Don't Let Them See (Riley)

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He was back. Dominic was back and Kinsey couldn't seem to move past that fact, even though she hadn't run into him again since the carnival. The fact was, he was back and now it would start again. The tormenting and cruel words, along with the pushing around, though he rarely was physical with her. The worst she ever had were bruises on her arms from him pulling her around. Still, she wasn't ready for this. She thought when he left school last fall that she was saved, but apparently not.

It was late. She should be back on the common room, but Kinsey couldn't force herself to leave this bench. She hadn't even moved to eat dinner. She was trying to keep herself from crying and failing at doing that, but she wasn't going back until Dom wouldn't be able to tell that she was crying. Maybe she'd stay here all night ... and get herself into even more trouble. She sat on her bench, staring out at the pond and trying to figure out how to make this better. But that was impossible. Things weren't going to get better.

@riley

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Riley always fancied a stroll after dinner. He liked to have a chance to reflect back on the day and clear his head before he went to bed. He'd bring his notebook and write about what he observed during the day and note anything new or interesting to look into later and do some thinking of his own. He never had a destination in mind, he would walk out the grand doors and then just go wherever his feet would take him until he felt like turning around. He happened upon the pond and decided to go and sit on a bench with a view of the water, but once he got closer he saw that it was already occupied by a girl in his year and house that he knew vaguely. One look at her proved that something was very, very wrong. Riley noticed how she sat, hunched a bit, trying to make herself small. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes a little puffy, her nose was red. He knew instantly that she had been trying and likely wanted to be alone, but he was never one who let anyone be alone, even if they asked, he was a bit annoying that way. He walked over and sat on the bench next to her, at first, not saying anything. He watched the water move a bit in the pond and then after a few seconds pause, decided to say, "nice night, isn't it?" he knew however that she had not been having a nice night.

@kinsey

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Kinsey should have expected that someone might see her or join her or something, but she didn't. She was so much in her own world, thinking about Dom and her problems and struggles that when someone sat down next to her, she jumped. How did she not notice them! She looked over anxiously- her thoughts instantly going to Dom- but it wasn't him. She gave a sigh of relief when she recognized the person. It was Riley. He was in her year and seemed like a nice guy, though Kinsey didn't know him very well. When he sat next to her, Kinsey could sense that he was concerned and wished that she was on her own. Her guard was down and she didn't know how to get it back up again and she was sure that Riley would be able to tell that something was wrong. Still, when he said something it had nothing to do with her. "Yeah, it's really pretty out here," she answered, sniffling when her nose ran a little bit. She hated crying. It always made breathing difficult. "I didn't expect to see anyone out here so late," Kinsey added a second later. 

@riley

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Riley wasn't a very forward person. Even when using is talents, even when finding out deep, dark secrets that some people may not even know that he knew, he never used them or spoke them out loud, his observations went into his notebook and he had enchanted it with a spell to keep anyone out that wasn't him. He could only imagine what people would think if they read it. He had things written down about almost everyone, observations, quirks, questions, people were interesting and while he was trapped in the castle, he might as well make the most of his companions. "Looks a bit like rain, though." he added, tilting his head up to the sky. He caught her sniffle, not only had she been crying, but she still was and her breath caught a few times. He was curious as to what was wrong, but he wouldn't ask, he didn't need to, if he sat here long enough she'd give him some clue, maybe a word, maybe he'd see something on her, he didn't know, but he was sure something would present itself, it always did. "Walking before bed helps me sleep and aids in digestion." he spoke, rather clinically, almost mimicking his father. "My dad does it and one day when I couldn't sleep I took a walk and have been doing so almost every night sense." he admitted. "I don't normally see a lot of people on my walks either." he added, keeping his head looking at the sky but glancing down at her in his peripheral vision.

