Strangers in Smoke Pv. M B Closed

• FAGS AT THE FAIRFAXES •

Friday 4th, Aug - Late Afternoon | The Fairfax Estate, Bath, England
wc: 476
Avery's Hex #136b5c

Outfit/Appearance:

Reducio

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	----- Avery sent her a small, sorry smile when she gave her little startle. “Apologies, it wasn’t my intention to alarm you.” he offered genuinely, turning his gaze out to the Fairfax grounds again. They weren’t too special, but the rolling hills were a nice backdrop to his thoughts; at times. He figured that she’d need such, at present; and so she did when she started talking. Avery was a keen listener, and not usually for the best of reasons but listen he would; he had a knack for making people he wanted, feel seen, and it almost always served his interests. This lay in the border region of devious and genuine, for he found himself empathising at points. Though his own relationship with his blood status was filled with issues of his own; he understood the pressures of rank. His response was measured, and careful; having taken a toke of his third cigarette of the packet. The bitter taste was a learned taste, but he would almost tell himself that he was enjoying it; for his supply was soon to dwindle and what then? “I overheard some of it by accident, earlier. - It’s heavy, and hard. And I don’t think it gets easier.- Although I am loathe to admit; perfection doesn’t exist. It is just an ever increasing baseline. You push and push, until you break, or someone offers you a hand out of the drowning sea. That’s my experience anyway. - Tell me, if you had the chance to make it easier, to make the pressure disappear, what would you do?” He gave, trying not to let too much on, allowing the spaces in between to be filled with a tapestry of half-truths and mystery. All the while, the pair returned to quiet on the bench; each gazing out but searching inward; for answers to problems half-bare. When she looked back to him, his features knitted to a frown.A small amount of care befell him, seemingly, as he pushed the lit cigarette to the stone to smother it so that he might devote more attention to Madison; turning to face her properly. “We might not know each other too well, Miss Bennett, but I can see struggle when it is in front of me. - It might be premature too, but you can keep my company for as long as you need it. I’ll not let you be swallowed up by a storm your mother placed you in. He gave solemnly, seriously; trying to catch her eyes. “It is truly a crime to see you cry, let alone make you cry…” Avery’s anger shone through then, directed at her mother no less as he cast a look back over the flagstones of the garden.
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Interacting with @Madison Bennett

Friday 4th, Aug - Late Afternoon | The Fairfax Estate, Bath, England

Outfit

Reducio

Madi's Dress, Shoes and hairstyle

"I know and you didn't don't worry, it was a welcome surprise" Madison said with a soft smile, wiping the tears off her cheeks and staring at the rolling hills that surrounded the estate. As she listened to Avery talk about that ever increasing baseline, her entire childhood rush back to her mind. All those times her mother would say that the drawing wasn't good enough, that her stitching was sloppy, that her back wasn't straight enough, that her hair wasn't right or her face, or her outfit. Every single thing about her, Madison realised her mother had knit-picked, soon those tears started trailing down her cheeks once more.

What would I do? Madison thought to herself in response to Avery's question. She took a deep breath and turned to face Avery slightly, "I'd run and go anywhere. Away from my mother, away from her rules and her unexplained yet clear hatred towards me. But I could never leave my dad or my older brother, they mean the world to me, so I endure my mother's behaviour and actions towards me for them" Madison said with a soft smile. tears still trickling down and staining her cheeks.

As Madison saw Avery smother his cigarette out on the stone pavers, she too turned to face him better. Hearing Avery say those words made Madison feel safer, as if she really had someone who wanted to save her from drowning. "Thank you Mr Leveret, I appreciate that, and I'm sorry for placing all of this on you" Madison said, stroking her arm as she tries to hold back more tears, whilst looking up at Avery, despite her eyes being tear shot and slightly red.

"You didn't make me cry Avery, my mother did. All my life, i've been second to my brother in her eyes. I've never been good enough for her, no matter how hard I tried. I'll never, ever be good enough in her eyes. The only time she says nice things about me, is when we're at a public event, she turns on her smiles and appreciation" Madison said, utterly sick of her mother's behaviour.

As Madison was finally calming down, she heard her mother's voice in the background, getting closer to where she and Avery were. She turned to Avery and looked at him pleadingly, her mother's voice getting louder.

