Necessary Deceit PV: Alan Vanes Finished

@Alan Vanes

The question. There were so many of them, they wandered the earth searching desperately for their own answer, eternally only half of a conversation and filling in the blanks that floated weightless. On fire, drenched in water that carried the weight she was too bedeviled to. Eyes fluttering shut, reopening in a tired hope to watch the world around mold into something new, something tolerable and suited. But it remained the same, the confusion still sewn onto Alan’s face like an elderly blanket, needles and threads of memories and washed away dreams.

It couldn’t be answered, perhaps the boy had known that well. The accusations that followed never met those protected ears, some outer force aiming to preserve that ignorance underneath the endless wit. Hope was a breeder, though it never reproduced in a way preferable to someone that wished to escape the truth, someone like Persephone, who could only stand and stare at him, blinking occasionally to rinse away the coming confusion. To ask such a foolish question took bravery that the blonde, self-proclaimed sorting hat without the creepy essence, couldn’t see behind that smokey gaze. Surprises never ceased, maybe. But, there was an answer within that waited for its time in the sun, the eclipse finally ending with a sorrowful goodbye.

How was she managing to stay so calm in a moment of frustration beyond another? “I politely asked you to not be an idiot, yet here you are again. Can’t follow directions?” The condescension was back in that voice, a red, familiar flame. “I’m not a goddamn barbarian, Alan. There are reasons for the things I do, otherwise my treading the line of unforgivable actions would lean more. You’re underestimating me, though, telling you things would make you know things. That is common sense. Don’t be an idiot.”

A sigh of exasperation would fall from her lips, his incessant desire to protect Tân and the angelicness that formed him becoming more annoying with each word, let alone obsessive. Persy would jump the gun and make assumptions, probably reasonable ones, but this had become a tedious, unarmed battle of wits. “Has it ever occurred to you that he doesn’t need a guardian, here? I’m talking about apologizing. What am I going to do, say it with a bit of insincerity and he might burst into tears?” Obviously, Persy didn't believe that. Could anyone, really?

Gaze falling down to the somehow unnoticed food in his hand, chicken that he’d been carrying since the beginning of this conversation, a frown replaced that tense smile. How had she missed that? Though she wasn’t sure of the significance of his savored snack, it was astonishing that something so conspicuous now had concealed into the world moments ago. With old age came dulling sense, the girl supposed, taking a deep breath to cleanse the pallet. “Why…” The Slytherin’s eyes were now closed, head gently shaking in something resembling both disappointment and puzzlement, “...are you carrying chicken?”

Alan narrowed his eyes slightly as he watched the girl in wonder. Why would she be saying all this stuff and why would she want to apologize to Ruka is she could not even disclose what all of this was about or had been about? "W-Well if you a-aren't then you must h-have had a g-good reason, y-yet I see none th-that could have justified you h-hurting Ruka", he pointed out, if he had been affected by the string of insults about his intellect, there was no way it showed on his expression or in his reactions. It was slowly getting on his nerves, because obviously he did not like being insulted after all who in their right mind would enjoy someone talking bad about them?

"I a-am not his g-guardian. I a-apologize for a-any inconvenience, b-but I a-am simply s-saying that it w-would be his decision whether h-he would want to t-talk to you at all after what you d-did", he argued back calmly as he stared into her forest green eyes. His eyes were a light green, similar to hers but more of a forest hit by rays of sunshine. Alan would not point out Ruka's locations to the girl, if the younger boy had no intentions of meeting her. It was his decision and not Alan's and if the girl was not happy with that, then he had no way of helping her in that current situation. He had no idea whether he would want to meet someone like her again, if she had done to him what she had done to Ruka and therefore he would take these precautions to make sure that Ruka would be knowing in advance before he met the girl another time.

