Can't Get Away From It ((Loki))

[Carey Brighton H5]

“Don’t be so distant, Care, you should be thanking me for bringing you out here,” Mallory raised her eyebrows at her younger sister as they appeared at the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade. Carey closed her eyes and held her stomach, swaying a bit on spot, “I should be thanking you? You knew I had an important report due for Father. How did you swing me here anyway? Didn’t Mother say something?” Mallory rolled her eyes, looping her arm through Carey’s and leading the way out of the pub, “Of course she did, she’s Mother. I just told her after you landed that Markens account you should be given a day off… a kind of reward. She was so scatter brained she didn’t much think about and ergo… we’re here.” Carey looked sulky as they broke into the sunshine filled village of Hogsmeade. She hadn’t been to the village since third year, because she really didn’t think there was any necessary reason to go to Hogsmeade during the school year and she wasn’t ever allowed to go during the summer. Perhaps she should enjoy this tiny bit of freedom she was given. Perhaps not. “I really need to finish up that financial report, Mal.” Again, Mallory rolled her eyes as she led the way to Honeydukes. Carey knew it was Mallory’s favourite store, and yet Carey could honestly say she didn’t feel too much for the sweet shop. She didn’t particularly like sweets. It was just one more thing to set her apart from regular teenage girls. Shopping and sweets. She didn’t like either of them. Which was why she wondered what possessed Mallory to bring her to Hogsmeade of all places.

Carey stopped complaining, though she did take her arm back, and walked along side her sister as she spoke about her current boyfriend or art project or whatnot. Mallory was the complete opposite of Carey and sometimes that really annoyed her, but other times… other times Carey just admired her sister’s ability to be her own person and say ‘screw the system.’ The system which just so happened to be their parents. Of course, Carey was her own person as well. She had a mind of her own, she did things for herself just as much as she did them for her parents, but she also knew that there were things that she had to do for her parents. Her parents were the two people she wanted to see most happy. Carey couldn’t really explain why she let her parents rule her, as Mallory said, but she knew it wasn’t because she had no way out. She was intelligent enough to manipulate her parents into letting her go her own way as Mallory had, but she narrowed it down to the loyalty that burned inside of her. That was why she never said no to her parents. She was too loyal to them. It was an easy assessment, but no one else would really understand; so therefore, still difficult to explain. “Carey? Hullo?” She snapped out of her thoughts and looked to her right at Mallory who was holding open the door to Honeydukes with an annoyed expression on her face, “Stop thinking about work. It’s your day off! I swear, you’re going to grow up to be one of those women who work work work and never have fun.” Carey smiled to herself and stepped inside the sweet shop, thinking that perhaps that wasn’t a bad thing.

It wasn’t packed like it had been the previous times she had visited it for no reason, but it was rather busy and Carey felt herself feeling rather claustrophobic after a moment as Mallory pressed her into the crowd toward the sweets. Hands were grabbing here and there and suddenly Mallory plucked some sweets off a shelf, causing a box of the sweets to fall on Carey’s head. “Oh! I’m sorry, Sis.” Carey shook her head, picking the candy out of her jacket pocket and putting it back in the box before shoving it on the shelf. “C’mon, Carey, I know you don’t like sweets, but at least help me get some good ones.” Mallory was stuffing more sweets into her hands as she walked away, her brown hair swinging over her shoulders as she pushed through a group of kids. Carey looked amused and then shook her head before squeezing past a family to get to her sister, “I’m going to wait outside, Mal, I don’t like feeling this crowded.” Mallory looked at her suspiciously, as if she could read Carey’s mind on what her real intentions of stepping outside were, and then nodded slowly; “Alright, I’ll be out as soon as I can, and you better not be on your phone when I get out there.” Carey mock saluted her with a smile before stepping outside the shop into the fresh air again. She looked through the window to see Mallory watching her, waved, and then started a few yards away from the shop. When she was certain she was far enough away, she leaned against a wooden fence and pulled out her cell phone. She just needed to check… just to check.

“Mother? When will Father be home?” She closed her eyes as her mother spouted off words here and there, rambling and making hardly any sense at all. Finally, she got an estimated time out of her and sighed, “Alright, love you, bye.” She clicked off her phone and put it into her jacket pocket with another sigh. He’d be home before her and Mal got home, that meant she wouldn’t be able to get the report done on time which meant her father would be thoroughly disappointed in her which meant Carey would spend the night feeling lousy. Great. Carey turned around and nearly jumped ten feet into the air at the sight of Mallory in front of her with her arms crossed and her eyebrows raised, “Mal! I… I…” It was pointless, Carey knew she couldn’t lie, “I called Mother to see what time he’d be home…” She looked down at her feet, waiting for the scolding she’d get from her older sister, and when none came she slowly looked back up. Mallory sighed and looked defeated, “Do what you want, Carey, I’m going to go to the Three Broomsticks. I’ll be there whenever you feel up to leaving, but please promise you’ll stay for a bit? You need this day off…” Carey looked at her sister and nodded with a small smile. Mallory took one more look at her before hugging her and walking toward the Three Broomsticks. Carey waited until her sister was out of sight before doing a quick spin and collapsing onto the grass beneath the tree on the side of road and closing her eyes with a serene smile on her face. A few moments later she slowly opened her eyes when someone tapped her head.

[Loki Fen'Rolphus G6]

Shaant, unlike Loki, was a large man. Some six feet tall and muscularly built. Loki had to remind himself that the man wasn’t near as intimidating when he was in his work clothes. It was just the lumberjack’s plaid that made him look like he could chop you up into bits if you said something wrong. “Why won’t you let me go?” Loki groaned. “Do you know how much of a pain it is to get you to Hogsmead, Loki?” Shaant said, not looking up at the teenager, instead just reading his book. Loki did know how hard it was. For at least one more month, getting Loki to Hogsmead required side along apparition, which would mean Shaant would have to go out in public while he was off work. And in Hogsmead no less. Shaant hated crowds. “Come on! It’s only one more month and then you won’t have to do it anymore, Shaant.” Loki could remember when he was younger, being severely scared of the man. It was always Mr. Shaant. But through the years Loki’s comfortability and his self assurance had grown quite some bit. Now it was just Shaant. Never Ian, that was pushing it, but it was always Shaant. “I’ve been here in these stupid woods all summer and I haven’t seen any of my friends. It’s not like you’ll let them come out to the house to visit…and even if they could they wouldn’t.” Shaant scared most of Loki’s friends…and none of them had ever even seen the man before. “How about this? You take me, and drop me off outside of the town. That way you don’t have to see anyone.” It took at least an hour, but Loki typically got his way. Shaant hadn’t ever raised a teenager before, so Loki was something new for him. And a teenager like Loki, one that didn’t give up when he wanted something, was twice the hassle.

Loki bade the stressed and anxious looking Shaant good bye, set a time to meet back –midnight – and then headed off towards the town. Loki let out a chuckle thinking about Shaant. The man wasn’t near as scary as he sometimes appeared to be. It was hard to see how his friends found Shaant to be scary. Ian Shaant was, to be perfectly honest, an introverted, nervous wreck. The man never left the sanctity of his cabin unless he was going to work. Even at work, he never left his cubby of an office unless he had to attend a meeting or do some field work. Perhaps this was why the man had chosen a career in werewolf registration. Loki had found many similarities between Shaant and some of the werewolves he remember from his childhood. But the biggest of these was the desire to be alone. The desire for no outside contact. Loki, was the only person Shaant communicated with out of free will. He had no friends from work. When Loki asked him about this, it was always the same ‘I have you, and me. Why do I need other friends?’ This suited Loki well enough. Loki couldn’t say that Shaant was his friend, but he was definitely a man that Loki had respect for. Respect for Loki, wasn’t shown in the same way respect was typically shown. If you find Loki taking your advice, confiding in you, or just talking to you without being snide? You’ve earned his respect. However, if he finds a way to jab at you at every turn? You might not be his favorite person. Loki believed, that everyone had to earn his respect. No one was simply granted respect by Loki. Ian Shaant had earned it the moment he had invited Loki to live with him. Shaant was Loki’s life saver.

