Changeling ((Kael))

[Seth Wright]

Everything had arrived. In one piece. Seth grinned to himself and glanced around his new room. It was bigger than his old one; then again, his old room was not dissimilar to a cardboard box. Eva, who had spent the evening helping him with the move, had been impressed. She had returned home, now; or what Seth had once called home. Even though he had officially left and was living independently, that house in the city of Leeds - small as it was, old as it was - would always be home. Hogwarts, too, would forever hold a special place within Seth's heart. Hopefully, Kael's house would also grow to become special.

It took Seth an hour and a half to empty the boxes; but even then, he hadn't organised everything. The clothes had been stuffed into the closet, but everything else lay scattered throughout the room. Thankfully, Seth didn't own a lot. His largest possession was in fact made of several possessions - his comic books, which he had collected since childhood and which he treasured. Though he had read those comics during difficult, painful times, they were Seth's only comfort besides the love for his family as he'd struggled to continue without giving up.

Another hour and a half later, Seth was finished. His room looked relatively neat; which was pretty good for him. Smiling at his handiwork, Seth left to grab a drink of water from the kitchen. He was surprised to find Kael in the living room, however, reading on the sofa as he passed by. Seth glanced at the clock, which read 12:48, and looked at Kael again. It was rather late; if it weren't for the need to unpack, Seth would have been in bed a few hours ago. "Uh," he started a little nervously. "You're still up? Sorry, if I was really noisy. I didn't mean to keep you up." Seth paused, awkward, before adding, "I was just going to get a drink. Do you want anything?"

[kael]

What on earth had he been thinking? Kael couldn’t help but to wonder as he watched Seth and his younger sister – Eva? Eve? E-something – cart boxes into his clean, tidy flat. It was just a flat, albeit an abnormally large one because Kael’s parents had expanded it when he had agreed to live there, above a bookshop but it was home. It didn’t have Lynne or his parents but it held him, Pluto, Jupiter and his books and that made it home. Kael had never lived with Seth before; he had never lived with anyone but Lynne before. Sharing a dormitory for seven years wasn’t the same. It wasn’t anywhere near the same. At Hogwarts, Kael had been rarely ever in his dorm except for when he was sleeping. Most of the time he had been reading in the library or off with Lynne or in the common room, sometimes with Aurora as company in the last few years. Seth had never been a big part of his life. And now they were going to be living together because of an offer that Kael had extended? Lynne had asked him to look after Seth; that was part of Kael’s motivation, but the offer had been made before Lynne had asked that of him. Despite his mild panicking about sharing his space with another person, a person who wasn’t Lynne, Kael tolerated Seth’s company extremely well. Seth was the closest thing that Kael had to a friend anymore, except for the two monochrome cats curled up on the sunlit windowsill.

As was his habit, Kael had settled on the couch with only the closest lamp to him lit. Even as daylight waned and the moon rose to take its place, Kael continued to read his way through his book peacefully. Just before the clock on the wall struck midnight with a quiet chime, Pluto wakened from his sleep, disturbed by the sounds still coming from the room that was now Seth’s. Automatically, Kael patted the space next to him without glancing away from his book then switched the attentions of his right hand to petting his cat. It wasn’t uncommon for the two of them, man and cat, to spend an hour or two of the sofa at night while Kael read the newest addition to his bookcases, though he rarely ever stayed up so late. It was his duty as the de facto owner of the flat to check that Seth had settled in without any problems. There shouldn’t be any problems, but it was entirely possible where Seth was concerned.

Silence was finally the only noise emanating from Seth’s room but, engrossed in his book, Kael failed to notice. It was only when Jupiter’s ears pricked up as she bounded down from the windowsill to paw at Seth’s leg insistently and Seth started to talk that Kael realised that anything in the flat had changed. “Don’t worry about it.” Kael offered a bland smile as weak reassurance. “You weren’t really that noisy. I guess I’m just nocturnal. I was always up late at Hogwarts too.” If Seth preferred to turn in early then he would just have to get used to Kael being a permanent figure in the living room late at night if he continued his midnight search for drinks. “No. No, I don’t want anything. But there should still be some meat, cheese and bread in the kitchen if you’re hungry. Biscuits are in the topmost cupboard closest to the door on the left-hand side.” He had grown too used to hiding the sweet food items from Lynne, Kael thought wryly. She was just a few too inches too short to reach the highest cupboards so she couldn’t indulge her sweet tooth if Kael stored them there. Speaking of which...his eyes inevitably strayed by to the little white cat like a magnet pulled by the strongest of forces. “She acts just like Lynne,” Kael murmured quietly, absent-mindedly closing his book without marking his page. It was true, at least to Kael. The very second that Seth had stepped into the room, Jupiter had started fussing over him though the cat naturally demanded his attention instead of fussing over him like a mother as Lynne had.

