Dinner Together pv Mikey

Mikey was exhausted in that wonderful way that left him pleasantly weary from practice, neither fatigued enough to keep him from moving and not too excited to forget how hard he'd worked that day. The Quidditch practice had dragged on much longer than anticipated, as it often tended to do. When he finally made his way to the Great Hall, all the hustle bustle of students heading into meals had long since ended. The noise level was still present, but conversations rather than chaos filled the space. With a slight roll of his shoulders Mikey pushed the doors open and stepped inside.


He looked around and landed on a familiar face. "Puck." It slipped out of his lips in a murmur before he could really consider his actions. Her head was hanging a little low as she ate her meal, but she was obviously more focused on something else, judging by the distracted look on her face. With a small smile Mikey changed his course and made his way over to her. He slowed down a little as he got closer, not wanting to scare her, and gently brushed his fingers against the wood of the seat before speaking.


"Hey." He quickly looked at her plate and back to her, a playful smirk on his face. "Looks like you're either about to start something," he noted, his tone still somewhat rough from having been out in the chilly air earlier, "or preparing for round two." He gestured to the empty space next to her. "Mind if I sit?" he sat down, exhaling softly and relaxing as he propped himself up on his forearms. "Practice went late," he added a few moments later. "Lost track of time." He picked up a piece of toast and took a bite, then placed it back on the plate, looking back at her. "You've been here long?" he asked, scanning the emptying hall before looking back at her.

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mentions. @Mikey Forville notes. xx song. Love you so ~ Leonie Biney, Rin actions. xx nine a.m. outdoor club area.

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Jrue huffed a sad little sigh, scooping a bite of potatoes into her mouth begrudgingly. Her apparent loneliness hit her hard. She thought about this sadly, when a striking voice cut through the quietness. She flicked her gaze up, a familiar face filling her view. A cough cleared her throat, straightening her back as she smiled at him. "Mikey!" Jrue closed her eyes, grinning as she set her fork down. "It's so lovely to see you here!" Her head bobbed in a nod, gesturing to the seat. "Of course!"

Oh, I'm not starting anything. Other than feeling a little bit embarrassed- Jrue thought to herself, rolling her eyes as she puffed out her cheeks. "You could say that-" A tingly feeling took over her arms and hands. It was probably just the embarrassing feeling, that or the realization she had been spotted eating alone in the Great Hall, surrounded by other people who were laughing and chatting together. Her attention slipped back to Mikey, listening to him ramble on about his Quidditch. "A very familiar topic, losing track of time-" A chuckle rattled out of her as she pushed her food about with her fork. "I was mid study session. Got a little distracted with the charms work. But it's impossible to concentrate on an empty stoumach, if you ask me..." She bit the inside of her cheek, Scottish Twang sticking out in her words a little bit more than usual.

She looked back at the boy, eyebrows raised. "Quidditch! I didn't know you were in Quidditch, Mikey! Is that new? How lovely!" She grinned, reaching up to itch at her neck as she watched his joyful face. He always seemed to be in the best mood, no matter what. It stood out to Jrue as one of his best features. If you were worrying about a test, if you'd crashed your broom during Flying, if your Kruppie had ran away, his smile always made you feel better. And this was certainly one of those occasions.

335/200
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Mikey exhaled, just allowing the moment to be and allowed himself to loosen up a bit. it might have been that she finally managed to get out of the far away mood she'd been in when he came in here. "Exactly," he replied, allowing a hint of amusement to color his voice. "That's exactly it. And it happens much more often than I'd like to admit." He put another bite into his mouth. The food was definitely a bit cold already, but he seemed not to mind, chewing thoughtfully while listening to her talk about studying.

"It's because of charms, I presume?" he mumbled after a while. "Sometimes when you read something, it feels like you've somehow skipped a whole chapter. You read something once and it makes sense, than you read it again and bam! Now it's like you're trying to learn a whole new language."

The mention of Quidditch brought another response from him. "It's not really new," he replied after a short pause. "Only this year… We're practicing more, we spend more time on the pitch. We just forget what time it actually is." He let out a small chuckle. With a shake of his head, he continued speaking, trying to put his words in a better order. "Practice runs longer this year, we just go until someone calls it off. Then you come here, and everyone's halfway eating or already finished. But its been worth it. We haven’t lost a game yet this year!”

Leaning back a little bit, Mikey made himself more comfortable. "Eating nothing and trying to study sounds like an awful combination. You feel like you're actually getting something done, when in reality all you do is being more confused and upset." He paused for a second, his gaze fixing on her again. He shrugged again feeling more casual now. He let that thought sit for a moment, then glanced down at her plate again before back up at her.

