Silhouettes [Adonia]

[grey xavier slater]

@adonia

March. Sunday morning. The library. A chair in a secluded corner. All by himself. Finally. There were way too many things going on inside the Gryffindor’s head. A lot more than he had ever had, or anticipated to have. They were seemingly cut and dry now, but he had a feeling that they weren’t that easily describable, nor going away for a while. He felt like he should be happy about all of it, and he was, but it was the fact that he didn’t think he could move on from the problems at the end of last term this fast. There was always that constant nagging feeling that he knew about this the whole time, and was simply pushing it aside to focus on others things. Things he thought were more important. They weren’t. He was wrong. That happened from time to time. Being wrong. A lot more often lately. There was nothing liberating about being wrong, except by surprising himself each step of the way. He chalked it up to that.

So here he was, back in the library in his comfy chair in the furthest corner, hoping to avoid all contact from the outside world. It was that time of day where it was eerily silent. There were a decent number of people scattered throughout the library, though the only noise they were making usually consisted of the scratching of quills on parchment, or a page from a book being turned over. If there was a nirvana, this was his. Then there was the chair. It was situated in just the perfect spot, the morning sun dancing through the window that was right next to him. In another life, he was definitely a cat. The instant knock-out effect that sun rays had on him was extraordinary.

For the most part, Grey could always avoid people back here in his chair. The occasional person wandering through the aisles would sneak up on him, usually being scared by him instead of vice-versa. Apparently sinking into the chair coupled with the sunlight made it look like he had died in his sleep or something. That was fine with him, if it meant people would leave him alone. Making an escape was hard sometimes, but there was always this place. He was going to miss it once he graduated. Eyes rolling back in his head, body sinking further into the chair, and mind off to the dream realm, Grey fell asleep.

[Deleted]

Adonia wasn't normally one to spend time in the library. She didn't enjoy places where she was told she had to keep her voice down. Where was the fun in that!? Still, she was interested in finding a place to read. She had her large copy of the Complete Works of William Shakespeare with her, and she hadn't even read it since she got to this school. There were just too many really exciting things going on. What better time then a Sunday morning when most people were probably sleeping in or lounging about in their common rooms? She surely wouldn't be distracted on a Sunday morning.

Boy, was she wrong.

She was trying to find a place to sit when she found him. A boy she had seen in passing, sure, but she didn't know. He was asleep in a chair, and that was too perfect of an opportunity. She set her book on the nearest desk and slowly moved over to him, trying not to giggle. She gently settled herself sideways on his lap, her knees bent over the arm chair, her feet hanging off. She lifted her arm to wrap it around his shoulders. Then, she pulled out her wand and gently tapped him on the nose with the tip of it. "Hellooooo??" She cooed softly, "wake uuuup."

grey xavier slater

[grey xavier slater]

@adonia

All the Gryffindor asked was to enjoy the simple things in life. Maybe another time and place this would be one of them, but today it was just another one of those things. Grey had no idea how long he had been asleep, or if he had even been asleep in the first place. Sometimes he drifted off into his thoughts, and it was almost like he was sleeping. Today he had anticipated to sleep for an hour or two, at least to catch up the week he had just had. But that was impossible when he felt something moving around on him. He wasn’t sure how to react at first. There were plenty of spells that could conjure of ethereal animals, all for the purpose of scaring people. He had to admit, falling asleep in the library was cause for someone to screw with him. Doing it long enough probably got some pranksters thinking.

Whatever it was though, it was heavier than any animal or spell would have, so that meant it was probably a person. Why they decided to climb up on him while he was seemingly asleep was beyond him, but there had to be a reason for it. Continuing to keep his eyes closed, he felt something poke his nose. Felt like a wand. Then the voice came. That was by far the strangest part. He didn’t recognize it all. It would make sense if it was Lily, but it wasn’t. And it definitely wasn’t Cecelia. She wouldn’t do that.