@kinsey

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Kinsey couldn't understand why he would stop here just to talk with her about the weather. What was so important about a pretty night sky, or about the fact that it might rain sometime tonight? She knew she was being melodramatic, letting her fears get the better of her, but she couldn't seem to help it. She merely nodded at his comment however. "Yeah, hopefully the rain will wait until we get inside," she answered a few moments later. Honestly, she wouldn't mind getting drenched right now. Besides that, it was always easier to cry in the rain than it was to cry in any other situation. Rain hid it. When he explained why he was out an about, Kinsey didn't know what to say. He had more of a reason to be out walking than she had to be on this bench. At least he could explain why he was walking. She couldn't explain what she was doing. She didn't want to make things worse with Dominic or get Riley into trouble with him either. That was one reason why this was so hard. She had no one, and thanks to Dominic's constant criticism, her confidence fell every day. "Maybe I'll have to try that someday," she commented, more to give her something to say than because she really meant it. He mentioned that he didn't normally see people when he went on walks and she tensed. Did he want her to explain what she was doing? She wouldn't. "Well I guess that makes today unique," Kinsey eventually responded, shivering slightly when a sharp breeze moved past her. It was going to rain. That's why it was getting colder outside.

@riley

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To be honest, Riley couldn't care less about the weather. However, like everything else, it effected people in ways that did interest him. Rain made people stay inside, and when people got bored, they began to show more quirks, more little things slipped though when one was bored and not thinking about it. But also, when one was bored, one had more time to think about themselves and reflect inwardly, which gave even more for Riley to ponder. She commented about the rain and about how she might try Riley's little habbit and he knew as well as she did that she didn't mean it, she had no interest in walking outside before bed. She didn't didn't want to sit in awkward silence and her comments had proved it. If she truly wanted to be alone, she wouldn't have answered him at all. "It does indeed." he insisted when she said that seeing someone outside made today unique. He knew he would get to the bottom of why she was out here, but, he wasn't yet sure if he would let on that he knew. It might be more of a comfort for her if she didn't know that he knew, or if he at least didn't acknowledge it. She shivered and Riley instantly unzipped his hoodie and took it, off, he had a small, awkward pause before he draped it around her shoulders. "We wouldn't want you getting sick." he admitted.

@kinsey

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Riley didn't say anything back when she commented about the rain and going on walks and Kinsey looked away from him, out to the pond. In all reality, if he hadn't shown up, she would be sitting with her knees up by her chin, hugging her legs to try and help herself calm down, but Riley's presence forced her to not do that. She didn't want to appear weak in front of anyone else because, for all she knew, she might end up having more than one person torment her. She took slow, deep breaths. "Is that why you stopped? I mean if you like to go on walks every night, why stop just because you see someone? Doesn't that ruin the point of it?" She wasn't necessarily trying to push him away, more trying to understand what he was doing sitting next to her. Though they were in the same year, the two had rarely interacted before so she didn't understand why the sudden interest. Especially when it was so awkward. Still, she didn't sense anything bad from him, which was the main reason she stayed instead of leaving. He started moving and Kinsey heard something zipping, but she didn't turn to look at him. Maybe he was leaving now. Then she felt him touch her shoulder and a strong jolt of sincere concern ran through her as she also could feel something warm being wrapped around her shoulders. She instantly wanted to give the hoodie back. Her hands even twitched as if she was about to take it off, but that would be rude and it was so warm. Kinsey didn't even realize how cold she'd been until that moment. Without really meaning to, she slipped her arms into the sleeves and smiled a little, though she didn't zip it up. "Why would you care about me getting sick?" She asked, finally turning to look at him. "Especially since now you don't have something to keep you warm." Kinsey knew she should thank him, but she was too confused. Why did he give her his hoodie?

@riley

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She was curious and he didn't blame her, he would be also if a stranger came and sat next to him after sunset somewhere that normally didn't get a lot of foot traffic. He noted that her breathing was slow and deep, she was trying to hold something in, likely, given how he found her, the desire to cry more, or worse, break down completely. "I was actually just going to write a little." he admitted, pulling his notebook out of his bag and showing her the book as proof. "I didn't know anyone would be over here." that was the truth, but then he added, "I wasn't following you or anything. I'm really not a total creep." he admitted, slipping the book back into his bag so there was no chance it would get lost or fall into the wrong hands. he saw her hands move and realized that she was having a slight internal debate whether or not to accept the jacket. He hoped that she would but he also understood if it was too much. Perhaps she had not been used to people being so nice to her, a thought that he didn't like thinking. "I wouldn't want anyone getting sick." he admitted, he felt this overwhelming desire to prove to her that he was a good person and that there were good people around especially if his theory was correct. "The cold never bothered me anyway." he admitted with a shrug and a smirk.

