Distraction in the Stacks PV: Caspian Villin Finished

TIME | 8:13 pm
DATE | 25/1/2025
INTERACTING |@Nova Astron

Dialogue/Thoughts
Thoughts - #009e77┃ Speech - #044503

OUTFIT

𝔚here is she?
He couldn't help but feel this gnawing sense of frustration in his chest as he paced through the halls. It had nearly been an hour since he started his search, and still no sign of her. He had even asked some of her housemates if they had seen her, but none of them had. His footsteps echoed through the corridor, his shoes making a soft thud sound against the ground.
His hand ran through his hair again, messing it up further. Not that he cared much about it. Well, he cared a lot about his looks, but right now, his main focus was finding Nova.
If I was Nova, where would I be?
The answer came to him almost instantly. The library! Of course! He made his way to the library. She’s probably surrounded by books, trying to read them all at once. His stomach grumbles, reminding him he hadn’t eaten anything after breakfast. He’d be no good to Nova if he was hungry.
He pivoted sharply and strode toward the Slytherin common room, heading to his dorm. He pulled out his sacred snacks stash from under the bed, which was hidden from prying eyes. Yes, he loved his snacks more than anything. He grabbed a few chocolate frogs and bars. He put 2 in each of his pockets, opening one of the bars and munching on it as he made his way to the library.
He dragged his fingers lazily along the edge of a nearby bookshelf. It's so boring in here. Just books. So. Many. Books. I think I might actually die of boredom.
And then, like a gift from the chaos gods themselves, he spots her.
Nova
She’s buried under a huge pile of books. Books. That word almost makes him gag. He beams, before looking back at the bookshelf and making a face.
He creeps silently behind her, pulling her hoodie over head, letting it fall over head. Then he patted her head for good measure, before resting his chin atop her head.
He eventually sat down next to her. Her brows were furrowed in concentration, and her eyes were raking over the text at the speed of someone finding out they were late for class. Watching her read was soo boring.
Has she eaten yet? He took out a chocolate frog from his pocket, not the healthiest choice, and offered it to her. You know what, he didn't ‘offer’, he shoved it into her hands.
Picking up a quill, he twirled it around his fingers before setting it down far away from her reach, because, why not?
“You know,” he says, very seriously, “if you stare at a page long enough, it will start writing itself. But only if you’re really desperate and slightly unhinged. Which, honestly, you might qualify for.”
he nudged a stack of books with his elbow until it tilts just enough to be threatening, then caught it with an exaggerated gasp. “Okay, okay, I’ll stop. But only if you bribe me with, like, a single biscuit. Or eternal friendship. Your choice.”
He grinned wider.
“Come on, Nova. At least admit you’re happy to see me.”
He leaned back, arms crossed. “I could help, you know. But where’s the fun in that?”
Pause. Then he grinned at himself.
“Ten galleons says you start talking to your parchment in the next hour.”.

I was done. Done with everything. Done with homework, done with my life. And then the Devil himself came to me. A very blonde, very annoying version of him, but same thing.

I hadn't noticed him at first until he pulled my hood over my head, and grumbled internally as he rested his chin on my head. I didn't need to support his head while I could barely support my own. That was his job. Your head, your responsibility.

"Caspian." I groan through the stacks of papers around me. "Get off of me before I..." I trail off, trying to think of a consequence only the worst of the worst would despise. "...before I make you do my homework for me."

He finally gets off of me and slides into the chair in front of me, a look of concern in his eyes. Yeah, not happening. Caspian didn't DO concerned.

Or maybe he did, considering the chocolate frog he practically shoved into my hands. But he was quick to disperse the thought by playing around with a quill, the one I was using, and placed it on the other end of the table. This bastard.

He started talking, his tone the epitome of seriousness. “You know, if you stare at a page long enough, it will start writing itself. But only if you’re really desperate and slightly unhinged. Which, honestly, you might qualify for.” I knew better.

"Wow, you wound me, Caspian, truly. I'm sobbing." I reply in a monotone voice, unwrapping the chocolate frog he had given me and eating it whole, still glaring at him. I sigh and get back to writing. Or try to, at least, with Caspian watching me like I'm the most entertaining thing he's seen today.

I notice my books teetering closer and closer on the edge before they almost fall, the only thing stopping them from crashing to the ground being Caspian with his dramatic gasps of horror. I sigh and look up at his face, his eyes practically shining with amusement, a huge grin on his face I'm surprised his face didn't split in half.

He offers to stop by giving me two options. "Wow, such great choices." I say sarcastically, pausing to think about it and tapping my chin with my finger. "I think I'll choose giving you a biscuit over eternal friendship, it's easier. And less annoying."

“Come on, Nova. At least admit you’re happy to see me.” Was I really? Really? I raise a shoulder in a slight shrug, scribbling on the parchment in front of me that was currently controlling my life at the moment.

I look up at him hopefully when he mentions helping me, then my face falls. "But where’s the fun in that?" Classic Caspian. Looking for fun while I suffered. "You're cruel, you know that? Getting my hopes up and letting them crash lower than where they already were." I drop my head onto the table, cheek against the cool surface, and let out a sigh.

