My Fortune? ((Payton))

[jillian]

Jill relaxed her smile as she listened to him talk, when he was finished – Jill looked at him and grinned, “Italy? What part? I don’t mean to sound nosy or anything, but some of my aunt’s family are from Italy – or were I should say, I’m not sure if any of them are living anymore.” She tucked her hair behind her ear and closed her eyes before continuing, “If you’re ready for something else, then go for it. From what you tell me, you’re family won’t be anything short of supportive and happy for you. That’s what would keep me behind, how much Joann needs me. But then again, I’m afraid of change if you haven’t noticed.” She laughed lightly, that was an understatement. She wasn’t afraid, she was terrified – but she was slowly getting over that, thankfully because of Payton.

When he explained that he had been working long enough that he practically ran the place, and she could come around and keep him company for as long as she could stand him; she couldn’t help but look up in surprise and laugh lightly, “As long as I can stand you? You think I’m going to get sick of you, Payton? If I were going to do that I would have by now. No, I don’t think I will. So, if you were hoping that I would and wouldn’t visit – you’re out of luck. I plan on visiting as much as I can.” She crossed her arms and nodded with a humph, then grinned again and looked at him out of the corner of her eyes before turning toward him again, “You mean I can’t make you stay out late on a weeknight and have you groggy the next morning? Ruin my fun.” She paused, “But I’ll hold you to that idea.”

[payton]

He shrugged when she asked him what part of Italy he was going to. It hadn't exactly been decided, it depended mostly on where he was able to get a job as an apprentice. "I haven't found a job there yet, so I guess I'd go anywhere. I want to be in the city, so Rome, Florence, Vennice...those are the main places I'm looking into. I can't wait...and imagine how nice it will be go to a year with out the London weather." He paused for a moment, watching Jill. Their lives were so different when it came to family life and support. "My mum, well step mum, will make a fuss about me going, and it will be hard to be so far away from everyone for so long, but yeah. They will support me no matter what and be more than happy to welcome me back home if that ever happens." He paused again, leaning towards Jill and bumping her shoulder with his. "You know, your not as afraid of change as you think you are, the tick is just to ease you into it before you realize whats happening. Change is scarey...but for the most part, its good."

He laughed and shook his head when she said that he was out of luck if he was hoping she was going to get sick of him. "The thought never crossed my mine, but I figured I was a bit harder to stand in long doses than you were. I seem to have the special talent of making you go along with whatever pops into my head, so I think I win on the who-can-stand-the-other-the-longer contest." He laughed again, before moving the arm he had behind Jill and letting his weight fall back so that he laid down and looked up at the sky. He lay there for a moment before reaching his hand up tug on Jill's shirt and get her to do the same. It would be much easier to talk to her that way. "You know, it probably wouldn't take much convincing to get me to stay out all night and then go to work the next morning, but you better plan on sitting in the kitchen with me and making sure I don't fall asleep and burn the pastries if we do."

[jillian]

“Rome is pretty, I haven’t been there, of course. But I’ve seen pictures and such. I hear Venice is gorgeous though.” Jill added after he had answered her question. She had always wanted to visit her aunt’s family Italy, but never was able to. Of course, Jill would want to leave London anyway. She loved the city, but it was almost always so dreary – so rainy. She wanted sunshine, flowers, happiness, and a world that looked like it was always smiling. Then again, maybe that whole idea would be fruitless without the caring family with her. Jill always thought that maybe that’s why her life was so dreary, so empty. No family to bring worth. Her family life was nothing like Payton’s and she envied him a bit for it.

When his shoulder bumped hers, she came back from her reverie and listened to what he was saying. “Change is scary. I don’t like it, I don’t think I ever have liked it. But I grow accustomed to it if it happens. It isn’t always good though, Payton. My aunt dying was change, and that was bad. Me living with Michael was change, but that was bad too. I think I like feeling safe in a routine life – no spicing it up, just being mundane. Although I complained about the waltz being mundane earlier, it’s really what my life has been like.” She smiled at him and then looked down at the grass, trying not to stay serious the whole time. For the short time she knew Payton, he didn’t like too much sadness.

