maybe slide on in by my side [dom]

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It had been difficult to figure out when Dominique was coming back. Shay had seen her leave, but she hadn't been specific about the timeline, and every day Shay was left wondering if it would be the day, when Dom was going to return and he could...what? Learn from her - that was what he was thinking about, probably. The two of them hadn't been able to have many tutoring sessions before Dominique left, and of course that wasn't Séamus's primary concern. he just wanted her to get better, and to stop looking as empty as she had that day in the greenhouse, and the day she had left. Shay had taken to lingering around the entrance hall, which probably wasn't the best place for anyone to linger, but it was actually a surprisingly good place to study, since not many people made a habit of hanging around there unless they were expecting a guest. He was studying there now, book on his lap as he slowly mouthed the words on the page, trying to get it to soak in.

@dominique

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Dom didn't know how she felt. Broken, but not necessarily in a bad way. Vic made her talk about her feelings, about losing Ethan so suddenly after just barely starting to date him. Dom knew she had strong feelings about that, but she didn't know what she was supposed to do with them. Since last April she'd kept them buried, refusing to even think his name and avoiding any and all conversations that had anything to do with Ethan. Now, his name was always in her thoughts, which were full of memories of him. She couldn't seem to put her wall back up and she couldn't decide if that was good or bad. But Vic had to go back to work and Dom had to return to school, so here she was, making her way into the entrance hall. It was nice being back here at Hogwarts. Hopefully it wouldn't be too hard for her to distract herself.

@seamus

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Séamus didn’t know why he looked up when he did. He had been trying to focus, which meant not looking up unless he had a really good reason. Normally that really good reason was hearing someone’s footsteps walk by. But he didn’t hear footsteps – just felt like he needed to look up. So he did. And…there was Dom. “D-D-D…” Shay began, his stutter worse than it had been when she had left. “D-D-D!” Séamus tried again. Why couldn’t he just say her name!? Eventually, Shay gave up on trying to call the Ravenclaw over, setting his book down on the bench so he could run over to Dom, tapping her on the shoulder. “You’re b-b-b…” Ugh! Why was this happening!? “B-b-back.” Shay managed to say after taking a deep breath. He wanted to say more, but with the way things were going, he didn’t want to risk it.

@dominique

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Dom wasn't paying attention to anyone inside the castle. She was too busy paying attention to how nice it felt to be back, though her heart was still aching. Why was Ethan's death hurting her so much now? It'd been about six months already, she should be fine by now. But she wasn't. She jumped slightly and turned around when she felt someone touch her shoulder. She turned around and smiled when she recognized Séamus. She waited for him to finish his sentence, which actually took a lot longer than normal. "Yup, here I am!" she declared cheerfully extending her arms a little bit. "How have you been? It feels like forever since I last saw you." Probably because the break seemed to take an eternity. Better to ask him questions before h could ask them because Dom didn't want to talk about her conversations with Vic.

@seamus

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While Dom was talking, Shay was trying to steady himself so that his stutter would get a little better. Normally it was only this bad when he was frustrated, but Séamus wasn’t frustrated – or at least he hadn’t been, before his tongue had decided to tie itself into knots. He swallowed before answering Dom’s question. “G-g-g…” He forced himself to breathe again, hoping it would help. “G-g-good.” He finally managed, still not quite sure why he was having such trouble. “It’s b-b-b…b-b-b…” Eventually, Séamus just gave up. “S-s-sorry.” He responded after a moment, his eyes prickling with hot, angry tears. He didn’t want to cry, especially considering Dom likely wasn’t in the best mood either, given what she had had to talk about over her miniature break. Instead of looking at her, Séamus looked down at his feet, so Dom wouldn’t be able to read the emotions on his face and think that he was angry because of her, when really, it was his own fault.

@dominique

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For the first time in a few days, Dom's attention was pulled away from herself and her feelings by Séamus' stutter. Was he alright? She'd never heard him stutter so much before, so she didn't know if this was normal or not, but she didn't want to make him feel bad. She stepped a little closer, reaching a hand forward to touch his arm gently. She could tell he was upset, but wasn't sure exactly why. Maybe because he was having such a hard time communicating. "Are you all right?" She asked, then added, "You can just nod or shake your head if you'd prefer." She didn't want to do anything that would stress him out more at the moment. She wanted to ask more questions and was willing to make them yes and no questions, but she'd wait to see how he responded to this first. 

@seamus

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Séamus didn’t know why, but he flinched away a little when Dom reached out to touch him. He didn’t want her to pity him, and the way she was looking at him…was it pity? He honestly didn’t know. He felt a little bad for that reaction, especially because her voice was so soft and so concerned when she asked if he was alright. Shay looked at Dom, trying to figure out how to show that he hadn’t really meant to flinch away. He reached out and mimicked her movement, his fingertips brushing over his arm quickly but deliberately. When Dom added that he didn’t have to talk, and Shay nodded his head slowly. “I’m f-f-fine.” He managed after his slow nod. He had collected himself a little, though he still didn’t trust himself for saying anything much longer than that. “Y-you?” He asked her quietly.

