I've Got a Feeling PV Marcus Iwasaki Finished

@Marcus Iwasaki

Maya, holding onto her tacos let Marcus lead the way outside of the truck. The hot and burning feeling inside the truck disappeared once she took a step outside. It was still hot, but not as though in a sauna as it was inside the vehicle. It was a nice summer's day outside with clear blue skies.

Waiting for him to sit, Maya sat next to him in the deserted area. There was no children in sight, which was a good thing, in her opinion. Maya placed her plate on the table and looked down to realize that she had taken the apron with her. She untied the apron from behind and took it off to reveal her dried, black bathing suit. She placed it next to her.

Maya took a bite of the tacos. Her stomach thanked her.

His answer of France being one of the most beautiful places he has ever been to made her nod. She wouldn't have thought of France when thinking of a beautiful place. She wondered if he had only traveled the touristy areas. The minute you get into the living quarters of France, it wasn't so beautiful anymore. But to each their own.

His eyebrows raised upwards towards her and she knew that it was to be her turn to answer the question. Maya thought hard. What was beautiful? All cultures and their way of life was beautiful in their own way, but nothing stood out more than the other. She began to picture the globe in her mind and spinning it around to find the perfect place.

"I could be biased and say Israel," she laughed, but she shook her head and began to think of another place. If anything, as of the beginning of summer, Israel was not her home anymore.

"It's a tie between Japan and Uganda," she said, thinking of what was a place she traveled to, but what became her home once she learned she was magic and had to go to school. "There's just something about both places that are just so warm and inviting in nature," she said, thinking of the trees, plants and building structures.

"Tell me more," she said, looking straight into his amber eyes. There was something about him that was all too intriguing for her. She moved slightly closer to him, hoping that it wouldn't be too forward and smiled.

"I haven't been to Israel," Marcus revealed. He had deduced that was her home country, but it was a place he was quite unfamiliar with. He explained to her that most of his travels had been in Europe and the Americas. As for Africa, he had only been to his mother's home country of Ghana. And Asia was a continent he hadn't yet taken time to explore outside of his own home country of Japan. One day.

Marcus took another bite as Maya answered the question of beauty with Japan and Uganda. Two very different places as far as he thought, but to be fair he had not been to Uganda. Perhaps they were more similar than he thought. But to hear her describe Japan as warm and inviting - it was a nice description, but not necessarily how he viewed it. Of course, that could be because of his memories of the place. Interesting. Maybe he was more influenced by his memories and associations with the places he'd gone, rather than thinking of the actual locations themselves. Something to ponder at a later time.

The man turned his head slightly to meet the eye of Maya, noticing the way she had moved closer. He did not move away, but he was suddenly made aware of just how close they were. His amber gaze lowered to his left arm - the arm casually resting on the table between them as he ate with his right hand. He clenched his fist slightly, a thought crossing his mind. From this close, the woman would be able to see the heavy scarring on his left hand, and in turn the connected scarring all over his forearm. This scarring was normally covered by his long-sleeved dress shirts at the school, but he had taken to wearing short-sleeved (Hawaiian) shirts during camp. Even in a sleeveless shirt, most people wouldn't see the scars from a distance. Specifically because most people's eyes glazed past him, given his intimidating nature.

"You'll have to be a bit more specific about what you want to know," his eyes lifted back to Maya within a moment, and offered her a slight smile. Although he had picked up on the attention she was paying him, Marcus had a feeling she was attracted to him for the wrong reasons. She didn't know him very well, so he currently thought it was because of his vibe (she had yet to say otherwise). He'd met a fair share of women who were specifically drawn to him because of his intimidation factor. He took another bite of his tacos, thoughtfully chewing.

"Why don't you tell me about what brought you here to Hogwarts?" he inquired after swallowing. It seemed a safe choice of topic, not too personal but also something he was genuinely interested in. During their couple of chats over the past year, that topic had surprisingly not been broached.

@Maya Galim

@Marcus Iwasaki

Little did Maya know that she had a lot in common so far with the Ravenclaw Head. She was only speaking the truth of what countries spoke to her and her reasons for being single. No matter of the unknown of knowing his side, she could feel that there was some sort of connection. Wasn't there? There had to be.