She looked up again when he pulled on her shirt. Jill looked at him and then followed him, lying next to him. Her eyes watching the sky before replying, “Uh uh. I’m not a morning person. If anything I would fall asleep before you did, and that would be bad.”

[payton]

He nodded in agreement when she said that Rome was pretty. He had actually been there--once, long ago now. It was the summer before he started Hogwarts and it was one of his fathers 'adventures.' Pops thought that it was important for his children to see what he thought were some of the most amazing things in the world. Somehow, no matter how tight money was, Pop's always managed to scrape up enough month for a family vacation every few years to someplace completely amazing. He took them to see the pyramids, Stonehenge, the Eiffel Tower, the Colosseum. It was another thing he had always been grateful to his father for.

He decided not to mention his travels to Jill mainly because he knew that her life had been harder than his when it came to family. He didn't want to add another thing to her list of what her family life had lacked so instead he eyed her when she pointed out the bad things that can happen with change. "I said for the most part you know." he bumped her shoulder again. "Sometimes it is bad, but life is just a bit better when you take the optimists view of things. Trust me, I've got a solid 17 years of testing it out." He flashed her a bight grin, laughing when she said that she would probably fall asleep before he did. "Now that would be quite the task. I'm pretty good at dragging myself out of bed int he morning, but I'm pretty good at that falling asleep too." He paused for a moment, raising his eyebrows at Jill as he pictured his bosses reaction to the sight of both Jill and Payton asleep in the kitchen with a batch of muffins burning in the oven. "But you know, if my boss caught me asleep on the job he may just thing that something was wrong and let me off early...which means we could have the rest of the day to enjoy ourselves...which may just be sleeping for the rest of it."

[jillian]

Jill smiled at his comments about sleeping at his work. But her mind was still on the change thing. If there was good change just by being optimistic then you're saying anything can be good if you look on the bright side of it. Kind of like, the glass is half full thing? That always bothered her though, what does your outlook on life have to do with glasses? She closed her eyes and sighed, bringing her hands onto her stomach and thumping her thumb against it gently. The steady beat, helping her think. When she opened her eyes again she turned to Payton and raised an eyebrow.

"Whether or not your optimistic can help you see things in different lights? So, say, you go to a funeral. If you think about how you'll never have to cry about the person anymore, it's all okay? Or a wedding, if someone you love is getting married - not love romantically but like a mother or a sister - if they were getting married, and you thought about how they'll never annoy you again, that makes it all fine?" Jill asked, but it wasn't in an angry tone. She was rather just curious how he could say that. He would probably ask her why she was asking about marriage or something, or maybe it was her paranoia that she would. But Jill wasn't going to let him, so she began.

"Joann sent me an invitation, to her wedding... I told her I don't think I can make it though." She turned her face back to the sky and sighed again, "Was that wrong to do?"

[payton]

He glanced over at her considering for a moment how exactly her mind worked. Sometimes the answers she came up with were so out of the ordinary it caught even him off guard. Perhaps to some it wouldn't seem that big of a deal, but he had spent his entire life living with Dillion--he was rather use to things become a bit off the normal mark. "I think your optimism still has a bit of pessimism it it. I was thinking more like...for a funeral, that their suffering was over if they were ill, or that they've moved onto a better place, or that they lived a wonderful life. Now weddings though, that is easy to be happy for. Someone you love is giving themselves to someone they love after all. If it makes the person you care about happy, that I always felt it should make you happy too." He shrugged for a moment, his attention focused on Jill as he thought about the different in their answers for a moment. He never would have thought up the answers that she gave him, but then he wasn't sure she would have really thought of the ones that he gave her before he pointed them out.