@kinsey

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He explained that he wanted to write and Kinsey felt herself relax a little bit. He was close enough to her on the bench that she could sense his intentions pretty well and there was nothing bad there. He wasn't lying or trying to manipulate her and Kinsey felt a rush of overwhelming relief take over. She had to keep telling herself that not everyone was like Dominic, that she should trust others, but it wasn't always easy. Most of the time it was hard, but with his kind of intentions she couldn't help but trust him. She gave a small smile that faded as she spoke. "Well you can write if you want. You don't have to talk to me, I'm fine." It was a lie. She wasn't fine, but she also wasn't going to talk about it. "I didn't think you were a creep. I just ... didn't understand why anyone would be over here," Kinsey explained. She didn't want him to feel like he had to justify everything to her. The breeze picked up again and Kinsey's fingers moved to automatically zip up the jacket. She looked up and shrugged, still shivering and hunched a little with the cold. While his jacket was definitely helping, she'd been outside for a while and it was taking a bit of time for her to warm up. "Well thank you. I appreciate that," she said. At his comment about the cold and his smirk, a small burst of laughter escaped Kinsey and she really smiled at him. "Do you have control over this storm," she teased, "because if you do, I'm going to have to ask you to make it stop." Kinsey knew he didn't, but she was making her own reference to the movie now.

@riley

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He rarely wrote around other people, unless he felt it would make them more comfortable like when he had his little interaction with Cara Bainbridge, she was already writing so he felt like writing would help her not hate him, but it didn't seem to make much of a difference. He didn't really write though, because if she had looked over his shoulder and saw her own name written on the page there surly would be a confrontation. Riley wrote about people, he wrote their secrets, their interests, their quirks. Not in a 'keeping information for blackmail' kind of way, but in a 'notes for later research' kind of way. He never did much with his information except use it to refrence things he read about or to lead on further research questions. She insisted he could write if he wanted to and he shook his head. "No, no offense, but writing is kind of a private thing for me." he admitted, giving her something about him that was a little vulnerable so maybe she would feel a little more comfortable. "I don't normally do it with other people around." he concluded. She moved to zip up the jacket during the next breeze and he began to feel the chill a bit as well, however, he didn't really mind it, not yet at least. It was refreshing. "No, honestly, I don't, but wouldn't that be a cool power?" he pondered. "Nope, no storm powers for me, I'm content with hyper-observancy, thanks." he added. It wasn't a power he was born with, it was one he had taught and was still teaching himself. It wasn't really a secret, but not everyone knew about it, it made sense seeing as they weren't the hyper-observant ones.

@kinsey

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Riley was instantly shaking his head after her suggestion and Kinsey watched him curiously. This was new. He didn't seem nervous or anything, but he was determined when he said that writing was private. "Oh okay," she said after a second. "That's fine too." She didn't know what else to say. Of course, she didn't want to mess with his private writing or to be in his way, but Kinsey also didn't want to leave here. Not yet anyway. She looked back out at the pond, not really knowing what to say back to him. It took about half a second of silence for Dominic to jump back into her mind and her stomach started to twist anxiously. She wrapped her arms around it and squeezed, trying to settle it. Riley would probably just think she was cold, she assumed. When he spoke again, she forced herself to listen to what he was saying instead of think on her worries. "Yeah, it would," she answered, truly believing it. At least, she would rather that power than the one she had. At least being in charge of storms wouldn't make your interactions with other people awkward, or make it so you couldn't trust them. She turned to look at him, her eyebrows furrowing at his next comment. "Hyper-observancy? What's that?" He was probably expecting the question, but she asked it all the same.

