Rain on Me ((Ariane))

[Kennedy Valak S6]

With one final push, Kennedy dove toward the ground, pulling the handle of his broom up just in time to glide along the ground before coming to a stop. Heavy breaths escaped his lungs and he dismounted after having practiced on his own for over half an hour. Kennedy didn't reserve the pitch ahead of time, and so he was forced to head down by the lake for some extra flying practice. It had been so long since their last Quidditch meet, and he was desperate to feel the breeze in his hair and remember what it was like to fly again. It was his source of energy, despite requiring energy in and of itself. It was like it recharged him while still using the little energy he did have.

Looking up to the sky, Kennedy tucked his broom under his one arm while noticing that the normal blue colour was replaced by a terrible dark grey. It wasn't late enough to be getting dark yet, which meant one thing: a storm was approaching. He needed to get his broom back to the pitch and in with the rest of his Quidditch stuff before the rain came. Hurrying to do so, Kennedy picked up his pace, a slow jog with his things making it harder to go fast at all.

About half way to his destination, the rain began to pour. It wasn't gradual, and it came without as much of a sprinkle for a warning. Within seconds Kennedy was soaked to his skin with cold rain water, and the only shelter was a nearby tree that would have to do. Hurrying over, he laid his things down at the trunk and dug through the sopping layers of clothes to find his wand. Wielding it, he hurried to cast a water protection spell. "Arefacio Enviro!" he shouted over the sounds of the rain. The spell worked partially, causing the tree to repel most of the water almost as though it were a large mushroom that he was standing under. Still, some drops of water came through, but it was better than nothing. "Arefacio," he said, this time drying out his clothes and the Quidditch items he had been lugging.

After seeing a bright flash of lightning, a loud clap of thunder followed shortly. In the moment that the darkness was illuminated, Kennedy could have sworn he noticed another person running across the grounds. It was hard to see though, through the sheets of water falling from the sky. Again, a flash of light, and he saw the same figure of someone coming his way. Apparently, he wasn't the only one who had got caught in the severe rain storm. Maybe the person had noticed him take shelter under the tree. Regardless, unless he chased them, there was no way they would hear him shouting. Thus, he waited for another flash of lighting to see if they were headed his way for sure.

[Ariane Chan]

Ariane threw her face into the covers of her bed, inhaling the familiar scent with tightly closed eyes. Curled fists shook beside her as she forced her inner emotions to die down at least a little. ”Just a bit more. Just a little bit more.” Ariane repeated the same mantra in her head over and over again, wishing her anger, her pain, her bitterness would ebb if only a little. It was too much to take, so much so her heart felt like bursting with so much sorrow. ”I am over everything. Nothing can hurt me.” Ariane told herself firmly, before finally turning over again and facing the ceiling with open eyes. “Nothing.” The whisper was lost before it had even left Ariane’s lips.

It was one of those days again. One of those days when nothing made any sense, and everything was wrong. Not even Harmony’s smiles or Aurora’s laughs could bring Ariane back to a painful landing in reality as she sought to return to her past unwillingly. It was coming. It was all coming again, and today was one of those days.

A single tear slid past Ariane’s eyelid, dripping past her pale cheek and into the pillow beneath. After a poignant second of silence, Ariane shot up cursing herself, and stared out of the window in unhidden hope. Her eyes bore into the grey skies that loomed overhead, the haunting clouds a sure sign that turmoil was to come. “A storm.” Ariane blinked, before a slight smile picked at her lips. Without another thought she ran out of the room, not even bothering to throw a cloak over her black jeans and silver grey, long-sleeved shirt. So what if running away was a weak thing? Ariane had to be weak sometimes too. She had to find her own salvation.

The moment her foot hit the Hogwarts Grounds, the rain fell. At first a few drops, so insignificant Ariane would’ve screamed to the sky to tear itself open for her. But as she pounded down the path, past the lake, her salvation came thick and fast, heavy and painful as raindrop upon raindrop thudded into the earth without mercy. ”Save me. Save my pitiful soul.” Ariane didn’t need anybody… anything but this. This that surrounded her, this was her escape. She barely noticed the rain water that soaked past her thin layer of clothing and cling to her warmth, sapping her of all emotion and leaving her with nothing but emptiness. “Save me.” Ariane didn’t know where she was heading, what her destination was, because right now her eyes were shrouded in darkness and ignorance. She didn’t know her goal, didn’t know her purpose. She just knew the rain that fell. The rain that was her saving grace.

