Of Lions and Letters PV Hugh Closed

"𝕿hat's fun. I can imagine you with a white lab coat, with Hugh Lowe stitched on the front," she said, laughing.

"Hey, I like to live life on the edge," she joked. "Dragons are really fascinating creatures, I feel like people categorize them as monsters too much. They really are just big animals with interesting yet dangerous abilities. Sweet things, too, as long as you know how to befriend them, I read in one of the library books," she thought out loud. Sometimes Rorie felt like a dragon. Reckless, interesting, and dangerous when she felt attacked, though sweet when someone got to know her. Not to mention people believing she was a monster because of growing up in the ghetto.

"Yeah, I've seen the professor around a few times. He's a tough one, hard to read, but all I can do is put in effort, the rest isn't up to me. It'll go how it'll go, but I'm not gonna go down without a fight," she said, faking a superhero act. "I think the reason I get along so well with the animals is just that I've been exposed to them my whole life, what with my mum and dad's job," Rorie speculated. She remembered the days when her father was still around and the family would go to the shelter, her parents doing their work, while Rorie just sat in the back and comforted the scared creatures.

She took the jacket Hugh offered her thankfully, draping it over her shoulders, adding a cocky "but you better not freeze to death, Smirk. No being a noble hero for me, what would I do without you?"

"Yeah, there are some stables with hippogriffs and other creatures down by the edge of the forest, if you wanted to check it out."

He was glad she accepted his coat. It made him smile like the child he was. And it also didn't hurt being mentioned in the same sentence as a "noble hero". The real question came after that of course. "I dont know, what would you do?" His eyes widened by the curiosity hidden in the question. The cold didn't seem to bother him at all.

"Hippogriffs?" The boy cried out. "We really have those here?" His face was filled with amazement and wonder. He never thought that would be possible. A real one? Nooo, she had to be joking right? His heart was skipping too many beats. "Okay. Hold your horses, we need to go there." He hugged Rorie in his excitement. "Hippogryffs!"

Hugh ecstasy was quickly tempered by his sense of self-control. He closed his eyes a bit, feeling embarrassed at his outburst of joy. He wasn't like that. Though it had felt so good. The boy's eyes locked with Rorie's and he had to chuckle. As they stood there laughing, a small white owl found its place on top of Ro's head. Seeing how content the little bird was with his newfound nest, Hugh couldn't help but smirk at how cute it all looked.

"𝕴 don't know what I would do, but I don't think either of us want to find out," Rorie said cockily, looking up at the bird on her head. Putting her hand out, it fluttered down and landed. The talons were sort of sharp, but Rorie wasn't one for complaining.

"Yes, we have hippogriffs here. A whole stable of them, though I would say that you better be careful with them, they can be aggressive," she laughed. Hugh's reaction had been hers exactly upon learning about the creatures. If anything, the nature-lover was even more excited.

Petting the owl, its smug expression quite the cute vision, she soothingly said to it, "Hey, I love you, but I have to leave you here, okay? I'll come back soon, promise," before putting it down with its friends.

"Well, then, time to go to the stables," Rorie said cheerfully, grabbing her book-bag, her hands hesitating on the letters for a split second.

"Have you been down to the gamekeeper's hut? It's right next to the forbidden forest, the temptation is crazy to just step foot in the wood, but then i remind myself that I would like to see another day," Rorie said jokingly.