Christine Preston (suspendtime) wrote in carpediem_rp, @ 2015-08-16 22:34:00 |
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Entry tags: | character: christine preston (dropped), character: wan (dropped), thread: complete |
Who: Wan and Christine
What: Playing with Puppies
When: Saturday, August 15th @ noon
Where: Various places throughout Marble City
Rating/Warning: PG, playing with puppies and awkwardness
Status: Complete Log
To say that Christine was nervous and a little uncomfortable was an understatement. She'd never been on a date before, let alone with someone she didn't actually know. It was the not knowing part that really made her nervous, but if he had a school issued journal that meant he went to school with her. Maybe he was a transfer student looking to make friends. That was fine with her, even though she didn't make friends easily.
With her brother out of the house and not really wanting to bother Rini, Christine hadn't been sure how to dress. They were only really playing with puppies, so she knew nothing fancy. She decided on a pair of jean shorts, pale blue t-shirt, and sandals. The only make-up she wore was pink tinted lip gloss and her hair was pulled up in a ponytail. Grabbing a taxi once she entered the mixed Marble section of the city, she was there in no time.
Walking into the hotel, Christine had a momentary freak out when she realized she hadn't told anyone where she was going and she wasn't sure if she should just turn around and leave. Her actions today had been very illogical for a very logical and literal girl. Standing in the lobby, she looked around waiting for someone she didn't know.
Wan didn’t actually know what Christine looked like and that was probably going to be an issue. One he only realized after he’d gotten himself cleaned up and headed down to the lobby to wait for her.
His hair was combed, but allowed to fall as it liked around his face with only part of it pulled back so it wouldn’t get tangled if one of the animals decided to climb onto his head. His clothes were clean, if a bit shabby. Three shirts layered over each other so he didn’t look too thin (he still looked too thin) and jeans. White socks with sandals. He could almost pass for hipster. Almost.
As for his date? Well… hey! That girl over there looked like she didn’t know where the heck she was. Worth a shot. He wandered over to stand in front of the girl in a t-shirt, jeans, and sandals. Then leaned forward slightly, "Hi. Are you waiting for someone?"
If Christine was expecting someone with spoken English as broken and stilted as his written, she was in for a surprise.
Christine hadn't been standing there long when a guy, who seemed around her age came up to her. He was only slightly taller than her, but then again he seemed to not be standing up straight like she was. If he was Wan, then he was also on the thin side. His hair was longish, but it looked right on him.
When he spoke, the surprise was evident on her face. This couldn't be the same guy who'd been talking to her on the journals. Then again, it could be. Tilting her head to the side and chewing at her bottom lip, she nodded. "Hi and, actually, I am. Why?"
"Because I’m supposed to meet someone for a date and you look like you might be her," he answered with a grin, taking a step back and putting his hand lightly on his chest. "I’m Wan. Are you Christine?"
Oh... Well that made sense. Only, he was better spoken than she'd expected. Blushing slightly when he grinned at her, she nodded again. "I am. It's nice to meet you."
Biting her lip, Christine looked around. This was a decent looking hotel. She wondered if the school was paying for it or if he came from money. A closer look at his clothes and she knew he wasn't from money. "So... Where to?"
His hand moved down to scratch his stomach for a second before dropping into a wave toward the door, "This way. The pet shop I found is only a couple streets south of us. A few blocks. It’s a pretty quick walk."
Wan led the way outside, giving a quick glance around to take stock of the traffic, foot and vehicle both. Once they were mostly on their way, he smiled at Christine, "So uh… you look nice."
As he scratched at his stomach, her eyes followed his hand down and then in the direction out the door. She hadn't meant to stare, but her nerves were getting the better of her. Quickly following in his stead, Christine caught up so that she could read his lips just in case.
At his comment about looking nice, she shrugged. "Umm... Thanks. I look how I always look. Having never gone out like this before, I wasn't exactly sure how to dress. Since we are playing with puppies I figured dress down and casually. Is this okay?"
'It’s great," he laughed lightly, nervously. "You look great, too. I mean, you dressed great. For this. Nothing should get too damaged but it’s better to have on things you don’t care about as much in case they pee on you. They do that sometimes."
Though, now that he’d said that, he was worried one might actually pee on her and ruin her day. Maybe he should have thought of a better thing to do for a date…
“So uh… hows the experiment going?”
