Tea and Talk ((Carey))

[Loki Fen'Rolphus G6]

Loki had in fact written to Carey. This, while a seemingly simple task, was an extraordinary achievement for Loki. Loki hadn’t ever written anyone an owl that hadn’t written down their name on a piece of paper for him. Loki’s impossibility with names had made it impossible for him to write anyone all summer. He couldn’t remember even the names of his closest friends. Words and names just slipped his mind. When Carey had told him that he’d either meet her by chance or have to owl her, he had been anxious. He really, really wanted to see her again and he had a feeling that owling her wouldn’t work out as best he would hope it would. It wasn’t just an easy thing for Loki to do. Therefore, when she left he had said her name over and over and over in his mind until he found a kid and borrowed a pen, writing her name on his hand. Of course, luck would have it that when he got home and washed his hands…there went the name. Of course, it was expected that when Loki sat down the write to Carey, and found himself having no trouble remember her name, first and last mind you, it shocked him. It was a good type of shock, the kind of shock that leaves a grin plastered on your face. He didn’t have a clue why her name stuck in his mind. Maybe it was because he said it a million times, or maybe something about her just stuck with him. Either way, he had written to her. Often. When they weren’t seeing each other in Hogsmeade, they had been writing letters back and forth. He found her to be the most interesting person he’d met in a while, the first girl to successfully keep his attention, and that was a big deal.

Tonight Loki stood by the tree he had first met her, one arm behind his back. He had brought her something. Loki had come to enjoy her company more then any of his other friends, and her being a girl, he’d come to treat her more as a lady then just some friend. Loki and Carey were just friends of course, though Shaant had asked Loki about his intentions. “You like her or something? Sure talk about her a lot.” We’re just friends Shaant, I told you that already. “Is she really that interesting?” You have no idea. At this point Shaant would just give Loki a look and walk away smirking to himself. Maybe he saw something Loki didn’t…yet. Loki, however, didn’t understand why it was so hard for Shaant to understand that he considered Carey as a friend, sure a really good friend whom he cared about, but a friend nonetheless. It was like second year all over again. Why couldn’t girls and guys just be good friends? Loki and Carey had met before in Hogsmeade, it had actually become almost a weekly get together. They would wander around or have a seat in the three broom sticks and talk over a butterbeer. Loki looked up and down the street and then pulled his hand from behind his back, along with the rose. He twirled it in his hand and smiled softly. He looked down, looking over his appearance. Loki had never really been one to care about what other people thought of him, but Carey made him want to make a good impression. He straightened his blazer and leaned over, retying his shoe. He stood and ran his fingers through his hair just as he saw Carey heading down the street towards him.

Loki smiled and waved to let her know where he was just in case she hadn’t seen him and then began walking towards her as well. He met her half way and leaned, kissing her cheek. He had grown very comfortable with Carey, and kissing her cheek wasn’t a big deal to him at all. Of course, people on the street might assume that their relationship was more then friendly, but who really cares what other people think? Loki smiled at her when he stood up again and held out the rose to her. “Nice to see you again Carey. Glad you could get out again.” Loki had started encouraging Carey to get an escape from her business life as often as she possibly could. He didn’t think it was healthy for a young, pretty girl to be locked up in business meetings all summer long and so he did his best to make their occasional outings fun and enjoyable. Carey deserved a break the way he saw it. Loki was still smiling; Carey had a way of making him smile easily. “So I’ve got a table at the tea shop just up the way a bit, I thought we could sit down and have drink and some conversation?”

[Carey Brighton H5]

Her father was pacing the office door. She knew he was. David Brighton didn’t quite like being kicked out of his office by his youngest child, but everyone in the Brighton household knew that it was senseless to try to get in Carey’s way when she was determined to do something. And she was most definitely determined to organize his office in a way that he could keep it organized. David Brighton was highly unorganized; which made no sense to his daughter because he was the ultimate business man. It would make sense if he was organized – but he obviously was not. Anyway, David was pacing the door to his office out in the hallway as Carey organized the small room. She alphabetized his filing cabinets, books, and then she tackled his computer. It’s what she was doing at the present moment. Putting things in new files, rearranging things by importance and date, etc. Carey often found herself shaking her head at her father’s lack of organization. Honestly, her father’s business wouldn’t fall apart without her – but it would be on its way. Finally, after about an hour of organizing his computer, Carey pushed the rolling chair away from the grand mahogany desk and opened the door for her father; who rushed in instantly. He surveyed the room for a bit, as if expecting it to explode, and when he was satisfied he turned to look at Carey who was standing with her hands behind her back, looking completely calm. “Well, Carey, I must say…I’m pleasantly surprised,” he told her. This was the highest form of a compliment David Brighton ever gave, and Carey smiled at the thought that she was the only person who could get a compliment out of her father. She was about to say she’ll have the brief for the Maxwell account on his desk within the hour and leave his office when he spoke again, “I’m giving you the rest of the day off because of how great a job you’ve done. Thank you,” Carey looked quite taken aback as her father then sat behind his desk. She was clearly dismissed. Carey rushed out of the office, a smile growing across her face as she rushed up to her room.

Carey was used to being treated more like an employee than a daughter, but lately her father had been a bit warmer toward her. As if he realized she really was his last hope and that everything was left to her. If Carey decided to go her own way as Mallory had, the business wouldn’t stay in the family. David had to have realized that and he had been giving her a lot more free time lately. Carey supposed Mallory spoke to him about suffocating her and that playing an important role on her leaving. Mallory was always sneaky like that. Then again, Mallory knew things about Carey that even Carey wasn’t so sure about herself. For instance… “You got another letter from Loki, Carey.” Mallory said as Carey passed the open door to her sister’s bedroom. Carey stopped walking and looked inside her sister’s room. The eccentric colour scheme was one so opposite of Carey’s pastel coloured room that it often gave her head aches to be inside it. Luckily, Mallory tossed the letter in her direction before rushing to the other side of the room; apparently getting ready for her night job. Carey caught the letter, saluted her sister, and then turned on her heel to head in the opposite direction of the hallway which led to her room. She opened the door and stepped inside the light purple pastel room. Normally, Carey would immediately pick up anything that was out of place (which, this afternoon, were a couple of pairs of shoes, some scattered clothes on the bed, and books on her desk) but with a letter from Loki in her grasp, she just skipped that and collapsed onto her canopy bed – ripping open the envelope and beginning to read. They had been writing a lot and meeting up as often as they could. Carey had gotten to the point where if she didn’t hear from Loki within a couple of days she started to get anxious.

