Chase Away The Boredom (Riley)

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Kinsey was bored. For the first time ever, she wanted to be anywhere but in class. Sure, she liked all of her classes and did pretty well in them, but this time it seemed like the professor was just droning on and on. Wasn't Defense Against the Dark Arts supposed to be interesting and full of practical application? Not today, apparently and Kinsey was losing her mind.

After a bit she turned to look at Riley. He was sitting in the seat beside her, as he often did now. Just looking at him made her smile, but she wanted more than that right now. She wanted to talk. Then an idea came to her.

She turned back to her notes, using her wand to quietly cut off some parchment. Then she wrote.

Riley,
I'm so bored! Entertain me, somehow? You're the best.
~Kinsey

She actually had no idea how her friend would react to this new idea of hers, but she was curious to see.

@riley

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Riley never really appreciated class time. He loved learning, but he didn't love it if he wasn't interested in the subject. And if Defense Against the Dark Arts class, he wasn't really finding the current teachings very interesting. He didn't take defense against the dark arts because he was interested so much as he had intense pressure from his family to take it and get good marks in it, his brother had been excellent at this type of magic and he supposed his parents excepted the same from their other two children as well. Rather than take notes, which to anyone who didn't look closely it looked like he was doing, he was writing into his little journal that he kept close to him at all times. The one that he enchanted so no one would ever be able to read it. The one he kept with observations within.

Riley was a bit startled when he saw Kinsey next to him using her wand in class, had they been asked to get it out and use it to practice something that he had missed? No one else around them had their wands out, so he watched her use it to cut a piece of her parchment and write on it before passing it to him. He read it and smiled, then he took his pen and drew a tic-tac-toe board below her note. He then placed an X in the center and winked to her silently.

@kinsey

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Kinsey could practically sense Riley's curiosity when she was cutting the parchment and writing on it, but once he was looking at it he was smiling. She watched him draw a tic-tac-toe board and had to keep herself from laughing out loud. She moved a hand to cover her mouth so hopefully no one would notice her grinning. She watched Riley put an X in the middle and wink at her, then Kinsey rolled her eyes in response. She scooted a little closer to him, trying to make it look like she was stretching her legs and sides so no one would notice her slide. The thing was, if they weren't close, sliding the parchment would be obvious to the people behind them. She put an O in the bottom center square and then waited.

@riley

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She moved herself closer to him, something he appreciated for a handful of reasons. It was amazing how she had come to mean so very much to him in such a short amount of time, she'd soon be fighting Dom Weasley for female best friend status. Riley had never met a human whom he connected with as fast and intensely as he did with Kinsey, it was a learning curve, mostly, he hard to learn how to be away from her, because at all times of the day, she was what he thought about. Riley Fudge closed his journal and glanced to the professor to make sure that he hadn't seen them. They seemed to be in the clear so, he put another X in the upper right corner before returning his attention to the front of the room, pretending he wasn't watching Kinsey make her move out of the corner of his eye

@kinsey

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Riley was being smart, looking up to make sure the professor wasn't watching them. Before he did that, Kinsey didn't even think about it. Sure, she thought about her fellow students realizing they were messing around, but her professor? She didn't even glance toward him. Oops. At least she was messing around with Riley. She was pretty sure that he'd do a good job of keeping her out of trouble. At least, she was sure he'd try. Whether or not he succeeded depended on what else he came up with to entertain her during class. Sure, tic-tac-toe was great, but you couldn't do it for an hour. Kinsey put an O in the bottom left corner, blocking Riley from his attempt to win. She looked up to the front of the room, an innocent expression on her face as she nudged him with her elbow. She knew that wasn't necessary, but it was fun and another way to tease him.

@riley

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Riley felt the nudge of her elbow in his side and held back a small snicker, she was a little impatient, but he had come to love and appreciate every quality she had. He was just glad to see that after she tried explaining to him a few days ago in the great hall that she found her classes interesting, even she found herself sometimes bored by the lessons and in need of an extra-curricular distraction. She had blocked his first attempt at winning, however, Riley had a few tricks up his sleeve. He put an X in the lower right square, eager to see her face when she realized that now, no matter where she put her O, he would win next turn, either by putting an X in the middle right square, or putting an X in the upper left square. He tried to hide his proud smirk as she pondered his move. He was a gentleman, but he wasn't going to let her win that easily. 

@kinsey

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Even before she looked at his move, she could tell he was smirking. What did he have to smirk- oh. He'd won. Basically, this was not one of the games that Kinsey was good at and it showed. This was probably one of the oldest games in the book and he'd played it perfectly. She looked over at him and made a face before putting her O in one of the boxes and then doing his X for him and circling the winning line. No, it probably wasn't very sportsmanlike of her, but Kinsey really couldn't care less. Most people didn't know this, but when she wanted to be she could be quite competitive and at the moment, sitting in class bored, she was competitive. 

Any other ideas? Obviously I'm no good at that one.

Now it was Kinsey's turn to look at him out of the corner of her eye. Really, she was trying to not be too obvious with the professor standing just a few rows in front of them, but she just wanted to have fun with her friend. She could read up on the material later and get the same information. 

@riley

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Riley loved her reaction to him having won the game, he hadn't expected her to do anything less, and he loved that she was comfortable enough with him to openly show her un-sportswomen like behavior and won the game for him. He hadn't put a lot of time or effort into the game, however, it was something that his skills made him good at. He could read the board, he could read his opponent, and it wasn't a very difficult game with a bit of logic. Once she finished the game for him, she wrote him a note, insisting that she wasn't good at that game and he could tell she didn't want to play again.