When she mentioned the boiled chicken, heat spread through his face as he glanced down at the food in his hands. He did his best to keep his focus steady as he just nodded, but his mind seemed elsewhere, clinging to the appearance he tried to maintain as he had no intention to transform based on his emotions in the Great Hall full of other students. "Y-Yeah, it's for my c-cat...", he murmured as he dragged his lower lip between his teeth, lightly pinching it between them as he glanced back at the girl. This probably sounded silly, but he did not want to make a show out of it. "T-Tiger likes th-the food from h-here", he added to offer more content to his explanation, before realizing that all he probably did was to confuse the girl in front of him even more. "N-Not an actual tiger... M-My cat o-obviously-"

@Alan Vanes

Having limited vision or insight was a depressing phenomenon that seemed to spread in a plague-like manner from student to student in Hogwarts. Only a select few that Persephone had encountered possessed the ability she had, something enabling and untouchable by the strangling vines of disease. Alan, contrary to the majority of the impaired, would admit being cursed with this problem in a simple sentence, a plain white banner tossed up with a sigh of defeat, blessing the blonde’s ears like an unappreciated symphony. Instead of frowning, head crooked slightly in the disappointment of her careful insults provoking no reaction, Persy smiled, amused at the cowering lion, perhaps something unexpected, the sun materializing in the hardest parts of the night.

Perhaps the issue, the shrill shriek that echoed in her ears, was that Alan wasn’t cowering. His knees weren’t shaking, quivering like that unfound voice, and beyond the fractured words, the statements he stood so proudly beside were said in an air of confidence. It was surety that, another distant day, Persephone could’ve envied for her own inner monologue. The two, in and out, were vastly different, separated entities and connected miserably all the same. Those daggers hadn’t pierced his skin, red soul not trickling down and out, the voice of surrender likely an odd hallucination of superiority. Suddenly, that smile would fall, face creasing in an unrelenting frown.

“It feels like each second, you’re saying something even more idiotic.” Eyes rolling up in annoyance, her cold fingers trailed down her arms, protective and chilling. “Now, you’re not underestimating me, at least not to an extent I can further comment on. Now, you’re doing worse, like you’re underestimating Ruka.” His name tumbled from her lips with a sneer, said in a voice of distaste yet detectable intrigue. “The boy isn’t innocent. And he can definitely handle an apology, but I see why you would think it’s ‘his decision’. Truth be told, regardless of what you say here today, regardless of what you do, I will find him, and we will talk. Or he will listen. Or who knows? Maybe he’ll show that bite I know he’s hiding.” At some point, perhaps her speech had become more telling or closer to a ramble, lacking professionalism. She’d shake her head and carry on.

Persephone licked her lips lightly, a dry chuckle escaping her throat as warm fire spread through his face, making its appearance on the surface. Seeing the reaction she’d dug for, at least some kind of physical response to the finger down his throat, it brought the satisfaction and malice back into her crumbling heart. “Really, not a tiger? I could only wish they’d add that to acceptable pets.” The blonde would tease, eyebrows raised quizzically. “If you need to get your boiled chicken to your feline, run along and I’ll know a bit more about where your priorities lie.”

“Whatever you decide, know this: you’ve been very helpful.”

When the girl mentioned that he would always come up with something more stupid to say, the third year rolled his eyes. Just because it didn't help her cause it would not automatically be something dumb to say, so he just smiled a little broader. "I'm n-not, I j-just believe h-he is in the p-position to make h-his own decisions and th-that includes to d-decide whether h-he wants to talk to y-you again-", he explained with a soft shrug. If she did not want to realize his intentions that was her problem not his. But he wouldn't just deliver Ruka on a silver platter to her, if her mere presence might make the younger Gryffindor uncomfortable.

He knew she was joking about the tigers, but he agreed. It would be fun if they were actually roaming the halls of the castle. Or dragons. Dragons would be even cooler in his opinion and he could not wait to learn about them in Care of Magical Creatures, even though he knew they were quite dangerous.

"I g-guess I should h-hurry, he is p-probably waiting already", he agreed with a soft hum, smiling at the girl slightly. It was a surprise he could still offer the girl a honest smile. But he didn't dislike her. He was glad that she was reaching out to apologize to Ruka and hoped that he Gryffindor might accept the apology if he deemed it to be sincere. "I h-have been?", he wondered in confusion and tilted his head slightly with furrowed brows. How had he been helpful? He had barely done anything at all.

"It w-was nice to s-see you, -", he muttered and would have added a name, if he wasn't so afraid to mess it up. It seemed like a lengthy name with an odd pronunciation to it and he was not going to trial and error it in front of her to look like a fool.