Loose wet hair clung to Ariane’s pale face as she ran blindly through the storm, lightning and thunder raging in the distance. The Grounds were now so dark Ariane couldn’t really see, but she continued to run on, not caring, not knowing. It was better this way, right? Not thinking about all your worries and sadness. Suddenly, a bolt of sharp lightning pierced the sky, illuminating the entire area around Ariane in a split second. She could make out a tall tree in the distance, and if she wasn’t mistaken, a figure in the downpour. Numbly, Ariane wondered who on earth would be wandering out here in such conditions, not for one second questioning her own motives. Shakily, Ariane continued to run anyway towards the tree, hair falling over her eyes, shirt clinging to her and jeans soaked to the skin.

Upon reaching the tree and the dark figure, Ariane halted and bent over, breathing heavily as she rested her hands on her knees, still shaking from the cold and exertion. Ariane was now physically, mentally and emotionally so numb she couldn’t feel anything, but her body knew it wasn’t right, and shook without her control. Hanging her head to the earth so her hair fell over her shoulders and dripped pitifully, Ariane fought to gasp for air as she ignored the person who stood a metre or so from her. She disregarded them completely, not even able to make out their silhouette against the darkness.

In the distance, another flash of lightning streaked across the sky.

[Kennedy Valak S6]

Sure enough, when the next lightning bolt illuminated the darkened sky, Kennedy saw that the person was heading his way. At this point, he saw long hair, which meant it was likely a girl. Plus, the figure was thin; almost too thin to be a guy. Seeing that there wasn't much he could do as they were headed his way in the first place, Kennedy waited until they made their way under his partial umbrella-like tree. It was a girl, he reasoned, and though she was hunched over, gasping for air, Kennedy recognized her as a Gryffindor from his year. He had many classes with her, Ariane Chan, and he also knew that she was cousins with a sixth year Hufflepuff; Aurora, he thought it was. Kennedy was fairly decent with names, probably because he was a prefect and constantly was forced to report students and have a general knowledge of who everyone was.

Ariane was shaking, and being that she didn't look too good, Kennedy covered the small distance between them rather quickly and then helped lead her to one of the better protected parts of the tree. "Are you okay?" he questioned, furrowing his brow as he wondered what she was even doing out in the storm. Perhaps it was just a walk or something, but she seemed to have been doing a lot of wandering when he was watching her through the storm. Nothing indicated that she had sought shelter very quickly.

As she couldn't speak very well at first through the gasps of air, Kenedy took his wand and cast the drying spell to help rid her of the buckets of water dripping from her clothes and dark hair. Finally, when she was able to look up at him, Kennedy spoke to her again. "You're very out of breath and... and freezing!" he said, feeling the cold skin of Ariane's shaking hands. "What in the world were you doing out there in the rain? Trying to get yourself killed?" Kennedy wasn't the natural kind of person who was overly caring or anything, but he simply thought that Ariane was mad to have been wandering through that torrential pouring. Still waiting for an answer, Kennedy continued giving her a confused look with his brow furrowed.

[Ariane Chan]

Ariane’s shallow breaths prevented her from replying to the person that approached her, and her numb muscles stopped her from running away from him too. She merely avoided any eye contact as she attempted a feeble step backwards, in fear he do something to her despite his outward concern. Her head shook sideways jerkily, the tips of her wet, black hair spraying into the air in the dry area they stood under. All Ariane was thinking was to get away from human company; she needed solitude, she needed silence. She also knew how stupid it was to stand under a tree in a thunderstorm – it seemed this boy was obviously either stupid or too tired to think straight. Ariane was aware that trees were literally lightning rods – lightning was propelled towards it, and therefore trees made the worst shelter. You had to get as far away from them as possible.

Back to her fellow student, Ariane barely registered many of his words as he talked; obviously he had interpreted her shaking of the head as indication she wasn’t okay – or maybe he wanted to take matters into his own hands literally, as he grabbed hers. Ariane jerked away instinctively, but the boy held strong, her hands icy against his warmer ones. She noticed finally her had cast a drying spell on her, and her clothes were gradually drying out. A part of Ariane was mournful of this, but she didn’t protest. She knew that was sensible.