Christine wasn't used to compliments. Normally, she was rather cold and fact based. Today, she seemed to be blushing. It didn't feel right... not exactly, but it didn't feel wrong either. It was too new to formulate a feeling.
"If they pee, they pee. They're puppies and know no better. I wouldn't be upset as long as you didn't mind me smelling like dog pee the rest of the day."
Nibbling at her bottom lips, Christine pondered his question. She'd had a very in depth conversation with R and Nari. She'd been insulted by Noctis, told she was stupid by her best friend, and had two guys ask her out. Plus she'd talked to Professor Donovan, which had been somewhat awkward and weird.
"Aside from speaking with some people, it's not really. I was probably premature in looking for a volunteer to date me. I have significantly more angles to look into and evaluate. Though, while I believe I was insulted by one boy, I was asked out by two others. So all in all... I'm not sure how to proceed."
He glanced over at her, eyes darting away briefly only to make sure he wasn’t going to hit anyone while he walked, “Why would you be premature in looking for a date? I mean, you kind of have to go on a lot of them anyway. Just so you have enough personal experience to um… gather data from? Right? But I’m sorry you were insulted for wanting to try this out. What did he say to you?”
Christine glanced up and over at him every so often as they walked to ensure that she didn't miss anything he might say. At his question, however, she shrugged and looked straight ahead.
"Well, it wasn't meant to be a single date. The experiment was meant to be dating, so that one could experience and evaluate the full range of benefits and disadvantages of a relationship. However, it was pointed out to me by several people that I wouldn't get the right information since the other person involved would know it was a social experiment and would treat it as so instead of as genuine."
Sighing at Wan's question about what Noctis had said, Christine still wasn't completely sure how to take it. R's comment 'coming to her defense' sort of put it in perspective that it was an insult, but she couldn't be 100% sure. "He insinuated that the only way I would get someone to date me was for them to be paid."
Wan frowned, both at her answer about the experiment not being genuine and the insult given. He straightened up a bit, the hunching of his shoulders falling away as he suddenly felt defensive of the woman walking next to him. And of himself, truthfully.
“Well, they’re wrong.” His tone was both hurt and a bit angry. Not at her, but at the insinuations that people wouldn’t be honest in a relationship just because it was entered in as an experiment. “I only asked you out because you said it was an experiment. Because it was honest. Because you were honest about what you were looking for. A relationship should be built on trust. That and-”
At that point, Wan’s shoulders hunched again and the upsetting emotions melted out of him with a sigh, “I asked you out because you were honest about why you’d be doing it. And also, because it’s not the regular human way of doing things. It’s… I’m really tired of the way regular humans are with each other. I like that you were different than what I’ve seen. But I suppose that’s probably not fair to you. Since you wanted to see what it’s like to experience a regular relationship.”
His eyes slid to the side, embarrassed, “I’m not really interested in a regular human relationship. So if you want to go home now, I’ll understand.”
When Wan stood up straight and tall, Christine had to crane her neck a bit. While she was 5'4 naturally, he seemed taller now than he had at first. That was interesting, but also made her want to point out that he normally slouched. She knew it was rude to say, but she wanted to.
She noted his slightly angered tone at his response to her mentioning other people's response to her journal. When he said he had only asked her because it was an experiment, she was momentarily sad and frustrated, but knew she shouldn't be. It was what she had asked for, no pretense. However as he continued to speak, she smiled. It sounded as though Wan had some experience and wisdom to offer.
"I have no idea what goes on inside of any kind of relationship other than families and friends. So I don't know what would be 'regular' as you say and what wouldn't be. The experiment was to learn about relationships. I'm curious though, what is a regular human relationship?"
He was about to say ‘you know’ and had to cut himself off. Because she didn’t know. He’d have to be a lot clearer in his explanation than he was used to being with pretty much everyone.
“What I mean is... I’ve seen a lot of people - humans - on dates and family outings,” he said, speaking slowly as he picked his words carefully. “And way things usually go is that, in pairs, one or both of the humans involved aren’t honest with each other. Especially early in the relationships. You can tell when a couple has been together for a short time and when they’ve been together for ages. The earliest part of a relationship is usually dedicated to learning about each other, but not by asking straight out about anything. Well, sometimes you’ll get those ‘let’s play 20 questions about our interests’ types, but usually it’s just them going somewhere and having a superficial conversation that, if they’re lucky, turns into something deeper. Meanwhile, they’re dressed up to look their best instead of how they usually dress. They put on this act and lie about who they really are and what they really like. They excuse it by saying they don’t want to make a bad impression, and most of the time they have their friends telling them that, too. Encouraging it.”