@dominique

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Dom noticed how he flinched away at her touch and she tried not to get offended. However, her emotions were on edge so she wasn't really sure how she felt about anything, much less him flinching away when she was just trying to be nice. She exhaled quickly, forcing the edges of her mouth to curl upward a little. She didn't want to make things worse. Then he reached over and touched her arm and Dom was confused. What was that supposed to mean? Normally she'd just ask, but ... she didn't want to ask him anything right now. It might make him upset. She nodded when he said he was fine and then he asked about her. She shrugged, looking around the room. He was one of the few people who knew why she'd left. Well, sort of. "I'm ... back. Not sure how I feel, to be honest." Except broken, but she didn't want his pity. 

@seamus

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Dom refused to meet his eye after he asked a question, which made Shay instantly suspicious about whatever answer she was going to give him. It was surprisingly honest, though, at least to Séamus. They had spoken, before she left, about how she wasn’t good at explaining her emotions (and Shay had thought about how he wasn’t, either), so her having trouble articulating them now was nothing out of the ordinary. Shay would have been warier if she had given him an actual answer, especially one of the cliché ones like ‘fine’. “I kn-know you d-don’t r-really w-want to t-talk about it.” Séamus said, rather blunt for his nature. “W-we c-can…w-walk?” He suggested. A walk was always easier than just standing and talking. He’d need to grab his book before they left if Dom agreed to walk with him, though.

@dominique

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Dom still didn't want to look at him. She didn't know why, but she felt uncomfortable. Maybe it was just her feelings carrying over from her time with Vic. Or him flinching earlier. She didn't know and she didn't want to think about it either. She was done thinking about her feelings! She just didn't want to go there anymore. She was so lost in her thoughts that she missed the first part of whatever he said. What she did hear was something about a walk. Dom never said no to a chance to go outside. "Yes, please," she said, her almost-need to go outside more obvious than she wanted it to be. She moved to to grab his hand and pull him outside, but then she stopped. She didn't want to make him uncomfortable again. "You ready?" she asked shortly.

@seamus

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Dom ignored what he had said about not wanting to talk about his feelings, which Shay just took as confirmation of an already-established truth. She seemed eager to go outside, though, which was good. She asked if he was ready, and Séamus held up a finger to indicate he needed a moment. He went back to the bench he had been reading on, closing the textbook and then tucking it under his arm before returning to Dom’s side. “R-ready.” He confirmed, his stutter appearing to have gotten back under control now that things weren’t so strange. It had seemed, earlier, that Dom had wanted to take his hand before they went outside together, but Shay didn’t want to push. He left his palm facing her, though, so if she did move to take his hand he would just have to close his fingers around hers. Séamus led them to the nearest doors, sighing a little in delight when the cold winter air hit his face. Nature was easier than people.

@dominique

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He held up a finger and Dom watched as he went and grabbed a book. Oh, so that was what he was doing when she arrived. But ... why was he reading in the entrance hall? That seemed a little strange to her. He came back and said he was ready. As they started making their way to the door, Dom wanted to go faster, but there were too many people around. However, once the door was open and they were able to go outside, she exhaled, finally feeling a bit of the tension leave her. Then a thought occurred to her. "Come with me," she said, grabbing his hand and pulling him toward the boathouse before he could tell her not to. He'd probably already been there, but maybe not during the winter. It was one of her places to go in the winter, because of the nice view. "Look at that," she said proudly.

@seamus

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When they got outside, Dominique seemed less tense, and that in addition to Shay’s relaxation made him think that suggesting the walk had been a good idea. Dom didn’t hesitate to take his hand this this time, and since Séamus had already been anticipating it, his fingers closed around hers quickly. She said to come with her, and Shay nodded, though he didn’t think there had ever been a question about the two of them staying together on the walk. Dom lead them both to the boathouse, and Shay cocked his head. They couldn’t very well go out on the lake right now, with all of the ice floes that it had on it. Apparently she hadn’t intended to take a boat out, though, instead telling Séamus to look at the landscape around them. “I l-like it b-better w-when everything’s g-green.” He told Dom softly. It shouldn’t have been surprising, given that plants were his specialty, but Shay could still appreciate a nice view.

@dominique

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Dom was glad that Séamus didn't pull away when she grabbed his hand. That would have made this whole thing a whole lot more uncomfortable, but as it was she felt very calm around him, even though she had no idea why. She laughed when he said he preferred green surroundings. "Yes, that's beautiful too, but can't you appreciate how pretty this is too?" she asked, hoping he didn't feel like she was judging him. She wasn't. She just ... this empty, frozen landscape was something she could really connect with right now.

@seamus

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Shay nodded when Dom asked if he could appreciate how pretty the frozen landscape was, too. “I c-can l-like one m-more and st-still l-like b-both.” He pointed out. Such was the case now – he much preferred the world when it was green and he felt like he could feel the life radiating from everything, but there was something oddly calm and peaceful about there not being such much…noise, he supposed was a good word, from the plants all around them. “B-but s-soon it’s g-going to m-melt.” Séamus told Dom. Everything had to thaw, so that the green could come again. It was a constant cycle of sleep and rest, and Shay hoped that Dom could see that the same way he could see there was as much beauty in ice as in flowers.

@dominique