His eyebrows raised when Jill said that Joann was apparently getting married, and he was even more surprised when Jill added that she wasn't planning on attending. "Well...um, its not really...wrong, but I don't understand why you don't want to go. I mean, you always speak of Joan like she mans a lot to you and you really care about her...so wouldn't you want to go be at her wedding to support her? I'm sure Joann would really like you there." He paused, giving Jill a soft smile. "Besides, don't you want an excuse to wear one of those ruffled pink things girls always do to weddings?" He couldn't stop his eyebrows from raising as he said it. He couldn't even begin to imagine Jill, who was rather unsentimental and a bit bitter, to make an appearance in a classical pink ruffled dress, with her hair all done up in curls and those shoes his older sisters always wore that he thought looked more painful than anything.

[jillian]

Jill closed her eyes, focused on her breathing, and then opened them again. "I don't think I would attend any funerals for someone that I wasn't terribly close to. My grief would overshadow what little optimism I have. Though, I suppose, you're right about the weddings. I should be happy that Joann is happy, but I still feel betrayed. She didn't tell me she was seeing anybody, much less engaged to be married in a couple of weeks. It's just... it hurts when she keeps things from me. She's the mother, sister, and best friend that I've never had." Jill sighed. Joann had kept everything a secret, and that had really hurt Jill. She would have liked to help plan the wedding, or do something to contribute to Joann's marriage other than just... being there. Jill ran her hand over her face and breathed in again before looking at Payton.

"I don't want to go, and be just another onlooker. I always thought that if either of us got married we would part of each others weddings. Not only am I not a part of her wedding, she failed to let me meet Terrance, her fiance. I don't know if I even like him, what he looks like, how he treats her. He could be some grumpy 40 year old with bad teeth and a bad criminal record for all I know, Joann's up for anything. I'm just not sure if I want to bless something I don't think I agree with, and going to her wedding would mean I was blessing it. I'm really the only family she has. Except for her sister who is her matron of honor." Jill huffed and turned back to the sky, her arms crossed over her chest; "Besides, I'm a cynic toward love and romance. Remember? Me and weddings are like oil and water, we do not mix. And no," she smiled, "I don't want an excuse to wear any dresses. If I go, which I probably won't, I'll end up wearing a skirt or a pants suit. No one said you had to look poofy."

[payton]

He nodded as he listened to her telling her that she felt betrayed by the fact that Joann had not told her about the wedding before hand or even introduced her to this future husband of hers. Thinking about the situation he looked up at the sky for a moment, thinking about possible explanations for why Joann wouldn't have said anything to Jill. It did seem a bit odd, but then Joann herself seemed a bit odd. "Well...maybe it was sudden, or she wanted to surprise you? Joann seems like the type who would like a surprise like that." He looked back at Jill for a moment, thinking about what she had said about Joann being her best friend, sister and mother all rolled into one, and she had still kept something from Jill. After pausing for a moment, he reached down at took her hand in his before looking back up at the sky again. "I don't think going is really about giving your blessing to the wedding, or saying that you forgive Joann for not letting you be part of the party or the preparation. I think its more that your their for Joann because this is important to her and that makes it important to you by default not matter what your personal feelings on the situations are." He glanced back at Jill and shrugged slightly, realizing again how different their opinions of things were.
"You know...I think I'd like to see you in a dress. But I'm sure you would look lovely no matter what you wore."

[jillian]

"Maybe." She offered when Payton was finished with his explanation about her going to the wedding. Then he complimented her and Jill smiled, while rolling her eyes. She knew he wasn't coming on to her, it was just Payton. Payton was just charming on his own, and for some reason Jill thought he was the only guy she could stand that complimented her. Which puzzled her, why was Payton so special? Jill thought about it for a moment, and then decided to wonder on it later on. Right now she was talking to Payton, and that always made her feel better about whatever was muddling around in her mind.