He started to straighten up again, one hand moving to scratch at the opposite elbow, “Parents, siblings, television shows, movies, they all tell us not to be ourselves at first. That we should lie to the people we’re attracted to so they’ll like us and want to stay with us. That we should put all this effort into pretending to be who we aren’t. And yeah, a lot of time that will work out as couples get to know each other and are together for a while. But it’s still basing the relationship on a lie. And because of that, I don’t think people - humans - ever really believe they can be completely honest with those they care about.
“It then goes on to how the families treat each other. Parents and their children. Lying to protect them. ‘For their own good’. So they don’t get disappointed or discouraged by what’s really going on. And I don’t mean to make it sound like people can’t keep surprises from each other. But the surprise should be something like a gift or a tickets to a play or a trip to the zoo. Not that the guy or girl you just agreed to marry actually doesn’t like taking a shower more than once every couple weeks and won’t clean their own house unless they know they’ll have someone important over. The surprise should never be that the person you thought they were is not the person they really are. It should never come to the point that someone don’t feel they can tell the person they love and have chosen to spend their life with, that they’re struggling with an addiction or they have crippling debt, or that they don’t feel loved or desired anymore so they go hire a prostitute once in a while just to feel wanted.”
Wan was going to stop there, but that was probably too dark of a note to end what had accidentally turned into a rant. He chewed at his lip for a second, then shrugged, “I used to be homeless. Grew up that way. I’ve seen a lot of the bad that humans do to each other, especially when they say they do it out of love. I’m not interested in experiencing those kinds of relationships. The ‘regular’ kind.”
He’d already experienced enough of them with his family. He didn’t want or need it out of any relationship he chose to enter into.
Christine wanted to listen to his explanation before she countered or added to anything Wan said. As she continued to listen to him, she was sad to learn about how people interacted with each other and it confirmed her stance on not getting overly close to too many people. The relationships that she did have, of various kinds, were completely honest. Well, at least they were on her part. She could never be completely sure about everyone else, thought she liked to believe her family and closest friends were nothing but honest with her in return.
Being the literal girl that she was, Christine couldn’t help but state a fact. “I’m not sure why you keep bringing up the fact about humans. Magic or not, we’re all human. Unless you’re talking about werewolves, which I still think of as human since that’s how they started out, or some other creatures. Which, if you are, you’ve now added additional angles to the research side of the experiment. I suppose it would be rather difficult to discuss this with non-human creatures. It’s hard enough discussing it with humans.”
Wan’s description of relationships seemed accurate, if not a little cynical. Perhaps there was more to him that would attract Christine to actually want to get to know him more. “I have always only ever wanted nothing but complete honesty. I know that I’ve definitely been called a bitch in the past because I don’t sugar coat anything. I tell it like it is. I have, as they say, no filter. I’m not interested in being with, around, or friends with anyone who is anything but honest. I admit, though, that sometimes I wonder if people are being completely honest with me.”
As she spoke the words, something came to mind. She was a hypocrite. There was something that she wasn’t being honest about and with a few people. Though, she supposed, it wasn’t entirely true. Christine had a crush on someone, but didn’t flat out tell them about it. She wasn’t sure why she couldn’t just tell him, but he’d also never asked. If he had, she would have been 100% honest and told him she did. It was why she’d only just told her best friend the truth about it. If they were going to start whatever this was out honest, she’d have to tell Wan the truth about her feelings for Meru.
“Before I ask you a dozen questions about being homeless, since I find that completely fascinating and also sad for you, let me tell you something. I’ve stated that I like to be completely honest, I haven’t been completely honest with one person. I have a crush on a guy who doesn’t see me in that way. In fact, I don’t think he really sees anyone in that way, he’s so focused on science. If he asked me if I liked him, I would be honest and tell him that I do. I want you to know, so that we’re completely honest with each other. I’m open to something potentially forming with someone else, but I also can’t deny my feelings for him at this time. They may change, but I can’t predict the future.”
Blushing hard, Christine finally took a chance to steal a glance at Wan. She wanted to see his reaction and if he suddenly became closed off or uninterested. It would certainly add to her research and compilation of data, no matter what his reaction or response was.