Shouldn't you be paying attention, young lady?

He wrote back, giving her a subtle wink also.

@kinsey

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Pride was practically radiating off of Riley. No, she wasn't sensing it because of her gift (she really couldn't sense pride), but Kinsey was pretty good at reading people because of her gift and Riley wasn't trying to hide his feelings. He was practically smirking at her, obviously proud for having won the game, Kinsey was a little disappointed she'd lost so easily, but whatever. Hopefully it meant they could do something more fun now, though she had no idea what that could be. She noticed his wink and made a face at him when she read his note. From anyone else, she would be offended by the condescending tone, but it was Riley and she knew he didn't mean it that way. 

Paying attention is overrated, Riley. Weren't you the one who said you got bored in class and now you're telling me to pay attention? Besides, I can read up on this material anytime and learn just as much from a book as I can listening to the professor. None of that solves the problem now though. I'm boooooooooooored.

She slid the paper towards him again, watching from the corner of her eye. He was probably just going to be amused by her ridiculousness, but she was curious to see what he thought of to do about it.

@riley

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Riley was very amused by her response. She was such a character and he was never bored with her. She made him laugh, she made him think, she was such a big part of her life, and such an important part of his life. Before he wrote back, he caught himself just looking at her, just admiring the amazing woman sitting right beside him. How did he get so lucky? It really was as simple as being in the right place at the right time. And while their first meeting had been a little less than happy, every second between them had made up for any negative experiences in his entire life up to this point. He snapped himself out of his trace and scribbled on the paper she had pushed towards him.

Well what can I do? If I weren't terrified to get in trouble then I'd so something crazy, but alas, my perfect disciplinary record stands.

@kinsey

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He was smiling, clearly amused by what she did and Kinsey smiled as she faced forward. She heard a few words of the lecture, but really wasn't trying to understand what was going on. It was too late for that now. She was already involved in a conversation with Riley and wasn't going to be paying really good attention to the lesson while she spoke with him. She didn't even notice Riley watching her. She was lost in thought as she stared forward, pretending to pay attention. Then the parchment was in front of her again and Kinsey looked down at it, smiling. 

I don't know what we should do; that's why I asked you! If I already had an idea, I would've said: "Riley, we should do such and such, I wouldn't have asked what we should do. We don't have to do something crazy. Talking probably works, as long as you keep it interesting.

She looked back up towards the professor and then slowly slid the paper over towards Riley. Maybe if they changed things up they would be less likely to get caught.

@riley

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Her responses never failed to amuse him. She wanted him to keep her entertained and to make the conversation interesting. That much he was fairly confident in his ability to do. He picked up his pen, knowing this was going to make a fool of himself, but he knew she would find it funny and he wanted to let her in on this little secret.

The red headed girl two rows to the right... she was the first girl I ever had a crush on during our first year.

He admitted into the parchment casting a glance to the Hufflepuff girl a little ways away, the crush had gone away as soon as it have come, but she had been nice to him on the train to Hogwarts and back then, the only thing a girl had to do to make him like them was be nice to him.

@kinsey

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He was smiling and writing, which Kinsey took as a good sign. She was glad that he was willing to do this with her, even though others might think of it as a bit juvenile, passing notes. Still, it was a good way to pass the time and it gave her something else to focus on other than her boredom. Her eyes skimmed over his response and she kept the smile on her face, though she also felt a sharp pang of jealousy in her chest. She didn't do anything to show it though. She didn't want Riley to notice and knew that if she did anything, he likely would. She looked at the girl for a few seconds. She was pretty ... but Riley didn't say anything about that.

Why did you have a crush on her?

Kinsey couldn't help it, she wanted to understand the way his mind worked. Did the girl do something, or was it just because she was pretty? Was it one of those where they liked one another in first year, but nothing ever happened with it? She just wanted to understand Riley a bit more.

@riley

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Riley felt his cheeks go a little red when she looked over at the red headed girl also, he didn't want to draw attention to it from anyone else, but it was innocent enough, she was just looking around the room, it didn't mean anything. It was casual enough, right? Riley waited for her to write her response. Why did he have a crush on her, she had asked. He felt a little juvenile for his answer

Honestly, she was just nice to me.

He wrote back with a little shrug and a subtle rolling of his eyes at his past self for being so easy to please. He wasn't all that difficult to please now, but at 11, likely if a girl even looked at him, he would think she was nice.

@kinsey

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He was blushing and Kinsey felt ... anxious about his response. This was ridiculous. Why should she be anxious because of a girl he liked in first year. He didn't say he had a crush on her now, so there really wasn't any reason why Kinsey should be so stressed about it, but she was. And she was also fighting to try and make sure none of that showed. It was bad enough that he could probably see signs that she liked him already. She didn't need to go off and make it entirely obvious in an undeniable way. Then he said she was just nice to him while shrugging and rolling his eyes at Kinsey. In an instant all the stress went away and Kinsey's smile was more real. She looked up at the professor and around the room a little, trying to make sure no one was really paying attention to them. 

Well I'm glad she was. What other secrets do I get to learn now?

She was teasing him, and winked to make sure he knew. The thing was, if he turned this topic on her, he wouldn't be happy with the results. Kinsey didn't have any early crushes. Knowing people's intentions did something to her mind and from a young age she didn't think that she could be happy with anyone because she would always know when they lied. To a degree she still believed that, but she also found herself in the middle of her first real crush, the first one she actually acknowledged to herself. Sure, she thought people were cute or kind or whatever before, but she hadn't thought to like them for it. This was all new to Kinsey.

@riley