On the Fourth Day of Christmas PV Elsian Finished

The thing was, Elsian was a pretty curious individual. You wouldn’t know it, by the way he always slept through class and rarely asked questions. By the way he lost interest in certain hobbies or pranks at the drop of a wand. But the truth remained, he’d always been curious, always willing to puzzle over mysteries and little fun ideas for as long as they held his interest. Like important things.

Important things always held his interest, like his sewing, or prank book-

…or people.

It was just a matter of figuring out who, or what those interests were. Then it was clear to see his curiosity. His devotion…It just so happened Dorion was one of those people and curiosity had been quick to rear its ugly head.

And their strange behavior, the gifts, the stares, everything, had begun to click and shift around him. Pinching together like pieces in a puzzle he’d long since played at ignoring now forcing him to look, to really look less he stumbled and tripped over the pieces moving and clicking under his feet to reveal the beginning of something new.

And the future end of something else.

He could feel it with every stare. Every stolen moment. Every gift that weighed down on his nerves with a jittery sort of nerves torn between something like hopeful excitement and a fearful sort of longing. It’d made his throat itch with the need to ask questions and his feet simultaneously light with the knowledge Dorion had something planned for him, exciting, fun, new, and heavy with the brief distant thought it was too good to be true. The small whisper of a voice in the back of his mind made him second guess.

So when he saw Dori? Just standing there in the small hall amongst the small crowd of students walking to and fro, shaking the bag in a manner that felt almost like a cheeky taunt- It made something in his brain click just right, or perhaps wrong if one was in Dorions place and…

Well, he did something rarely ever seen.

“Wait-!”

He ran.

There was little thought in the action as he burst into movement, practically sprinting towards where Dorion had just been standing as he ducked and weaved in between students with a light step you’d be hard pressed to see outside of Quidditch, because the funny thing?

Elsian was actually quite fast.

A secret, now not so secret, to anyone unlucky enough who’d been in the small hall to deal with the boy's sudden, almost maniac burst of energy. It had him slipping between people at a speed that, in any other scenario would have meant he was likely running from death itself. Because Elsian simply did not run, it was unheard of! Save for when he was running away from his problems maybe. But Dorion? Well, he liked to think he never had to run if Dorion was around…Until now apparently.

When they were running from him.

“Creampu-” His feet lightly smacked into the side of the bag. Threatening to tip it over and spill the contents as he stumbled to a stop, eyes locking onto it and his feet as another almost stepped on it. That of course, could not happen. And the boy was swiping the bag up and into his arms with a swiftness usually saved for Kitty when she was underfoot. When he looked up, Dori was gone.

Which, well, wasn’t ideal in the boy's opinion.

Elsian huffed, more exasperated than annoyed as he shoved himself into a corner, out of the way, before slinking out into less crowded halls with his newest holiday gains. It was annoying, losing. Because that’s what it felt like after running and still losing Dori. But it was hard to stay truly upset in any capacity when he had a shiny new gift he knew they’d picked out for him.

Back shoved up against a wall, and sat carelessly in a sprawl on the ground, bag in lap, he began to dig through the bag. It didn’t take long to pick up the 1st gift, the small pillow reading 'Kitty wuz heRe’, startling a loud laugh outta the Gryffindor as his fingers trailed over the tiny spider footprints. It was perfect. Perfect and hilarious and already one of his favorite pillows ever. A fine addition to his collection!

The 2nd gift inspired a soft feeling of fondness that smoothed out his laughter into a softer smile. It was hard not to feel fond whenever he saw their tree, because it hadn’t been just his for a long time.

But if the 1st and 2nd inspired fondness and laughter the final 2 just made him feel all the more upset he hadn’t been able to catch Dorion by the hand. To anyone else it likely wouldn’t have made sense, or simply looked like any old wands. Any old brooms. But he knew. It was theirs. Their wands, their brooms, next to each other, crossed together, stitched perfectly, wonderfully, in familiar embroidery he knew could take so much patience and effort to make.

He clutched the tiny squares close, staring down at them for a moment with something like a warm ache in his chest.

The only thing that could’ve made it better… was if he’d been able to hug Dorion for another addition to all of the thoughtful gifts so far.