He had fast become someone Carey cared about quite a bit. She wouldn’t go as far as to say that she liked him in a romantic sense (as Mallory often suggested) but she would say that Loki had become probably her closest friend over the summer hols. As she read his letter (confirming that they could meet up today…Carey wondered ‘What if the letter hadn’t gotten to me on time? Then Loki’d be waiting for me and I mightn’t have shown up…that would be bad…’) she suddenly found herself anxious. Carey was hardly ever anxious, but when it came to meeting up with Loki? She became an anxiety wreck. This was, according to Mallory, a sign that she did in fact like Loki in more ways than just a friendship relationship. Carey wouldn’t listen to her older sister when she went on these rants. She had heard them so many times, she could practically quote them. And she did as she rifled through her closet for a more casual outfit; “’You like him, Carey, because you light up whenever you mention his name.’ ‘No, no, Mallory, Loki’s just a really great guy. He’s interesting and fun to be around, that’s all.’ ‘And that’s why you turn into this gushing school girl when you get his letters?’ ‘Mal, you don’t know what you’re talking about. His letters are intriguing, really. You should take to reading them; they might put something in that hallowed brain of yours.’” Mallory would then drop it for the time being. Carey sighed and picked out a pair of jeans to wear instead of her pleated skirt. Quickly she changed, brushed her hair, and then grabbed her handbag (stuffing the letter inside it along with all the others she kept) before leaving her room and hurrying down the stairs.

She called out a quick farewell to her mother who was in the library before stepping into the sitting room and heading toward the floo fireplace. She did what was necessary, naming her destination, and within moments she was spitting out of the fireplace at the Three Broomsticks. Carey coughed at the soot and brushed some of it off her jeans. Honestly, flooing was so completely messy. She bit back a groan and then offered the barmaid a smile before shaking her head and rejecting the offer of a butterbeer. After she had made it through the pub without getting trampled on by the night crowd, Carey broke into the free outdoors of Hogsmeade. She took a deep breath, clearing her lungs of the soot from the fireplace, and then started in the direction she was to meet Loki. It was where they had first talked. The place was kind of like their meeting place when they had these get togethers. It made sense to Carey and she was sure it made sense to Loki, too. Carey walked down the street toward the tree at a steady pace, humming some song or another quietly as she passed by people. Finally, Loki and tree came into sight. He waved at her and Carey waved back, smiling as he approached her. When they met at the middle, Loki kissed her cheek, causing Carey’s smile to widen. It was a simple gesture, and it was a gesture Mallory would consider more than friend like – but Carey didn’t think of it that way. Or at least…not at the present moment. She took the rose from him and smelled it, smiling still; “It was easier than I thought. It would appear that Dictator David has become quite the softy, he let me have the night off after I organized his office. Maybe I should do things like that more often…if it gets me out of the house and here with you that is.” Carey smiled at him, twirling the rose in between her forefinger and her thumb. Without a second thought, she touched the rose to Loki’s nose playfully before turning in the direction of the tea shop he had mentioned, “Sounds, great. I’ve not had anything to eat all day so I might get something there.” She shrugged nonchalantly as they started the walk toward the tea shop, still twirling the rose in between her fingers, “Oh! Thank you for the rose, it’s gorgeous. I love roses..well, until they prick you…”

[Loki Fen'Rolphus G6]

Loki smiled brightly when Carey explained how she had gotten out of the house. “You like to organize things eh? I’m not one for organization.” Loki shrugged and thought about how true that statement was. Very true indeed. Loki had a large room, seeing as he slept in a loft time space in Shaants cabin. The whole upper floor of the cabin therefore, was Loki’s…well and the occasional mouse. It was about the size of a decent living room, and seeing as Loki slept on a small bed, a full if he remembered correctly, that was pressed up again a wall in the corner, he had lots of room for other things. He had book shelves and desks around the room, a large red throw rug in the center of the room and the occasional Gryffindor banner hung on the walls. He had posters for werewolf rights on the walls (one of his favorites being the one that flashed between ‘Werewolves are people too’ and ‘Rights for Werewolves’) and a large recliner near the window. The window itself was a set in window. You know, one of those ones that had a little cubby for sitting in? That’s where Loki wrote to Carey, and where he read her letters, seeing as that was the window the owls came and went through. Suffice to say that window seat was rather messy. There were books laying on it, school books and reading books alike, some laying open on their faces and others with their spines bent back, as if someone had recently been reading them. Loki didn’t talk about it often, but he did enjoy reading when he had no people to be around. Other then the books were the random pieces of parchment laying scattered. These lined every inch of every desk top of course, but they were most common in the window seat. Unfinished and finished bits of homework, occasional doodles, random scraps with people’s names scribbled on them. Loki was a mess. He wasn’t kidding when he said he didn’t like to organize. The only organizing he did was when he stacked Carey’s letters neatly on top of one another in his seat. Easy access.

Loki laughed when Carey touched the rose to his nose and then began walking with her towards the shop. It was a nice evening, oddly warm and, handy enough there weren’t many people around. Loki preferred hogsmeade when there were lots of people around, but he could proudly say this would be the first time he actually saw the town itself and not just its visitors. However Loki was a bit preoccupied. He moved his hand to Carey’s lower back as he walked, leaning in to talk to her. Loki liked to be close to people when he talked to them, not to mention his need for physical contact most of the time. It was natural for him to walk this way with Carey. He gestured to the rose with his free hand. “I actually picked it from a bush outside my house, and just for you, clipped all the thorns so it shouldn’t be pricking you too soon.” He smiled and nodded. One thing that Loki was a bit unsure of about the location of Shaant’s house were the flowers that surrounded the place. The whole wood seemed to be flooded with rose bushes and other various flowers, as if the clouds had rained seeds one day. Loki enjoyed the flowers, he really did, but he had miserable allergies, and all that pollen? Yuck. The roses had to be his favorite, he wasn’t as allergic to them as he was to most of the other flowers and he quite enjoyed their shape. Actually one of his favorite things to doodle were roses. He’d spent ours carefully stripping a rose of each petal to find out how it was put together. Loki may not have been a stickler for organization, but he was a stickler for detail. One might not exactly call his doodles, doodles, seeing as each one he worked on down to the minutest bits, not leaving a single bit of the drawing un-thought out. Loki liked sights, and he loved his ability to see detail. He loved his ability to see in general. “Do you like roses Carey? What’s your favorite flower?” He smiled, surely he could find her favorite flower for next time.

