Albus Severus Potter (asp_bite) wrote in ab_hinc, @ 2009-02-21 17:17:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | * status: in-progress, - type: log, albus severus potter, tom riddle |
Who: Al and Tom
What: Unplanned visits always end well
When: Friday afternoon, Feb 20
Where: Tom's home
Rating: TBD
Status: Incomplete/log
An uncomfortable feeling tickled the back of Al's mind as he paced through the shadowed forest of the island. He hadn't been out exploring in weeks, but today he'd been drawn out, and he couldn't help wondering by what. He stepped over a root that was sticking up out of the dirt, and continued down the twisted path. And soon came upon....
Oh. Al scratched his chin with the nail of his thumb as he gazed up at Riddle Manor. He hadn't been here in months. It had also been empty for months. Tom's dismissal from the school was common knowledge, but Al had been having too many problems in the past week to come visit. Or even think about Tom at all. He felt awful about it. So much for claiming he loved him. What gave him the right to declare that without supporting it. Tom probably hated him as much as he ever did, maybe more so now.
Awful might be too soft a word.
Al tromped up the steps to the door and banged the knocker twice. Tom might not even be in.
Tom was lounging on a sofa in the sitting room when Al's knock resounded through his manor. Raising one eyebrow, he didn't even bother to get up. Waving his hand, the door swung open and allowed Albus free entry. Tom remained where he was, dark eyes settling on his visitor. I had wondered when he would visit me again...
"What brings you here?" he eyed Albus' nervous form critically, "Are you in trouble with your family? Or is this merely a pleasure visit?" he stretched his arms over his head and crossed his legs, clearly not concerned with what Albus did in his home. The front door, however, would swing shut as soon as Albus walked through it.
Al fumbled over his own words while trying to come up with an answer. "Er...pleasure?" Brilliant. That sounded completely sincere. He couldn't even form a suitable response to a simple question. Course, he supposed it would be easier to answer if he had an answer. He stuffed his hands into the pockets of his denims and rocked back on his heels.
"So, it's true then? You got kicked out." Again.
Tom took a long while to answer. He turned his head away from Albus and closed his eyes. Flexing his long, pale fingers, he licked his lips before answering with a low, resigned "yes". He didn't want to say anything more on the matter. Lady Ravenclaw had given him an ultimatum and he had decided not to take it. There was no reason to be upset.
"Does it matter?" he frowned, sipping some wine out of an emerald encrusted goblet.
"No." Al shrugged, unconcerned. If it mattered more, he'd press, but seeing Tom relaxed and stretched out along his own sofa, Al found no reason to push any further. He fell into one of the various chairs littering the room, rubbing his fingers along the faded fabric, thinking maybe this meeting wouldn't end with trouble. "I'm surprised you let me in."
"Why is that?" Tom peered back at him, briefly however, hiding the color of his irises by lowering his lids partially. There was also a curious quality to his skin. It was almost tighter across his fine bone structure. It was clear for anyone who could spot the signs that he had been experimenting more than usual lately.
"You are no threat to me." he finished lowly, swishing the wine in the goblet before downing the rest of it.
"Guess not." Tipping his head to the side, Al leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. There was something...off. There was always something off with Tom, but this was something undefinable, yet familiar and its existence settled in Al's mind like an annoying parasite.
"What have you been doing since you left the school?"
"The same I was doing when I was asked to leave." Tom purred, setting down the goblet and rubbing over the backs of his hands, testing his circulation, "Lady Ravenclaw was kind enough to speak to me about what she had spied me doing, but I chose to leave the castle. Thus I was not kicked out." he sat up and pursed his lips, "Some things are more important than teaching students who may or may not be listening."
Al bristled. There it was again. That odd, slimy sort of feeling that crept along his skin every time he caught a flash of Tom's face. "Look at me, would you?"
So be it. Tom tilted his head, slowly moving to look at Albus directly. Opening his eyes fully, the crimson hue of his eyes was fully revealed. There was also a strange sharpness to his face and body, almost as if he had been ingesting something that hadn't been normal food as of late.
"Happy?" he whispered icily.
Getting onto shaky legs, Al crossed the room and fell to his knees in front of Tom. He peered into Tom's face, carefully cataloging every change, every harsh line where soft ones once existed and he hissed slowly through his teeth.
"Why?" he asked.
Tom gazed coldly back, jaw clenching unhappily. Every single time he saw Albus' eyes, he was reminded of Harry; and there was no way in Hell, Hades or Tartarus that he was going to let that boy near him.
"Because." he answered tartly, sitting back, "Does it matter? What's done is done."
"'Does it matter?'" Al mocked, grasping Tom's knee. He squeezed it, meeting Tom's frigid gaze with one of determination. He couldn't let this go. Call it his inner Gryffindor, but this wasn't something that could be ignored and brushed aside. "Course it matters! What are you doing to yourself?!"
Tom snorted softly at the squeeze. He made no move to remove Albus' hand, however. Instead, he crossed his hands in his lap and pondered the question. What am I doing to myself... It was a question he had often been asked, but he had never paid it much mind. Unless...
"I'm making myself stronger." he murmured, smirking confidently, "Human bodies are weak."
"Why? What's the point? All you're doing is hurting yourself." Al surged upwards into a crouch so he was eye level. His hands were shaking. "God, you look...Have you looked at yourself at all? Do you even own a mirror?"