Ariane finally found her hoarse voice again as dry strands of black hair enveloped her face into shadow, aided by the one the large tree cast. “Maybe.” She whispered in reply to the boy’s question, before reaching shakily for her wand. Ariane extracted it and pointed it upwards at the tree, muttering a quiet spell under her breath. A spark of yellow light shot at the branches, before Ariane looked at her companion again. “You should know not to shelter under a tree in a storm…” Her voice strengthened as she tucked her wand away again after the lightning protection spell, before changing her mind and dealing a more impressive spell to her body to warm herself up. Ariane’s knowledge of spells were much wider than the average student her age.

“Kennedy, isn’t it?” Ariane finally spoke again quietly as she examined the Slytherin’s boy’s clothing. She had rarely ever spoken to her fellow classmate and she didn’t care to want to. Before waiting for a reply, Ariane cast the same spell over Kennedy, in case he wasn’t warm enough either. “… Thanks for before.” Ariane finally muttered as lightning flashed again in the distance. “I was acting irrationally.” She concluded as she stared out over the Grounds with a passive face. Completely dry and warm now, Ariane’s normal behaviour was returning to her. “I could ask you the same question about why you’re out here.” Ariane claimed after another short silence, pacing to the other side of the tree away from Kennedy. “We’ll have to wait another half an hour.” Ariane finalised after a quick inspection of the skies and pouring rain before returning to where Kennedy was. Eyeing the broomstick he held, she realised the reason behind his presence. Silent, Ariane felt the huge urge to grab Kennedy’s broomstick and launch into the thickly raining atmosphere, into those dark skies, but resisted the major temptation. She would most probably freak out the Slytherin even more. Deciding to wait the rain out with Kennedy, as she couldn’t just leave him here (he didn’t even know that lightning was attracted to trees!), Ariane walked back to the other side of the tree away from him and sat down, leaning her head back onto the bark. It was going to be a long night.

[Kennedy Valak S6]

Of some of the first words that Ariane shared, she criticized his choice of shelter, to which Kennedy felt much chagrin. He said nothing though, realizing that his choices were somewhat limited, and it had been the rain that was most evident in his efforts to escape. Nonetheless, he assumed that the spell she had cast would take care of the worry of lightning. "That would be me," he said somewhat sorely, never really liking it much when people had to question whether they knew him or not. It wasn't that he tried being the most popular or well-known. It was simply a pride thing, and he always figured that those who were at least in his year would know his name. Not to mention both he and Ariane were prefects, but in a sense he couldn't really blame her. She was in Gryffindor after all, and the two of them likely had nothing in common.

Grateful when she cast yet another spell that caused his body to emanate with warmth, he offered his thanks in a small smile, rather than choosing to express it verbally. Then, she in return thanked him and explained her irrationality. After questioning his own getting caught in the storm, Kennedy's view shifted to his broom, which he figured was explanation enough. "Quidditch," he decided to mutter anyways, though when he noticed her eying the broom he figured she had come to that conclusion by now. Watching as she circled to the other side of the tree and sat down, Kennedy let out a small laugh, not quite audible, as he sensed a bit of withdraw from Ariane. He figured though that it wasn't personal, or he didn't see why it would be. From what he knew of Ariane, she wasn't the average Gryffindor, and she was quite known for having a mind and will of her own; perhaps even a little feisty when pushed to the edge of her zone of comfort. For that reason, he kept his distance, not really in the mood to start any sort of spat in the middle of a storm. Despite her reputation, she seemed reasonable enough to be able to get along with, assuming Kennedy was willing to be the same.

Pacing the small area that the two had found shelter beneath, Kennedy let the silence surround them for a few moment before letting his curiosity get the best of him. "But why were you really out here?" he asked, knowing that his persistence might just be picking at the edge of her nerves. "I mean, there has to be a reason beyond simple irrationality." He shrugged his shoulders, wondering if Ariane would even bother to answer. He didn't know her well enough to be able to decide for himself what he expected her response to be. "Angry with someone, or something?"