Loki entered the village and made his way around, looking for people he knew. Of the few students he met that he was acquainted with, none of them were interesting enough to hold Loki’s attention for long. He would stand around, make a few jokes, laugh a bit, find out how everyone was doing, but that was about it. Loki just…got bored too easy. So therefore he would jump on to the next group of kids he saw. He couldn’t bring himself to stay with one group for too long, and finally he’d had his fill of all the people there. None of his close friends were there, and no one interesting enough to take the time to meet. So at last Loki settled on going through the stores. He passed through Zonko’s, unhappily eyeing all the tricks. He wasn’t really a fan of pranks. Then he made his way to Honeydukes, taking his time examining the treats. Here too he lost interest quickly. Occasionally Loki would go on a junk food binge, but other then that, he much preferred a chicken leg, a nice pheasant, or even a juicy steak. He was definitely a meat lover. Vegetables? No thanks. Sweets? Every now and then. Meat? Yes please. When these places bored him just as quickly as the other kids had, Loki decided he would just go see who was in the Three Broomsticks. He hadn’t gotten there yet however, when he spotted a girl sitting on the side of the road under a tree. This wasn’t exactly the most well known place for finding girls sitting by themselves, and Loki’s curiosity go the best of him. As he got closer he thought for a moment he’d seen the girl before, but, despite how much he tried to believe he had, he came to the conclusion that he had not. This…bothered him. Loki had at least seen nearly every student that attended Hogwarts…or so he thought. She looked interesting to say the least. She was pretty. And she was sitting under a tree with her eyes closed, just smiling to herself. Loki found himself drawn to the tree, and finally to the girl. He stood there for a while, and when the girl didn’t open her eyes, he tapped the top of her head lightly. “Excuse me…but I don’t believe we’ve met. Go to Hogwarts by any chance? If so I’m quite disappointed. I dare say I thought I’d met everyone from school.” Loki sank down into the grass in front of her and smiled, extending a hand. “Loki Fen’Rolphus.”

[Carey Brighton H5]

Carey had half expected it to be Mallory returning to tell her she had to go shopping with her, but then she realized that if it were Mallory – she would’ve pulled Carey’s hair, not tapped her head. She slowly opened her eyes and looked up to see who had tapped her head if it wasn’t her sister. As she took in the newcomer, Carey tried to set a face to a name like she always did. It was something she was rather gifted at, something she prided herself on because she liked to believe she knew who anyone in her year or above was. But alas, no name came. A house and year did, though. Gryffindor, sixth. Carey managed a small smile as the boy sat down in front of her and extended his hand, introducing himself as Loki Fen’Rolphus. Carey closed her eyes and mentally scolded herself before shaking his hand with another smile, looking at him again, “Carey Brighton, and don’t be too terribly upset you haven’t met me before now. A lot of people can say the same thing.” She shrugged slightly before taking her hand back and leaning back on the palms of her hands, looking at him. Of course, knowing who he was, was something that Carey should’ve picked up on right away. Her friends had mentioned his name in passing every now and then. No one really best or close friends with him, but all seemed to know who he was. He was much more social than Carey was apparently. At least, more social than she was at school. Carey, for the most part, stuck to her group of friends during the school year. Once and awhile she’d be dragged to a study group with some people she didn’t know, but other than the rare forcing of social events like balls and such… Carey was social with her friends. During the summer, however, Carey was a social butterfly on all degrees. Just more social with the pureblooded society; with parties, dances, mixers, grill outs, picnics, etc. She was well known in that area, but hardly ever at school.

After she had quieted her thoughts down some, Carey found herself in a silence. It wasn’t an awkward silence, but it was a silence that Carey found herself itching to get out of. She normally didn’t mind silences, in fact, Carey preferred to work in silence or be in silence. But there was something about this silence that Carey just couldn’t stand. She eyed Loki a moment, trying to think of something to say to break the silence that had engulfed them. Finally, after a moment of thought, Carey smiled at Loki and laid back reaching into her pocket and pulling out her drumsticks. How she fit her drumsticks into her pockets, was something that Carey was never quite sure of. It was like that with her wand as well. She never questioned it as long as she was comfortable enough with her outfit. Anyway, she pulled out her drumsticks and closed her eyes a moment. Her arms were on either side of her and she was tapping her drumsticks against the ground rhythmically. She knew Loki probably felt out of place, but what was she to do? She had nothing to say to him, although she was frantically searching her mind for something to say, and at this moment in time she needed something to do with her hands. Thus her drumsticks were the perfect distraction. Carey had to resist the urge to speak out in duts and tats, “percussion speak” is what Mallory called it. It was just something she usually did when she was thinking about a new piece to write. It was a side of her people rarely saw. The drummer that would never come out in front of her parents was always inside her. Frankly, Carey was surprised she was drumming in front of Loki – even if it was on grass and with no aim except to break the silence around.

Carey stopped drumming on the grass, sitting up with her legs crossed, and looked at Loki again; “Ever wonder…” Carey paused here, wondering if the question would appear too random. It was rather random in her mind, but she needed to make the silence go away, “why humans hide who they really are from the people who care about them the most?” Wow. It was a question that she hadn’t thought she could ask someone she had hardly met. She knew where it was coming from, though. Carey looked down at the drumsticks in her hands that were now tapping on the rubber sole of her shoe lightly. “I mean, wouldn’t they know that the people who care about them the most shouldn’t really care what or who they are?” Carey looked up again as she twirled her drumstick in her right hand before tapping it into a new rhythm with the other. She wondered if perhaps she should stop talking, but now she couldn’t; “For example; I drum. I play the drums, and I’m pretty good at it, too. But all my parents know of me is the business side, the side that gets them the things that they can’t get on their own. I wonder sometimes if I told them about my drumming, would they accept it, ignore it, deny it, or forbid it? It’s a frightening thought, really, and I suppose I just want a second opinion on it.”

She had paused now for his answer, her drumsticks still working. And then with a mischievous smile, Carey reached up and drummed on Loki’s head lightly. The slightest tap on the top of his head, not hard enough to hurt him, but hard enough to make him realize she was doing it if he hadn’t been looking at her. After a moment, she laughed lightly and sat back, tapping on her foot again; “Sorry, your head just looked very… drummable.” She shrugged with another smile and waited patiently for his answer, her eyes on him the whole time.

[Loki Fen'Rolphus G6]

Loki just couldn’t grasp the fact that there might be someone he hadn’t met before. This girl, she was a pretty girl, with an interesting look in her eyes and a nice voice. Someone like that surely would have caught his attention? It was severely bothering him. How had he overlooked her? Maybe he hadn’t. Maybe he had in fact met her, and yet he just couldn’t remember anything about her. However, she seemed not to know him, and if that was the case, they couldn’t have met. She would have remembered him if she had met him. Meeting someone new, especially from Hogwarts, always bothered Loki. Even more so if they had no idea who he was. Typically, if he was meeting someone new, he would approach them, say hello, mention that they hadn’t met before that that person would respond with a ‘Oh you’re Loki, I’ve heard a lot about you.’ Or maybe a ‘I know your name but we’ve never really talked.’ People always recognized Loki before he recognized him. This was great fun for Loki. One of his most favorite things to do was to walk down the halls at school and simply wave as people called his name and said hello to him. ‘Loki what’s up?’ Oh…not much…you. Nice to see you! You. That was everyone’s name. Loki just didn’t have it in his mind to remember names. Loki was visual, names and sounds didn’t click with him like scenes and faces did. You could play a clip of one of his conversations to him, and Loki would swear he didn’t remember it. However, show him a picture of the event and he could tell you exactly where they are, and what had happened. He needed to see.