“You’re allowed to take a break, you know,” he added, a little quieter now, like he wasn’t trying to make a big deal out of it. “Not everything has to get figured out in one sitting. Especially not when your brain’s already halfway done for the day.” His fingers tapped a rhythm against the table again. “Honestly, sometimes it’s better to just stop before it gets worse. Come back to it later with a new perspective you know.” Mikey slouched slightly, “Besides,” he went on, a faint hint of a smile returning, “if the worst thing that happened today is getting stuck on charms and eating dinner a bit late, I’d say you’re doing pretty alright.”

Now here was someone who really understood what she was thinking. "Yes- exactly! It literally feels like a new language. Except, I honestly think something like Mermish would be easier to learn than Charms-" She chuckled. "Spells shouldn't be this hard-- I can learn out of ancient books for goodness sakes. At least it's not math-" She shook her head, smiling at her friend.

She'd only ever been to a couple Quidditch matches in her time at Hogwarts. It was a dismal sport, she had to admit. But she wouldn't tell him that. It was better than that stupid American football, a sport her father could watch religiously, and that's honestly all that mattered to her. "Oh, Mikey, that sounds dreadful. The winnings got to be a plus, though-" She nodded, gazing down at her plate.

Then he started on about her- rushing things, trying to feel like enough, her heart sank. But in the best way possible. Nobody had really sat her down since she'd been to Hogwarts, told her everything was going to be alright. It was a comforting feeling, like someone finally understood her. She lifted her knee up onto the bench, resting her chin on top of it. She had abandoned the food, all ears on her friend's wise words. Her eyes fixed on his face, she exhaled, life feeling a little bit brighter for the first time in a while. "Mikey, for a thirteen year old, you're awfully thoughtful." She chuckled, staring down at the center piece on the table.

"My brain was done a long time ago- I don't reckon I even woke up all the way this morning. I couldn't imagine having to get on a broom and fly around today. I'm so glad I have that class at the beginning of the week instead." She gnawed on her bottom lip. She thought back to the first time Mikey had made her feel better, way back in the forest outside of Hogwarts. She blinked slowly, then lifted her head a bit and gestured at her companion. "Are you sure you don't have anything heavy on your heart? I can try to help-- despite my not being thirteen yet-" She smiled softly.

375/200

The question caught him off guard more than he expected. He looked down at the table for a moment, absentmindedly breaking off another piece of toast even though he wasn't really hungry anymore. It would've been easy to laugh it off or to change the subject. That was usually what he did whenever someone asked if something was bothering him. Not because he wanted to keep secrets, but because he'd never been very good at talking about himself. Listening was easier. "I think you're giving me a bit too much credit," he admitted with a quiet laugh. "I just... say whatever I'd probably need to hear if I was in the same situation."

When he looked back at Jrue, his smile had become a little smaller, though it never disappeared completely. "I don't know if I'd call it heavy." He shrugged one shoulder as his fingers tapped lightly against the edge of the table. "There's always something, isn't there? Quidditch, homework, exams coming up... trying to keep up with everyone. Sometimes it feels like the days are over before I even notice they've started." There was enough amusement in his voice to make it obvious he wasn't complaining. He leaned back against the bench.

He looked toward one of the high windows where the evening light was beginning to soften. "There is one thing." His eyes drifted toward one of the tall windows overlooking the grounds. "My mom left a while ago." He said it simply, almost matter of fact. The words themselves weren't difficult anymore. It was everything attached to them that made them heavy. "I don't really talk about it much." Another small shrug followed. "I never really know what to say." For a few moments he watched students crossing the Hall instead of looking directly at Jrue. "My dad's done everything he can since then." A genuine smile appeared. "He never complains, even when I know things are hard. He somehow still finds time to ask about Quidditch, and remind me to pack things I would've forgotten."

A quiet laugh escaped him. "I think..." He hesitated again. "You start asking yourself silly questions. Was there something you could've done differently? Did you miss something? Could you have stopped it somehow?" He shook his head almost immediately. "I know it wasn't my fault." He rested his forearms on the table and let out another slow breath. "Being busy helps. Having friends helps. Flying definitely helps." A faint smile returned. "It's hard to think about anything else when you're trying not to fall off a broom you know."

The faint twinging of Jrue's pulse were muffled inside of her chest. She was nervous listening to the boy talking. There was no reason at all to be nervous when talking to Mikey. He was likely the least high-risk person she could be talking to at this moment. His smile seemed to be shrinking, which worried her, as he poked at the plate underneath him. Something about the way he was holding himself told the Hufflepuff this conversation was getting to a point where it wasn't just Homework babble and side chatter.

Hearing that your elementary school classmate is sick and won't get better, finding out about what happens at animal shelters, and seeing someone you love have their heartbroken are all heavy subjects. For the boy to sit across from her and say that whatever he was dealing with wasn't heavy made Jrue's shoulders untense for a moment. Her facial features softened, as she gazed at her friend. His light hearted manner was making her feel a little more hopeful, but something was still causing her to worry.

