Hard to swallow Finished

The world kept getting darker, or at least it seemed that way to the young boy who was positively prowling around in the great hall. His eyes looked exhausted, and about to collapse, but the blueish grey eyes the color of gathering storm clouds were intelligence and unnervingly sharp. It was almost as if the eyes themselves were wide awake, but the eye lid had decided to be lazy all on it's own.

The ravenclaw's face didn't really have an expression, the effect of him prowling was more the way he was walking. Smoothly, quickly, unnervingly. Slightly bent, and somehow terrified. He would spin around to face anyone who even remotely approached him, with an unnerving grace that seemed more driven by fear. A wild, predatory, inhuman smoothness that made those few who were thinking about approaching him think twice.

But he was hungry, too hungry to avoid the crowded halls. It was worth the fear, he would have to stomach it. He never did manage to work up the courage to go all the way to one of the tables, instead choosing to steal a loaded plate someone had left on a chair off to the side and running off towards the door, determined to escape the great hall. But what he saw made his heart almost entirely stop it's beating. The shadow of a familiar old man passed by the great door.

When kae turned, his face looked so entirely drained of color it looked translucent, the skin beyond it's usual sickly pale white. He walked quickly, and quietly, to the closest table that looked like it was at least sort of safe. And that happened to only have one other person sitting there. Perfect.

He didn't look at the girl, didn't talk. Just sat down, looking utterly terrified, as if his mashed potatoes were about to leap up and eat off his face, and he had to eat them quickly before they actually gathered the nerve to do so. His tired lids were gone, although the heavy shadows under his eyes remained strong.

Sure, he was worried about what the girl across from him might do, but it really wasn't high on his threat list at the moment.

The chicken looked so good... If anyone watched her, they would've thought they saw her glow... Carefully she cut off a piece. The meat was so tender and smelled so good. It nearly seemed to call out for her: 'Eat me! Eat me!' Waving his tiny roasted chickenwings.

And then. Suddenly. Out of nowhere. A boy appeared in front of her. It happened so quickly, as if he teleported here. She had just pulled down her scarf and immediatly regretted that decision. Her face, her snowwhite pale face, out in the open, for this boy to see. A boy she didn't know. She dropped her fork and hastily covered her face with her armor made of fabric. Her iceblue eyes stood out in her now red face. Her body felt hot and started to get sweaty. This wasn't the chickens doing, who was still violently flapping its chickenwings, to catch her attention, for the sweet release of digestion.

As meek prey, she stared at him, analysing every bit of him. He looked scary, odd, very different. He's the kind of kid that would stand out in every room full of students. He looked like a bully that would punch her in the back of an ally and steal her lunchmoney, ad before leaving, he'd kick you in the face to make sure you wouldn't be able to hide the pathetic loser you were. Her mind was going insane, thoughts flew in and out. In waves like a stormy sea. Her heartbeat in her throat, beating faster and faster. Yet, she tried her best.. not to let him notice, that her body was in full survival mode. Calories were burning like crazy.

She wasn't mentally prepared for a confrontation like this. Not at all. Her evening was planned and it didn't contain this Ravenclaw boy. She glanced at the other tables every so often, to check if any seats were vacant, but no luck.

After fifteen or so minutes with no one coming after him, the boy started to focus his boundless paranoia on the girl in front of him, who was clearly waiting for someone. Constantly looking to the side, waiting for someone, or looking for something. She clearly had a plan, and what was more, she was mad. He knew the signs, he could read people well enough to know more or less what was going through her head. The girl in front of him was mad at him, so mad she had turned red.

He could only assume the reason was that he had intruded on her table, and she was looking to see if there were any witnesses to the carnage she was about to unleash on him. But he didn't want to fight. He had just seen something that had terrified him, and really didn't want anything to do with conflict. He was trying to lie low and that was impossible unless she let him stay, but judging at the rage apparently surging through her, there was almost no way she was going to not leap across the table and plow his face in.

His hand reached for the familiar wood of his wand as he prepared himself in case he needed to fight, as he then looked, and said to her, in a voice that sounded far too quiet to be normal, a whispering rustle of a request.