Loki moved away a bit from Carey to hold open the door from her, motioning for her to go in first. Loki enjoyed being a gentleman whenever he got the chance. Often times you could find him holding open a door for someone. After Carey had entered the room Loki followed and looked around. The tea shop was near empty and there were many tables to choose from, however Loki made his way directly to a table for two in the corner of the room. This wasn’t for any reason dealing with privacy, after all, who would he be trying to be private from? No one was there. No, no, this was on account of the fact that Loki hated seeing people when he ate. Or having other people see him when he ate. Loki pulled out the chair with its back to the wall and let Carey sit down before taking the seat opposite her. Loki had to have his back to a room when he was eating. For this reason Loki despised eating in the great hall. No matter where you sat you were facing someone or another and Loki hated that. If you found Loki in the great hall he probably wouldn’t be eating, or he’d be eating and leaning over his plate, as if trying to keep his friends away from his food. Loki couldn’t look up if he had food in his mouth, he just couldn’t. As confident as Loki was, eating in front of people was not something he did. Something about people watching him eat just bothered him. If it was one person, a close friend like Carey for example, there was no problem, if it was a group of people however, he hated it. Carey however, probably saw this coming. Every time they sat down he had picked a table like this, though he’d never really explained why. “I hope you don’t mind this table?” He smiled and picked up a menu.

[Carey Brighton H5]

Carey shrugged nonchalantly at his question, “Yeah, I guess. It’s always been something I’ve been good at.” She thought that over a moment. It was very true. Mallory said that Carey was two when she first organized something, “You colour coded your blocks, Care!” Ever since then, Carey really had a knack for organization. It was only when she was seriously excited about something that she forgot about organizing anything and or cleaning up something. “You know, though,” Carey told Loki with a look, “I’ve forgotten to pick up my room recently because someone’s letters tend to arrive when I go up there to clean it. So I completely cast aside whatever I was supposed to do and settle down to read and write.” She smiled and shook her head slightly, knowing Loki would realize she was joking. In all honesty, Carey was really starting to loosen up when it came to certain things. She didn’t really care about her room getting slightly messy as long as it didn’t look like a tornado ran through it and destroyed everything. Carey was realizing, very slowly, that she was only 16 not 36 and she could very well afford to be 16. Yes, Carey was realizing this, and most thanks went to Loki for helping her realize it.

They walked toward the shop, Loki’s hand on the small of her back, and talking while they walked close together. It wasn’t strange for them. They had grown rather close over the times they spent together. Friendship ways, that is. Carey was never a very closed off person to begin with. She always liked meeting new people and talking to someone her age. She had a fair amount of friends while at school and she almost always had something to chime into a conversation. But Loki, aside from Iris, was one of her closer friends and she had only just met him awhile ago. He knew more about her dreams than anyone combined, and that was something that in a sense frightened Carey and yet…thrilled her at the same time. Loki spoke about the rose and Carey looked down at it; “Ah, so it doesn’t have any thorns. Well, I’ll say…” Carey looked up at Loki, “You completely proved Poison’s ‘Every Rose Has Its Thorn’ wrong.” She thought about that a moment and shrugged slightly. A muggle band. Carey had a wide variety of music in her room. One wall actually held her CDs, yes; muggle CDs. Although she was completely pure, Carey still had muggle tendencies. She liked muggle movies and muggled CDs. It was one thing she learnt from Mallory. Carey twirled the rose in her fingers again and hummed the song quietly as they walked. Her mind enveloped around the song, resisting the urge to sing it, for a bit as they continued to walk in silence.

Loki asked what her favourite flower was and Carey looked out of the corner of her eye in thought, “Ummmm..” she chewed on her lower lip a moment, “I like roses, I think. But not red roses. I don’t know, for some reason a red rose signifies something that I… won’t ever have?” She looked at Loki, wondering if she was making sense. She probably wasn’t, but she kept talking anyway; “I like yellow roses, but they mean friendship. So, I don’t know. Perhaps white roses? Or maybe peach. Do they make purple roses?” She laughed at herself and looked at the rose in her hand, “I don’t know what my favourite flower is. This is pretty, gorgeous even, though, so thank you for it.” Carey smiled and held the rose to her nose, smelling it before turning to look at Loki a bit as they neared the tea shop. She stepped inside, offering him a smile of thanks for opening the door for, and looked around. It wasn’t terribly busy, which meant she and Loki could have a decent conversation without getting interrupted by screaming four year olds. Though, they often brought about interesting conversation.

He led the way to a table in the corner, and Carey smiled to herself as she took the seat with the back to the wall. It was a habit of Loki’s that she had picked up on but never asked about. She figured he just didn’t like people watching him eat, which was understandable. Carey didn’t like being watched either. The only reason she was over it was because, well, she had to get over it with how many business luncheons she had. Loki asked if the table was fine and Carey smiled, nodding; “Perfect. Unless it walks away…” she managed to look sad at the thought of that, “in that case we might have to get a new one.” Carey smiled brightly at Loki again and tucked her hair behind her ear as she looked around for a moment. She let a silence settle in between them, a comfortable silence, before she delved into a question; “How’s Shaant?”