[Seth Wright]

“Really?” Seth scratched his head with his usual lopsided, guilty smile, even though he hadn’t technically done anything wrong. “I guess I never noticed.” He and Kael may have shared a dormitory for seven years, but Seth was hardly the most observant of people, and Kael was a very private person. Their personalities clashed completely (even more ironic that Seth would be moving in with Kael, of all his friends), so they had hardly shown an interest in each other despite sharing both a bedroom and a Quidditch team until Lynne had connected them. Then, they had inadvertently spent more time together. Seth was fond, though still wary of Kael; he doubted Kael felt any good will towards him. As oblivious as Seth was, he wasn’t foolish enough to assume Kael would appreciate his apparently platonic relationship with Lynne. He was a man, Lynne was a woman; anyone, especially her twin brother, would assume the worst. However, Seth’s friendship with Lynne had always been platonic; he wasn’t flirtatious and he had been in a relationship with Willow when he and Lynne had first met. Seth’s relationship with Aurora was very much the same; they were good friends, sympathetic towards and accepting of Seth’s weaknesses, but there was no romance whatsoever. If anything, the two women mothered him like a child – the child Seth was, still, at heart. Seth had to assume, though, that Kael didn’t resent him; he had, after all, invited Seth to live with him. He had to tolerate Seth’s company to an extent, enough to inhabit the same apartment as him, surely?

“I’m an early sleeper,” Seth went on to explain uncertainly. “That’s probably why I’ve never noticed. I’m usually out like a light by ten o’clock. This time of night is… unusual, for me.” He glanced nervously at the clock; he hoped Kael wouldn’t mind his early nights in comparison to his late ones – it wouldn’t affect him, would it? It was yet another thing to add to the growing list of the differences between Seth and Kael. “Oh… thanks.” Seth smiled, having immediately forgotten the location Kael had accurately provided. If he did indeed want to seek out those biscuits another day, he’d have to find them himself, cupboard by cupboard. “It’s fine. I’m not hungry. I don’t eat at night. Just wanted some water…” With that, Seth gave a sheepish nod and disappeared into the kitchen. There, he grabbed a glass and filled it with cold tap water, relishing the sensation of the cool liquid slide down his throat, which was dry from the constant mutterings under his breath whilst he’d unpacked. Re-filling the glass, Seth moved back into the lounge and looked at Kael unsurely. He didn’t want to disturb him, because Kael had always been more antisocial than social – more of a loner than surrounded by friends. Seth had told himself to make sure he didn’t get in Kael’s way when he arrived because he didn’t want to get on his nerves, especially since he was giving Seth a place to stay. However, Seth still wanted to connect with Kael, somewhat. He couldn’t just avoid Kael all the time.

Despite the excitement of moving house, Seth was rather exhausted from the day’s activities, and would have gone straight to bed; but he wanted to speak to Kael for a short while before he did. He had a few questions, which he’d been meaning to ask. Perhaps now was the right time to ask them? Seth had never thought about consequences much, so he sat himself in an armchair, facing Kael and cradling his glass between his hands. After an awkward silence, he said, “Thank you. For letting me stay here. I… I appreciate it.” Seth purposefully avoided Kael’s gaze, embarrassed about this rather sentimental speech. Seth didn’t do sentimental. Neither did Kael. Not many boys did, really. “I know I’m not the best company,” he continued, doing his best to speak slowly and not rush and stumble through his words. “I-I’m tactless and annoying and talkative and clumsy… I don’t do things right and I’m easy to pick on. So, for you to let me come here…” He trailed off, staring hard at the floor and wondering how describe to Kael how grateful he was. He realised he couldn’t. Seth didn’t have those words; or perhaps those words didn’t even exist.

The silence was quickly suppressed by Seth ploughing on, running from the topic as though he had already forgotten it. “Where’s Lynne?” he asked all of a sudden with a smile, able to look at Kael in the eyes again. “Where is she living? I thought she’d stay with you.” Seth drank his water, then said a little faintly, “Then again, I thought I’d stay with Chace.” He smiled; not quite happy, nor really sad. “Nah. I’m good without him. I need to grow up,” he said cheerfully. "Where's Aurora? She hasn't written to me, but she said she'd send me a message through you because we, well, share a... a place, now."

