InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "I see you in your nightmares"

Kendra Urquhart (urquhartk) wrote in landing_rpg,
@ 2009-05-04 16:37:00

Entry tags:

kendra urquhart

Who: Kendra Urquhart and Phoenix Malfoy
Where: Stairwell
When: After hours
What: Sneaking in after hours
Rating: PG-13
Status: Complete.

Kendra couldn't believe this had happened again. She had been in the greenhouses completely conscious one moment, examining the stems of the new plants that had been brought in, and the next she had woken up in a patch of potting soil, a pink plant curled around her arm. Sighing, she had untangled it, settling it back into its proper place. It curled around the beam she adjusted, climbing up toward the ceiling of the greenhouse.

Glancing out the window, Kendra groaned. It was pitch black outside, which meant she had been out for too long, and she was going to have to make a serious effort to sneak back into the castle undetected.

Shoving her still open book bag over her shoulder, she glanced nervously out the windows. No one was in sight, so she slowly pushed open the door, grimacing at what seemed a painfully loud creak, before making a mad dash for the castle. She was breathing heavily by the time she reached the door, and after peeking hesitantly through the crack, she, chest rising and falling dramatically, squeezed in through as little open door as she could to avoid noise, closing it slowly behind her. Her blue gaze flitted around the corridor, seeing no one. With a tiny sigh of relief, she tip-toed her way up the stairs, pausing for a break at the top of the first flight.

She leaned against the bannister, gazing down for any sign of approaching faculty or prefects, and just as she was about to start up again, heard the faint sound of voices from the other end of the corridor. With wide eyes, she quickly whirled to head in the other direction, but her opened book bag had plans of its own that evening. It caught on the edge of the bannister, and as she yanked it free, her herbology book slipped free from its confines, plummeting down to the bottom of the stairs, but the sound she expected- namely of book hitting floor- was not what she got. Instead, she heard... book hitting... person? Shit.

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urquhartk
2009-05-05 01:40 pm UTC (link)

It was a relief, at least, that he was not panicking. Of course, Kendra was beginning to attribute that to what may or may not have been a concussion as she was fairly certain Phoenix should have been a little more concerned. Then again, he may have just been the calm sort of person. She had certainly never seen an outburst from him in the seven years they'd be in school together. He had always been very composed, calm, stoic, even.

"Your room mate?" she asked, brows furrowing. "Is he good at charms?" She didn't like the idea of a student trying to fix something as close to his brain as that cut was. She knew her consistency with charms could be... interesting, and she hated to think of what might happen if this room mate of his was in the same range of talent that she was.

She watched him lean against the wall, shifting her weight uneasily from foot to foot. She wished she trusted herself enough to just cast a healing spell, but though she had managed an E on the charms OWL, she wasn't entirely ready to trust herself with a stranger who was clearly already uncomfortable with her. "Well, at least... you had an exciting evening?" she offered weakly, doubting her attempt to lighten the situation were going to be well-received.

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phoenixabraxas
2009-05-05 03:23 pm UTC (link)

"Yes, my room mate." was his still-calm response, his eyes locked on the floor by his feet. Phoenix realized that he felt a little less dizzy the longer he tried to keep his vision still. "And yes, I could say his skills in charms are quite agreeable. Though in the occassion that he couldn't use magic, I suppose we could resort to a cotton swab and healing solutions..."

Phoenix tilted his light head back, resting it against the cold uneven stone before his eyes slowly progressed upward towards his copany's face. The feeling of cool stone against the warmth of his skin was truly refreshing. "Exciting?" he asked. "I suppose you could say that. Though I could honestly do without the near-death trauma." It was a joke, though with the raher flat expression on his face- not even a crack of a smile- it was often diffcult to tell if he had a sense of humor at all. He does though- it was just hidden very... very deep inside that cold hard shell. "My nights are never exciting. I suppose you can say, I try to keep it that way..."

It was then that he noticed the slight smudge on her cheek. Dirt. "You... have a little..." he raised one finger to grazed over his own cheek, to tell her where the tain on hers was.

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urquhartk
2009-05-05 11:03 pm UTC (link)

"Oh. Right." For someone who had was good at herbology and certainly not half bad at Potions, she hadn't even considered anything other than charms to heal his head. There were dozens of solutions and creams she could have used to heal him, if she'd actually had any with her.

Unable to tell if he was joking with the stoicism of his face and the monotone of his speech, Kendra let out a small, nervous laugh in response. "Sorry?" she said again. She would probably be saying it for the remainder of the evening, really. "I suppose you're used to hiding behind tapestries with girls, though," she teased, in attempt to salvage the situation somewhat.

"I-? Oh." She reached up to wipe at her face, succeeding only in smearing the dirt around on her face rather than removing it. She glanced at her hand, which had managed to pick up a small bit of the dirt. "It's the greenhouse. I keep falling asleep."

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phoenixabraxas
2009-05-06 12:26 am UTC (link)

Phoenix could almost smile himself at her nervous reaction. He was used to that sort of response to his humor, for most seem incapable of reading him well enough to know if they're supposed to laugh or not. However, the statement that followed her apology made him stop, his eyebrows raising in the slightest. "Do I seem the sort who does such things?" His tone was light, almost conversational but there was the slimmest hint of a challenge in his tone.

Silently, he watched as the girl reached a hand up to wipe off the dirt on her face, but only managing to make it worse. "The greenhouse?" he asked as he slowly pushed himself off the wall, testing the strength of his own legs. "Would you mind if I asked what had kept you there?" He hadn't toppled over- he seemed fine, which was a relief. It seemed to him then that the decent thing to do was to help her with this minute dilemma. "Do you have a handkerchief of some sort?"