[Loki Fen'Rolphus G6]

“Now Carey, let’s not blame innocent me that your room is messy. It’s not my fault you cant resist me.” He smirked and nudged her playfully. Loki had grown quite accustomed to making these sorts of jokes with Carey. It was odd because Loki wasn’t the flirty type. Loki was the best friend, not the boyfriend. He wasn’t the guy girls swooned over, just the guy girls trusted. Loki didn’t make these sorts of jokes on a normal basis, they tended to be out of his comfort zone. The previous year he remembered a time in which some girl…(one of those girls he’d met in the halls after running up to a large group of people, you know, the girls he never remembers the names of) had made a joke about how the two of them should hook up. Loki just laughed and shook his head. He didn’t make any mention of a come back, he just let it be. He wasn’t the type for relationships. Sure, he’d had crushes before but Loki was very closed when it came to romance. And plus, when you cant remember the name of the girl you have a crush on? It gets complicated. He hadn’t worried about it however, he had enough friends, flirting wasn’t a top priority. Flirting…was he flirting with Carey? Is that what you would call it? See, Loki found it to be not so much flirting, but more of obvious jesting…to tell the truth he was reminding himself of a very annoying gryff kid…but he couldn’t quite remember the guys name. Loki assumed his comfort zone was just expanding, maybe he was becoming more confident with himself and this was just a new aspect of his personality? Maybe he was flirting....naaaaah.

Loki surprisingly did not stop walking when Carey made a strange reference to proving poison wrong. What? Loki raised an eyebrow and looked at her out of the corner of his eye. “I proved what wrong?” Loki was completely lost by that statement but when she started to hum he thought that maybe he had an idea of what she was talking about. It was obviously somehow related to music, but how poison related to music he had no idea. Carey was the music person, and often times she quoted songs and Loki had to ask her to explain. He didn’t mind though, he actually liked having her explain things to him. She was good at it, and he’d rather her explain it to him then someone else. She seemed to have a wider view of the world then Loki did and he liked that. Loki was a friend to education, and as much as he enjoyed feeling like he knew it all, he did like to learn things. However, he liked to learn things from someone who wasn’t…arrogant? Loki didn’t mix with other arrogant people. As a matter of fact, arrogant people annoyed Loki to death. He could see the flaws in other people’s actions, but he couldn’t see them in himself. He couldn’t count the number of times Shaant had told him to take the plank out of his eye, but he never quite understood what Shaant meant by that. Shaant was another one of those people who’s mind was open to the world, if not werewolf rights. Shaant had a huge array of knowledge up in that skull of his, but he was miserable at getting it out. Carey however, seemed to be much better at that. She could break things down for Loki and explain them. She’d been doing it since she first explained drumming to him the first time they met. Loki loved it about her.

“Do tables often walk off in your company Carey? They seem to stick around for me.” He smirked at her and then looked down in the menu in his hands, his eyes rolling over it but not taking anything in. He was just thinking about how clever Carey always was. Loki wasn’t great with witty remarks and quick thinking, he liked to take things slow, have time to think about things to say. But Carey could always say something clever. She could take a completely dismal subject and somehow make it interesting. Loki wished she had been in his history of magic classes all these years. She was a year younger then him however, so she never could have been. He’d figured that out the second time they’d hung out. It was one of those things about her that made her all the more great. Normally Loki thought less of younger years, it was part of his Right of Passage beliefs. He stuck to his own age group for serious friendships, but Carey was an exception. Everything she said was at a level that Loki could respect. She wasn’t immature like some of the younger years, and she wasn’t trying hard to be mature like some of the others. She just was who she was and she was someone Loki could like. He got along well with her and had therefore, put aside the year difference. She was the only exception to his Right of Passage rule so far. No one else had met that standard.

Loki looked up as Carey asked about Shaant and he sat back in his seat with a heavy sigh before smiling at her to show he was over-exaggerating. “It’s Shaant, you’ve heard me talk about him, he’s good I suppose, health wise. I mean sometimes I think his anti-social ways are a bit unhealthy…but what’re you gonna do?” Loki laughed lightly. Shaant was the epitome of anti-social. He was afraid of crowds and didn’t particularly like people. He preferred his small house and his books. He liked his job because all day long he stayed in his cubby and only left it to go to a meeting, in which he rarely talked. Shaant was a nice guy of course, always friendly, though it wasn’t always apparent. It really took some getting to know him before you could realize that behind Shaant’s closed personality and frown there was a nice guy with great thoughts. “Eh, he’s fine yeah, but still the same old Shaant. Quiet and honestly boring. Your letters have been a ray of sunshine on a dismal summer I assure you.” Loki smiled brightly at her. “So you, how’s the family?”

[Carey Brighton H5]

Carey laughed quietly and shrugged as she set the rose down on the right wing of the table, “Not generally,” she replied with a devious smile, “but there’s a first time for everything, yes?” She eyed Loki with a raised eyebrow. There was a first time for everything; that had become clearer and clearer to Carey recently. The more she defied her father, the more ‘firsts’ she stumbled upon. Of course, she wouldn’t blame Loki because there wasn’t any blame to unload upon him. There was credit. And Carey always gave credit where credit was due. Carey’s eyes drifted back to the rose on the table; that blasted Poison song now stuck in her head. It wasn’t unusual for Carey to get random songs stuck in her head – but she rather hated getting sadder songs stuck in her head. Playing the chorus over in her head a couple of times, Carey looked back up at Loki quickly; “You don’t know who Poison is…” she stated flatly with a sigh and a shake of her head, “Loki Fen’Rolphus what am I going to do with you?” She stared at him, “Don’t even say it…” She didn’t have to see his mouth move to know that something was going to come out of it. Carey and Loki had hung out together so often that Carey practically had a sixth sense when it came to funny remarks from Loki. There were quite a few things that made Carey say that particular statement, but the most times she used it was when she realized just how ignorant to muggle music Loki really was. “Poison, my friend, is a muggle band. Once again I shall shed some light on the amazing music you are missing. They sing a song called ‘Every Rose Has Its Thorn’ it’s a sad song, really. Has nothing to do with roses at all. The title is a metaphor. A pretty darn good one if I say so myself.”

