Keep Your Hands To Yourself (Adonia)

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Brandon was mad. He knew that technically he didn't really have any reasons to be upset, but he was. Adonia did something to Rosie. He wasn't sure exactly what, because Rosie herself hadn't been sure, but whatever it was ended up with Rosie in the hospital wing and that was not okay with Brandon. Especially if Adonia was planning on doing it again, whatever it was that she'd done, that was. Which was why he decided to confront her about it. Even though Rosie asked him not to, he couldn't help it. He wanted to make sure she was safe and that she wouldn't end up in the hospital wing again. 

This was why Brandon found himself standing on the deck of the Durmstrang ship, waiting. He wasn't exactly sure where Adonia was or when she would return to the boat, but this was the one place he knew he could find her eventually and he was serious enough about the conversation that he didn't mind waiting. He stood with his back up against the rail, his arms folded across his chest as he waited for her to show.

@adonia

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Adonia was below deck, having a rather lovely encounter with Martine, a fellow Durmstrang student. They both heard the footsteps above and ignored them at first, until Adonias curiosity got the better of her. She planted a kiss on Martines forehead (which tasted like salt because of the sweat there) and quickly pulled on her jeans and a loose Durmstrang sweatshirt.

She went above deck, ascending the ladder slowly as she listened for a clue as to who was up there. Nothing. She made it to the top and her eyes immediately found Brandon. "Well, well," she smiled, slowly making her way toward him. "Welcome home. Can I scramble you some eggs?" she joked. The ship was technically his home right now too, after all.

@brandon

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To his surprise, Adonia came from below deck. So she'd been here all along. Well, that was just fine. It didn't matter where she was before. What mattered right now was that they needed to have a talk. She was smiling as she made her way towards him, welcoming him and teasing him about cooking food for him. Brandon shook his head. "No, but I do want to talk with you," he told her. Most people would beat around the bush when it came to this sort of thing, but not Brandon. He didn't like confrontation at all, but when it was necessary, he preferred to face it head on. "What happened with you and Rosie the other night?" He asked. He was trying to keep his tone neutral for now, but he wanted to give Adonia a chance to explain her point of view before he got mad at her.

@adonia

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She slowly walked toward him as he spoke, stating that he wanted to talk to her. My, my. His tone was rather severe. He asked outright what happened with her and Rosie. Adonia didn't speed her walk or stop it, but just continued to cross the ship over to him. "I told you," she said, her voice slightly exaspersted but she let her words quiver a bit, so she sounded more regretful of it all. "I was trying to teach her how to duel. Have you asked her about it? She said she's no good," she frowned, shaking her head. "She proved it too. Can you imagine what life will be like for her if she doesn't learn?" she lifted a hand to rub the bridge of her nose, stopping a few feet in front of him. She lowered her hand. "Brandon there are bad things happening and I don't-" she paused, choking up.

She took two more steps until she was only about eight inches away from him and she dropped her volume. "I pushed her too hard, Brandon," she lifted a hand to place on his arm, "and I feel terrible about it. I really do," she bit down on her lip, widening her eyes, "but I can't stand the thought of you being mad at me. Even more so, I can't stand the thought of Rosie getting slaughtered because no one made her learn to defend herself."

@brandon

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Adonia moved across the ship toward him and Brandon stayed where he was in his defensive pose. She had no right treating Rosie like that, even if she was only trying to help. "You can't teach someone to duel in one night, Adonia," he said, still angry. "Besides, that isn't your job. It's her teacher's job." Which was kind of pointless since he knew Rosie dropped Defense Against the Dark Arts the first chance she got, but still. Adonia didn't know that, did she? He knew that Adonia had a point that the world they lived in was dangerous, but he didn't want to admit that. Mostly, he didn't want to admit that Rosie might need to learn some form of self defense. "It never should have gotten to the point where she went to the hospital wing," he added angrily. "That doesn't help her learn anything. In fact, it probably made things worse for her," Brandon insisted, tensing when Adonia touched his arm. Good. She should feel bad about hurting Rosie. The girl hadn't ever done anything to anyone and really didn't deserve to be treated like that. His stomach twisted as she mentioned Rosie possibly dying because she couldn't defend herself. "Unless she asks for your help, you should leave it be," he said stubbornly, refusing to budge. It made him sick that Rosie was hurt so badly, and angry that Adonia was the one to do it.