Jill sighed and smiled softly, "Are you saying I should go to the wedding? I should go, smile, be happy for Joann and tell her that I wish her luck with her new marraige? That I should then sit down with her and her new husband and discuss my living arrangements? Maybe I should, maybe you're right. Maybe it is about supporting Joann and being there for her - but it still irks me that she didn't tell me a thing about this. And it couldn't have been that sudden, Joann isn't one to rush into things like this. As crazy as she is, she does think things like this through. Maybe not thoroughly, but she does think them through."

She picked apart the grass she had ripped from the ground and then threw it down next to her, "Fine, I'll go. On one condition." Jill looked at him, a smile on her face; "You go with me. The invitation says 'Jillian Sawyer, plus one' you can be the 'plus one.'"

[payton]

He nodded when she asked if he was saying that she should attend the wedding and smile as if nothing was wrong. It wasn't that he wanted her to forget about her feelings for betrayal, it was just that there was a time and a place and a day which was suppose to mean so much didn't strike him as the one to be displaying harbored feelings of hostility. He smiled slightly when she finally seemed to give in to his insisting and told him that she had but one condition. That he was her plus one. Then his easy going smile grew into a wide grin. "Now that M'Lady I'm sure can be arranged. I've been to enough weddings at this point I'm sure I can squeeze in one more."
He grinned at her, thinking that perhaps the even seemed like some strange form of torture for Jill, but it suited him just fine. He liked the environment, and an excuse to dress up a bit, not to mention a more suiting environment for the more charming behavior he supposedly exhibited constantly. "I just need to know where you need me to be and what time...and what color that beautiful dress your going to wear will be so I can make sure I don't wear orange or something similar and look too horrible when standing next to you."

He watched her for a moment longer, his mind still whirling with how he could make the day got better for her, thoughts displayed on his face by his raised eyebrows; a sure sign he was thinking something he wasn't saying. Finally he looked away, and glanced out across the field. Most of the students had already left the festivities, and the booths, fortune tells, and displays which had been all around them not long before were carefully packing up their crystal balls and tarot cards. Soon it would be after hours, which meant if they were going to avoid turning their rather pleasant Beltane into a bit of a disaster with house points, it may be a good idea to start heading back for the castle. He let out a reluctant sigh, and after a quick glance back at Jill he pushed himself up off the ground, and stood still for a moment before turning back around to face Jill. "No matter how much I try to stop time it always manages to get away from me, and always the fastest when I want it to stop the most."

[jillian]

Jill smiled when he agreed to go with her, but she knew it would be fun for him while she would probably be wringing her hands in her lap and her stomach would most likely be in knots. She'd probably be a wreck and he would be calm and collected and charming, oh would they be a sight to see? She breathed in deeply and noticed that a lot of the students were getting up and leaving, she figured most of them were tired and shrugged it off. Payton said something about her dress and she thought for a moment, she hadn't any money to buy a new one - so she figured she would just wear the one Joann bought for her when she was celebrating he 16th birthday. "My dress is blue, a periwinkle blue," she bit her lip in thought of where they should meet, "You can meet me at my flat, I'll give you the address, and the wedding's at six so be there about... 5?" Jill obviously wasn't very good at planning things. She smiled weakly and looked down again. If he wore orange though, it would be pretty funny. Jill's smile grew as she thought of what Joann would say to that.

She looked up when he stood and then looked around, everyone had practically gone up and the entertainers were packing up as well. Jill stood as well, brushing the stray grass from her jeans and straightening up to look at Payton. She grinned, "Maybe you should talk to Father Time about that, I hear he's very useful when it comes to time stopping." There was a crash and Jill looked to see the Fortune Teller picking up her tarot cards and table that they had been set on. She grinned and then turned back to Payton, starting the walk toward the double doors. It was there she remembered she hadn't told him the date of the wedding. She paused inside the entrance way and smiled weakly, "It's on the first of July by the way. Figured that would come in handy. Thanks for the spontaneous night, I had fun." She turned and made her way up the staircase, pausing to wave at him and then walk off toward the common room.