Grey continued to keep his eyes closed as he tried to figure out what to do. As far as he could tell, the mystery girl still thought he was asleep. Allowing her to entertain that didn’t sound like the best idea, to him. “Who said I was asleep?” he asked, eyes still shut. Obviously he had been. She wouldn’t have been able to climb up onto him if he had been awake.

[Deleted]

Adonia gasped as her perch spoke. "It speaks!" she exclaimed before giggling. Whether he was cute or not, which he was, she would have climbed up here because the opportunity was too good. Still, the fact that he was a handsome fellow made it all the more fun, didn't it? Adonia was shallow often, but that didn't mean she didn't give people fair chances. Looks could only take someone so far if they didn't have a fun heart inside there. This guy, so far, seemed to be a little fun at least.

She knew that he had been alseep, though. Otherwise why would some guy let her crawl onto his lap! Unless he allowed this sort of thing normally. Unless... "do yo always just sit here and wait for girls to climb onto your lap? If so, it's kind of brilliant," she complimented, even though she didn't know if that was his game or not. She was sure that she would use that now to see what happened... A sort of experiment! Or, an easier experiment, would be to just 'fall asleep' in Marias bunk. But no, now she wanted to try and catch someone by 'sleeping' somewhere 'unsuspectingly'.

grey xavier slater

[grey xavier slater]

@adonia

If his eyes had been opened, he would have rolled them as the girl exclaimed that he could talk. Of course he was. Did it sound like he had stuttered? He could have been a little groggy sounding from sleeping, or the fact that there was suddenly a girl he had never met sitting on him, but Grey knew that what he had said was clear. She wouldn’t have been giggling if he hadn’t been. The best way to deal with these kinds, and thankfully he had years of experience from Lily, was to either capitulate and give in to their game, or stubbornly fight. Lily had a sense of humor, which let her be flexible with his jokes. He didn’t know this girl, or at least didn’t think he knew her. Seeing her was far different than listening to her. Opening his eyes, he tried to gauge her familiarity. He could tell she wasn’t Hogwarts, he surprisingly knew quite a few people, and she wasn’t one of them. This was definitely going to be interesting then.

“If I wanted girls to climb onto my lap, wouldn’t I be in a more obvious place?” he countered back. That made sense to him. This chair was in a far back corner, usually empty and only ever occupied by him. There were better places for trying to entice people to share a chair with him, and they weren’t in this part of the library. “So what do you do all day, since you’re not the champion for your school?” The Gryffindor asked, not moving from his spot. He’d humor her for a while.

[Deleted]

His eyes opened and she just played it cool, hanging out on her perch on his lap. He was looking at her, and she just looked at him too, giving him the time to try and figure things out. He countered that he should be in a more obvious space if he wanted girls to climb on his lap and she just scoffed, shaking her head a tiny bit. Then he oh-so-subtly- noted that he knew she wasn't from his school with a question.

"Well, I would think you're somebody special. Which means you only want the most special girls to climb on your nice lap," she shrugged, "and only the coolest girls sneak around to the back of the library, right?" she countered right back. "As for what I do all day," she lifted a hand to shift her hair around her shoulder, so it fell down the front of her chest, "that's for me to know. And you could find out, if you wanted to join me."

grey xavier slater

[grey xavier slater]

@adonia

Of course she was one of those kinds of people. Grey knew he shouldn’t have been surprised about it because of the way she was positioned on top of him. That practically told him everything he needed to know. The ones like Lily, which he was accustomed to, were more pranksters than deviants. That wasn’t to say that this girl was actually a fiend and simply playing around with him. Somewhere deep down he knew that she actually was. Her mannerisms and the way she talked – that always said a lot about a person. Playing her little game a bit longer would only help him solidify that conclusion.

First came the statement that she thought he was someone special. Grey made sure to keep a straight face. He couldn’t recall the last time someone had actually said that the first time they had met him, if ever. Grey didn’t want to be special. Just left alone. Apparently that was too much to ask for. She went on to say that only special girls were allowed on his lap. Technically she wasn’t wrong about that. Except for the part where she wasn’t actually the special one. Her mistake. Not many people knew about that anyways. Luckily his question seemed to get the answer of what she wanted out of him. The obvious connotations she made with that comment didn’t mean she was serious, but it also didn’t mean she was playing around. The trick here was trying to figure out which one it was, because in the end she would say the opposite of what he answered. Which was that she was joking, because the Gryffindor’s answer would be a resounding no.