“Not all people are human,” Wan clarified. “Humans are so focused on themselves they forget that. I’m trying my best not to.”
He didn’t elaborate past that, though he was curious about the commentary on werewolves. From how she spoke, it sounded like she knew at least one personally. If that was where her thoughts went when he was specifying the difference between regular humans and people. It would be worth asking about later.
At her admittance, he chose to start his response on something else she had said. “There’s a difference between being honest and being blunt. You can be honest without going so far as to be unkind just for the sake of honesty. Brutal honesty isn’t always the best way. Sugar-coating, as you called it, is not dishonest. And I think you understand that just enough that you haven’t told this guy that you like him. If you didn’t, you would have said something already just because you ‘tell it like it is’. You like him, and you don’t want to be rejected by him if he ‘tells it like it is’ and what he tells you is that he isn’t interested.”
Wan’s tone was even, contemplative, conversational. He’d seen others who used brutal honesty to defend their rudeness on purpose be rejected before. Loudly. Usually while leaving a club or a restaurant and yelling at the top of their lungs that the person they were with ‘couldn’t handle’ their honesty. He’d also seen a few of them become completely contrite around those that they liked when attempting to start a new relationship. Live in the same neighborhood long enough, keep your eyes open, and you saw a lot. Wan had seen a lot.
But he genuinely didn’t think Christine meant to be rude with her honesty. Even when she described it that way. That she didn’t mean to use it as an excuse or cover. So he kept his tone gentle, trying to help her see how to be honest without being confrontational or rude. It was something he was still working on himself, but he could try.
Wan tucked some stray hairs behind one ear, “And I don’t expect you to be completely interested in me. We hadn’t even seen each other in person before today. We’ve agreed to go on one date. Possibly more if this goes well. If anything happens, if we decide we want to be something other than friends, then we’ll decide that together. And how we approach it, too. I mean… I can’t say I’m completely attracted to you right now. But I am interested.”
Nodding, Christine understood that there were more than just humans out there. In all honesty, she never really thought about them much outside of school or when she happened upon them in Hogsmeade. So the idea that they too date and have relationships had never even crossed her mind. As far as her comments and thoughts on werewolves, she didn’t know any personally, but knew that they existed.
Perhaps she did sugar coat things on occasion, but really she just stated fact. Occasionally she apologized for upsetting someone, it was never her intent. She was just very literal and factual. She didn’t like to think about gray areas. Then again, she didn’t like to think about life as black and white. Christine was an odd one.
Appreciation for his acceptance of her feelings for Meru settled into her body and she visibly relaxed a little in front of him. Her head began nodding at his statements about interest and only just meeting. They were aligned in this and she found that Wan was growing on her. “Deciding together sounds perfect to me. I can also say that I’m not completely attracted to you at this moment in time either, but I’m certainly interested in getting to know you and more about you.”
Smirking a little mischievously, Christine winked at him as they continued to walk. She was following his lead, since she had no idea where they were going or how far it was. “So, tell me about the time you were homeless. I mean, that is if you’re comfortable talking about it. Were you and your parents homeless or did you not live with them anymore and ended up that way?”
Wan’s head dropped and he shoved both his hands into his pockets, his lips squeezing into a thin line. She was making a lot of assumptions about how he’d come to be homeless and much as it was understandable, it was also uncomfortable. It meant if he talked about it, he’d have to go into a lot more detail than he particularly liked. He wasn’t ashamed of his homelessness, but he was still dealing with the betrayed feelings he had about Yao.
He took his time in answering, delaying (with more than a little relief) by pointing out the crosswalk and encouraging Christine to run to catch it before the ‘Don’t Walk’ sign lit up. They’d have to cross one more at the end of the next block before they were on the right street. Not far, but not close enough he could just avoid the question indefinitely.
“Actually,” he started slowly, “I never met them. I mean, not that I can remember. Yao, the man that took care of me for most of my life, told me that a Chinese woman dropped me off with him and asked him to take care of me. But he knows she wasn’t my mother because I’m… well, see, he wouldn’t say exactly. Just that he knew it because of who she worked for. And he would never tell me who that was. And he never let me know how to get in contact with her, either. I don’t even know her name.”