@adonia

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"I know that!" she blurt out, feigning frustration. She took a deep breath to steady herself. "I know you can't teach someone in one night, Brandon, but I really, truly thought that she could fight back. I didn't want to believe it when she said she was awful at defense," she shook her head, "I was wrong and impulsive. I expected too much." He went on to say it was the teachers job to show her and Adonia shook her head, looking down, "maybe she hasn't told you... But she isn't in Defense class," she looked up at him, her eyes slightly moist, "so who the hell is going to protect her Brandon? You?" she knew anger was a go to emotion people had when they were upset, so she was sure it would sell. That, and worry.

Brandon restated that it shouldn't have gotten that bad, to hospital wing status. He said it probably made things worse for Rosie and Adonia scoffed, taking her hand back. She put it over her mouth and shook her head again, her eyes welling up even more. Thanks, acting skills! Then, he said that she shouldn't help unless she's asked and Adonia made a slight sobbing sound and looked down again, removing her hand from her mouth. "I just care too much, Brandon. And I-I get carried away," she sniffled, wrapping her arms around herself. "I already said I felt b-bad," she looked up at him, eyes wide with tears, "what else do you want from me?"

@brandon

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Brandon was annoyed, but he also recognized he was taking out his frustration on Adonia. Granted, she deserved it. She went too far, attacking a student like that. It was much like what they'd been forced to go through last year- or so he'd heard- with Elaine attacking students left and right. The difference was that Adonia did it in the open ... which perhaps meant she wasn't trying to be cruel. He shook his head, rubbing his face in frustration as she continued to explain, saying that she didn't think Rosie was as bad as she would, that she expected her to fight back when she didn't. He bit his lip. "I know she's not in Defense class," he told Adonia. He'd been close enough with Rosie in school to know that she would drop that one first chance she got, after OWLs. "Maybe she won't put herself in situations where she needs protecting," he argued back, though he knew his reasoning was flimsy. Adonia would see straight through it. She might even realize that he knew it was weak as well. 

He watched Adonia, who looked as though she was about to cry, and started to feel bad. He shouldn't have started out so angrily. Maybe if he let her explain and then talked to her about it, but no. That wasn't what he did. She was shaking and hugging herself now, saying that she cared too much and Brandon reached forward. He hated making people cry, even if he didn't think this was entirely his fault. After all, Adonia made Rosie cry. "Hey, calm down," he said, trying to pull her into a hug. "I just ... I'm sorry, I can stand to see my friends get hurt. When she said that you did it," he sighed a little, "it just made me so angry and I couldn't believe that you would do that. I'm sorry." He didn't want to make her upset, and he felt a little bit better now that he knew it wasn't on purpose. That would've been terrible. At least he didn't have to doubt his friendship with Adonia now. He could trust that she was still a good person.

@adonia

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Brandon said he knew she wasn't in Defense class, and suggested that maybe Rosie wouldn't put herself in those situations. Adonia chose to just nod like she was too sad to fight anymore, but really she was thinking about how stupid that logic was. Of course she wouldn't purposefully go into dangerous situations, but the world was in the middle of a war here. Well, a budding war. Was he an idiot? No, no, he was just being emotional. Still, she didn't respond because she was too busy playing up the emotion card... and she was afraid she'd make fun of him for such a dumb comment.

His arms were enclosing around her though and she kept her hands near her just, stepping up against him so that she could press herself to him while he hugged her. Awe, how sweet! He really was a nice guy, which was a bit of a shame, but also pretty cool. He told her to calm down, saying he was sorry. That he couldn't stand to see his friends, yeah right, get hurt and how he couldn't believe she did it. She slowly turned her hands toward his chest, mid hung, and clutched onto the front of his shirt.