Loki must have spaced out, because before too long the girl leaned back and pulled out…well…drumsticks. He wondered if he had been staring at her while he was lost in his own head. Carey began tapping on the ground and Loki smiled. He wasn’t musically inclined, and he definitely wasn’t…rhythmically inclined. What Carey was doing sounded neat, but it wasn’t something he would ever do. He couldn’t keep a steady beat. Tapping on his desk in class was never…solid. It was continually changing and he couldn’t keep time for the life of him. Listening to Loki tap anything wasn’t entertaining, it was just annoying. Loki watched as the girl remained laying back on the grass, her eyes closed. She seemed very content to just…do her own thing. Loki smiled amused. He had never had the ability to do that. If Loki wasn’t around people he wasn’t content, he was bored. Loki however, watching Carey drum on the grass, was content. He didn’t know what, but Carey entertained him. Not in the way a sideshow perform entertained you. Not like…cruel or rude entertainment. Not like, he wanted to laugh at her entertained. She was just…nifty. Loki found himself smiling rather brightly as he listened to the beats and mentally scanned everything about her. If he saw her in the halls again, he would recognize her.

When Carey sat up, it was Loki’s turn to lean back on his hands. He smiled at her, watching her tap her shoe with her drumsticks, listening intently to her words. That was not a question he was expecting. Right off the bat he had a bit of an answer, but he heard her out all the way. It was…strange…for Loki. Carey had asked a very enticing question. A question that got Loki thinking. That…never happened. Rarely did anyone present a concept to Loki that gave him reason to think. Loki loved to think. Mental stimulation was something Loki adored. He hated his classes most of the time because…well… he never felt challenged. Magic just…came to him. He performed well in class. Even when Loki struggled with something, it was never really a matter of using deep trains of thought, it was just a matter of focusing or flicking your wrist correctly. Magic require focus and determination, not deep mental thought. This question however, and questions like it, questions about life, or people, were good. These questions activated Loki’s mind. They gave him a reason to delve beneath his normal lazy loud mind, and get down to the fun stuff. The real stuff. Why did people hide who they were from the people that cared about them the most. It was a logical question, and as Carey went on, it seemed like she was hinting that one shouldn’t hide who they were from those that cared about them the most. This of course, was true. One shouldn’t hide or be ashamed of themselves. But the questions wasn’t should they, it was why.

“Well…of course we should know that it wouldn’t matter to those that care about us the most…but the fact remains that that is a hard concept to grasp.” Loki looked thoughtful, though he had a grin on his face now. The question was interesting him to a large degree. Before he could get any farther though he felt a light tapping on his head and he pulled himself back into reality to find Carey drumming on his head. He laughed as she pulled them back and told him his head looked drummable. “I don’t know if I should take that as a compliment, or an insult Carey.” He grinned and then went back to thinking. It was one of those things Loki had actually gone through and had an opinion on…if he could just make his thoughts into words. Loki thought hard before opening his mouth again. “You play drums, and you worry how your parents would respond to that? See…you know that they would still love you the same, so it’s not really you you’re worried about them reacting to…it’s what you’re doing. Hmmm…” He closed his eyes for a moment and then opened them again and looked at her. “Alright…I’m a werewolf. And for a long time I kept that to myself, not because I was ashamed of it, but because I didn’t know if people would look at me the same way. Of course, anyone that really cared about me it wouldn’t matter to…but you never know who you’re going to lose when you reveal something like that. You think that the people that care about you the most won’t care but…how do you know that unless you confide in them? You can’t really. So we hide things to avoid the day when we truly have to find out whether or not the people we believe care about us the most, really and truthfully care about us. Loki nodded slightly and looked at her again. “Was that any help?” He waited, knowing full well he had just told her he was a werewolf. This was the time, in a conversation, when Loki could tell some very serious things about a person’s character. The way Carey reacted to this bit of information, would tell Loki a lot.

[Carey Brighton H5]

Carey smiled and then nodded, looking quite serious; “Oh, it’s definitely a compliment, Loki. Coming from a drummer, anyway; we drummers always look for something to drum on and if your head looks drummable then you can bet it’s a good thing for a drummer.” She looked at him, a smile still playing across her lips, as she drummed on her shoe some more. After a bit she grew bored with drumming on her shoe and started to toss the drumstick in her right hand up in the air and catching it after it did a couple of flips. When Loki started speaking again, though, Carey caught the drumstick and started to tap lightly on her shoe again; her eyes locked on his. She didn’t say anything when he said she knew they’d still love her if they knew, because she knew they wouldn’t feel the same way about her. Mallory had taken a road to her own passion. She gave up on being the perfect daughter that they had wanted her to be, became a photographer, and now she was considered a bad influence. Carey knew that if she told her parents she wanted to do her own thing, they would look at her as if the world was ending. Carey was their shining light and she really hated it sometimes. She continued to tap on her shoe, a slow tap. Dut…da dut…dut…da dut…dut… Carey’s mind soaked up every word he was saying up until he said he was a werewolf. Her tapping stopped and her eyes took in everything about him. He continued talking, though, and Carey could tell (even if he hadn’t told her, which he had) that he was perfectly comfortable with letting people know he was a werewolf. She admired that and smiled, leaning on her elbows with her chin in her hands, listening to him answer her question.

She nodded and sat up straight again, moving closer to him and drumming on his foot now, “I suppose, though,” Carey said with a thoughtful look on her face as she tapped out a rhythm on Loki’s shoe, “it doesn’t help me with my dilemma completely. You see, I know what my parents would say if I told them I wanted to drum. It’d be the same thing they had said to my sister when she told them she wanted to become a photographer. That ‘the world is ending! What have you done?!’ look that I can’t bear to see pointed toward me.” Carey shrugged slightly, making the rhythm a bit more complex and a lot faster. Moving her drumsticks from his foot to hers and back again, focusing on the beats that flowed from her. “I think I’m just better off doing what they want me to do and hide who I want to be from them until I can’t take it anymore.” Carey shrugged again and looked up at Loki with another smile. She liked smiling; it was something that Carey was always doing. She hardly ever frowned and if she did it was because of something to do with the business or her father. Carey scowled and she looked sulky a bit whenever she was annoyed with something or someone, but for the most part she was always smiling and laughing. Even during business meetings. “Thanks, though, what you said did help me a bit. I dunno, I guess it just all goes back to human nature. Hiding something you think will be deemed unacceptable. After all, isn’t the one desire that all people share is to be accepted?” She raised her eyebrow a moment and then smiled and tapped Loki’s head with her drumstick again.

Carey tucked her hair behind her ear, and set aside her drumsticks, “So, werewolf? Really?” She felt no trepidation as she talked to him, she was curious. Why be apprehensive about asking questions you’re curious about? Carey had never really understood that, but she did follow it. There were just some things you didn’t ask someone. Though, if she picked up on Loki’s behaviour correctly, he was perfectly comfortable with talking about it. Carey pulled out her wand from her pocket and looked at it before tapping that against the ground. She smiled when sparks shot out of it. It was a lot more fun to drum with her wand (which she was known to do at school during class) because while listening to entertaining rhythms, you got a light show. It was more dangerous, of course, and Carey made sure she wasn’t too close to someone while doing it. She kept her eyes on her wand for a bit before looking back up at Loki, “I’ve never met a werewolf before, you know.” She smiled again and tapped his shoe, sending blue sparks up into the air that lingered between them a bit before dissipating. Carey thought about him being a werewolf. It was something she hadn’t seen coming, but it wasn’t something that scared her away. If anything it was something that made her even more interested in him. She knew that her father wouldn’t say the same thing, though. Her father was the epitome of pureblood. Werewolves, house elves, muggle borns, half bloods… they all were deemed unworthy in her father’s eyes. Carey completely disagreed with that. She preached equality rights for all. It was one thing she didn’t let her father push her around about.

Carey tapped the ground again, sending green sparks from the tip of her wand this time; “I admire that you’re comfortable with people knowing especially with all the people out there who… well…” she trailed off. She was going to say ‘who are like my father’ but that wasn’t something she wanted to go into, “who don’t have open enough minds to accept werewolves and such into the wizarding community.” Carey looked up at him, tapping her wand again and sending more sparks in the air between them.