"Please, don't try to hurt me. I need to hide, and this place is out of the way.

He added the don't try quite deliberately, although it sounded the same as the rest of his sentence. He wanted her to know he didn't want her to fight, but think that he would be able to fight back if she did end up trying.

She watched the boys hand move under the table as he spoke to her, quietly. What he said confused her. H-He thinks.. I want to fight him..? That.. i want to hurt him. Was he.. threatening her? She started to panic and froze up. And she did what she always did when she felt as if she had nowhere to go. Tears sled down her cheeks and she rest her hands on her skirt. Curling her fingers around the edges to hold grip onto something. She was too scared to make a move. What if he managed to hurt her, out in the open. She didn't want to get exposed or pull any attention.

She didn't hide her eyes, she wanted to show that she wasn't going to move or do anything. She had no idea who he was, she didn't know why he picked her. Did she do anything that she forgot? But she hadn't left her room all day. This entire week she didn't go out much. Oh god. How she longed for her shark plushie under her bed. It always brought her comfort in the cold, lonely nights at her dorm.

'I-I'm.. hic.. I'm sorry.. I hic... I don't know what I did to you..' Her voice was shaky and soft. Like a cornered bunny she shook, but that was only visible if you looked closely at her. 'I-I don't know what I did.. hic. B-But i'm sorry.. O-okey? D-Don't hurt me.. ' She sniffed and looked up at him, tears now fully streaming down her face.

Something was so very wrong he wanted to hurt something, he wanted to run or fight or scream or bite. He didn't know what was going on. He could see tears, he knew what tears meant. They meant you were sad, that you were helpless. They meant that you were feeling weak. But why would someone as clearly enraged as she was feel helpless? Was she upset at something, and unable to act against it? Was that thing him? Could she not attack him? Why not?

She made matters even more confusing by saying that she didn't know what she did to him but that she was sorry, through hiccups and tears. She was asking him to not hurt her. So what was he supposed to do? He knew tears too well to think that they meant anything else. And so he had to come up with a way to fix this problem he had created without meaning to. What was he supposed to do, anyway? Offer food, but she already had some. Well, she had chicken. Or turkey, or whatever that was.

His plate held a muffin on it, a sweet desert that she did not possess. Sometimes, sacrifices had to be made. The boy didn't want to fight right now, he wanted a moment of peace, he wanted to eat, he wanted somewhere to feel safe. He wasn't going to feel safe any time soon, but at least, he might be able to stave off a fight.

His hand was shaking, just a little, as he pushed the muffin as far across the table as he dared to push it, quickly retreating his hand. His pupils were positively pulsating at this point, and he could almost feel his stomach screaming for more food to be eaten. But he didn't dare, not until he knew she wasn't going to stab him.

Nico leaned back abit when he suddenly put a cupcake halfway on the table. She blinked and stopped crying, still sniffeling. With her sleeve she tried to wipe away the last bit of tears that rolled down her cheeks. She was... oddly surprised by this sudden gesture.

She slowely came closer to the cupcake, with a shaky hand she carefully reached out for it, quickly pulling it close to her. Was this... some sort of peace offering? Her gaze went up to the boys face. She wanted to try a different approach. Still hesitating, she tried to find the courage to speak. The words sticked in the back of her throat, making her stutter. But she didn't want to give up. It felt as if she couldn't breathe. Why was this so hard? Other people can converse perfectly fine... Why should she be this afraid... Maybe because she didn't really had anyone to back her up but that was fine.. She got out other situations just fine, why would this be different.

No. No talking.

With her fingers she created a crack in the muffin, splitting it in two. One half, she put on her plate. The other half, she copied his strategy and quickly put the part of the muffin as far as she could accros the table. In a flash, she pulled her hand back, resting it on her chest, nervously. Was this... an okey move to make? Would he get weary of her and maybe end up hurting her anyway? Uncertain she averted her gaze onto her half of the muffin.