She smiled at him and nodded once before picking up a menu and looking over it. She wasn’t really looking over it; she was actually, in fact, listening to Loki talk about Shaant. Carey couldn’t help but smile and look over the menu; “Being anti-social isn’t unhealthy, Loki. It’s just not particularly healthy.” She kept his gaze a moment and then shrugged, diverting her gaze back to the menu she was holding. He then asked about her family and Carey closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath. She sat like that a moment and then opened her eyes, letting the breath out, and shrugged again; still looking at the menu, “Family’s…fine, I suppose. Mallory’s being…well, Mallory. She’s trying to balance three jobs and taking courses at some night school for something. I tell her she’s crazy, but she doesn’t listen to me. She never has. Jeremy’s sucking up to his boss for this new promotion and unfortunately that means showing his perfect business sister off. I swear, it’s the only time I’m not invisible to him. My mum’s the same as ever; a spineless jelly fish if I’ve ever met one. And my dad…” Carey sighed heavily here, knowing it was pointless to even try to suppress the annoyance on her face or in her voice, “my dad’s my dad. David Brighton never changes. He’s becoming a bit more lenient, but… I doubt it’ll change completely. No point in getting my hopes up.” Carey didn’t like staying on dismal or depressing topics. She liked the light, carefree atmosphere that being with Loki brought on – and she knew that if she just talked about her father, she’d only get agitated.

Carey had been looking at the menu the whole time and now looked up at Loki with a small smile and an even smaller shrug, “Oh well, that’s life. Now…” Carey looked around and flagged down a waitress so she could get a glass of water with a strawberry. Just a strawberry. Not on the glass, not in the water, just preferably on a small plate. No sugar. Just a strawberry. Carey made this perfectly clear and even had the waitress repeat to her four times before satisfied that she wouldn’t forget. She sat back and looked over the menu again, this time looking for something to eat as Loki ordered his drink. Within seconds of the waitress leaving, the drinks appeared, and Carey peered over the menu to see a strawberry place in a bowl…with powdered sugar. She rolled her eyes and picked up the strawberry, dusted it off, bit off the tip and then squeezed some of the juice into her water. It was something she had always done. Her mother liked to put lemon in everything, so when she was younger she had thrown a fit about the lemon in her water. Her mother had asked her what she would like instead of lemon and Carey looked around, spotted some strawberries, and ever since then she’d always had strawberry in her water. She would not have plain water. Plain water disgusted Carey. It tasted…well to be obvious…plain.

[Loki Fen'Rolphus G6]

“Well you could…” Loki laughed and shut his mouth as Carey finished her thought. Don’t even say it. She knew him far too well, she had a habit of being able to tell exactly what was going to come out of his mouth even before he did. Which meant she probably knew he was going to make a quirky remark about how she could give him a kiss if she really wanted to know what she could do with him. That had become their thing. Or at least, Loki’s thing. But it wasn’t something he said to every girl he talked to, only Carey. Every time Carey gave him an opportunity to use it, he would, and every time they parted ways, he most definitely said it. ‘Gimmie a kiss…’ Carey would smirk at him and shake her head, probably roll her eyes. It was a tradition, a ritual if you would. It happened so often that it just became expected. It was no surprise therefore that Carey caught him before he got the chance, she had a habit of doing that too, noticing when she was about to lead him into a situation where he would beg for a kiss. It wasn’t like, pathetic begging, just playful begging. He thought he was cute, but she liked to say he was a total dork. Oh well, it worked for them. Loki had never been so comfortable with another person in his whole life. And Carey knew him better then almost anyone.

He listened to her tell him about the music and smiled at her. He loved when she explained things like this, as I said earlier. Not only was it totally adorable, Loki found smart to be very attractive…not…that he was attracted to her as anymore then a friend of course…but it was also very interesting to him. He had never really cared about music before Carey, but she made it so interesting. She gave it history, and future and meaning. She made it more then music, she made it almost like…an event. Loki wasn’t a literary buff, and so picking out the metaphors and lyrical parts of a song and making sense of them wasn’t something he could do well. Carey was much better at it. Some might ask how this was, seeing as Loki liked to read but…the truth was, Loki read history books. There was a muggleborn that worked in Shaant’s office and Loki had talked with him a few times, finding that the man’s father was a professor at a muggle college. History teacher. Ever since then Loki had received various history, philosophy, and sociology books by owl and he swallowed them up whole. Loki liked history, and if Carey could give music a history, she could make Loki like it.

Loki preceded to talk about Shaant for a while, and when he was finished he traded roles with Carey and looked over his menu, listening to her talk about her family. Her tone of voice showed displeasure, but Loki couldn’t help but feel a bit of…no jealousy but…coveting? Loki did in fact covet what she had. She had a mother and a father, a sister and a brother. She had birthparents. She had siblings. Loki didn’t have that. For all he knew his parents were either dead or living some separate life with no recollection of him at all. The first was more believable then the latter. He could feel sympathy for Carey’s family problems but at the same time he wanted a family so incredibly much. Loki had only really ever had two goals in life; rights for werewolves, and a family. He had come to the realization that finding his family, was not going to happen. However, he had also realized, that he could very well have a family of his own one day. A wife and kids. A real family that wouldn’t be broken apart. Loki smiled a light smile at the thought before looking up at Carey again, shrugging as she changed the subject to ordering food.

He watched the waitress come over and once Carey had ordered her water, with strawberry, he ordered a plain glass water. It was definitely a place they different in likes and dislikes. Loki wasn’t one for strawberry and Carey wasn’t one for plain water. Loki didn’t really take much consideration to when she squeezed the strawberry into the water, he’d seen her do it at least once before and so it didn’t surprise him. In fact, he smiled softly up at her. It was pretty cute. She could be rather cute rather often. Loki glanced at the menu and then back at Carey. “So…I’m kinda stuck on what I want to eat. I’m thinking a slice of cheesecake. How about you?”