Wan took a deep breath, his eyes scanning the street to make sure thing were still relatively clear. A habit he would probably never get out of. “But she called me Wan and so I’ve always been Wan. And Yao took care of me. We lived on the street because something happened and he lost his house and his job and later… well, he… he had a breakdown of sorts. So I’ve been homeless for most of my life. And I don’t really have parents. Or a family beyond Yao and Jaya and even then…”
Even then, Yao had lied to him. Convinced him he was a squib even when letters from Hogwarts had come. Convinced him not to worry about learning English so he couldn’t ever read them and find out. Tried to convince him that things couldn’t change, that they were stuck where they were so they might as well make the best of it.
“I got taken in by a Goblin this past Christmas. Not on the day, but around then. During the winter holidays for Hogwarts and the Merlin Academy. He gave me a job and things have been better for me since.”
Wow. Christine immediately felt bad for delving so deep into the story of his life. From what he’d told her, it hadn’t sounded fun or fair or easy. Sure, she’d had some difficulties in her life, but they didn’t compare. They were completely different and yet, she felt for him. She wasn’t sure what to say to him, exactly, and she didn’t want to say something to add to the pain he had felt and could possibly still be feeling by the way he’d tensed up. So, Christine said all that she could say… at least at first.
“I’m sorry. I’m too curious for my own good. That was really personal and I doubt easy to talk about.” Biting at her bottom lip, she looked around for a moment before making the decision to tell him the truth about herself. It didn’t compare, not in the least but maybe it would help them to feel even in some way. They’d both know something about each other that not many others did.
“When I was eight years old, my family and I were vacationing at our summer home on a lake in the midwest. I swam out further than I should have to stop a ball I’d been playing with from getting pulled out into the larger part of the lake. I got onto the floating dock in the middle and retrieved the ball. As I went to jump back into the water, closer to my house, I slipped and fell. I ended up knocking myself unconscious and drowned. They said I was dead for like two minutes before they were able to revive me. I was lucky to not have any serious damage to my head, lungs, or heart, but I didn’t walk away from it completely unscathed. I’m completely deaf in my left ear, burst the eardrum from the water pressure. Very few know this about me because I don’t like to be given any real sort of special treatment nor do I want people to look at me differently. I do, however, get the lecture notes from the professors at school so that incase I do miss anything they say, I have the notes.”
Letting out a long sigh when she was done, she hoped that Wan didn’t take her telling him about her accident the wrong way. She wasn’t trying to make it sound like her life was harder or just as hard as his. “I told you that because you shared with me and I wanted to share with you….”
“It’s not-” Wan cut himself off and shook his head. He couldn’t say it wasn’t easy. But he also couldn’t say it was. So he shut up and let her continue. It sounded pretty condescending at first. A family with a summer home and lakeside to boot. He knew she didn’t mean it that way and when she was done, he smiled at her.
“Thank you,” he said softly, knowing she should hear him fine since she was walking on his left side. He’d noticed how she stuck to that side of him through the crosswalk but thought it had to do with keeping herself on the part of the sidewalk furthest from street. It was a common enough reaction for a lot of people that he hadn’t put any more stock into it than that.
“And it’s not that hard to talk about how I grew up. It’s not always easy, but it’s not hard. It’s just how things are. Actually, this is my first year in Hogwarts because of it. I wrote to the school and they’re going to put me in with the fifth years so I can try to catch up on what I’ve missed and take my OWLs. I can’t really hide why I’m in fifth year when I should, by my age, be in seventh. And I don’t really want to lie about things any more, anyway. I had to lie a lot to get by growing up. Just to get enough food to eat some days. But thank you. For sharing. I’ll remember to stay on your good side.”
A smirk and a wink at his joke before he waved and pointed to an alley way, “Let’s cut through here. We can hit the back of the store and if they don’t let us in that way, we can just swing around to the front. It avoids most of the foot traffic, though.”
No, Christine hadn’t meant it to be condescending, though even as she was telling her story, she knew it might be considered so. She would happily share her family’s good fortune with those she was close with. Truth be told, it was a house from her mother’s muggle parents. They were rich and could afford the house. When they passed away, her mother had inherited it. While she was far from rich, her family didn’t have to worry about much.
Waving off his thanks for her sharing, she smiled at him as well. “Well, if you ever want to just talk about it, I’d be happy to listen.” When he said that his would be his first year at Hogwarts, she knew that to be true. She hadn’t seen him around the castle before. From what it sounded like, though, was that he’d never gone to a magical school before at all. It made her curious, but figured they didn’t need to get to know everything about each other on the first date.