[Loki Fen'Rolphus G6]

Loki chuckled as she explained that having a drummable head was a good thing. “Oh so you like my head do you, Carey?” He smirked at her. Loki wasn’t full of himself. Quite the contrary. For as outgoing as Loki was, he’d always had severe confidence issues. He couldn’t exactly say why, for he portrayed a large amount of self esteem, but…I guess you could say that he was his own worst critic. He was far too hard on himself over the most trivial of things. Nonetheless, what he was doing with Carey was…a sort of defense mechanism if you would. Loki had a tendency to brag, but he never accepted compliments well. He wasn’t out right flirting with Carey; Loki wasn’t the flirtiest of characters. It wasn’t like…he was trying to woo her…he was just being a complete dork. Maybe? Oh goodness, who knows. Loki was just Loki. He wasn’t arrogant but he wasn’t the most humble. He liked attention, and any way he could get it, he would try. Carey presented the perfect opportunity.

Loki grinned again as she scooted closer and began drumming on his shoe. “So my feet are drummable too?” He laughed and then sat back on his hands again, not minding her drumming at all. He was consumed by the concept of conversation. And, in all honesty enjoyed the drumming. It was interesting, something he couldn’t do at least. He listened to her tell him that she would rather just hide who she wanted to be until she couldn’t take it anymore. At that point, his smile drooped just slightly. What she said might have sounded, and maybe even made sense to her, but it was something Loki didn’t approve of at all. He had hidden his true self from the world for a great while, and now that he wasn’t anymore, life was sweeter. It bothered him that a girl who seemed this interesting might hide herself just to please someone else. He smiled nonetheless and then laughed lightly when she tapped his head with her drumsticks again before he spoke. “I suppose if that works for you.” He shrugged and looked thoughtful before leaning forward just slightly. “You know… I remember this one time…I must have been around twelve or thirteen. I found this really cool…well I think it was a rock? Anyways it was really cool, but being a young boy I was afraid someone might steal it from me you know? So I went out into the woods by my house and I buried it. For a long time I would go out and dig it up on occasion, just to make sure my treasure was still there. Until one day…I went out looking for it…and I couldn’t find it. I couldn’t remember where I had hidden it. After a while I just stopped looking for it and now-a-days…I cant even really remember if it was a rock.” He looked thoughtful again before shrugging and leaning back on his hands again. “No matter. Silly story eh?” He smiled at her. Either, she had gotten the point of his story, and understood the hidden meaning, or he looked like a total lunatic who just told a random story about a rock. Either way…oh well.

Loki smiled brightly and waiting as Carey tucked her hair behind her ear and set aside her drumsticks. He outright grinned when she brought up the werewolf part. The way Loki classified most people, where in three categories. The first, were the people who would simply walk away and either be mean, or never talk to him again when he mentioned being a werewolf. The second, were those that would simply ignore it, and pretend it had never been said. The last type of people, were Loki’s favorite. These were the people who were genuinely interested, and all in all, tended to be good people all around. They accepted Loki for who he was. What better people were there? Carey was officially classified in group three. “That’s me. Pureblood werewolf actually. Mum and Dad were too.” He nodded happily, he was proud of his heritage. It made him who he was just like anyone else’s heritage did. To be ashamed of his lycanthropy, would be to be ashamed of his parents. The parents that had done the best they could to give him a proper life, even though this had in turn led to their demise. It was only right Loki be proud. If not, he shamed his parents’ memory. Loki couldn’t and wouldn’t do that. Loki watched as Carey pulled out her wand and began drumming with it. She was by far the most interesting person he’d met in a long while, and she just kept getting more so. He shrugged as she tapped his shoe and told him she’d never met a werewolf. A lot of people said that. What they didn’t know is that they probably had met a werewolf. Since the days of You-Know-Who had ended, many of the werewolves who had been previously living underground had gone out into the community to find jobs where they could. Though, they still lived in secret, and to actually realize you’d met a werewolf was nearly impossible. They looked just like everyone else, despite common misconception. Loki smiled as she said she admired him and then he smiled even brighter as she ended her thought. “Well Carey, you have just tapped in on one of the biggest problems that comes between werewolf and wizard. What people don’t realize, is that werewolves are wizards too. We’re wizards just like everyone else, we just have a disease. Lycanthropy is an incurable disease just like cancer. But…you don’t see wizards with cancer being told that they’re scum do you?” He raised an eyebrow questioningly, a grin still spread across his face. This was one of his favorite subjects.

[Carey Brighton H5]

“Oh, yes, it’s a nice head,” Carey smiled, pausing in her drumming for a moment and in her speaking to look at him straight in the eyes. She tilted her head a bit, pretending to study him, and then nodded, “Big.” She was completely joking and she hoped her smile told him that. Carey wasn’t one to go around calling people’s heads big, in fact Carey wasn’t one to go around and insult anyone unless provoked. She was very quick witted when it came to insults and Carey knew it, but that didn’t mean she went around and insulted whoever she felt like insulting. She was over all, a good natured girl, but if someone got on her bad side… they would hear things that made their head spin before they got a chance to retaliate. It was something that was needed in the business world that Carey was such a huge part of. She smiled at him still and started her drumming again, wondering if what she had said would be construed as good natured ribbing… or a flat out rude remark. She looked at him. No, there was no way it was a flat out rude remark because in all actuality, Loki’s head was not big. Not any bigger than a normal human head anyway. When he asked if his feet were drummable, too, Carey shrugged with a small smile; “Yes, but they aren’t nearly as big as your head.” She brightened her smile as she drummed. This was Carey. This was the girl that she was inside her head. She was always joking, she always had something clever to say, and she was always thinking about what to do next. Constantly moving. A ball of energy.

She listened to Loki talk about a rock, her eyes on her hands as they moved, but her attention on him. With a confused look, Carey stopped drumming a moment and closed her eyes, replaying everything he had just said in her head before looking up at him again and smiling; “I get it, I get it. If I hide who I am, I’m never going to remember who I am really. But, no worries, Loki…” Carey had switched her drumsticks for her wand by now and she tapped the tip of Loki’s nose with the end of her wand, happy that no sparks flew out; “I’ve got people to remind me who I am. Friends who see the real me. I don’t think I’ll be forgetting anytime soon.” She wondered how true that really was. Who really knew the real Carey Brighton? Her parents only saw the business side of her, the perfect daughter side, and in turn her friends never saw that side. They only saw the happy-go-lucky and spunky sixteen year old who couldn’t keep her hands still if they had drumsticks or a wand in them. But was all of Carey both business and spunk? Of course. Now, she was in a rather large predicament. Carey looked thoughtful a moment, “Well, no, actually… my friends don’t know all of me. They only see this… not even this, I’ve never talked like this with a friend… but I suppose with a perfect balance of my business and of my Carey-ness… I’ll be fine, right?” She didn’t expect him to answer, because she was really just thinking aloud, but that was okay if he did. She wouldn’t scold him for putting in his two pence. In fact, she would rather have liked him to.

He spoke about the problems between werewolf and man (for not wizard, cos he did make a good point when he said that werewolves are wizards, too) and Carey found herself nodding in agreement before pausing in her drumming and looking at him; “Actually, I have encountered a wizard who’s called another wizard scum because they’ve got cancer. Regardless, though, you’re right. The world sucks that way, and there isn’t anything we can do about it, either. We just have to deal with it and not let it get to us, I guess.” Carey smiled again, gee she smiled a lot, but she couldn’t help it. Carey liked to express her emotions through her face, but she also had a very good business stare… she had to after all. Sitting across from a man ten times larger than you who runs a company your father wants a share of… you better as hell know how to hold yourself and look intimidating, even if you’re only sixteen and 5’4”. “I think,” Carey said with a thoughtful look on her face as she leaned to her right with her hand holding her up, “that’s the key to surviving anything anymore. Not letting it get to you. I mean, with the world as it is today…with the diversities and such… most of the time people are just afraid of getting caught of being afraid, does that make sense? So, the only way to survive… not get caught of being afraid… is to… pretend it doesn’t get to you. A poker face. The face you put on in the boardroom when a rather large man is sitting across from you and giving you an evil eye.”