[Ariane Chan]

Silence. Well, not quite silence; not when the heavy rain thudded against the earth, as if a hole had been torn in the sky and it didn’t want to be sewed up so quickly. Ariane didn’t mind the threatening noises though; the crack of thunder following glaringly bright flashes of lightning that lit up the entire Grounds were somewhat soothing rather than unnerving her anxieties. Suddenly, Kennedy spoke again, and Ariane reluctantly opened an eye to stare blankly at the scenery before him. She absorbed his question mutely, thinking of whether or not to answer him. It was a good thing Kennedy had met her at a moment she had just vented her emotions, otherwise she would’ve unleashed it on him at his picking questions, and no doubt Ariane would’ve love utter control as she had done so earlier today. But now, Ariane was somewhat back to normal again, if not slightly more guarded but warmer in a way. Her run through the rain left her feeling empty, and Ariane was reassured by Kennedy’s morality as he had literally saved her from collapse before. If she had been running out there for any longer, the chances that she would have collapsed soon would’ve been very high, and then what would Ariane have done?

Although Kennedy was obviously a kinder Slytherin than most, Ariane still pondered over what she already knew about him (and not basing them on rumours). She rarely saw him around school, she keeping to herself, his bunch obviously keeping to their groups. Ariane knew she had once dated Fiona O’Reilly, a Slytherin girl in their year whom she was not fond of. Had quite a temper. Their breakup could have resulted from something that happened between Kennedy and Cassandra, Ariane mused, as she had noticed something going on even without hearing rumours. Ariane was quite observant, and picked up more things than the usual student. She spent too much time alone and in silence not to catch snippets of others’ conversations; not that she wanted to eavesdrop or anything. Ariane didn’t really care what happened in other people’s lives. Much less Kennedy Valak’s.

Deciding not to judge him on what little she knew about him (he seemed like the typical Slytherin, if not quieter), Ariane chose to answer as vaguely as possible to get Kennedy off her back. “Irrationality is life.” Ariane’s cryptic answer came after a long period of silence stretching between them. He didn’t make a move to come round, which Ariane was thankful for. “Every choice we make is irrational.” Her voice was quiet, and she wondered if Kennedy could hear her. No matter; it didn’t make a difference to her anyway. Ariane weighed up his next question as she surveyed the Grounds calmly, watching the rain drench the trees and plantation. “...No. Just myself.” She finally stated without much expression in her voice. A long pause passed, with only the spatter of rain hitting the ground. Lighting failed to light the black skies. “Do you get angry at yourself sometimes?” Ariane said suddenly, wondering if Kennedy would provide her with answers she couldn’t find. Maybe if she tried to discover how he viewed the world – this boy whom she had never really socialised with – she might just locate the reason to... to everything she had been searching for. The unanswered questions about life and existence. Maybe it was just another piece of the jigsaw puzzle, learning about someone else.

[Kennedy Valak S6]

He wasn’t so sure he agreed with the philosophy behind Ariane’s answer, but Kennedy wasn’t one to argue. He would debate, and discuss, but arguing always seemed petty to him. Of course, when it came to Kailyn, his sister, arguing seemed to be her only known style of communication. It was immature though, he thought, to argue, which was why he tried not to and if he did argue, he would normally just argue with the person in his head so that they couldn’t argue back. “Every choice we make is irrational?” he questioned, not really wanting a clarification of what she meant, but simply processing the idea a bit more. He would have agreed that in the end every choice boiled down to a selfish notion, but to call every choice irrational was quite a step. “Interesting theory,” he offered, tired of pacing. He found a seat across from Ariane, just at the edge of where the charm that was repelling the water ended. Not knowing Ariane that well, he didn’t feel comfortable sitting next to her by the base of the tree. Plus, he couldn’t see her to be able to talk if he did that.

Bits of rain did manage to penetrate the haphazard work that he had done with the charm, but he was dry for the most part. He almost laughed at her question about getting angry with himself. “All the time,” he answered, not even having to think about it. Kennedy was very self critical, and he knew the feeling of being angry with yourself. In fact, with the whole Fiona and Cass issue that seemed to plague him, he had been quite angry with some of the decisions he had made in the past that lead to him being in such an undesirable position. “You are your own worst enemy,” he added, stating a quote that he had heard at one point in his life, not really sure where it came from. He thought it held a lot of truth though, as many people were often most critical of themselves. He fit the description quite well at least, and there were a handful of others he might have been able to lump into the same category. “The good thing though...” he continued, philosophizing a bit about the tangent that they had seemed to stumble upon. “...is that if it’s yourself you are angry at, you don’t have to rely on others to fix it. The solution lies in your hands.” He was sitting with hands clasped together, holding his knees up as his feet were crossed below them on the ground. The stuffiness of being trapped underneath such a confined space was starting to work at his comfort, but the rain seemed to be letting up if just in the least, yet it was still coming down in quite a steady pour.