“Ah, so you’re older than me. I’m a fifth year and was sorted Ravenclaw during my first. And I’m perfectly happy to oblige the no more lying about anything standard you’re setting.” Nodding at his suggestion to use the alleyway, Christine took a moment to look at every aspect of it and ensure safety. The only variable in the safety equation was Wan, but he seemed trustworthy. She’d of course keep vigilant so as to not let herself get attacked in anyway, but she felt like she could really trust him.
“I have to admit… I’ve never played with puppies before and the idea of a pet store disturbs me just a little. All those animals locked in cages just waiting for someone to come and take them home. It’s heartbreaking and I know that I’m going to want to bring all the animals home with me, even though I know that’s illogical and irresponsible.”
Wan had picked the alleyway because he knew alleys. He could tell for the most part when they were safe to pass through and when to avoid them. Just by how people were standing around - if there were anyone standing around at all. It was the difference between survival and… other things that he didn’t want to think hard about.
“Not all pet stores are bad,” he answered, eyes alert and focused ahead of them. “The ones you need to avoid are the ones that get puppies and kittens from breeders and sell them for obscene amounts plus whatever adoption fee they site. There are plenty that sell animals brought to them by shelters or vets. This one I’m not too sure about yet. But they have three puppies there right now. Or they did when we first talked. They probably still do. Depending on their prices, I might try to buy one.”
Or come back after the store was closed, use magic to fry the security system, and take them all to give to good homes that just couldn’t afford the outrageous prices. One or the other.
It probably didn’t help her image of pet stores that the only ones she ever really heard about where the bad ones that Wan was describing. Christine was glad to hear that not all pet stores weren’t bad, but it didn’t fully make her feel better. She knew that she was going to want to get a puppy after this and her parents wouldn’t be thrilled with having to take care of it while she was at school. Adam was too busy getting started in his career to give a puppy attention. Yet, she’d still want one.
“If you buy one now, what will you do with it? Will your goblin friend want to care for it? We can’t have puppies at school, as much as I wish we could.” Sighing, she wished it was possible. She’d just have to settle for playing with these puppies.
“I don’t really know. I hadn’t given it that much thought.” Wan shrugged. He was a master at on the fly planning, but anything past his goal? The fallout and the clean up? Not so much his thing. Her questions were good ones and had him second-guessing his plans for a few moments. But in that time, his mind began working through the problems and he offered her a grin as he figured it out. Or figured something out, anyway. She might poke some holes in it when he was done.
“I can give them to people who can’t afford the adoption fees! People who want to care for them and would give them a perfectly good home, but just… can’t. Or sure, I could ask Auger-Eye to take care of one of them for me. Or I could try to sneak one into the school. I bet I could get a puppy in there… oh! What about Hogsmeade? I was told there would be weekend trips there. I could keep a puppy there and visit as often as possible!”
All perfectly viable. Especially that sneaking a puppy into the school plan. Totally possible. Totally.
That was sometimes Christine’s issue in reverse. She tended to over think things and ended up not doing as much as she liked. After her conversation with Joseph at Sera’s party, she’d been thinking more about the after effects of her drowning. Maybe this was one of those. Perhaps she was too practical to be really spontaneous because of her accident. It would definitely be something to look into and think on.
“If the people can’t afford the adoption fees, is it really a good idea to give them the pets? I mean… if they can’t afford to adopt, how can they afford to feed and care for the animal? What would be worse? Letting them stay at the pet store where they get fed and walked regularly or given to a family that can’t buy it the proper pet food and either starve the pet or make it sick with just human food?” Christine didn’t mean to potentially rain on his parade, but she was thinking about the side of things that Wan didn’t seem to be considering.
“Who would care for the pup during the week if you brought it to Hogsmeade? And we don’t get trips down every weekend. I can see that you’re a doer and not a think it through-er. I’m happy to help you with that, if you’d like,” she teased slightly with a smile.
Wan stopped and put his hands up, laughing, “Easy there on that heady dose of reality. Adoption fees and cost of buying a puppy are way higher than taking care of one. A lot of places charge a couple hundred for the adoption alone. And another few hundred to a couple thousand for the animal itself. Usually based on the breed or if it’s a mix. I’ve been in a lot of pet stores and rescues. Even rescues charge about seventy or so dollars for the adoption fee. It covers the vet care up to that point for most of them. At least with the rescues. With pet shops, they’re as much out to make a profit as anyone else is.”