While I'm contemplating my life, he's making bets. "You're gonna have to give me those 10 Galleons right now, then. I was talking to my parchment before you even got here."

"I could make you a deal, though," I raise my head to meet his amused gaze, his smug grin plastered on his face like it had been there since the beginning of time.

"You help me now, I'll let you keep those 10 galleons." A terrible bargain, but I was desperate. Nothing could have stopped me at this point. A few pieces of gold are worth the relief of homework. Until next weekend,  of course. Then we do this all over again. I snort at the thought. I'm delirious.

I grimace and finally give in and attempt to make actual conversation with him. "What are you doing here, anyways?" I ask him, my voice full of deceitful cheeriness. "I don't think you're here to just stare at me while I suffer, or are you?"

I pause, my quill hovering above the parchment as I tilt my head at him, my eyes narrowing with a mix of exhaustion and frustration. "Alright, fine." I say, setting my quill down with a sigh. "You're helping me out." I grab a book and slide it across the table to him, along with a piece of parchment from who-knows-where.

"I know you've finished yours, so you should have no problem helping me out. I just need an itty bitty bit of information I can't find, so YOU can find it for me!" I smile sweetly at him, crossing my arms. "And, like I promised, I'll let you keep those 10 Galleons. Or I'll do something for you. A favor, to be redeemed at any time." I watch him and wait for an answer.

Thoughts - Italic ~ Nova's Speech - #a88400 ~ Caspian's speech - #044503

NOTES

@Caspian Villin

WORD COUNT: 801/200 words

TIME | 8:37 pm
DATE | 25/1/2025
INTERACTING |@Nova Astron

Dialogue/Thoughts
Thoughts - #009e77┃ Speech - #007514 ┃Nova's speech-#a88400

OUTFIT

"𝔚hat are you doing here, anyways?" She asks him "I don't think you're here to just stare at me while I suffer, or are you?"
“Maybe,” He replies, shrugging. “I mean, watching you suffer is entertaining.” His attempt to hold back his laugh was futile, and he softly chuckled, covering his mouth with his hand in an attempt to stop it. 
"Alright, fine." She says, her quill now resting peacefully on the table. He felt sad for it. Poor quill had to put up with her all night.
"You're helping me out." she continues. He raises an eyebrow. 
"And, like I promised, I'll let you keep those 10 Galleons. Or I'll do something for you. A favor, to be redeemed at any time." She said, earning a smirk from him. 
“I’ll hold you to that.” He said, a smug smirk plastered on his face.
The book hit the desk with a dull thud. Heavy. Dusty. Boring. He stared at it like it was personally responsible for every mildly annoying thing in his life.
He didn’t move at first. Just sat there, elbows on the table, fingers laced in front of his mouth, eyes locked on the cracked spine. Waiting for it to blink first.
Of course, it didn’t.
With a sigh too heavy to be genuine, he leaned back in the chair, letting his head roll back dramatically. He stared at the ceiling for a full ten seconds, wondering how much effort he could pretend to give before technically qualifying as “helpful.”
He cracked one eye open, straightened, and opened the book. The pages gave way easily, too easily—like they knew he didn’t want to be here. 
His eyes scanned a few lines. Yep. He already knew the content. He’d read it once by accident, thinking it was a book about dueling spells and rules, (spoiler alert! - it wasn’t), but he still remembered it all. 
He took out another chocolate frog from his pocket, eating it as he picked up Nova’s quill with a dramatic sigh. He tapped it against the table before starting to write. The parchment in front of him was blank for exactly one second. Then it wasn’t. 
He finished the note and sat back again. Flicked the quill into a lazy spin between his fingers. Caught it. Flicked it again.
Silence.
He grabbed another book. Didn’t even read the title this time. Opened to a random page, skimmed it, shut it again. He already knew it wasn’t what he needed, but flipping pages made it look like he was working. That was half the game anyway.
Leaning back again, he stared at the shelves towering around him. Books. So many books. Caspian never studied, he didn't need to.
One knee bounced under the table, keeping a restless rhythm. His fingers drummed in time against the wood. The seconds stretched.
He let his head fall to one side, studying Nova’s focused face.
It was endearing, in a way, how she looked when she was so concentrated on something she DEFINITELY wouldn’t be able to finish.
The main reason he had come to find Nova was so he could kill his boredom, not make it worse. 
Concern flashed in his eyes again. Did she ever take a break?
Ok, you know what, he had had enough. He covered Nova’s eyes. 
“Nope! I am not gonna let these books make your eyes suffer.” He grinned. “I'm saving you from yourself. And your tragic taste in research material.” 
“Consider this a public service,” he said. “Your eyes were about to unionize. Honestly, I’m just trying to prevent a death.”
He pulled his hands away, resting them on his thighs.
“You know, I didn’t come here to actually help. That wasn’t the plan. I came here to be mildly annoying, maybe steal some of your stuff, and definitely mock your tragic essay-related descent into madness. But now I feel like I’ve accidentally become responsible for your well-being. Which is gross, by the way. Inconvenient. Not my brand.”
“I don’t even like libraries,” he continued, more to himself now. “Too quiet. Too serious. Everyone pretending like the world will end if someone sneezes.”
He reached into his pocket again, pulling out another chocolate frog.
“Anyway,” he said, unwrapping it slowly, “you can keep pretending like you’re not about to collapse, or you can admit that I’m right, as usual, and let me rescue you from the clutches of academic doom.”
He took a bite.
“I won’t even say ‘I told you so.’”
Pause. He grinned.
“Okay, I will. But I’ll say it in a charming, comforting way.” 
He flicked the wrapper onto the table, leaned back again, and stretched like a cat, smug and completely unapologetic.
“Come on,” he added, glancing sideways at her. “Let me save you before you start quoting footnotes in your sleep.”