"I just... like to show people things I thing would benefit them. And I get carried away," she said sadly, but then she released a small chuckle, turning her face so her cheek was pressed against his shoulder, "I mean, remember when I taught you about kissing? That was pretty silly, too, but at least it was a little fun," she sniffled, "I just care so much about her and about... you..." she shifted her face to look up at him, but her body was still right up against his, her hands holding his shirt, "it's easy to get lost in that," she whispered.

@brandon

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She didn't push him away when he gave her a hug, which was definitely a good thing. Brandon was feeling guilty for being so harsh and her leaning into his hug helped ease that. Her guilty wasn't technically enough to fix the fact that what she did was wrong, that she hurt Rosie, but it was enough to calm him down a bit. Brandon couldn't stay mad at someone who was so apologetic. He nodded when she said she got carried away sometimes, teaching people. Apparently she did. Then she reminded him about their kiss and he smiled a little. Alright, so at least she didn't just get carried away when it came to Rosie. That made him feel a little better about the situation. 

He relaxed a little, looking down at her when she said that she cared so much about Rosie and about him, saying that she got lost in that. "I understand," he said softly. "I'm sorry I got so angry. I just ... I don't like to see people I care about hurt. So I guess we're pretty similar in that way." He was trying to make peace now, to make her understand that he wasn't angry any longer, but he wasn't entirely sure if that was coming through.

@adonia

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He looked down at her and she kept her eyes on his face. He spoke softly, saying that he understood and apologizing. When he said they were similar she laughed, trying to make it sound more like a nervous, cute chuckle than actually laughing at the fact that he thought his sweet soul was anything like hers. "Yeah, I guess we are," she said softly, too. "I'm also sorry," she added.

Her gaze fixed on his for a moment and she bit her lip as if she was lost in thought. Her eyes shifted down to look at his lips, and they lingered there, before her eyes widened and she took a step back, pulling herself away from him. "I... should let you get going. I mean, you came what you came to say... right?" she bit her lip again, her eyes shifting to look off to the side, her hand lifting to clasp the opposite elbow. "I mean... I guess there's no reason for you to stick around."

@brandon

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Her small little laugh made him smile back and Brandon felt relieved when Adonia said that she was sorry and that she guessed they were similar. That was basically a peace offering, wasn't it? Making things right between them, so they could be friends again, he hoped. Brandon hated getting mad at people and did want to make sure that things were good between he and Adonia before he left. 

He noticed when she looked at his lips and then started pulling away. What? She was thinking about kissing him in a moment like this? Right after they got out of a fight? It was strange to Brandon, but he wasn't going to judge her for it. Then she said she should let him go, that he said what he meant to and Brandon found himself shaking his head. "We're still friends Adonia," he told her, taking a small step closer to her. "Sure, I came here to talk with you, but that doesn't mean I don't have time to stick around. Is there anything you want to do?" He felt bad that she still looked guilty, or nervous around him. He didn't want her to feel that way. she was hugging herself and he felt bad. He reached out and touched her arm, trying to take her hand. "Come on, things are good with us," he reassured her as he smiled. He really just wanted to see her smile again. He couldn't leave her upset.

@adonia

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Hmm. Interesting. He really was just trying to be genuine. That was something Adonia knew few people were. She had guessed this about Brandon but hadn't really seen it in action before. It was... Encouraging, but also meant that her tricks wouldn't work anymore. He was too good for them. Sure the ferris wheel was a different story but...

She shook her head, trying for a small smile, and took another step back as he tried to take her hand. "I promised someone I'd meet them," she said. She cleared her throat and shook her head before taking two more steps to be close to him again. She lifted onto her toes and kissed his cheek, placing her hand on his shoulder for leverage.

Then she turned around to leave the ship without looking back at him. What gave him the right to be so good? She didn't get it. He fell for her apology to easily. She always saw the best in people and had faith in them but... She could never be like him. So forgiving. How could he be so good. She picked up the pace, almost stomping now. Adonia needed to do something else. Something bad.

@brandon
(The end)