He started moving again, heading for the back of the pet shop and knocking on the door there to see if they could get in that way. If anyone would come and open the door for them, “A family might not be able to afford several hundred dollars to buy the dog, but most of them can afford to pay for food and vet care just fine. It’s getting the pet in the first place that’s hard for them. And as for Hogsmeade, what the school doesn’t know can’t hurt them. Right? We could totally find someone there to care for a dog and sneak out to see it. Or… you could help me sneak the dog into Hogwarts. Miss-think-it-through-er has got to be able to figure that one out.”
Wan grinned at her, giving her a wink before knocking one last time on the back door, “Guess we’ll have to go around front.”
Christine was very happy to see him laughing at her straightforward thinking. The last thing she wanted was for him to get upset or resentful over something that just came so naturally for her. Nodding to his statements about prices of things, she didn’t really know how much it took to take care of a pet. Though, she’d heard that getting a pet spayed or neutered wasn’t cheap. She really didn’t see the practicality of giving a pet to a family that couldn’t afford to adopt one. Adopting and buying were different things. One was usually much more expensive than the other, but what did she know?
“In all honesty, I probably could come up with a viable plan to help you get a puppy into the castle. However, I’m not the breaking the rules kind of girl. Rules are in place for a reason, usually to keep us all safe, and I’m not about to put anyone in risk. I mean… what if someone was allergic to dogs?” When he grinned and winked at her, Christine couldn’t help but blush and look away for a moment. Nodding when he said they’d need to use the front door, she began to move towards the end of the alleyway.
Reaching out, she grabbed his arm for a moment to stop him. “Wan… don’t do anything that will get you seriously in trouble… Okay?” Christine didn’t want to see him get into trouble, but she also didn’t want to get into trouble herself either.
Wan rolled his eyes at the ‘rules are to keep us safe’ comment. That might be true at the school, but it wasn’t true for most of the rest of the world. Not in his view. Rules were put in place to keep people ‘in their place’. Usually beneath others where they could be ignored.
When she took his arm, he stopped and stood completely still, stiff. He wasn’t good with sudden touch like that and it took him a moment to relax. She wasn’t going to pull him into a punch or push him down. She wasn’t going to hurt him. She just wanted his full attention.
He looked her in they eyes, and then looked away, “I don’t think bringing a dog to school will get me into serious trouble. But if you don’t want to sneak one in, then we’ll just have to work on the Hogsmeade plan.”
Wan forced a grin, trying to completely shake off the tension her hand on him had caused. Tried to turn it into a joke. But truthfully, he really was considering sneaking a dog into the school. If he couldn’t find a good home for it.
Christine noticed the way he had stiffened up and was worried she had done something wrong. She didn't know about his issues and had only wanted to get his attention. If she'd known it was a problem for him she would've never done it. When Wan visibly relaxed, she felt slightly better and sighed softly.
"It might not be serious trouble but you would definitely have detention for quite a long time. Who knows what other punishment they would give you. I'm just trying to look out for your best interest."
When I mentioned the Hogsmeade plan again, Christine just rolled her eyes, but a small smile tugged at her lips. "I don't know how much better of a plan that is. How would you pay the person that was watching the dog for their time and energy?"
“I could do some jobs for them on the weekends we’re allowed down there. Or pay them some of the money I saved up. I think a favor for a favor would be better, but I can put a little money towards it,” he said, this time with actual thought behind his words. She was doing good at the whole punching holes in his ideas thing. A lot better than Jaya ever had.
“So how would you do it, if you were the one planning it out? Say we get the puppy and we have what? Two weeks for it to get to know us. And then we’re off at school. Once we’re gone, he or she is going to be staying with someone else and learning from them. But we’re the ones that adopted her. Or him. We’re the… parents. Or guardians! Guardians is better. So we have to find a way to see our puppy as often as possible. Visitation if we can’t have her at school. Or him. What do you think would be the most sensible way of going about it?”
His ideas about offering a favor for a favor were actually quite smart. The problem would be was finding someone who was willing to care for and train a dog. Not to mention getting down to visit with it only once a month. She'd never seen a dog at school before, except the one that belonged to professor Banner. Maybe she was wrong about the rules, since she'd never had the need to know about it.