@riley

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Riley didn't mean to make it awkward by explaining that his writing was private, but one's intentions weren't always taken the way that one intended them. Riley watched as she wrapped her arms around her stomach, it almost felt crushing that he could see that she was in so much pain but he couldn't do anything about it. Coming out and saying that he knew there was something on her mind would likely make her change her mind that he wasn't a creep. He couldn't read minds, but he knew that some people might have assumed that he could, rather, he just knew how to read people and he could tell their intentions and thoughts based on their actions. She agreed that it would be a cool power and he nodded, "exceptional movie too, one of my sisters favorites. Though it's kind of surprising that our parents even allow the TV in the house, they were fairly against muggle technology for a really long time." he admitted, just making conversation. He had slipped the fact that he was hyper-observant into the conversation on purpose as a way to give her a heads up, whether she took it or not, that he could read and notice the little things that most people would ignore or read in the wrong ways. "It means that I have a really good sense of perception. I pick up on little gestures and ticks and quirks that people have... and I'm really good at interpreting nonverbal signs." he admitted, hoping that she didn't feel weird about it, even if she did begin to realize that he had thoughts on why she was out here, a question that he had never asked.

@kinsey

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She felt his eyes on her as she hugged her stomach and tried to think of something to say, but nothing was coming to mind. She could tell Riley that she'd missed dinner, but what would the point in that be? She was just trying to stay in the moment instead of worry about when her next run-in with Dom would be. At his comment about having a TV, Kinsey turned back to face him. "Why were your parents against muggle technology?" she asked, though she thought she already had an idea. Lots of people- she'd learned they were mostly purebloods - didn't like muggles or muggleborns. Maybe his parents were among that group, though Kinsey always thought of them as rude and arrogant people. People like Dominic, to be honest. She found herself slightly apprehensive of his answer, though he'd already proven that he wasn't like Dom. At his explanation, Kinsey's head cocked to the side slightly, her Ravenclaw curiosity coming out even as she started to feel a little anxious again. Man, this conversation was a roller coaster. "What have you noticed about me?" she asked, paying close attention to his intentions so she would know if he was telling the truth or not.

@riley

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"My parents are very pureblood, well, that's weird to say because being pureblood doesn't really mean anything... they're anti-muggle purebloods." he explained, but then felt the overwhelming sensation to clear his name. "I'm not though, I'm fine with them." he said, at least he thought that he was. He wasn't quite sure, not because he actually didn't like muggles, but mostly because he wasn't sure yet if it was easier to stay in his parents good books or decide to go on his own. He could remind neutral for a while and that would be fine, eventually he would have to make the choice however and it would be a family vs. morals choice. His brother, he knew, already chose family. His sister was a 5th year and a little too young to have it all figured out, but she was such a sweet girl and she and Riley got along well and he couldn't see how she would be a blood elitist. 'What have you noticed about me?' that was a question he hated getting because he hated telling them. The truth was sometimes things that not even they realized about themselves. he sometimes avoided bringing it up or explaining just to avoid this question. "Um, I don't know." he shrugged, looking at the water. He then gave a sigh, realizing that she wasn't going to let up. "You flinched when I touched you to give you my jacket. Which more times than not means that someone hasn't been... nice to you..." he admitted.

@kinsey

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Kinsey listened as he started to explain about his parents, saying that they were against muggles. She nodded slowly, biting her lip a little. She honestly didn't know if her parentage (being a half-blood) was what made Dominic decide to target her or not, but she felt suddenly nervous about this guy. Riley seemed nice. Was that just because he didn't know who her parents were? Then he said that he wasn't one and she couldn't help but stare. "Why not? I mean, if your parents don't like muggles, why would you be fine with them?" Kinsey wasn't trying to change his mind, she just couldn't help her curious nature. He hesitated at her question, and Kinsey felt an overwhelming need to know what he thought about her. What he thought he knew. He said he didn't know, looking at the water and she shook her head, looking away. Lie. Then he sighed and his intentions switched. Kinsey turned to look at him and her mouth opened a little when he explained what he'd noticed. Her second-biggest secret. She closed her mouth and looked away. What was she supposed to say to that? "You're right?" No, she couldn't do that. She lifted her feet onto the bench and hugged her legs, resting her chin on her knees. There was no use pretending to be strong when he already saw that.

@riley