Grey yawned, covering his mouth with his hand as he continued to stare up at her. “That’s too much work. I can point you in the direction of someone that would be interested though.” Anything to get rid of her would work. She was smart though, that much he knew. Trying to lose her was only going to invite more interest and prying. “Besides, that spot already belongs to someone else.” Might as well throw it all out there, since they were going to get to it eventually.

[Deleted]

She watched him yawn, still incredibly amused by this guy. He said it was too much work, but that he could point her to someone else. Then, he continued to say the spot belonged to someone else! "Ooh, a lover you have, friend? Do tell me of her, and I'll pester you about where I can find a more willing companion for myself afterward," she chuckled.

She hadn't given up necessarily, but she knew it was generally better to play into what someone brought up rather than try to change the subject. He brought up another, and therefore she asked about it. Besides, even if she couldn't convince this guy to fool around with her, so to speak, she at least could hear a little love story out of it. She was Shakespeares biggest fan, after all, and was no stranger to love stories. Whatever he chose to share would still be well where the offer time. Plus, maybe she could even meddle a little bit if the occasion called for it. With her, meddling didn't necessarily mean trying to ruin relationships. Sometimes it meant trying to make them more exciting, or more fun. Everyone deserved fun, that was her motto.

grey xavier slater

[grey xavier slater]

@adonia

Apparently even mentioning the fact that there was someone special in his life was enough to get this girl going. Anything to keep her from trying to do whatever it was that she had initially planned. Enough had been implied already that he was going down the correct path where he walked out of this the same way that he had walked in. Letting the girl get her way would have ended in any number of rather ugly scenarios, none of which he wanted to experience or even think about right now. She was interested in what he had to say though, and getting rid of her after baiting her in was rude. There was no harm in telling a story, giving her detailed instructions on where to find someone worth her time, and then both of them going on their merry way. That sounded appealing to the Gryffindor, so that was what he was going to do. “I’ll take you up on that offer then,” he finally said, yawning again. “But then you have to leave me alone.” Normally he would shake on an agreement like this, but he was kind of afraid of what she would do if he lifted his hand up towards her. The unpredictability value was still in play.

“Her sister was a little crazy and killed her other sister, and then my sister killed her crazy one,” Grey said rather bluntly. Anyone that had read the papers in the last year would know exactly what he was referring to. Then again, she was a Durmstrang student by the sound of her accent, so whether or not those kind of stories mattered was up in the air for the time being. “Somewhere in all of that, I helped her sort some things out and yeah…” he trailed off, knowing that he had implied they were now dating. Outright admitting all of that with the whole sister killing business was a little strange. Grey knew that. They both knew that. “That first bit is messed up, but we were friends long before most of that even started.” Rather, they were becoming friends when Claire offed Desirae. There was still a part of him that didn’t want to come to terms with the fact that one of them would have come out of that duel dead. He didn’t want Claire to die, and he knew that Cecelia would have preferred a different judgment for her sister. That wasn’t how it ended though, and so far there hadn’t really been any mention of it. Bringing her up to the rest of the family was going to be a tad difficult though.

[Deleted]

He said he would take her up on the offer, but then she'd have to leave him alone and she laughed. "Alright. Fine. You have a deal, good sir," she said, rolling her eyes at the end and shifted just a tiny bit so 'get comfortable' for story time. He spoke about the girl then, and her jaw dropped, she gasped, and her eyes widened at all the right moments. "Well... friends first is always fun," she did think that was very romantic, not that romance was the most important thing to her. At all. But she understood how it was so important to some people. She didn't even know what love felt like, but she wasn't planning on ever doing so. Not that she was against it, she just didn't think it would come naturally to her. Not in the way Shakespeare wrote about it. She couldn't see herself being willing to die for anyone.