"I don't do things against the rules, so trying to formulate a plan to do so would be pointless. I'm not some adventurer, which I admit can certainly make for a somewhat boring existence. It's what I'm comfortable with though, so I stick with it." As he talked about them being the puppy's parents/guardians, Christine couldn't help but sigh, a happy sound. That sounded like fun. Wan was doing a good job making her long for things she'd never really known she had wanted.
He was going to have to work on that whole no-rule-breaking thing with her. She needed to loosen up and realize that some rules should be broken. But he knew that it wasn’t going to be today. Which meant he’d just have to find a loophole that she’d go for. Work through it over the next few weeks. Couldn’t take much longer than that, right?
“Alright, alright. Nothing against the rules,” he laughed and reached out to lightly touch her elbow. His fingers barely brushed it. Just enough to have her attention and indicate they should turn the corner of the alley and what direction to turn. “Just playing with puppies today. We can plot mischief on another date. Speaking of… I meant to ask. You said two guys asked you out, right? Me and someone else? Are you going to go out with him, too?”
The question was asked with curiosity, not jealousy or even concern. “If you are, you should let me know when you’re having a date with him so I don’t try to plan anything then. Whenever that ends up being. You know, for the next time I ask you out.”
Sighing heavily in relief, Christine was happy to not be pushed beyond her comfort zone. It might be a good idea to eventually be pushed, but for now she was content. A slight shiver ran down her back and goosebumps raised on her arm as she felt his touch. Looking up at him, she made eye contact and smiled a little. “Puppies is a good start. We’ll see about mischief in the future.”
At his questions, she noted that he didn’t seem upset or concerned. That eased her worries about future dates. He didn’t seem jealous or overly committed to this. While she’d certainly go out with him again, she wasn’t sure about her feelings as of yet. “Yes, you are correct. Another guy asked me out, but we haven’t set anything solid up as of yet. So I can’t really say just yet. I’ll let you know when we do set something up though. I promise.”
“Great,” he grinned, turning from her and trotting forward to catch the door of the shop and hold it open for her. “Then we can make plans before he does. You doing anything next weekend?”
This time, Christine couldn’t help but laugh and smile brightly. He seemed to not be wasting any time. Did that mean something? Was a part of dating constantly questioning yourself? If that was a fact, she’d definitely hate the whole relationship/dating scene. Shaking her head, she slowly caught her breath and eased down her smile. “My family is going to the Quidditch World Cup next weekend. We… umm… We have an extra ticket if you’re interested in doing that.” Her parents had practically begged her to bring a friend, someone other than Rini or Meru, to prove that she wasn’t a complete loner at school. This could definitely work in her favor.
Wan stopped, straightening up in surprise and just staring at her for a long moment as he continued to hold the door open. That was quite the invitation. He had no real interest in the sport, but the event was still a major one. It was still the kind of thing he’d never imagined himself able to go to.
“Uh… sure,” he answered weakly, blinking at her like he wasn’t sure he hadn’t just created the question out of thin air. That it wasn’t all in his head. An extra ticket? Just happened to have one? That was like, a one in a million chance. Wan in ten thousand. “Sure. That sounds like fun.”
Entering the pet store as he held the door open, she looked back over her shoulder at him. He seemed a little timid there for a moment when he initially accepted the invitation. They didn’t know each other, so they didn’t know much about each other’s backstories. Although, she was sure he wouldn’t have a problem understanding once she explained it.
“In case you hadn’t noticed, most people find me peculiar or exceedingly weird or a complete bitch because of tendency to speak with fact. What’s the saying… I rub some people the wrong way. My parents are concerned that I have no friends outside of my neighbors. They wanted me to bring someone with me to sort of prove that I’m not a complete loser.”
Once she was done with her little speech about her parental concerns, she turned and saw the cutest, fluffiest black puppy. Sucking in a breath, she smiled and may have even squeaked a little. Christine was still a teenaged girl, even being very literal and what not. A puppy would make any girl squeal with delight.
Wan bit at his lower lip while she explained and chose to hold his tongue on her calling herself a bitch again - roundabout though it was. He also wasn’t happy with the whole her parents thought she was a loser bit. It was great she had parents, but that wasn’t a way to treat someone. Different wasn’t something to harp on. Not when you loved someone enough to keep them. Right?
After she was inside, Wan followed quietly, a small smile taking over his mouth and he let the door close softly behind him, “Yeah. Sure. I’ll go with you. But right now, lets get you over in that pen with the one that looks like a bear.”