[Loki Fen'Rolphus G6]

Loki laughed when Carey said his head was big. That had caught him off guard. He didn’t exactly think he was the cutest thing out there, but if he had thrown that at any other girl, the she probably would have shaken her head at him. Silly Loki, you’re so full of yourself sometimes. As untrue as that was, people often thought it. Loki didn’t discourage this thinking however; he liked people to think he was filled to the brim with confidence. “Ah, but my feet are huge on full moon nights.” He said in reply to her next comment, and looked up at her with a smirk. It was funny how true that statement was. Since he had begun school at Hogwarts, Loki had started taking the wolfsbane potion every full moon night. While it didn’t keep him from transforming, it did allow him to keep his head. So every full moon night he would sit by himself in the room of requirement – for the school had established this as his safe house – and he would look over the various features of his lycanthropy. Inside the room he had the space to run around a bit, test out his improved motor skills…or…unimproved motor skills, for he found he was a rather clumsy werewolf. Nonetheless he had taken notice of the new proportions of his body. His feet for instance, were at least double their normal size. Which probably explained his clumsiness…I mean, how do you function with clown feet?

Loki took his mind off this to tell his rock story, and then paused to allow her time to soak it in. He grinned when she repeated his meaning back at him. She hit the nail right on the head. Or well, she hit his nose at least. She never ceased to surprise him; her humor was one that Loki could relate to. Light heartedness. It was nice. He liked it. He listed to her explain that she had friends who knew her and therefore would never really forget who she was. There would be people to remind her. Loki nodded thoughtfully and then smirked at her again when she said she had never talked to a friend like she was talking to him. “Aw, so I’m not a friend? Jeeze, I thought we had something special Carey.” He shook his head smiling. “No no, only teasing. But I understand what you’re saying. Just…don’t get so caught up in one side of Carey, that you neglect the other side. Because I’m sure, that as a whole, Carey’s pretty amazing.” He patted her foot and leaned back on his hands again, looking her over. He considered the fact that what he had just said could be taken as flirting, but he had really only meant it as a compliment. Right? Right. Compliment. Loki was good at compliments. He prided himself on having a good judge of character, and seeing the good in people…well…most people. There were occasionally those people that you just cant find good in no matter how hard you look. Or they were just not the kind of person you clicked with. Loki liked to think, that if you didn’t get along with someone, it was more likely that you just weren’t meant to get along. Sometimes there are just personalities that clash. Sometimes though, there are personalities that just…mesh.

The werewolf conversation was in full swing now, which kept Loki’s gears turning. He liked to sit down and have a conversation about…well…human nature. His experiences in werewolf rights had opened his mind to the subject, and now he couldn’t get away from it. He looked at almost everything from that angle. Is it human nature? Carey presented a good thought. Maybe we all just have to deal. Maybe we all just have to accept the world the way it was and not let it effect us. Loki looked away for a moment. Dealing with the world the way it was, dealing with prejudices…that was what had gotten the world into the state it was in now. No one ever took a stand, no one ever say ‘Hey, no, that’s not right!’ That was the flaw. That was the fatal error. Acceptance. The time was passed for acceptance. But Loki wasn’t about to preach about the flaws in the world, he had other questions on his mind, questions about her. “Maybe you’re right Carey.” He nodded thoughtfully and then looked back at her. “You know, you’ve made business references twice now.” He grinned. “Involved in much of it?”

[Carey Brighton H5]

“Oh, don’t be silly, Loki; of course you’re a friend. You’re just a friend who has the ability to keep me stimulated and entertained at the same time. I haven’t got many of those,” she raised her eyebrows and shook her head as she drummed. Honestly, she really didn’t. There was Iris, who was positively the most amazing best friend anyone could ever have, but Carey knew that there were certain things she and Iris couldn’t talk about without butting heads. She had a feeling that she and Loki would be able to hold conversations with completely different opposite views and be perfectly okay with it. No harsh words thrown, no evil glares. But perhaps Carey was judging to quickly. After all, they were currently just talking about something they both agreed upon, there wasn’t much to go off if there was something else to him. Which… she was certain there was. She brought herself back to the conversation when Loki patted her foot, saying he was sure that all of her was amazing. Carey looked at him and smiled; “Yeah, well, maybe. But I’ll keep that in mind. No neglecting. Got it.” She nodded matter of factly and then smiled again, letting her eyes fall to her foot before she tapped on it with her wand. No one had ever said that to her before, but then again no one had ever really had the ability to see the side that was dormant inside of her.

What was that? Dormant? It was in fact just a synonym for hiding, to Carey. But she didn’t feel like she was hiding it… Was it hiding when you acted a certain way around certain people and then another way around other people? Was she hiding the business side of her from the friends she had at school and then turning around and hiding the teenage side from her parents when she was at home? It wasn’t like she was two faced; she just chose to show certain sides to certain people… Oh, now Carey was just thinking herself into a frenzy. She bit back a groan and tucked her hair behind her ear as Loki started talking again. She smiled when he said she may be right and then instantly her smile faded when he asked about business. Carey sighed and looked up at him, “Involved? What an understatement that is! I run my father’s business practically. It’s all my summer is about. Landing this account, buying this business, having this business meeting, sucking up to this big shot, sucking up to that big shot. It’s like a merry-go-round. It goes round and round and round until it slows to a stop and then someone comes and pushes it and makes it go round and round and round again. It’s a vicious cycle. I hate it, but… in a way I love it. It’s my life, it’s all I’ve ever really known.”

Carey shrugged here, looking at her wand with a rather sad expression on her face, “Sometimes, though, I wonder if my parents really even love me for me and not just for my amazing business skills. That’s why I wonder what they would say if I told them I am quitting the business and going into drumming in a band,” she smiled softly here and then shrugged again as if she was pulling herself out of a pity party… which she was. Carey smiled brightly at Loki and then started drumming again on both of their feet, “Anyway, my whole life has been like a preparation to take over the business once my father’s dead. They wanted my sister to do it, but she was a flop and ended up marching to the beat of her own drummer by the means of photography. My brother is a git and sucks up too much if there is such a thing. So, I’m their last hope. If I fail them, the family business doesn’t stay in the family. Which, wouldn’t be too terrible, but my father seems to think it’s the end of the world.” She rolled her eyes. Her father had some pretty messed up views and Carey knew this, but she hardly ever spoke out of line about her father’s passion for his business. She admired his strength. He had built the business up from nothing because his father had let it fall to ruins. Now, it was a rising empire and Carey liked how successful it was… and she was amazed that her father could do that.

“So, yeah, understatement. But I can’t believe I mentioned it twice already. I guess I just… can’t get away from it.” Carey looked very guilty and managed another small shrug before picking up her drumsticks again. She couldn’t keep drumming with one thing. Sometimes she had the urge to make a double beat. A faster one with her right and a slower beat with her left. Kind of like her left played a bass beat. As Carey drummed, she thought about how this was the most relaxed she had been in weeks. There was just something about Loki that made her relax into herself, she didn’t have to be someone everyone expected and that was something she liked. Therefore, she enjoyed Loki’s company.