"Madison Olivia Bennett, you get out here this instant wherever you are!! Stupid girl, why are you never where I need you to be? For goodness sake Madison, you wait till I get my hand on you young lady, and tell your father how despicably you've acted tonight!!" Madison could hear her mother say.
She knew that she didn't have much time, so Madison got up and ducked behind the bench, Avery's seating position covering her from view and, she tried to stay as silent as possible. "Please don't let the storm swallow me" she says to him softly.

Madison could tell that her mother was now standing in front of the benches as she could hear her talking to Avery, "Ah Mister Leveret, have you by any chance, seen my daughter Madison, I'm looking for her. She's been wondering off tonight and I need to have a word with her, do you happen to know where she went?" Victoria asked.

Interacting with @Avery Leveret

• FAGS AT THE FAIRFAXES •

Friday 4th, Aug - Late Afternoon | The Fairfax Estate, Bath, England
wc: 475
Avery's Hex #136b5c

Outfit/Appearance:

Reducio

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	----- Hope fades, into the world of night. His smile wore thin, as his mind raced ahead. She was a mess, but in an entirely different way. Where he had seen a similarity, he was met with a clearer picture of himself, and he liked the look of it. He knew what he grown to, how he had gotten here; it took sacrifice and work but she too could be trained into shape. She was a canvas; currently strewn with the colours chosen by someone other than herself; and that irritated him greatly. He valued individualism; to an extent. It made people note-worthy; people who stood up for themselves didn’t mesh with the crowds; they were somebody, they stood for something. The risk of drowning in a sea of pressure was the risk of losing oneself to another; the real crime, not some performative flattery. A small part of him offered what comfort he knew how; a flattened smile; all the while he thought to his own experiences as gave her his ear. “Run? In those heels? - Pff.” He said, which was uncharacteristically funny for the otherwise distant and reserved chap. Black orbs trained back over his shoulder, as he continued: “If anything she should run.” He added, mind straying a bit too far as he turned his attention back. “You know the only freedom we have in this world is that which we take and make our own. If your mother can cow you, what is stopping someone else? Someone with worse intentions?” He offered again, likely parroting some of the things he’d heard some of his parents’ friends speak, but that didn’t mean the young lad wasn’t already internalising them; if he hadn’t already. “How much further can she push you? How much further will you let her?” He finished, hoping to have given Madison something to think about, though that was until the approaching footsteps reached his ears from the flagstones above. Quickly, he had flicked the cigarette butt to the floor and placed his foot over it, so that he wouldn’t get caught; the closest call yet, and in that action, Madison had taken to hiding, which had left him a little confused when he turned back around to see her ducking out of view off her mother. Part of him was reluctant to solve Madison’s problems for her, and yet he wouldn’t offer her up to the wolves either. “Mrs Bennett.” He dipped his head in respectful greeting, having turned to face her. “I can’t say that I have. Though I must say that she does your family a service. You’re lucky to have a daughter so refined and understanding. He finished with a calculated smile, one that was practised; one that never met his eyes. Wordplay with elders? This boy had gumption, that was for sure.
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Interacting with @Madison Bennett

Friday 4th, Aug - Late Afternoon | The Fairfax Estate, Bath, England

Outfit

Reducio

Madi's Dress, Shoes and hairstyle

Madison giggled and shook her head, "oh no, I wouldn't run in these heels, they cost too much to run in and therefore, in turn, ruin them" Madison said with a smile. "My mother, run? From her problems I wouldn't be surprised, though if I started running, she'd always find a way to be one step ahead" Madison said, as a small smile plastered her lips.

Madison listened to Avery as it was his turn to talk. How much further would I let my mother push me? How much further will I let her? those thoughts ran circles around Madison's mind. However before she could answer, she took to hiding behind the bench out of view from her mother. As she listened to Avery talk to her mother, hearing him compliment her made her smile, though the response out of her mothers mouth was less so.