He was safe, at least, he was safe from the girl. She gave back half the muffin, which was a pretty obvious sign of truce. Whatever he had done, it was fine now. Whatever she was mad about, it didn't matter anymore. He took the muffin slowly, and carefully. Watching her for any sign that he was doing something wrong. He wasn't sure what so say either, but a smile. A smile would be appropriate, right? He should smile.

The boy nibbled some of the muffin, closed his eyes, and screwed up his face into an awkward smile that was a bit weird, but still definitely a smile. It was the only thing he could think to do. He was almost tempted to say thank you, but changed his mind. He didn't want to ruin the truce. He had been lucky enough to be able to establish it in the first place, he was certainly not going to press that luck any farther. A smile would be plenty. But maybe just a little bit more, just enough to make sure that he wasn't going to get stabbed in the back in the near future.

Slipping an arm into his sleeve, he reached around in the pouches strapped underneath his robe until he found what he was looking for. A smooth, shiny rock. It was almost perfectly round, and it was one of his favorites. Everyone liked cool rocks. The ravenclaw placed it on the table, and gently rolled it across to the girl. Now he would just have to cross his fingers, and hope.

She peeked at him, noticing he accepted her offer. She slowely sat up, observing him. How would he respond? He fumbled with his half as he kept an eye on her. It wasn't as threatening as it was before. He smiled, in an odd, kind of creepy way, but he smiled nonetheless. Anything was better than threats being whispered in your ear.

Before she could properly respond, before she could register his intentions completely, he moved his hand into his sleeve. He was searching for something, but what? Did she read him wrong after all? Was this the end... Her face slightly sunk in a sad frown, empty of emotion... He was going to put a spell on her, wasn't he...

His hand returned from within his sleeve but not with a wand. A rock. A special looking rock. Surprised, the look on her face quickly changed, her natural curiousness took over. The boy rolled the stone over to her side of the table. Her eyes looked up at him from the stone, he didn't move and just looked at her. If he already shared a muffin with her, than...

She swallowed and observed the stone: it was smooth, nearly perfectly round. Shiny. Her hands emerged from under the table and hesitantly made their way to the magnificent object. Carefully, she let it slide into her hands. She treated it as a baby bird that had fallen out of a nest. Fragile and beautiful. Enchanted, she let her fingers slide across the rock. She smiled, her eyes lit up. Something so pretty and delicate must mean alot to him. Something this precious, he shared it with her. That must mean something.

Still handeling it with care, she looked up at him. She smiled with a light glow on her cheeks. Nothing feels better than being trusted...

'It's one of the most beautiful things i've seen in a while... Thank you... for trusting me...'

Her face changed several times, but he wasn't sure what it meant. Who knew, anyway? Who the heck could be expected to tell what people were feeling by looking at an expression? Not him, that was for sure. But he consoled himself by saying no one really could. As much evidence pointed towards everyone else being able to read emotions, the ravenclaw didn't want to feel that much weaker than everyone else. He couldn't afford to feel that much weaker, because deep down he knew he was that much weaker, and the only thing that was keeping him moving was the belief that he could survive. That he was a predator, not a prey.

What the girl said next, however, baffled him. It shook the boy hard. She liked the rock, sure, it was a very nice gift. But she was happy he trusted her? She was thanking him for trusting her? He had essentially bribed this girl with a rock and a muffin, how did that translate to trust, what did he miss? The boy was worried again, slightly panicked. He knew how trust worked, didn't he? What was this, why was this happening? What had he done?

He was too tired for this, too tired to understand, too tired to keep himself together, at all. Pupils started to expand, move about and grow in a amorphous mass of black. But what was he supposed to say to that? 'I don't trust you'? Was that rude, would that make her try to kill him? He was still trying to hide, he couldn't afford a fight. That, and he was much too tired.

"Your name? I'm Kaegen Deathmote, Fens-Born Scarf-Wielder. He who was called fat tadpole as a babe, suicidal idjit as a toddler and he who earned the name Eeh before arriving at Hogwarts. He who lost two and gained one. He whose names are given authority by Grandfather, whose authority is given him by the conqueror of the 14th dark place."