He continued to ponder the oddity of being stuck with someone who seemed so different than himself yet perhaps so similar in ways he hadn’t quite understood or even considered. There were plenty of Gryffindors who would have thrown judgement his way first thing, but Ariane had refrained, which seemed surprising as he had at least inwardly judged her as one of the more aggressive Gryffindors. At the same time, she had a uniqueness in the aggression that she seemed to assert. He didn’t know her to the point of really understanding her, but she was different than most, that was for sure. It wasn’t a bad different, and if anything was probably good, but she was different nonetheless. Perhaps though this was just another similarity, as Kennedy would have describe himself as quite different for a Slytherin. He shared many qualities as his housemates, but seemed to handle them in such a unique way of his own. Who was he to judge her though, whether inwardly or not. The persona was quite a complex phenomenon, and he would be wasting his time to try to figure it all out.

“So what seems to have angered you about yourself?” he asked, unafraid to question her since she willingly offered the concept in the first place. “I mean, you don’t have to answer if you want. I just wondered if it was anything in particular that was able to be shared.” Part of him was curious, part nosy, and the rest of him just unsure what else to do as he was stuck under the tree in the middle of a torrential storm with someone he had barely talked to in his life. Life was quite good at putting you into unexpected situations, and this just happened to be one of them, he figured. At least it wasn’t Cass that he was stuck with, right?

[Ariane Chan]

Ariane remained silent when Kennedy said her theory was ‘interesting’. She could tell he didn’t agree with her whatsoever, but didn’t want to offend her by telling her that. Taking the neutral route was the sensible method, which Ariane was surprised by. She hadn’t expected Kennedy to be so cooperative and peaceful. There were so many Slytherins in her year who were downright intimidating and ‘tough’, but Kennedy was, to her appreciation, normal. She admired that suddenly about him; he wasn’t the usual Slytherin upon first talking to him, and Ariane could understand that. She wasn’t your typical Gryffindor. Still, Kennedy was not very truthful, and Ariane had always been a straight talker. She watched with blank eyes as Kennedy sat down opposite her after a while of pacing. Why he had decided to come near her, Ariane didn’t understand. Slytherins were meant to stay away from Gryffindors with bitter distaste and dislike, but Kennedy obviously didn’t care. Neither did Ariane, but his actions still surprised her again. Ariane remembered the recent rumours about Kennedy with a certain girl, Cassandra. Perhaps those rumours had been fairly true. “You can say if you don’t agree with my ‘theory’.” Ariane finally said clearly, her eyes gazing straight at Kennedy’s. She wasn’t the type to be timid, like Harmony. “I know you don’t agree with me entirely. Not many people ever do. I’m used to it.”

Ariane surveyed Kennedy’s sitting position with a critical eye once she had finished speaking. “The rain is getting in.” She stated the obvious with a dull, uncaring tone. “You’re going to get wet. Again.” With a barely audible sigh, Ariane’s hand twitched to her wand again and cast a spell in Kennedy’s direction. “Don’t move.” She ordered harshly in case he thought she was going to do an Unforgivable Curse on him. “It’s a secondary shield. Should keep out all of the rain now.” Ariane was somewhat regretful she was actively protecting someone from rain, but Kennedy was not her; she doubted the Slytherin enjoyed walks in the storm, his reaction to finding her had proved that. Ariane watched Kennedy’s expression; he was nearly as blank as she was with emotions. “The rain won’t stop for a while.” She decided to inform him flatly, changing her previous estimation as the grey clouds rolled across the skies. “An hour. At least.” She didn’t think he’d take the news well; she wasn’t exactly thrilled either. Another hour with this guy; great. But at least Ariane was used to being out here in such conditions. Though Kennedy’s presence had been unexpected. Ariane supposed she could’ve done worse; she could’ve had an obnoxious companion. Kennedy was considered acceptable now.