[Loki Fen'Rolphus G6]

“Awww…we’re friends! Well you should know that now you’re stuck with me Carey.” Loki grinned at her. It was true. No one who ever told Loki he was their friend ever got away from him. Loki’s goal in life – other then equal rights for werewolves – was to befriend as many people as possible. This included everyone. One of his favorite questions to throw at strangers was ‘we’re friends right?’ He liked to stop innocent first years in the halls and convince them to call him their best friend. Best friend. That was another odd thing about Loki. Despite the number of acquaintances he had, Loki never really counted anyone as his best friend. He didn’t exactly mind that. Sure, every once in a while everyone wants someone close to confide in, but Loki never really stressed finding one person to depend on. Loki functioned well in a large group. It was part of that ‘pack’ mentality that had been forced into his brain as a child. He never really had gotten away from his roots. Loki moved his mind back to Carey. She was responding to his suggestion about not neglecting any part of her. He really hoped she was taking him seriously. Loki always meant what he said. If Loki complimented you, you had better believe it, and if he insulted you…well you better kiss face till you’re back on his good side. See, Loki liked to make friends, he loathed making enemies…but it wasn’t something that never happened. As a matter of fact it happened more often then he would have liked. Most of his so called ‘enemies’ were just the kids that annoyed him. Loki didn’t handle being annoyed very well. He looked at Carey again and smiled. She’d never get on his bad side. She was far too…intriguing.

Business. Loki knew nothing about it. He had never really needed to. Shaant had finally moved up to the head of the werewolf registration office and he had plans for Loki’s career. It was a new theory. Have a werewolf work within the ministry in hopes he will e able to convince others to register their lycanthropy. Loki resented the fact that the main idea was to use him as a puppet, but he figured that from within the ministry itself was the best place to make changes for werewolves’ rights. But back to the point at hand, Loki was slightly surprised as Carey told him about her role in the family business. He had to admit, it was hard picturing such a pretty, young girl doing those things. But he believed it. The way she talked made it obvious. When it came to business Carey Brighton sure knew her stuff. Whoa…did I just remember her full name? Although, her attitude about it bothered him slightly. Not like annoyed him, just worried him. She, deny it as she might, was definitely hiding a part of herself from her parents, and that bothered Loki. Perhaps it was the fact that he didn’t have parents that gave him this outlook, but it seemed like…well…she wasn’t doing her parents any favors by humoring them. Carey was her own person right? So she had the right to do what she wanted, to be herself. There was a difference between living up to your parents’ expectations and being yourself. You can do both at the same time. Carey obviously had the talent to be amazing in the business world, and drum like nobody’s business (no pun intended) so why was she hiding her drumming from her family? Her comment about why she hid it even bothered him more, and he wondered if that was just her opinion, or if her parents really were that serious about their business that they were willing to change their opinions about their daughter just because she wanted to do her own thing. He wondered what his parents would think about him if they were still alive. Would they be proud of the stand he was making for werewolves? Or would they be like the general population and discourage him, thinking it was hopeless. He would never really know that would he? That opportunity was snatched away from him as a young boy. Loki was surprised sometimes by his lack of resentment towards his past. He didn’t resent what happened to him, he accepted it. That was the only way to move on and make things better. The same went for werewolves rights. He couldn’t change the past, but he would work to change the future right?

Loki smiled when she finished and then patted her knee like he had done her foot. This wasn’t unusual for him, Loki was the type of guy who just…touched. He had no problems hugging random people nor standing in the halls and asking everyone for high fives. He was that type of person. He sat back again and watched Carey drum for a while. Loki had never really picked up instruments well. He’d once tried to learn how to play the guitar, but that didn’t go so well. He knocked out a few notes on a piano once…but he gave up on that pretty quick. But if there was one thing Loki was sure he couldn’t do, it would be to play the drums. He had zero hand/eye/foot coordination and that was sure to be a problem. Plus, the fact that he had no sense of rhythm…might present a conflict as well. Finally he chuckled and spoke, “How on earth do you do that?”

[Carey Brighton H5]

Carey smiled at him when he said she was stuck with him now. She looked at her drumsticks and shook her head, “I’m sure it’s not that bad. After all, I’ve talked to you more than I’ve talked to anyone else this summer, that’s for sure.” She looked a little sad at the thought of not really talking to anyone over the summer holidays. Carey twirled the end of her hair around her finger in thought. She normally was perfectly content with working all summer. She had been doing it since she could remember. School was her time, she was able to do what she wished as long as she kept up good marks. The summer holidays were her parents’ time. She could do whatever they wanted her to do. Carey wondered if perhaps she was okay with it before because she didn’t really believe that she could even have a social life. She had been what? Younger that 15? Life hadn’t even really started then, right? She was still in her awkward stages. At the age of 16, though, Carey was positive that her life was going to begin. She just needed to get it going. She needed to break out of the shell she was put in for the holidays. But could she do that? Carey doubted it. She highly doubted it. Was she just being a pessimist or a realist?

She resumed her drumming, pushing her thoughts from her mind. Carey kept her eyes on the tips of her drumsticks, moving them at lightening speeds, faster and faster with each four beats. She was in her zone and the silence that was settling around the two was consuming her. Carey’s mind kept going in duts and dats. It was engulfing her. She didn’t know how long she had been in her place, but she let her mind snap back when Loki patted her knee. She looked up and smiled at him when he asked how she drummed, “It’s easy.” She told him as she stopped and took his hands, placing the drumsticks in them and then holding her hands over his, “You’ve just got to feel the beat. I usually choose the beat of my heart, because it’s always constant and if I’m drumming while I’m excited it’s constantly changing its rhythm.” Carey smiled again and then lifted his right hand to strike it down on her shoe gently in a slow rhythm, “Dut dut dut.” Then she initiated his left hand in as well, “Dut da dut dut dut.” Carey watched as she continued to help him tap out beats, speaking in duts now as she did so.

After awhile, she had started up a rhythm constant enough to take her eyes off their hands and look up at him, still moving their hands, “It… it doesn’t take too much coordination. A lot of people think it does, but it really… just takes passion. I mean, have you ever tapped on your desk when you were bored in class? It’s kind of like that. You tap because of something in your brain going off, telling you you’re bored. You tap out what you feel. This…” Carey changed the rhythm to a steady one beat, “is perhaps what you would feel if you were bored. Then if you were agitated?” She changed the rhythm so on the third beat she tap with their left hand and then added an and between beats three and four. “One, two…” she tapped their left, “three,” and then back to her right, “and four, five.” Carey smiled at him as she continued to move their hands for a bit before taking hers back, “Drumming isn’t just about beats and rhythms and such like everyone thinks it is. It’s… passion, that’s all I can really say to explain it. But… don’t stop drumming. It’s fun to watch someone else do it for a change.”

She smiled brightly and rested her elbows on her knees, her chin in her hands; “People… people don’t see drumming as an art form, but it is. I mean, without the drums in a band, the music falls apart. The drums are what keep everyone together. I wish more people would understand that…” Carey thought a moment, “Heck, I wish my parents would understand that enough to be able to hear me out if I ever told them about drumming.” She shrugged slightly, wanting to move past that discussion already. “I don’t just play drums, though,” Carey shook her head, “I sing, too. I’ve always sung, but drumming is fairly new. I’ve only been doing it for three years or so, singing I’ve been doing ever since I could talk. Though…” she trailed off and looked down at the drumsticks, “no one will ever hear me sing. I’m not as confident in my singing as I am in my drumming.” Carey smiled slightly, she wasn’t confident in her singing at all, really.

[Loki Fen'Rolphus G6]

Easy. That was funny. But Loki resisted the urge to laugh. He knew she meant what she said. She believed it was easy, though Loki would probably find otherwise. Loki liked, as I mentioned before, mental challenges…not work related challenges. He was lazy. He didn’t like to work. Especially if it wasn’t something he could just get off the bat. Loki wasn’t one of those guys who persevered when it came to learning things. If he couldn’t get it within a short time span, he wouldn’t continue with it. He had tried to learn how to play the piano for a while, quite within a week. And the guitar only lasted two days. Drumming, was something he had never even attempted. He had no rhythm. That was that. He was clumsy, even when he wasn’t transfigured. He knew that if he tried to learn to drum he was sure to hit someone in the face with the drumsticks. He respected musicians. He couldn’t play instruments, he didn’t have the patience for it, but he really respected the people who could. Carey therefore, was just becoming more and more of one of those people he had a great respect for. Not only did he feel she was an honestly good person, but she played an instrument. And not just any instrument, but the drums. That was something he could respect.