There was slight warmth when slightly up against Iwasaki. She looked at his arm, but only the surface in knowing that it was a man's arm. There was nothing out of the ordinary for Maya to notice. The part she noticed, however, was the fact that he did not move away. Was that a good sign? It had been years since Maya had ever put the moves on someone that she felt odd. She scooted back just a bit.

Maya was unsure of what she wanted to know, but was thankful that Marcus changed the subject ever so slightly. She took a bite of her tacos, thinking of an answer and chewed slowly. She looked around at the kids who were playing at the lake and then back at him. When she swallowed her food, she answered.

"Not many know this about me, but ever since my first magic, my family disowned me," she said, shrugging. "In my culture, magic is a sign of evil. I grew up confused about who I really am," she paused and looked at Marcus for a second and then back to the children, nodding in their direction for him to see them, too.

"They are confused, too. Especially those who are muggle-born. I feel it my responsibility to not just tell them it's okay to explore this new world, but to also never forget who they once were, too," her voice became quiet. "So when Hogwarts had an opening, I took it," she finished.

"What about you?" she asked. Maya could feel the warm wind blowing in their direction ever so slightly. She took another bite of her tacos, waiting for his answer.

Professor Galim seemed to notice how close she was and moved a smidge back, but Marcus did not draw attention to the movement. He just continued eating, waiting for her reply to his question. His eyes traveled to her only when she spoke up again, this time about her family disowning her. Oh, what a thing to have in common. But unlike her, his disownment had been a subtle and gradual retreat of his parents following his lycanthropy infection. Not necessarily for something he was born with, like in the case with Maya being born as a witch. When she spoke of growing up confused, though, he could relate to that a bit more - being born of two very different cultures.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Marcus said with sincerity in his voice. She went on to talk about feeling a responsibility to explore the magical world, but always remember her roots in the muggle world. He nodded as she finished her explanation by gesturing to the kids, feeling he understood her a bit better.

Marcus felt like their experiences were a bit mirrored. He had told Maya before about his time exploring the muggle world after school. Having been born into pureblood society and feeling rather distant from muggles, he had experienced quite a learning curve. And here she was sharing that she had been born into a world devoid of magic - into a family that believed it was evil even - yet she still felt that desire to explore everything the magical world had to offer. Although these situations could not be exactly paralleled, he saw a slight similarity.

When Professor Galim turned the question on him, he finished taking a drink of water from a bottle he'd gotten in the cooler nearby. The Blasian man fiddled with the cap in his scarred hand as he answered. "I was looking for a slight career shift when I came across the caretaker job for Hogwarts. I enjoy architecture and caring for buildings like this, so it was a good fit," he explained. It did not have nearly as much meaning as Maya's reasoning, but- "And as you know, the step to Head of House was borne of good timing and my knowledge of other countries' magical education. I qualified and wanted to learn what I could about the position." He wasn't sure if this would be his forever career, but he was content with where he was right now. He was learning and growing in this role in ways he had not anticipated. There was a lot more to being a Head of House than one might think.

After a moment of companionable silence, Marcus felt the need to lighten the mood. "Enjoying the food?" he asked, a slight smile tugging at his lips because he had timed his question with the exact moment she took a big bite.

@Maya Galim

@Marcus Iwasaki

Respect towards Marcus had grown. He did not prod or push into her life. He took in what she shared with him and that was that. Sure, he had a moment of responding to her and apologized about how it all went about, but it was nothing too much. It made Maya feel a bit more comfortable in sharing more with him in the future.

It wasn't that long ago that he shifted from being the Caretaker of the castle to being a Head of House. It was actually a quick jump between the two. Perhaps he hid all of his qualifications when applied to be Caretaker. It was a mindless job, Maya thought, in comparison.

"They picked the right person for the job," she said, with a small smile. She then bit into her food, tasting the wonderful spices that blended together. It was delicious what he had made. She couldn't help but to keep her smile. Marcus then asked if she was enjoying the food while food was still in her mouth. Holding a finger up, she continued to chew and swallow her food gracefully.