Ariane’s eyes jerked back to Kennedy’s face again when he answered her question. Somehow, those three words he uttered with little hesitation made Ariane soften towards him. However, she kept her face completely blank still, while her ears listened intently to his next statement. “Yeah.” Ariane eventually said without nodding, leaning back against the bark and looking up at the stretching tree that sheltered their heads. Lightning flashed across the holes between the branches, but Ariane didn’t look away. Ariane wanted to say a lot of things in reply to Kennedy’s words, but didn’t, because she was who she was, and he wasn’t someone she could trust. The only people she could talk to were Aurora and Harmony, and usually she hit her little sister from most things in the world. Aurora was Ari’s only proper companion. Ariane’s eyes slowly drew back to Kennedy again when he said “The good thing though…”, and wondered with genuine curiosity what he was going to say. Was there a good thing? Did such a thing exist…? So Ariane listened, and what he said, what she heard, was something that caused her to stare at him in wonderment. Although it didn’t show on her face, her eyes were enough to convey that emotion. What Kennedy had just said – Ariane agreed with him, one hundred percent. She couldn’t believe that he could think in such a way. “Yeah.” Ariane finally managed to force out once more, unsure of why she felt propelled to give Kennedy any answer at all.

Ariane didn’t feel she could ever trust Kennedy, but… there was something about him she felt connected to. As if he understood a part of her a lot of other people wouldn’t. Ariane didn’t want to trust this gut instinct of hers, even though normally she followed it, and it was right. Kennedy spoke again, this time questioning her. Seeing as he had replied to her query before, Ariane felt obliged to answer him. Yet he was asking something fairly personal, and she thought over her reply carefully. “The one thing I could never share is my thoughts.” Ariane ended up saying calmly. “So the answer to that is no. Thanks for your concern.” She wasn’t trying to be sarcastic, but she wasn’t particularly grateful either. “You have better things to wonder about than my anger.” Ariane stated, her voice a little tired. “But to answer your first question… I’m always angry with myself. Everything about myself makes me angry. Keeps me alive.” She knew such an explanation would only create more questions, but Ariane always told the truth, and this was the truth, phrased somewhat more carefully.

[Kennedy Valak S6]

Kennedy let out a quick laugh as Ariane had obviously seen, by virtue of his facial expressions most likely, that he wasn't in total agreement with her so called theory. Then again, as he thought about it and tried applying the concept to his own choices, Kennedy began to see that perhaps she had a point. "Well, maybe we are driven to make irrational choices in more ways that we may realize." He shrugged his shoulders, still not completely convinced, but also not really in the mood for some deep conversation or even deep thinking for that matter. Mostly, he was annoyed to be stuck under a tree in the middle of a rainstorm. Granted that Ariane was probably one of the more tolerable Gryffindors, Kennedy was just naturally unsocial toward anybody he really didn't know. He could be kind though, so long as the person he was socialising with didn't completely irritate him. Ariane had avoided doing that so far, and he realized that she was in the same undesirable situation as he was.

Soon, she had cast a second spell his way to prevent the rain from getting at the edge of his clothing. "Thanks," he muttered. He couldn't help but realize how ironic their situation was. What was even more humorous was that they both seemed to be equally bored and disappointed. When she told him that the rain would last another hour (how she had predicted this, he was unsure), Kennedy rolled his eyes and let out a despondent sigh. "An hour?" he questioned, hoping that his doubt might make her wrong, though he knew that it wouldn't do any real good to hope that she might be wrong. Weather was a finicky thing, and sometimes there was no guessing what might come next.

As he had went off quite arbitrarily about anger and such, Ariane didn't offer much more than one word replies, but Kennedy didn't mind. He was fine with simple conversation, but if they had an hour, he knew it was either going to be the most boring hour of his life, or an hour spent at least scratching the surface of some deep issues with someone he would have normally not taken a second to bother addressing in passing. The reason though, or at least the reason Kennedy had accepted for explaining why he and Ariane seemed to get along in an odd sort of reciprocal way, was because they seemed to have very similar personalities. Both of them were fairly independent and quite prideful, at least from what Kennedy could see. They were both prefects too, which said something of their similarities.