[Carey Brighton H5]

Carey made a face and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear; “Ew. Cheesecake. I’m probably just going to have a salad. I don’t know. I’m not terribly hungry. But I don’t think I want anything leafy. Maybe I’ll have a fruit salad. Hmm, yeah, I think that works.” She set the menu down and leaned on the table with her elbows, watching Loki intently. Once he had noticed she was staring at him, Carey smiled; “We make an odd pair.” She stated simply before realizing how that could sound, “An odd…friendship, is the better term I suppose. We’re pretty opposite, you know?” She motioned to their waters as if for proof and then smiled at Loki brightly, “And the cheesecake. You really like that stuff? I think it’s disgusting. It…tastes funny. Then again, I don’t like cream cheese – which is what cheese cake is made out of.” Carey looked thoughtful and looked at her strawberry water a moment before taking another sip of it. “And not only that,” she continued after she had set her glass down again, “but our personalities clash. I’m so proper, so…business like, and you’re pretty much…just go with it. You hop from day to day, from person to person. You find what you like and then you…stick with it for a bit and then hop away again.”

As the words came from her mouth, Carey frowned slightly and tucked her hair behind her ear again. She crossed her arms on the table and looked at them, “Sometimes it makes me wonder…” she mumbled quietly, but loud enough for Loki to hear, “it makes me wonder when you’ll get bored of me. When you’ll just hop away from me to someone else.” She looked up when the waitress reappeared and ordered a bowl of mixed fruit. Loki ordered and then they were left in silence again. For the time being. Then Carey shrugged and plastered a smile on her face; “It’s something that has given me nightmares before, you know. Perhaps it’s a bit silly of me to have become so attached to our friendship…or to you…but I did and the fear of you just deciding I’m dull or something and leaving me behind is pretty big. I dread school because of it. Honestly, school’s like this hideous thing now and I…just don’t want to go to it. I’d gladly stay stuck in the summer hols, but that’s not possible.” Carey didn’t know what made her say all these words except that they had been bouncing around in her head for awhile now. Ever since they had really become close, but she had done a fairly good job at shoving them away until she was home alone in her room and free to worry over them. Carey didn’t know why the thought of Loki growing bored with her and leaving was bothering her, it wouldn’t be any different from her other friendships. Deep down, though, Carey knew that what she felt for Loki was very different from her other friendships.

Carey shrugged, trying to brush the topic away, and smiled brightly at Loki as their food appeared; “No matter, though, what happens happens and I’ll deal with it then.” She wondered if Loki was completely buying her false smile or if he could see through it to the fear that still dwelled within. Carey hated the idea that someone had gotten so close to her to have her cry if they started to just go away – but Loki had and Carey’d have to deal with whatever came her way. Searching for a topic, a quick topic, anything to get the thought of him going away from their happy day, Carey bit her lip and then smiled brightly at Loki again, “Have you gotten your letter yet? For school? I got mine yesterday…and with it…came a pretty shiny Prefect badge.”

[Loki Fen'Rolphus G6]

Loki chuckled at the face Carey made; everything she did seemed to be cute, even occasionally when she was doing something negative. Loki was forced to wonder if he could ever get mad at her, and if he could, could he stay mad? It seemed impossible. She was always doing something to make him laugh or smile; she had actually never said something that bothered him. Nothing she ever said they could have a great conversation on without getting into a fight. They could just sit and talk and laugh and joke. It was just fun, tons and tons of fun. It was amazing. Loki had come to say that this was the most wonderful summer of his life. Loki always had boring summers, mostly because no one ever talked to him and he was stuck in a cabin in the woods, but other then that summer had just never held anything exciting enough for him. Nothing to keep his attention. But this summer; this summer had become the greatest thing that had happened to him since he had started school. Meeting Carey had definitely had an impact on him. She kept him interested, she kept him motivated, and she gave him a purpose throughout the summer. She made him think. He loved it. She was just…amazing. He smiled to himself as she commented on his cheesecake choice and then on how she wanted a fruit salad. Loki didn’t like fruit, at all. Fruit and vegetables were just…blegh. He didn’t like it at all. “I don’t know how you eat that sort of thing, salads and fruit salads. Ew.”

Loki looked through his menu still, debating if he still wanted cheesecake or not. Of course, there wasn’t much you could order at a tea shop except desserts and drinks, so it wasn’t like he could get a nice, juicy steak. Which he would have loved to have; Loki could eat a whole steak all day long. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner. And all the middle meals in between. He bit his lip in thought, thinking that maybe if he stared at the menu long enough the word ‘steak’ would appear. It didn’t work however, and soon he found that he wasn’t the only one staring. Loki looked up from the menu to find Carey smiling at him. He smiled back and when she spoke, he cocked his head a bit to the side and set down his menu. An odd pair? He let her go on however, but as she did, the smile on his face slowly disintegrated till he assumed he was looking at Carey with near blankness. It wasn’t that he wasn’t interested in what she had to say…he just wasn’t…happy with it? That was a first. She had never said anything that had bothered him, as I said before, but this? This was having a strange effect on him. At first, it had only been a slight decline when she had switched the word pair for friendship. Of course, that was no reason to get upset…but it surely wasn’t reason to be happy either. The real problem however, had been when Carey had explained that their ‘personalities clashed’. They clashed? When Loki thought of the word clashed, to him it sounded negative. Two things colliding and not coming out looking very good. Is that what Carey thought of their friendship? Clashy? Loki had a bad image of a yellow room with purple floors. Ugh, clashy. Loki didn’t think they were clashy…Are we clashy? How did that make sense…I mean…sure they were different…but not…too different… “I don’t think we…” He started to say it but he stopped to hear her out. He immediately wished he had cut her off.