Loki looked warily as she put the drumsticks in his hand. All he could see was him someone losing control of one of them, hitting her in the face, and her hating him forever. That wouldn’t be good. Luckily however, she didn’t just command him to play, had she done that he would have felt foolish. She placed her hands over his and guided them in a beat. He smiled warmly, watching as she made him tap on her food. He listed to her speak the beat and smiled more. That was nifty. Slowly though, the sound became less and less nifty, and more and more mesmerizing. Carey was talking again, about passion in the drumming, about feeling it, but her voice was blending into the hypnotism that was taking control of him.

Dut…dut…dut…dut…dum…dum…dum…bum…bum…boom…boom…

He had the urge to close his eyes but he didn’t.

Drums. He could remember huge drums, drums the size of him, even bigger maybe. There were pictures all over the large instruments, and large men banging on their sides with huge batons. There was a fire, and many people were talking, some were yelling and screaming, others were dancing around, just as mesmerized by the drums as Loki seemed to be. He was young, six maybe? He stared around blankly, jaw dropped, eyes wide. Some of the dancers were in costumes; they all looked like giant wolves. There was a large man…a giant man. Loki was frightened and yet he felt compelled to go to the man. He walked slowly, hardly aware of where his feet were leading him. Somehow he managed to walk through the crowed of people, to the man. He was standing on a ledge, yelling and shouting. Many of the people in the large stone room were looking up at him, listening intently. They all looked like they admired him, but Loki could see the same fear in their eyes that he could feel in his pounding heart. He walked up to the man and reached a shaking hand up, tugging on the large man’s cloak. He turned around, shockingly quick and grabbed Loki by the shoulders. Before Loki could run he was lifted up, held right by the shoulders, hanging over the ledge. He didn’t realize how far up he was…but he was scared. He closed his eyes tight and tried to be brave. He knew he should be brave. He was supposed to be brave. His father would be angry if he saw him with his eyes closed. He opened them and looked straight ahead, ignoring the height. ‘Future…power…respect’ many words rushed past his words as the man behind him continued to yell. Soon Loki tuned him out…soon Loki was listening again to the drums that had tricked him to come to this place…those large…forsaking drums.

Loki blinked and looked at his hands. They were still moving, but Carey’s hands were no longer guiding them. Suddenly the rhythm broke, he lost whatever concentration had been keeping him going and he just…couldn’t do it anymore. He looked up at Carey just in time to hear her say that she sang. He smiled softly, trying to focus on her. He felt miserable for just missing half of their conversation. Sadly, this sort of thing had been happening to him for the past almost six years. He had a feeling that the men who had sent him and his family away had tried to perform a memory charm on him. Though, most of the adult werewolves that had lived in the community had never got to school to study magic. Most of them had been outlaws since they were bitten. The ones that had gone to school had mostly forgotten all they’d learned, or snapped their wands and pushed that part of them from their lives. When Loki was a child the werewolf community was anti magic on the most part. They were striving for their own civilization. And they did well. Loki thought about the drums for a moment. The whole thing seemed so…tribal. Bits and pieces of his childhood would flash before him as something would inspire the memories to come back. That was just how things went for him. He blinked again as Carey looked down at the drumsticks, hoping she wasn’t disappointed to see that they had stopped moving. She wasn’t confident about singing. Loki could understand that. He switched to hold both the drumsticks in one hand, and moved his free one to her chin, tilting her head back up. He smiled softly and looked her straight in the eyes. “Someday maybe you’ll sing for me, yes? Maybe I’ll sing for you too eh? Could be fun.” He nodded reassuringly.

[Carey Brighton H5]

Carey noticed that his gaze had become glassy. She tilted her head and smiled as she talked, keeping her eyes on his even though she could tell he was off in his own world. Carey never got that look. She was always tuned in to everything around her. Carey couldn’t afford to drift off into her own little reverie simply because… if she did that there was a good chance that she would miss out on something important. It came from years and years of experience in the board room with her father. She would always have to hold a conversation with her mother, yet still be able to give a recap of the meeting to her father later that night. It was just one of the exercises that Carey had to go through and complete before her father decided that she was perfectly capable of holding business meetings on her own. She had often found herself envious of the people who had the luxury of spacing out in their own memories or daydreams or ideas because she had never been able to experience something like that and she knew that it must be… entrancing. So, perhaps it was crazy for her to be so interested and understanding when Loki zoned out, but she couldn’t help it.

Loki seemed to tune back in finally, and she smiled back at him. He stopped drumming and Carey let her eyes fall to the drumsticks, her fingers itching to get back around them. She continued to watch the drumsticks until he tilted her face up to look at him. It was a small gesture, but Carey found herself in an emotional spot she hadn’t been in before. See, no one had ever done that and it’s usually only seen in movies. You know… “What is it you want, Mary? What do you want? You want the moon? Just say the word and I’ll throw a lasso around it and pull it down. Hey. That’s a pretty good idea. I’ll give you the moon, Mary.” The things like that, the gestures and the words… they happen in movies, during romantic scenes. But Carey knew it wasn’t that way for Loki. She smiled at him when he said someday she’d sing for him and he for her. “Maybe,” she told him with a small nod before reaching and taking her drumsticks back, “Maybe not. I guess it depends on how comfortable with you I become.” Carey thought about that, looking at her drumsticks in her hands, still and motionless. “Don’t take offense to that, really. I just…” she looked back up at him, “I rarely come across someone I’m comfortable around enough to sing in front of. I haven’t even sung in front of my family, and that’s one talent that would be deemed acceptable by my parents.”

It was funny to think that if she told her parents that singing was one passion, they would be able to work into the grand scheme of the family business. Because, what pureblooded business owner doesn’t like a pretty girl who could sing? Carey knew one girl, D.J. Michaels, who had to sing at almost every dinner party for 15 years because she told her family that singing was something she loved. After awhile, though, her passion for it dwindled to nothing because she was using her singing as a way to get deals. Carey and D.J. hadn’t been very close, because D.J. was four years her senior, but they had conversations that didn’t revolve around business all the time and it was through that that Carey grew to know D.J. Michaels as a human being and not a business partner. For a business partner was not a human being. Most business partners that Carey dealt with were very much robots. In a sense. They weren’t literally robots but they were robotic enough to be deemed robots. Business greedy robots. She shrugged now and began drumming again, this time a song she had written. Without the rest of the instruments, though, the song couldn’t be heard. It just sounded like… duts and dats. Which was perfectly okay with Carey. She didn’t like being criticized. Especially from someone she enjoyed talking to so much.

Carey let her mind wander to what it would be like if she told her parents she wanted to drum instead of take over the family business. It would probably end up like it had with Mallory. They’d disinherit her, but allow her to live in the house as long as she paid room and board. Life would be harder, that was for sure, but would she be happier? Carey was happy, really she was, but she knew that there were a few things that she would like to change about her life. Some things that made her feel like she would never be truly accepted by her parents or that they really would never completely know her. So, perhaps Carey disliked ‘hiding’ a part of her… but she didn’t see it that way. She just didn’t want to end up like Mallory, not completely anyway. Mallory… Carey frowned and looked at her wrist watch, “Merlin… I should get going…” she told Loki as she stopped drumming on the ground and held both drumsticks with one hand, “My father’ll be home in an hour and I have to get something done for him. Mal’s my way home and I’ll bet you a pretty penny that she’s getting annoyed at how long I’ve been…”

[Loki Fen'Rolphus G6]

Maybe. It was a start eh? Loki smiled softly and shrugged. It was just an idea. Loki didn’t consider himself musically inclined, and he really had no idea if he was or not. Loki had never made the time to learn an instrument. He’d never had anyone to teach him to play anything anyways, and Loki wasn’t the type to just pick something up and teach himself. That’s what had happened the last two times he had tried to play something…well…except the guitar. He had cornered a first year and begged the kid to teach him how to play it. Though, Loki got frustrated rather quick because he couldn’t pick it up and ended up blaming the poor kid, who took the criticism without argument which gave Loki reason to believe the kid hadn’t really tried to hard to teach. Loki could just imagine the little brat running off to his friends and having a great laugh at the older kid who couldn’t learn to play the guitar. That bothered Loki to an extreme. If there was one problem Loki saw too often in school it was the lack of respect younger years had for the older years. Right of Passage. That’s what the law of the world was. It was just wrong for a first year to talk back to a third year, even though technically, they’re not that far apart in age. The same thing should apply for a first year and a fifth year you’d think? Loki thought so. There was just no respect anymore. Loki assumed the problem had begun when mothers and fathers had stopped allowing older siblings to put the younger ones in their place. That’s how it should have been. At least...in Loki’s opinion. One of the first flashback’s Loki had ever had was of this sort of thing. Actually, he had the same flashback often, any time he saw any form of disrespect. Loki could see the even clearly. All the young boys of the den being rounded up and shoved into a room and given a toy of some sort. “Fight for it.” These sorts of exercises were supposed to teach them things, and they did.