"I hope you too are happy together. I wish you the best," she said with a short nod and a grin. She really did wish the best for people! Being happy and having fun were the most important things to her. Sadly, she couldn't get too much farther with this fellow. Especially not after he was so willing to share his story. Vague story, but still.

grey xavier slater

[grey xavier slater]

@adonia

It was a deal. Grey liked deals, because then he could get forceful if someone backed out on them. That was part of the whole journalist thing. He didn’t like having to do that, but if push came to shove, he knew how to take people down. Not saying that blackmail was exactly what he was thinking, but knowing the subject he’d be working with never hurt. This girl though – he didn’t know anything about her aside from what school she attended. That could easily be reversed though. Just because the only important Durmstrang to know was their champion didn’t mean profiles had been written up on other potential champions prior to the selection. Grey had assigned a crew of younger students in the club to do that. He wasn’t sure if they had anything on this one. He had never seen her around before, so that wasn’t exactly a good sign. Her ‘readjustment’ on him as he started to explain wasn’t exactly necessary, but grey let it slide. He had already gotten one victory, pushing someone like her anymore was bound to have some kind of reverb.

Grey nodded as she said friends being first was fun. It kind of was. There hadn’t really been anything between them prior to this year though, which was strange now that he thought about it, but that just meant there was a lot of catching up to do. In a way, that was even better. “Thanks. Haven’t messed anything up yet, so I think that’s a good sign,” he explained, though he wasn’t sure why he felt that was necessary to point out. “I’m not wrong in saying you’re a free spirit, am I? Pretty sure there are a few Hufflepuffs that might find that intriguing. They can be naturally curious at times.” Grey had upheld his end of the bargain. Should she ask where she could find some of the aforementioned Hufflepuffs, he was pretty sure a few of them usually hung out a few rows down from his chair. The usuals always knew each other. If not by name, by the places they claimed for themselves.

[Deleted]

He said he hadn't messed anything up yet and she grinned. "That IS a good sign!" she agreed. Then he guessed that she was a free spirit and she giggled, nodding. He went on to say that there were some Hufflepuffs that she may find intriguing. "Curiosity is my bread and butter," she said with a nod. "Where do I find thees Hufflepods?" she knew the name, she was just being a dork. "I'm rather interested in them. I have met a few since I've been here and they have been some of my favorites," she giggled. Really, though, she got along pretty well with the majority of the ones she'd met because they were usually very interested in happiness, as was she. If she could find a few that were attractive and interested in her as well that would just be a nice bonus.

grey xavier slater
(one more each, let's end this hahah)

[grey xavier slater]

@adonia

Grey wasn’t sure if he was saying what this girl wanted to hear, or if she was just going along with the game. It was hard to tell with her giggling at everything. He had initially pegged her as the same as Lily, and he was pretty sure he wasn’t wrong about that. Then again, it had taken him years to figure that one out as well. Trying to decipher an unknown Durmstrang girl that, frankly he didn’t really care about at all, and figuring out exactly what she was up to seemed impossible. Being like that probably made life fun. A smidge of spontaneity had never killed him, but whether it was worthwhile in the end did. He simply nodded his head as she agreed with him that it was good he hadn’t messed his relationship up yet. That kind of confidence wavered daily, since he had no idea what he was doing still. As for helping her find someone not as boring as he was…

“Hufflepuffs,” he corrected her. “While they aren’t as prideful as Gryffindors are, they still like to be known for what they are.” Grey wasn’t exactly sure how a Hufflepuff would react to their house name being butchered. Laugh? Say that it was alright that the foreign girl didn’t know the name? He didn’t really understand them at all either. They just kind of existed along the other students of the school. “Usually a group of them sits over there,” he waved his wand nonchalantly in a direction that was away from his spot. “If you’re unsure, they’re the ones with yellow on their robes and probably having an obnoxiously normal conversation.” Harsh much? It always seemed like school for them was just like a normal muggle school. Nothing too crazy happened to them, and that was how they liked it. That was also kind of side. “Go make their lives a little more interesting. I’m sure they’ll appreciate it.”

[Grey End]