He watched Carey frown, and wished he was the one pushing her hair behind her ear as she did it herself. He sat back in his seat again, his hands in his lap, thumbs twiddling as she crossed her arms and looked down. He followed suit, looking down until she spoke again. It was a mumble, but Loki could hear her, he could always hear her. He frowned now, hearing her finish her sentence. He looked up at her and as he began to speak again the waitress came. Loki sighed loudly and ordered a cheesecake with a slight wave of his hand, not even caring. He probably wouldn’t eat it, just pick at it. Loki couldn’t think of something to say when the waitress left, and so he just sat there, thinking. When he managed to look up at Carey again she was smiling, but her words weren’t happy ones. Loki couldn’t help but frown even more. The fact that she could smile at him while she talked like that hurt him. He knew her better then that. Carey had a bad habit of using her business habits in matters of the heart. A subject like this was no place for fake smiles. Get bored of her? Hop on to someone else? Her words rang in his skull even after she was done talking. ‘You find what you like and then you…stick with it for a bit and then hop away again…’ Is that how she saw him? As a part time thing, just some friend that was planning on picking up and leaving when something bigger and better came along? Was there anything bigger and better then Carey? No, no there really wasn’t. No one had ever been able to get to Loki like Carey could. No one…

How could she be so attached Loki…to your friendship…to you…oh yeah, that didn’t make any sense. It was illogical to get attached. Perhaps even…’silly’… Loki frowned still as she said whatever happens happens. What kind of talk was that? He couldn’t even look at her at the moment. He knew she’d be faking a smile, but he couldn’t do that. He couldn’t pretend everything was ok when Carey’s words and thoughts meant so much to him. She was…he…he…he cared about her so much. She was his best friend…his only real friend honestly. He rolled his eyes as she tried to change the subject and then managed to growl out, “yeah…got it the other day.” Her ability to be so formal, so precise, just…just killed him. He hadn’t even noticed his food appear until he looked up at her again, this time ready to speak, but even then the food meant nothing. “You’re not just something ‘I like’ Carey. I cant even believe you’d think I’m just going to hop off to someone else. You think I enjoy anyone else’s company like I enjoy yours? No. No I don’t. The only reason I hop from person to person, Carey? Is because none of them have what I need. You, Carey Brighton, have what I need. You’re the first person I’ve ever known that I’ve enjoyed the company of. You’re the only person I’ve ever written to over the summers, bet you didn’t know that?” He sighed again and closed his eyes, looking down again. “I’m not just going to hop off Carey…you’re my…I mean I…I…you’re my best friend.” He looked up at her and looked her straight in the eye. “You mean more to me then anyone else ever has you know. I’ve really connected with you and…and I feel comfortable with you. And not just fake, arrogant comfortable. But really comfortable.”

[Carey Brighton H5]

Carey closed her eyes. Ever have a moment where you say something but then realize that the words would have a very terrible effect on someone so you just want to snatch them out of the air and shove them back in your mouth? That’s how Carey was feeling at that precise moment. Loki was frowning and sulking and he never did either of those things. He and Carey were so alike in that way. They were hardly ever sad or bothered, they were just happy…even more so when they were together. The fact that Carey had something that had caused the both of them to frown was something that she wasn’t quite sure she wanted to deal with. She could have kept them from Loki, kept the fear she had locked up until it was necessary to release it; but she hated keeping things from Loki. Keeping things from Loki scared her and it hurt her. She would hate for him to keep things from her, so why would she do the same to him? She knew he was seeing through her attempt at returning to their light heartedness before, and she knew it wasn’t working. She knew that he was just getting even more hurt by the second with her false smile and fake change of subject. She was practically insulting him by doing that, but it was habit by now. Carey always switched the subject when she had realized she had treaded upon thin ice in a topic. When she had hit a sore spot. She just, hadn’t ever hit a sore spot for both the other person and herself. This was another first to add to her list of firsts she had with Loki.

She looked at him a moment and then looked at the bowl of fruit that had appeared in front of her. Carey just eyed it. Her appetite completely gone now. She knew it would just taste acidic to her anyway. She tucked her hair behind her ear again, blinking back tears as Loki responded to her question about the school letter – a growl hidden behind his words. She closed her eyes tighter, fighting back the familiar tears she had shed before once or twice over this particular subject. Carey wouldn’t cry. She didn’t cry in front of people. It showed weakness and that was something Carey couldn’t tolerate about herself. Weakness was wrong. Loki spoke again and she kept her head bowed as she listened to him. With each word, she listened even more intently, and finally; she looked up at him and let a tear fall down her cheek. She opened her mouth to protest weakly about whatever it was she felt she should protest about, but Loki continued talking. His words cut through her heart, they made her feel even worse for saying all that she had – but half of her, no; more than half of her, was glad she had told him all of that because now she knew that Loki wasn’t just going to hop away from her to someone else better and more entertaining. It was something that eased her fears easily enough and it made her wonder why she hadn’t just talked to him about it earlier. Gotten this over with.

She knew it would have hurt all the same, though, so perhaps things happened the way they happened for a particular reason. Who knew? Carey sure didn’t, and she was through questioning things for the day. After Loki had finished talking, concluding with the thought that she was his best friend and that he was really comfortable with her; Carey stared at him a moment, not even bothering to blink back the tears in her eyes now. Then, suddenly – so suddenly that it could’ve startled everyone in the tea shop – Carey dashed around the table and threw her arms around Loki’s neck, hugging him tight and nearly knocking him back off his chair. She closed her eyes tight and just hugged him for a moment, enjoying having his arms around her and comforting her. He wasn’t going anywhere. He wasn’t going anywhere. He’s not going anywhere, Carey kissed Loki’s cheek and left her lips there before whispering; “Loki Fen’Rolphus, you’re my best friend. You’re the only person who completely understands me, the only one who wants to, too. You hopping away from me would kill me, tear me to shreds. It’s a silly, stupid, fear, and I get that. But that doesn’t mean it didn’t possess me night and day.”

Carey pulled away from the hug and wiped at her tears before laughing pathetically at herself and wiping at the wet spot she had left on his cheek. She smiled weakly at him, “I’m sorry.” And she was. She was completely and terribly sorry.

[Loki Fen'Rolphus G6]

Loki hadn’t noticed the change in Carey’s attitude after she had spoke. He was far too busy thinking about his own mood. He was completely at a loss for how she could think such a thing. Had he given her reason to think that? Apparently he had, though it could very well be his ability to move around from group to group so easily. It wasn’t something he wanted to do of course, to be honest, Loki hated it. Loki wanted to be able to find someone who could keep him content but no one could. Not until Carey. This was the point when Loki realized how bad a job he had done at letting Carey know how much she really meant to him. He had simply gone through the motions and ended up getting attached. He hadn’t a clue when he met her that Carey Brighton was going to light up his world like she had come to do. Not a clue. But she had, oh she really, really had. Every morning when he woke up Loki’s first thought was on what Carey might have been doing. Each time of course he knew she was probably doing business, but still, it was something he enjoyed doing. Her letters too, had become something he looked forward to more then anything. He wrote her a letter and sometimes he would just sit by his window for hours waiting for her to write back. He didn’t have anything better to do of course; Carey was the best thing he had to do…well… I mean…best thing he had to keep him busy…yeah…anyways. She was the best thing in his life. His best friend. She was making this summer the best summer of all time. She just…she was the best. All around the best. And how could Loki ever walk away from the best? It was unthinkable.

