Horologium PV| D. Dragonclaw

Cyrus's jaw visibly lowered when Damien asked about crazy socks. His mouth opened into a comically large O, his cerulean eyes quickly following suit. 'Duuuuude. You don't know crazy socks!?'

Those had been his childhood. Maybe it was a gen alpha thing—was Damien gen alpha? Maybe in addition to having a weird obsession with the word skibidi, gen alphas also didn't know crazy socks. But, that couldn't be it, Cyrus thought, because Damien was a pure-blood. Unless pure-blood gen alphas also knew of Skibidi Toilet. Cyrus was pleased to have only encountered it in passing, mostly from kids on their phones in the city.

Either way, he was duly horrified by Damien's lack of knowledge of crazy socks. 'Man, when I was a kid, they'd have rows of crazy socks at the stores. But they don't eat people! That would be awful. They're like... well, they're socks. Normal socks. But with super cool patterns 'n' stuff! I saw some with the calves patterned like Pringles cans. Sometimes they have fried eggs. I like my duck ones—' He pointed to his feet and smiled broadly. '—but they do come in all shapes and sizes. Some only go to your ankles, others to mid-calf, others to your knees, and still others above your knees! Man, now I wonder if there are crazy leggings!'

It was too late at night for Cyrus to be able to think about whether or not all the perhaps nonsense he was spewing was too much for Damien's pure-blooded comprehension. As such, he simply grinned at the younger boy before stifling a yawn. 'Man, I'm sleepy. Not looking forward to travelling tomorrow...'

Cyrus's eyebrows lifted when Damien asked if he did not live in London. 'I thought I'd mentioned... but I suppose perhaps not... well, I've lived in New York, in the US, my entire life. Sometimes I go vacation at Lake Placid with my aunt. These international trips to the UK—well, and the one to France earlier this year, where I met Haven...' His voice trailed off momentarily, his eyes sparkled, and his cheeks turned pink. His beloved Haven, oh, how he would miss her so. '—they're the only times I've been out of the States when I'm old enough to remember it. My mom used to take me to London, though.'

He stared up at the sky for a moment, mum, waiting for the soft sound of a breeze to remind him he was still on this earth. Yes—he was still on this earth, still able to push forward, still able to make his mother proud. His uncle. His aunt. Even his father, if he did well enough.

He glanced sidelong at Damien. 'So, I assume you live in London? What's that like? I'd imagine you regularly see things quite a bit older than in New York.'

He realised he'd forgotten to ask the other question, so almost hurriedly, he added, 'Oh, and I'm travelling back to Massachusetts. It's in the US, a bit further north than New York. Ilvermorny's there, situated on Mount Greylock. It's really quite beautiful.'

Cyrus hummed softly before answering Damien's question. 'Well, I guess not. But I've gone to summer camp almost every year, and I've gone to some of the other school visits, so it's not like I've only been out of the States once.' He shrugged. 'It's so cool, getting to meet other students from all over the world. If I got to pick a location for a visit, it would be Tenūsa, since I don't know much about Polynesian culture.' He would attempt to meet Damien's gaze again. 'If you do get the opportunity to visit another school, I'd totally recommend it. I met my girlfriend when we got to visit Beauxbâtons in France.'

That didn't mean it wasn't fun to go with family—usually, it was Cyrus's aunt who took him to London with her for summer camp. One year, she had trusted him enough to stay a few days in London and then drop him off at St Pancras. He'd made it to Hogwarts safe and sound for camp that year!

'Ohh, okay. We have a lot of skyscrapers, and I know you guys have them too—I've gone up in the walkie talkie and the Shard before!—but like, we have a lot, a lot, of skyscrapers. And we have no Tower of London, and no old palaces. It's kind of a bummer for me, since I think it's so neat to learn about how humans used to live long times ago, or what they went through—like, have you seen the prisoners' graffiti in the White Tower? That's so neat...' He trailed off, and his cheeks reddened. 'Oh, stars, I'm sorry. That was a lot.'

He caught some muttering from Damien and did his best to listen like a cat would. He wished he could angle his ears towards the other boy, but alas, he just did his best by turning his head. 'Huh? Salem witch trials? Uhh, those were in Salem, on the coast. Surprisingly, I've never been to coastal Massachusetts, unless you count Boston, which I don't.' He'd never even been to Nantucket.

'What's your favourite place that you've been to?'

A wave of relief washed over Cyrus when Damien noted that it was fine to ramble. Phew! He never enjoyed being too much, and such a horrible thing had been all too consistent until he'd started at Ilvermorny. Since then, though, he'd found more and more people willing to accept him as he was—so many friends starting with Thea and going all the way through Slava and Hanya and Elias and now Damien. And, of course, his beloved Haven. By the golliest goose, he could've sworn he felt his heart give a little flutter at just the thought of her.

He began to move in a slow, rocking motion, back and forth, not unlike the crashing of waves against a seashore. He listened intently to the wind and Damien's voice and smiled. As much as he hadn't intended to meet anyone outside tonight, talking with a similarly-minded individual, but still someone with very different experiences, had proven to be relaxing.

'Oh, your family have a lake house? I didn't know those existed in the UK.' Well, did Hogwarts count as a lake house since it was on the Great Lake? Perhaps he had been aware. 'That's super fun. Do you guys go boating?'

After a small pause, he would add, 'My aunt has a lake house at Lake Placid. It's like... a small town in the mountains. Super cutesy. We like to summer there.' Now he was truly curious—what were the similarities between lake houses in the UK and in America? 'Oh, oh, is your lake house close to London? Or further away? Lake Placid's like... uh, kind of like five-ish hours from New York.'

Surely, as an American, his perception of distance was rather off—five hours was a perfectly respectable car travelling distance to Cyrus. But he was curious to see what Damien had to say!

Cyrus's eyes lit up at the invitation from Damien. 'Really!? That's so nice of you! If you're ever in the States I'd love to show you around New York.' He paused and then added, 'Although, I'm going to be travelling for a gap year once I graduate, so I won't really be around for a bit.'

He found himself nodding along with Damien's thoughts on lake water. There was something so peaceful about it, and lakes were hardly as terrifying as the ocean, what with all the very cool unknowns. He wondered for a moment if wizards knew more about the ocean than Muggles, and then his thoughts travelled to whether or not wizards had ever been to space. Did wizards have astronauts? These were the real questions he needed to ask his aunt, not just how to pay taxes in the wizarding world.

His eyes widened when Damien mentioned he'd never been to mountains before. 'Really!? Wow. They're super pretty. I haven't been to the taller ones in the Western US, out in Colorado and California, but I want to go see those, too. But I do love the Adirondacks. They're especially beautiful in fall when all the colours change.' Cyrus gave a small hum. 'I guess that's what I miss when I'm at school. Don't get me wrong, it's pretty at school, too. But there's just something about spending time with family in nature.'

He wondered if one day he'd be spending time with a family of his own, a thought that honestly scared him. If he and Haven stayed together, would they be living here in the UK or back in the US? Would Cyrus have to be very far from all his memories? Would he be okay with that?

He swallowed and forced a smile, nodding when Damien mentioned floo powder. 'That's got to make it a lot easier. I wish we used the floo to go up to Lake Placid, but my aunt insists we drive. She's literally a witch. Thing is, my uncle wasn't, so we'd do things his way, and I guess it's just habit now. But I don't mind the drive, really.'