Grrrrr...
Nova's stomach growls again, louder this time, and she curses the fact it chose to voice its misery at this inconvenient time. It really couldn't have waited a bit, at least until she was out of the Library AND away from Sir Blonde Menace.

She can practically hear Caspian's smug grin forming, even without looking at him and immediately threatens him, or tries to. "If you say one word about that, I will hex you into next week and make sure no one sends you snacks while you’re there."

Propping her cheek against her fist, Nova tried to look uninterested as he flipped through the book she nudged towards him. He, quite easily, finds something and scrawls it neatly onto the parchment. Curiosity got the better of her, and she pulled the note towards her.

Oh. That’s actually the part I’ve been trying to find for the past ten minutes. She thinks as she begrudgingly writes it down. As she does, she feels the drum of his fingers against the wood, a comforting beat in the silence of the Library.

Then, out of the blue, everything went dark. “Nope! I am not gonna let these books make your eyes suffer.” She heard Caspian say, practically oozing his joy at stopping me from doing the one thing I really needed to do. Against my wishes, of course. “I'm saving you from yourself. And your tragic taste in research material.”

Nova sighs, swatting at his hands. "Yes, thank you, Silver Savior. I was about to crumble into a thousand pieces." Why does he have to do this now? He finally pulls his hands away, and Nova blinks as she adjusts to the light.

"That wasn’t the plan. I came here to be mildly annoying, maybe steal some of your stuff, and definitely mock your tragic essay-related descent into madness." He starts to rant, and Nova raises her eyebrows.

"There was a plan? You had a plan to annoy me? I thought you were regular annoying, but the fact you plan how you inflict your misery upon others is a whole new level."

He continues on in that annoying, Caspian way. "Yes, I'm so sorry you're being forced to care about someone," Nova says sarcastically. "It must be very difficult, truly."

As soon as he finished his... speech, of sorts, Nova let out a dramatic sigh. It echoes through the Library, and she can practically feel the Librarian's eyes shooting daggers through her, like she wasn't the one being tested by fate and its cruel sense of humor.

"Fine, save me with your charming, comforting ways. But if I end up wrapped in parchment with ink splattered all over me, I'm blaming you. And stop eating that, you're making me jealous."

Thoughts - Italic ~ Nova's Speech - #a88400 ~ Caspian's speech - #044503

NOTES

@Caspian Villin

WORD COUNT: 459/200 words

TIME | 8:37 pm
DATE | 25/1/2025
INTERACTING |@Nova Astron

Dialogue/Thoughts
Thoughts - #009e77┃ Speech - #007514 ┃Nova's speech-#a88400

OUTFIT

ℭaspian looked entirely too pleased with himself, like a cat who’d just knocked over a priceless vase and found a warm sunbeam to nap in. He stretched again, arms high over his head.
"Blame me all you want," he said, voice low and smug, “but you know I’m the best bad decision you’ve made all week.” He winked at her with absolutely zero shame, then took another bite of the chocolate frog, chewing slowly just to be annoying.
At her grumbled complaint, he glanced down at the last frog in his hand, then—after a very long pause that included sighing, pouting, and making the most dramatic sad-puppy eyes imaginable—he slid it across the table to her, pausing just before it reached her. “Say please.”
His grin widened. “Or say ‘Caspian, you’re an absolute delight and I don’t deserve you.’ Either works.”
Eventually, he gave in, of course. He always did with her.
“There. My last one. A true act of love. Or pity. Or... strategic bribery, I haven’t decided.”
He leaned back again, watching her like a very smug golden retriever who knew he was being tolerated only because he was cute and occasionally useful. He tilted his head.
“You know,” he started casually, “if I wasn’t here, you’d still be growling at your parchment, probably with ink on your nose and that little twitchy thing you do when you’re too far gone.”
He reached over and poked her forehead gently. “Right here. Your ‘mad scholar’ tick. It’s adorable. And mildly alarming.”
He smirked when she allowed him to 'save' her.
Then he perked up, an idea visibly lighting in his eyes.
“You know,” he said, far too casually, “we could switch out every book cover in the library with ones from completely different genres”
He leaned in, clearly delighted with himself.
He paused, eyes gleaming. “Picture this—someone grabs Advanced Defensive Magic, only to find the cover now says The Art of Magical Tea Parties?
Caspian drummed his fingers on the table, practically vibrating with glee. He gave her the full force of his most innocent expression—which, coming from Caspian, looked anything but.