When he spoke, Loki couldn’t stop himself. This was probably the only time however, that Loki had gotten upset about something and not raised his voice. He was far too close to tears to raise his voice. And that in and of itself was strange. Loki didn’t cry. Loki hadn’t cried since he woke up in the woods alone that one morning. He had cried then, and he had cried when he had been lost. But other then that…Loki rarely cried. Very, very rarely. So the fact that Carey’s words and opinions could make him want to cry, to give him that feeling, was shocking. Loki wouldn’t cry of course. No, he couldn’t cry, but the look on her face made him feel terrible about himself. She was upset, he was upsetting her, he knew it. But what was he supposed to do? Go on letting her think that she was just some girl, just some thing he liked that he would get bored of and leave? No, he couldn’t let her go on thinking that. He just couldn’t. She needed to know how he felt and so he was going to tell her…or at least…he was going to tell her the top layer of how he felt…anyways. She wouldn’t look at him, but he honestly was worried what would have happened if she did. He would have chocked on words that was sure. Loki knew he wouldn’t be able to get it out if she looked at him with sad eyes. He would completely break down. He needed to be strong to get his thoughts out, to let her know. And he could only do that while she wasn’t looking. He stumbled a bit through his words, but finally he got it all out and then he didn’t know what else to do. All he could do was hope she believed him.

When she did look up at him, it was with sad eyes…not even that, but teary eyes. Loki frowned still, but not an angry frown, one of those frowns that showed that your heart was on the edge. The ones that said ‘Look at me. I’m sorry but I’m willing to make it better if you give me a chance.’ That’s how Loki felt. Exactly how he felt and when Carey jumped up and ran around the table he happily welcomed her into his arms. He wrapped them around her tight as she hugged him, scooting to the side in the booth he was sitting in, pulling her in beside him, just holding her close. He smiled softly as Carey kissed his cheek and closed his eyes as he listened to her whisper. When she finished, he shook his head and smiled softly at her. Without thought he kissed her forehead tenderly and whispered back. “I promise I’m not going anywhere. You’re stuck with me.” His smile brightened even more when she wiped off his cheek. He shook his head. “No reason to be sorry. I’m glad you told me though. I’d hate for you to worry about something like.” He smiled at her, one arm was around her still. “Tell me sooner next time and I promise I’ll ease your fears. Talk to me when something’s bothering you.” Loki smiled still and reached for her bowl of fruit, pulling it to his side of the table and then grabbing her fork. He stabbed a red colored fruit (seeing as he wasn’t sure what it was called) and held it out to her. “Now then, have I ever told you how much I enjoy it when you call me by my full name? It sounds nice when you say it.” In the back of his mind, Loki knew how couple-ish they looked…but at the same time…the front of his mind almost…wanted that.

[Carey Brighton H5]

Loki wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into the booth that he was sitting in, and Carey made no protest. She wanted him to hold her, she wanted to hug him and know that he wasn’t going anywhere at all. It was nice to feel him breathing beside her, nice to feel his arm around her, nice to feel his lips on her forehead when he kissed it. She listened to him, taking steady breaths to ease her tears and finally looked up at him when she was calm enough. After a moment she smiled, “That’s two promises in one minute, Fen’Rolphus. Think you can keep them?” Carey knew he could keep them. Loki hadn’t ever broken a promise to her and he had made a few of them to her – these two just added to the list. She wiped at her eyes again, quite glad that she had chosen to wear hardly any make-up today. Not that Carey normally wore make-up. In fact she hardly ever did, she thought that too much make-up made people look like clowns. Carey wasn’t one to look like a clown. She mightn’t have been the girliest girl out there, but she did in fact loathe the idea of being made to look like a clown. Carey tucked her hair behind her ear as she looked at Loki. She was having one of those moments, one of the moments that shocked her at how comfortable with him she was. Carey had two sides. The business side and the 16 year old side. She hardly ever showed both to someone, though, and Loki had most definitely seen both. Carey kissed his cheek again, “I’ll talk to you when something’s bothering me; it’s all the other times that you might not hear a word from me during.” She smirked at him before relaxing into the booth easily.

He had pulled her bowl of fruit over to their side of the table now, and Carey watched him spear a piece of a watermelon and listened to him talk about how he liked it when she called him by his full name. Carey took the fork with the fruit on it from him and looked at it a moment before putting it in her mouth and chewing it as she thought. After she had swallowed the piece of watermelon, Carey looked at Loki and smiled brightly; “It is your name, you know.” She looked at him a moment longer and then set the fork down on the table and shoved the bowl of fruit away from them. She wasn’t hungry anymore, not that she had been hungry before – but after that whole huge thing; Carey just didn’t feel like eating. Everything still tasted acidic to her, she doubted it would change any time soon. She looked down at her hands and then took another deep breath to centre herself. Carey was always good at centring herself. She had to be in the business she was in. It was a technique she had learnt years and years ago when she was getting lessons from her father on how to be a good business woman.

Once she was centred; she, without much thought, snuggled against him – resting her head on his shoulder and closing her eyes. She knew how everyone would see them, just like they always saw them. Carey and Loki weren’t a couple, but they always gave off the sense that they were. It was just the comfortable air that they had whilst they were around each other. That loving, joking, happiness that most people couldn’t have unless they were in fact romantically involved. Carey wasn’t quite sure why she and Loki were an exception to that rule, but she didn’t really care that much. She liked the way things were and she wasn’t going to ever think of changing it – unless it went…in the forward direction…Carey smiled softly to herself and looked at Loki fleetingly before closing her eyes again. The forward direction. Did she want to go in the forward direction? She didn’t know. She didn’t know much at all.