The breath hitched in her throat when he mentioned his mother. How awful it must have been for him to sit there and let himself think that it wasn't heavy. His shoulders, contrast to hers, had tensed now, causing him to shrug about in an almost careless matter. Of course he'd try to preoccupy himself and change the topic, nobody really wants to bring up the icky stuff. "Oh, Mikey..." Her hand had made it's way over her mouth, eyebrows inched closer together like inchworms trying to meet in the middle. "If I weren't sat all the way over here at this obscenely long table, I'd give you a hug.." She gnawed on her lip. "I didn't know- couldn't've. I'm so sorry."

She didn't say anything for a moment, trying to Accio the words together in her mind. He knew just what to say, and something told her she'd be able to conjure the perfect aid too. "There's nothing you did wrong. Some people just think they know what's best, selfishly. And, she must've been lovely, truly, I'm so sorry. I'm glad you're figuring your way around it, trying to make sense of the confusion. But you can always talk to me about stuff. I may not know what you're really feeling, or how to make you feel better, but I'm sure I can try." Her elbows had rested on the table now, hands crossed and clasped over her shoulders."

"My dad once told me that some people are like little lantern bugs. Like no matter what you do while they're cooped up in their little jar, they just won't be as happy as they think they will outside of the jar unless you give them what they want. Sort of like children... I hope you get what I mean, words are always so difficult." She held out her pinky and paused for a moment, eyes fixed on the wood grain before flickering up to meet her friend's gaze.

"I'll always be by your side. Even after we graduate and get out of this silly school. I promise." Her head nodded once, as a soft smile settled onto her cheeks.

538/200

Mikey didnt expected the conversation to get this serious, or serious at all really. He was the one who had brought his mom up, so he couldn't exactly blame Jrue for asking about it, but talking about her was different from thinking about her. Once the words were out there, he didn't really know what he was supposed to do next. Jrue looked genuinely upset for him too, and somehow that made him want to make the whole thing feel a little less heavy. He didnt want her going away from dinner thinking she needed to worry about him. Things weren't perfect at home, but they weren't awful either. He had his dad. He had Hogwarts. Most days, he was happy.

Then she mentioned giving him a hug from the other side of the table. Mikey looked at the distance between them and finally smiled. "Yeah, I wouldnt try that from there." He glanced over the food separating them as if he was actually working out whether it could be done. "You'd have to climb over dinner, and then we'd have to explain why there's a Hufflepuff lying in the potatoes."

He laughed at the image, and that helped. The conversation didn't feel quite so uncomfortable anymore. Mikey picked up the piece of toast he'd been messing with earlier and tore a bit from the corner. "And you don't have to be sorry. Really." He paused, realizing that sounded a little strange. "I mean, you can be sorry. Obviously. I'm not making rules about when people are allowed to apologize." He shook his head at himself. "I'm doing a terrible job of making this less awkward, aren't I?" At least that got another smile out of him.

The thing Jrue said about lantern bugs stayed in his head longer than he'd expected. He wasn't completely sure he'd followed the comparison the first time through, but he understood what she was getting at. Sometimes people wanted something different, and you couldn't make them stay just because you wanted them to. Maybe that was what had happened with his mother. Maybe it wasn't at all. Mikey had spent enough time trying to figure out the reason, and every answer seemed to lead to another question anyway.

He glanced back at Jrue. "I think I get what you mean about the lightning bugs." A grin appeared. "Although for the first half of that story I was wondering why your dad had so many bugs trapped in jars." He took another bite of toast. "I got there eventually." Then Jrue held out her pinky. That was harder to turn into a joke. Mikey stared at it for a second. Promising to still be friends after Hogwarts sounded like something impossibly far away. They were thirteen. He barely knew what he was doing next week. There were still years of classes ahead of them, summers that hadn't happened yet, Quidditch matches he hadn't played. He hadn't given much thought to who would still be around when all of that was finished.

Apparently Jrue had. Mikey reached across the table and hooked his pinky around hers. "That's a dangerous promise, Puck." He gave her finger a small shake before letting go. The smile on his face was easier now, more like the one he'd had when he first sat down. "You've still got years to find out how annoying I actually am."

He sat back and looked at his plate again. Somewhere during the conversation his appetite had returned, so he stabbed one of the potatoes with his fork. "Just remember this when we're seventeen and you're trying to get rid of me." He pointed the potato toward her like it was evidence. "You promised. Pinky promise too. I'm pretty sure that's legally binding." Mikey paused before eating it. "Actually, we're in a magical school. For all I know it really is." His eyebrows lifted. "that's unfortunate for you."