Having quickly realized their similarities, Kennedy wasn't surprised when Ariane bluntly told him that she wouldn't answer his question. Though there were similarities with them, one difference was her bluntness. Kennedy wasn't quite so blunt. He was a natural liar of sorts, always trying to maintain good standings with people in case they might prove to be advantageous to him in some way or another. Part of him was a natural politician, though there was a lot about him that was so unfit for politics. "Why'd I even bother to ask?" he replied rhetorically with a sarcastic grin. She continued on though, and what she said next was a bit more surprising to Kennedy. "Doesn't sound like a nice way to live." Now he was being blunt. He knew though that Ariane was one who could accept other people being blunt. Usually, those who were blunt were those who expected bluntness in return. Again though, Kennedy let his thoughts wander, still avoiding going very deep into anything. He knew almost instantly though that both he and Ariane were the type of people that were anything but shallow. They were the type of people who had layer after layer hidden from the world. He didn't want to peel past those layers though. Not now. Not ever. Peeling back the layers of others would only lead to one's own layers being discovered, he concluded, and Kennedy was quite happy staying just as he was.

"What in the world are we going to do with another whole hour?" he questioned with another sigh. He couldn't possibly guess what Ariane might suggest. He figured though that it wouldn't be anything he would be overly excited about. What more was there to do but talk. Sooner or later their similarities would expire and they would be left in silence. Not that Kennedy minded silence, but he was one to get bored quite easily. He hated being bored.

[Ariane Chan]

Ariane merely gave Kennedy a pointed look at his answer and remained silent, finding no suitable answer on her lips. There wasn’t anything else to say. She dismissed his thanks with a turn of the head, not particularly needy of acknowledgement for her efforts to keep him dry. She supposed that was the human kindness within her, or it was for repaying Kennedy for saving her from collapsing earlier; Ariane wasn’t sure. She didn’t dwell on it long though, fixing her companion with a steely look when he questioned her prediction. “An hour.” She ground out firmly again, a little louder this time in imply whether or not he was deaf or something. “Unless you want to leave this shelter.” She added with a casual shrug of her shoulders, folding her arms across her chest in a pose of defiance. Ariane was toying with the idea of leaving the shade of the tree actually. The rain looked like it would thin out soon, and she could take light droplets of water. She’d handled worse, after all. Ariane just wanted to get out of this suffocating situation with a stranger and return to the castle, perhaps focus on some homework, find Aurora…

Ariane tilted her head to one side and gave a half-smirk. “Hn.” She merely acknowledged Kennedy’s rhetorical question, knowing he wasn’t particularly trying to make fun of her. She could sense the sarcasm in his voice. Her smirk faded away though when Kennedy proceeded to say it was not a nice way to live. Ariane’s eyes narrowed a little in the darkness, though odd flashes of lightning lit up her visage every now and again, casting her small figure into shadow and occasional illumination. Somehow though, Ariane didn’t take all offence at Kennedy’s words, but she probably normally would’ve. Somehow she’d expected this reaction from such a guy, didn’t expect understanding from him at all. No one could understand her life, how could she blame them? “It is still a way of living.” Ariane finally answered stiffly, her eyes glimmering in the shadows. “Living is not meant to be nice.” Lapsing into silence again, Ariane touched her dry hair, tucking a strand behind her ear and listening to the loud pitter-patter of the heavy rain against the earth. It had been such a long time such weather had graced England, and Ariane was happy to welcome it. She was sure, judging from Kennedy’s expression, that he didn’t feel the same way.

“Entertain yourself if you’re bored.” Ariane muttered in an uncaring tone; she could easily sit in silence and roll in her mental waves, but Kennedy she doubted could. Her eyes reached up the heavens again to observe the thundering storm overhead. Nope, the weather wasn’t going to clear up anytime soon, and they wouldn’t be able to get out of here unless they got assistance. And who knew they were out of here? Most likely Aurora could guess, but she would assume Ariane knew what she was doing. No one would think she was spending the storm period with Kennedy Valak… it was a little outrageous. Ariane found herself shrugging her shoulders again, rolling her taut shoulder joints. “If it will keep you preoccupied, I am willing to help.” Ariane finally said, giving Kennedy a long stare and flexing her fingers. “But don’t look to me for ideas. You won’t get any. And don’t choose something stupid. You know I won’t do it.” Ariane added dryly.