7 Oct 2023, 10:40
Anywhere with you feels wrong
When Dee stepped onto the train to return to Hogwarts on the 1st of September 2023, it was almost like any other year. Slightly tanned skin, a smile on her face, head full of memories from the last two months. She'd kicked butt at the summer duelling event - of course, like last year - then spent a few short days at home. Next to that were swirling images of a forest in Alaska, the sun setting over a lake, a smiling boy with brown eyes. It had been a good summer, all in all, and she let the feeling carry her onto the Hogwarts express, excited for a new school year. (Muggle children might complain about returning to school after summer, but she'd bet it would be a different story if it also meant returning to doing magic.) She'd enjoy the high while it lasted, it would fade soon enough.
Dee followed another girl down the narrow train, head turning left and right to look into already half-filled compartments while she dragged her trunk behind her. She'd already spotted a few people she knew and tried to decide which group she wanted to join - Aly should be around somewhere, or perhaps she could find Sam or Peri or some of her friends from the Headliner. Aly would be dying to hear about her summer.
Her next glance to the right fell through the still open door of a compartment. Blue eyes met brown, and Dee froze in the middle of her movement, stopping where she was. For some reason she was surprised. A moment later she could have kicked herself for it, although she supposed the sharp twist of pain flaring in her chest was punishment enough. Of course Jack would be on the train, everybody was on the train. She would have expected it if she'd thought about it, but after two months and the time spent with Theo, she'd just managed to not think about him every day. It had been... nice.
That would be impossible now, of course. She'd have to see him, there were classes, meals, it was inevitable considering they were basically locked up together in the same building. She'd have to get used to that.
With a slight flush, Dee realised she'd been standing there staring for a second or two too long. Cheeks tinged pink, she raised her chin in defiance, her eyes narrowing into a hostile glare. She didn't want to get used to seeing him again. She didn't want to see him at all. She... missed him, and she hated it.
Everything was different now.
Pressing her lips together before they could do something silly like start wobbling, Dee turned to leave.
@Jack Warren
"One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar."
9 Oct 2023, 16:18
Anywhere with you feels wrong
Indifference and aggravation hung around Jack's neck like a shackle and chain. To say the summer was bleak was an understatement. Jack slept alone in his room for many days, refusing to interact with anyone, especially his parents. Jack could only survive so many late-night excursions that he was forced into by his subconscious, and every night, he had to trek further and further in a fugue state. If it wasn't for the mud on his clothes and sores on his hands, the Hufflepuff could've mistaken those foggy flashes of movement through the grimy Dublin streets as visions of a fever dream. Anything he could remember was clouded through miasmic moments, dark streets, and flashes of even darker forests. As soon as it started, did it end.
There was comfort in the familiarity of the small cabins of the Hogwarts Express. The stiff benches wrapped up in dull red fabric like a present. Tiredly, Jack finally threw the last of his luggage in the overhead compartment before flopping down in the empty cabin. A dull longing tugged at the boy's heart as he glanced around, half expecting his two best friends and somebody else to show, but realization quickly dawned on him that they wouldn't be sitting anywhere near. What else was to be expected? They had been driven away like cats from a lumbering toddler, and it was only Jack's fault.
Student after student passed the open door, but no one dared to enter. Some Jack recognized, others he did not. Pushing his back into the corner that connected the bench to the wall of the train, Jack could feel the edge of the window frame pressing against his back. There was discomfort, but Jack didn't mind as he pulled his legs up onto the seat as an undeniable reminder to the passersby that they were not welcome to sit next to him. Dragging his right leg up and bringing his knee into his chest, he continued to watch. On some subconscious level, there was only one person that the boy cared to see, even though it would most definitely not be a fairy tale reunion.
Jack finally saw her as the seconds ticked away and turned into minutes. The boy blinked as she paused in the doorway. Was she going to come in? His heart thrashed against his ribcage, and the pit of his stomach began to churn. Yet there was a palpable tension in the air as their eyes met. God, he did love the color of her eyes. Somehow, they encapsulated a storm raging across the tumultuous waves of the deepest bluest sea known to mankind. Needles began to prick at the tips of his fingers as Jack Warren leaned forward, mouth open, words stuck at the tip of his tongue, but as the girl turned away, an invisible hand clasped against Jack's mouth. Only the slightest hint of an "Uh-" escaped him. The hand pulled him back into the deepest corner of the booth and back into his hazy, brooding mind. Whatever words stuck to the edge of his lips were lost in the fog as the invisible hand ripped them away.
Wishing to say something to @Dealla Prince
"Speak softly and carry a big stick; You will go far"
-Teddy Roosevelt
Stamina- 7| Evasion- 17| Strength- 12| Wisdom- 5| Arcane power- 7| Accuracy- 10
Abilities: Fearless & Charmer
11 Oct 2023, 19:43
Anywhere with you feels wrong
Of course, life couldn't be so easy as to just let her walk away. It wouldn't even have been a dramatic exit, Dealla just wanted to get away - but then the corner of her trunk caught on the cabin door and suddenly it wouldn't move and she had to figure out how to angle it backwards so she could just leave. Tears prickled in her eyes, although she refused to consider their cause. She probably wouldn't like what she'd find. The delay wasn't long, but the people waiting behind her while she was blocking the way with her unruly trunk started grumbling, and she glared at them in return. She still thought she could feel brown eyes on her, although she was past the door, the line of sight clearly blocked.
In that moment of a pause, she almost thought she'd heard the slightest sound coming from the open compartment, like Jack was going to say something... Dee flinched. The next moment she was disgusted with herself. What had happened to her? She'd never used to be so... jumpy. So afraid to face someone, anyone, and especially someone she'd used to feel so safe with. Things were just different now, with Jack; twisted from what she'd known and loved. She felt wrong in her skin.
Yet whatever words she'd expected didn't come. Perhaps she'd imagined the soft sound. Or maybe she had just hoped that he would say something and her mind had conjured it up, although what she didn't know.
Finally, she managed to tilt and push her trunk in the right direction so she could stalk off, her heart beating hard and fast in her chest as if she'd just finished a sprint. She ignored the people that had been accumulating behind her while'd been blocking the way, then finally picked a random cabin to settle down in. It didn't really matter who she was sitting with. Her mood would be terrible for the rest of the day, either way. Closing her eyes, she prepared herself to ignore the world for the next few hours, and willed the tears away.
@Jack Warren
"One can never consent to creep when one feels an impulse to soar."