if I join you? I'm not feeling to go out for a late night stroll anymore either., Erik said whilst looking at the other boy. It was a 50/50 chance Santario would deny his request. If she did deny Erik would just wait for her to leave before he took off himself depending whether the other boy would come looking for more trouble than he could chew.

Kyle frowned slightly as Santario turned him down. This slytherin kid was ruining everything. Because of Erik she got defensive towards him. Because of Erik she turned down both of his attempts to hang out with him. Because of Erik she wanted nothing to do with him and just wanted to leave by herself. His gaze slowly drifted towards the other Werewolf. He was the problem, he was toxic, and it was clear he wanted to remove Kyle from the equation. When he asked to walk back with her to the castle he felt his insides twist, Because of them sharing a house he had the perfect excuse to walk with her when she said she wanted to finish her walk alone. If she took him up on his offer after shooting down both of his attempts he would understand where he stood.

He shouldnt be surprised though, This smug pretty boy looked more put together then the rough and tumble Mess he was, with his ugly face scar. The constant reminder of what he was. He was better spoken, and a slytherin too. It was only a matter of time before she decided to upgrade to a more suitable companion.

Kyle just shook his head and silently walk backwards away from the two of them before turning on his heel and walking silently in the opposite direction away from the two of them.

Kyle will leave the thread unless interacted with

Santario paused momentarily when Erik requested to go with her to the common room. “It is your common room as well. Do as you will.” It was not a no, but it also was not a yes. She looked at Kyle moving in the opposite direction. “Rook, I’ll see you at the Masque tomorrow.” He looked… dejected? She didn’t have the patience for this tonight. She was frustrated and confused. She had no idea what had just happened or why. The last time she saw Kyle act this way originally was when he met Dale and that was right after the Whitehall boy.

Santario would continue walking back to the castle whether Erik fell in step beside her or not. Her head was reeling, and her thoughts were a mess. Did Kyle just have an issue with her spending time with other Slytherins? Was it possible that he believed in this whole Gryffindor versus Slytherin garbage? If that was the case why was he even her friend? What she did understand was that Kyle was terrible at communication and how could she be faulted when he didn’t communicate with her? She shouldn’t be expected to read his mind and act accordingly… What she needed was time to sort everything out… School was not supposed to be this dramatic… was it?

Interacting with @Erik Tharaldson | @Kyle DeRook 
Santario Leaves this thread.

When Santario allowed Erik to accompany her back to the Slytherin common room he was baffled. If not for his self control his jaw would've dropped. Sure, she didn't seem all too happy with his offer, but he couldn't really blame her. He seemed to be the cause of the very troublesome situation between her and "her friend". For them to be friends, they sure seemed to have their own share of problems, but who was he to judge? Erik had been 99% sure she would've powdered him off. For some mysterious reason she hadn't... Yet.

I'll join you then., was all Erik said as he went on to pick up his robes first as he wasn't sure what else he could say to her. So, he had decided to say nothing at all. When he looked at the other boy he saw him move away from Santario and Erik in silence. Erik hastily caught up with her. It seemed she had been lost in thought herself. Guess I'm not the only who is mulling over some things. Erik put on his robes and went on to put his hands in the pockets of his pants. This was going to be a long way back to the common rooms. At least now he would've time to think of something clever or witty to say to potentially lighten up the loaded silence between the two of them.