"Yes, but I am enjoying the company more," she said, her brown eyes looking into his. It was a subtle, but it was definitely a verbal move. Would he take notice and do something about it or let it pass? The real question was: would Maya let that be it or would she keep going?

Maya came from a background that it was healthy to speak your mind. It was a cultural thing. But for some reason, speaking her mind now was difficult. She took a deep breath, sat up straight and locked eyes once again with Marcus. It was now or never, she thought.

"Please excuse my straightforwardness," she paused, sitting up as straight as she could, her hands on her lap. "I have this feeling and it only occurs when around you. It's strong and weak at the same time. You're... Intriguing to me Iwasaki. I don't think I've met anyone like you."

There. She said it. She found him intriguing or interesting. She wasn't madly in love with the man, but rather wanted to get to know him more to see if he could be a companion of hers. Though like all sharing of feelings, it could end up on a positive, romantic note or it could end up as a tragedy.

"I don't expect anything in return."

Maya was flirting with him. Enjoying the company more than the food, it was a line he knew well. And it honestly felt out of place. Even though they were here at summer camp, where it didn't completely feel like working (hence how laid back he had been so far), Maya was a woman he definitely associated with work. She was a colleague, and that's all he had viewed her as, even now as he acknowledged her interest. His last experience mixing work and romance had not worked out well at all, and that might be part of the reason for his hesitancy now... but it also just didn't click for him.

Before he could respond, Maya went on to be "straightforward" and called him intriguing. His earlier thought about her being attracted to his intimidation factor felt slightly confirmed by her speaking about a feeling she got when she was around him, but he was probably just overthinking her wording. It seemed she wanted to get to know him better on a personal level, but... well, he wasn't comfortable opening up to her beyond the casual topics they normally discussed.

So what was he to say when she spoke of not needing anything in return?

"I appreciate your candor," Marcus said, which was very true. "So, I'll be straightforward as well. I do enjoy your company and our chats, but I view you foremost as a colleague... I can't honestly say that I have an interest beyond that - beyond being work friends, that is," he said, his eye contact breaking momentarily to gather his thoughts. And as he did, his eyes casting over the food truck, he thought he saw-

Was that-

It was.

@Caradoc Browne was poking his head out from behind the food truck, watching Marcus and Maya. As soon as they made eye contact, the blond offered him a thumbs up before ducking back out of sight. Marcus blinked, wondering if he really had just seen that. But since he couldn't exactly go investigate right now, he maintained his composure and turned back to his eating partner.

"I hope we can continue swapping stories though. It seems that we share similar life experiences," he said, his amber gaze once again on Maya and offering a small smile. In Marcus' mind, Maya was probably the sort of person who would take this in stride and hardly bat an eye. He took his final bite of tacos and another swig of water.

"Are you finished?" he asked, gesturing to her now-empty plate. "I can clean up here if you want to get back to the lake or go to your cabin," he offered. His ulterior motive for suggesting they split off was so he could go see if Caradoc was still lingering. That man was going to get an earful if Marcus' eyes hadn't been playing tricks on him.

@Maya Galim

@Marcus Iwasaki

OH SNAPS slkdjfskljdfkldjf.

With every word that came out of the Head of Ravenclaw, it was a vomit of pure rejection of her thoughts of where their friendship could end up. There was no stopping other than being colleagues and she understood that from how bluntly he was with her.

Quite frankly, she was relieved of how straightforward he was to her. He had the strength to share what he felt and what he needed and if he was not ready or wanted to be in a relationship with anyone, or her, he had the ability to express that. It would have been heartbreaking to be strung along and rejected later.

"Understandable, Iwasaki," she said, reverting back to his last name. If they wanted to continue being friends, then they needed to refer to themselves like other colleagues. "We can still continue to share our stories," she confirmed, always interested in other people's cultures and history. Nodding, she gave him her plate. "Thank you," she said, and with that, she got up from the table. He had offered to clean up and she was going to take him up on it.

Maya gave him a small smile as a 'goodbye for now'. She decided it was best to part as a cloud of uncomfortableness has been cast between them; at least according to Maya. She decided it was best to swim it off. Maya, dry from her swim prior, head straight for the lake once more, relaxing in the hot sun of a summer's day.

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