[kael]

“For some surely inexplicable reason, that piece of information doesn’t surprise me at all.” The side of Kael’s mouth lifted upwards into a wry half-smile. The only true surprise would have been if Seth had actually noticed Kael’s mostly nocturnal lifestyle, or anything at all really. Seth wasn’t exactly known for being the most observant of people. Oblivious as he could be at times, even Kael was predominantly more watchful than Seth tended to be, which, admittedly, was not hard at all. Lynne, however, had always teased him about lack of sleep being the reason he was so grumpy at the start of the morning. If he didn’t get much sleep then he wouldn’t be awake enough to enjoy the morning, she had lectured him with a beaming smile, unabashed even as Kael boredly pointed out that she had never really been the most pleasant person to be around in the mornings. It was one of the most immediately obvious similarities between the two of them, though at least Kael had the decency to not try to hide his morning grumpiness. Or at any other time of day or night for that matter. Lethargic, one hand idly rose to run through his hair, evoking a grimace when tangled strands caught on his fingers and tugged at his scalp. He had let himself fall into disarray lately. That would have to be rectified. Not only was it simply unacceptable but his parents would demand that he move back home if they thought that he couldn’t live by himself, or with Seth and the cats as his only company.

The expression on Seth’s face provoked a short bark of genuine laughter from Kael; a sound that he wasn’t sure Seth had ever heard before. He had never had reason to laugh in front of Seth before. It was just now, when Seth appeared to be so stricken and nervous about the idea of him going to bed early when Kael preferred late night, that Kael simply couldn’t hold back the laughter that demanded to be released into the world and be heard. Such a simple thing to be concerned about yet Seth looked as though it could quite possibly cause the end of the world. “It’s not a problem,” Kael assured him after taking a moment to get himself under control. “Your exceptionally vigilant nature will probably have already noted that I’m generally a quiet person,” he continued, tone mocking but not unkind. Being cruel, really cruel as opposed to good-natured mocking, to Seth wasn’t dissimilar to kicking a puppy, in many ways. It just wasn’t something that Kael would willingly do. Some depths of cruelty and bluntness were beyond even him, improbable as it might seem to some. Seth didn’t eat at night. Kael made a conscientious mental note of the piece of information. That was fine. He tended to eat early some days anyway so they could either take turns in cooking on different days or cook separately for themselves. Could Seth even cook? Kael aimed a doubtful gaze at the kitchen, almost as if he could see through the wall to Seth standing on the other side of it. Well, if he didn’t know how to then Seth would just have to learn. Kael wasn’t tolerant of laziness, especially in someone of his own age, who was now an adult out in the adult world. Seth couldn’t expect to survive if he couldn’t take care of himself. At least he couldn’t have possibly ever have presumed that Kael would be doing everything for him; Kael could hardly be seen as the generous, charitable type of person. It simply wasn’t who he was.

“Don’t!” Kael snapped immediately, cutting through Seth’s self-deprecating babble without care for what was being interrupted. He wouldn’t listen to Seth complain about himself and whatever horrible things he thought were wrong with him. He just wouldn’t. Not only was it insulting, both to Seth himself and to Kael’s good sense, but Kael wasn’t the type of person who would willingly listen to such ridiculous chattering. There was nothing terrible about Seth, except his potential interest in Lynne and that had been quite firmly squashed by Lynne’s departure from Britain. So there was absolutely nothing wrong with Seth. “Just...don’t. I don’t need to hear your illogical nonsense about imaginary problems. I will say this once, and only once: there’s nothing wrong with you, Seth. Lynne thought so and I agree with her.” In truth, Seth reminded Kael more than a little of Lynne. It was comforting and hurtful and reassuring all at the same time. That wasn’t the only reason Kael had offered to let Seth move in with him though. It had been an impulsive offer, made to a friend without a place of his own to stay and in need of someone to help him out.

Lynne. Words suddenly seemed pathetically hard to find, and Kael struggled in silence for a moment before settling on a course of action. Short, quick and ruthlessly blunt. Just as he had always been. “France,” Kael answered simply. “She’s living in Bordeaux. She left as soon as we got off the train.” A quick intake of breath; air seemed so hard to find. Was the room suddenly smaller than it had been before? Highly unlikely. That was most probably just his instinctive fear of Seth’s reaction. Emotional. It would inevitably be emotional. Seth was inevitably emotional. “She just couldn’t bring herself to tell you or Aurora. She said it would hurt too much to know that she was leaving you behind and have to tell you that to your face. Lynne always was unable to control her emotions.” Aurora. Kael’s expression flickered then froze over. The name ‘Aurora Chan’ wasn’t welcome in his flat, and it never would be again. “She hasn’t written to me either,” he replied shortly, his tone a subtle warning for Seth to drop the subject without further questioning.