They learned how to move forward in the world, or at least, how the werewolves thought they would move forward in the world. The whole idea was to gain ranks through violence, and while Loki didn’t think violence was the best solution to all problems, this concept had been drilled into his head over years. Loki could remember playing games, all games sanctioned by the council. Games like king-of-the-rock and capture the flag. Two very different game concepts. One required there to be only one leader, while the other taught you to work as a team. They were directly told to fight if there were conflicts. All of these things were lessons, everything was a lesson when Loki was a kid. As much rambling as I’ve done, the point remains, as a child Loki learned to be the best. He learned right of passage. And he learned to put other kids in their place. It wouldn’t exactly be correct to label Loki as a bully, just to say that he understood his place. Bully, that’s funny. Loki had been called a bully before and he outright detested it. Sure, he understood that sometimes his actions could be taken as bullying kids, but he didn’t think of it that way. There was a difference between bullying and teaching. Loki believed he taught valuable life lessons. The few people who had called Loki a bully were normally kids that Loki didn’t make much effort into being their friend. Loki liked to think he had a certain charisma, that no matter how ‘rude’ or ‘bully-ish’ he got, people would still like him. He was never outright mean…ok so most of the time he wasn’t outright mean, he just…gave little pushes every now and then. Shaant liked to say that Loki was nosey, shoved his face into other people’s business far too much, but the fact remained that honestly, people shoved Loki’s face into a lot of things. Loki was a good friend, sure. But he never asked to be a counselor. Oh no matter, this is all pointless talk. Back to the important stuff.

Loki was thankful when she took the drumsticks from his hands. Honestly they had brought on a heavy sensation. The sounds of pounding drums were still fresh on his mind. He couldn’t decide why that memory was shaking him like it was, but that’s the way memories work; they’re tricky things. He looked at his empty hands and listened to Carey. He was pleased to note that his mental rant had taken all of five seconds and that he hadn’t missed much at all of her talking. She was an interesting girl, and Loki didn’t want to miss her talking. “I don’t typically sing in front of people…actually…I don’t sing at all…” Oh yes, that’s where I was getting at before Rights of Passage. Singing. Loki had never actually had time to pick up a hobby like singing. He didn’t listen to much music, he lived in the woods over the holidays and at school Loki was too busy socializing or working. He just didn’t have time to pick up on popular music. He would much rather talk to kids who were listening to music. So suffice to say, Loki could actually not remember singing a popular song…ever…in his entire life time. Shaant sometimes played old records, but Loki rarely gave them much attention. Loki just didn’t care much for sound that was all. It was probably because of his childhood. That bit he had just remembered was probably one of the festivals before the full moon. So loud, so obnoxious. Those days had probably turned him off to sounds. Loki believed he could probably have lived his life deaf if need be, though, then he couldn’t engage in all the conversations he so loved. Carey had begun to drum again and he watched her, trying not to go back to the memory of the drums. He didn’t like that one. So noisy, and the way the man shook him in the end. Bah, no fun. He blinked as her drumsticks stopped and switched hands. He looked up at her and smirked. “Gonna leave without a goodbye kiss?” He had no idea where the words had come from and so he shook his head and stood, smiling and taking her free hand, pulling her up too. “Only joking. But maybe we could meet again sometime? Here in Hogsmeade maybe? I don’t get much social interaction over the summers and well…” He smiled at her again. “I think Carey Brighton could use an occasional break from those business meetings. What do you say?”

[Carey Brighton H5]

He didn’t sing at all, he said. Carey smiled, “Good, that means you won’t have any right to criticise my singing.” She tucked her hair behind her ear and shrugged. She doubted Loki would criticise her singing anyway. He didn’t seem like that type of person. He didn’t seem like that type of person? Carey had literally just met him, she didn’t really know him. She hadn’t any idea what his opinions on other matters were, she didn’t know if he had any negatives to him. Hell, Carey knew that he could turn around and laugh about their meeting today. But in the end, she really wouldn’t care. She tended to not care if people talked about her, because she knew it was going to happen regardless of whether or not she cared about it. She wasn’t like her father or her mother in that sense. She couldn’t care less what society thought of her or her family. It really wasn’t any of their business to begin with Even as Carey sat there and thoguht about how she wouldn’t care if Loki criticised her singing, she knew that deep down she would. She took her peers’ opinion to heart much more than she took any adult’s, simply because…well, she didn’t have a big chance of seeing that adult again whereas she knew she had a significantly larger chance of seeing her peer again.

Carey had stopped drumming by now and had told Loki she should probably get going. When he made mention of a goodbye kiss, Carey felt her eyebrow raise and then smiled, “Gee, I believe you’re out of luck for now. After all, I only just met you. It would be rather improper,” she smirked and took his hand, allowing him to pull her up from the ground. She brushed off her jeans and nodded when he suggested meeting up again, “Yeah,” she said, looking back up at him with another bright smile, “If I can get away, that’d be good. I’m sure I’d have no issue talking Mal into bringing me here again.” Carey thought about that a moment. Using her sister as transportation, a free ticket out of her house. Was it sad that Carey, although she loved her work, wanted to use her sister to get out? Not in the sense that she wanted out, but in the sense that…she had to use Mallory to get out. Most girls her age, most people her age were able to get out by just asking permission and telling their parents where they were going or what have you. But not Carey. No, she was like locked in her house as if she were a prisoner. It was depressing. And yet, she still loved it.

“So, Loki Fen’Rolphus, I’ll be seeing you around, if not here at Hogsmeade then at school most definitely. As for whether or not we can see each other again over the summer, I’ll have to say you’ll either have to catch me by chance or owl me.” Carey smiled brightly at him and stood on her tip toes, her drum sticks in either hand now, and tapped on his head again; lightly like before. “The choice is yours, Fen’Rolphus, but…until then.” She touched her drumstick to her forehead and mock saluted him, smiling once more, before retreating backward for a bit and then turning around, heading toward the Three Broomsticks. As she walked toward the pub, she went over the conversation in her head. It was definitely the most entertaining day she had all summer hols and she hoped they’d meet up again. Loki was someone Carey could see herself associating with often. Besides, he brought out the side of Carey that she normally hid away from people. It was different, but she liked it and she knew she wouldn’t be able to go on with her life knowing she’d let someone see the real her without hiding another piece of her away. If Loki was the only person who could bring that side of her out, she would definitely see him more often.

“There you are! I was coming to look for you, ready?” Mallory looped her arm through Carey’s without waiting for an answer and smiled before looking around, “What’d you do?” Carey smiled at her, “I met a really cool guy and we talked.” Mallory looked at her as if she were insane, “Carey Brighton met a guy and talked to him?” Carey sent her sister a glare, wondering if she should explain to her but then thought better of it, “Let’s just go, Mal.” Mallory looked at her and then nodded and they disapparated.