"Madison does our family a service alright, and hopefully one day she will be as refined and understanding as I wish for her to be. If only i'd been able to bring her brother I wouldn't be needing to find her all the time" her mother said, the words protruding like a knife into Madison's heart. "Well, if you see her Mister Leveret, would please let her know that I'm looking for her?" her mother said, as Madison saw her curtsy a little before leaving and walking away. Once she was sure her mother had left, Madison stood up from behind the bench and brushed the slight dust off her dress. She then sat back down and smiled at Avery a little, "Thank you for not letting the storm swallow me back there Mister Leveret, I appreciate it" she said politely.

As the two again sat there with a slight silence, Madison took a deep breath as the sky began to become littered with the dusklight stars. "I was thinking about what you said earlier, in terms of how far I'd let my mother push me? Or how the only freedom we have in this world is the one that we take and make our own? Well, I guess the only freedom I ever really had during my childhood, was when I would play Quidditch with my dad. Other than that it was events, parties, etiquette lessons, elocution lessons, learning how to speak multiple languages and, on top of that, making sure I didn't screw up or make a mistake, if I did then the wrath from my mother was, well, unpleasant to say the least" Madison said with a sigh. "So I guess, I never fully learnt how to take control of the freedom you talked about, i pushed myself harder because I wanted to please my mother, to show her that I was just as good as my brother but, I now know that, in her eyes, I never will be" Madison said as she looked at Avery, trying to hide the dimming twinkle that her eyes normally held.

As Madison heard footsteps of adults moving inside, along with music from the minstrels, a part of her wanted to go inside and dance, whilst the other part wanted to stay outside with Avery and ignore the world for a bit longer. Madison had felt torn like this in her life a lot, torn between trying to reach the wild and constantly growing expectations of her mother, or continuing the legacy her dad created and living out her dream of becoming a famous Quidditch chaser.

She turned to Avery and smiled, "thank you for listening to me Mister Leveret, I truly appreciate it. And, if it's not too much for me to ask, would you be ok to escort me back inside, I know I will get swallowed whole by the storm if I was to enter inside on my own" Madison asked, standing up to straighten her silk green dress.

• FAGS AT THE FAIRFAXES •

Friday 4th, Aug - Late Afternoon | The Fairfax Estate, Bath, England
Avery's Hex #136b5c
wc: 469

Outfit/Appearance:

Reducio

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	----- Avery kept his eyes on Victoria Bennett, dark orbs finding darkness, only to be confirmed in a few moments by Madison. He was smiling, as Victoria went on, and nodding; as good sons and sons of friends were to do, but then his own words sat at the forefront of his mind and started to weigh him down; he was battling with the idea of taking a small freedom of his own though he knew the importance of events like these for a family like theirs… ”I wonder if there is a genuine reason you’re not able to find her, Mrs Bennett. - I’ll let her know.” He gave a sickly sweet smile. All he had wanted to do was to lambast her with the seeming truth; the failures of her motherhood, the parenting that would only result in a fractious relationship if one at all; but he decided that she was best to discover such on her own, that Madison was the person to reveal all that. ”Mm. And what about the times that you’re alone, with no one to use as a life-raft?” He asked to Madison plainly once she had come out of hiding; his dark eyes trained on the departing head of Victoria Bennett. It was a simple enough question, and as with all he did it was calculated to bring about some reflection in her rather that a rouse of anger. Avery joined her on the seat again when she had something to say; turning his gaze to the half-finished, squashed cigarette that lay on the grass. ”Well then Miss Bennett, from all of that I can only draw one conclusion: it’s time to begin learning how…” He grinned then, a small glint of mischief in his eyes. ”The only given, in this world, is the sanctity of the self. You’re the only person that has the power to, and should, take control of your own life. Living for others is reserved for those who are lesser, who are destined to follow. - Leading isn’t so hard. It’s like everything else. Take one step after another and take what comes in the best of your stride.” Avery could be quite motivational for a young boy, but he was nothing if not driven to achieve his ends; and imparting that wisdom on a girl that was loosely similar to him, at least in up bringing, was the least he could do. After that he could only smile and offer an arm to her. ”Of course, and the next time I see you we’ll talk about how you’ve taken some small freedoms, yes?” He encouraged, and then walked her back to the party…
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I assume the rest of the party goes of without hitch/much more remark for the pair. If not you can add something in a final post but I don't intend to reply further! It's been a good one! Thanks!

Interacting with @Madison Bennett