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urquhartk
2009-05-06 08:58 am UTC (link)

Kendra hesitated. He didn't seem offended by her comment, but she did know that it was still entirely possible that she could offend him in the next twenty seconds of their conversation. If she said he was the type it implied he a) wasn't gay (which she didn't honestly think he was but was still a possibility), b) was the sort of person who enjoyed snogging, and c) was the sort of person who enjoyed snogging in dangerous areas. If she said no it could imply a number of options: a) he was gay, b) he wasn't any good with women, or c) he was too much of a prude to snog girls somewhere exciting, among others. Somehow, the first set of options seemed much less insulting. "Well, I'm sure you're... quite the lady's man in you're own right. I don't see why not," she answered after a brief moment of thought.

She was pleased to see he could actually walk by this point. She figured that was the next logical step in recovery: opening his eyes, being able to form coherent sentences, then walking. "Oh, the usual. Some plants only bloom after sunset, you know? So if I want to see them, I have to go late, but I always end up getting caught up with things, you know?" At his question she dug around in her bag until she came up with what he'd asked for, holding the slightly wrinkled item out for him. "For your head?" she asked.

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phoenixabraxas
2009-05-06 09:27 am UTC (link)

Phoenix could see her struggle as she struggled to formulate an answer to his challenge. He answer was quite safe however when she finally said it, opting for flattery to get out of it unharmed. Light eyes narrowed in the slightest as they gazed at her, searching, questioning. "I'm not quite the like the majority of men who seem to believe shoving women into tight, lightless places, to satisfy their own raging hormones, is the right way to treat them." He shook his head, looking far older than his age dictated. Simply, he just added. "It's just not me."

Yes, he did know. Herbology was a subject his mother had been particularly fond of, and in the summers, Phoenix spent afternoons helping her in the gardens, while she educated him in the nature of flowers. Not that anyone outside his circle knew that. "Are you taking care of a specific flower?" he asked. Just then, she rummaged through her things for what he had asked and he lightly took the dishiveled handkercheif in his hand. "No." He eyed the fabric for a second before capturing her eyes, his hand raising near her stained cheek. "May I?"

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urquhartk
2009-05-06 12:18 pm UTC (link)

Kendra's brows shot up at his response. Her mantra of 'You dropped a book on his head. You dropped a book on his head' ~~and his good looks~~ was helping to keep her from retorting as she might usually in such a situation, but she couldn't help but toss in at least a teasing bit of a retort. "So you prefer snogging in open spaces instead?"

She handed over the hankerchief, caught off guard as their gaze met for what she realized was the first time that evening. "Er- Yeah, sure," she answered, realizing that she had obviously not gotten on the dirt off of her face. Fantastic. "I um-" she reverted to his previous question as a distraction. "I look after a few. There's a few in my room, but some of them are too big, or, you know, they wake people up in the middle of the night when they start glowing. It's never a good idea to deprive your room mates of sleep."

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phoenixabraxas
2009-05-06 12:56 pm UTC (link)

The smart retort earned the tiniest, rarest of smiles, that if she had not looked closely or if the light in the room had been fainter she woudln't have know it happened at all. "Not quite." he answered simply, the smile disappearing as fast as it appeared. He said nothing after that, finding any other question (Do you do those things, too?) or statement quite inappropriate in a conversation made by two people who just met.

At her green light, Phoenix reached his hand over and lightly dabbed over the stain on her cheek, his touch far more gentle than most would expect from a man with such a cold exterior. He nodded slowly in response to her words, listening intently. "That's true." He allowed his vision to wander as she spoke, eyes tracing over the lines of her profile, the light lashes that crowned her eyes, the soft long curls of her light hair... blonde, and fair like those of...

Phoenix momentarily shook his head. He shouldn't be thinking of such things, not right now. When he was done, and her fair cheek was void of any dirt, his eyes returned to hers and he handed her her handkercheif without a word, looking her expectantly. "I would suggest bringing a clock in your next trip. Perhaps to avoid missing curfew?"

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urquhartk
2009-05-06 10:41 pm UTC (link)

Kendra was, at least, glad to see that she had earned a smile, though it had not lasted long, nor had it been particularly noticeable. Of course, it disappeared as soon as he answered her light question, and she had to wonder if the smile had been entirely sardonic or if it had been genuine. "Right. Just not much of a make out sort of bloke. Understandable." Though she didn't much understand it, honestly. She was certainly one to enjoy a spur of the moment snog in an area likely to get caught. It was exhilerating, and the adreniline was enough to make the session that much more enjoyable.

As he examined her features, she took the opportunity to examine his: a firm jawline, the slope of his nose, his neatly arranged blonde locks. The feeling of the fabric against her cheek was shockingly gentle, something she had not expected from the cold Slytherin boy standing before her. But all too soon he was pulling away, and she shifted uncomfortably, feeling as if she had done something to upset him. "That's a good idea," she agreed hesitantly.

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phoenixabraxas
2009-05-07 11:01 am UTC (link)

"No." Phoenix admitted easily, having no qualms with admitting such. He has never thought of treating a girl in the manner that which she had only recently suggested, for he believed they need to be cared for a lot better than that. Her silence made him wonder what she could be thinking, but although he watched her carefully he didn't know her well enough to even formulate a proper guess. "It is not a bad thing, is it?"

The hand he had used to help her with the stain on her cheek retreated back inside his robe pocket. He took a step back to once again seek for the wall's support, his eyes not leaving her for a second. "Mhm." A slight silence passed them before he once again chose to speak. "You do understand you may leave, don't you?" he told her gently then. "I have the suspicion that you feel compelled to make sure I'm fine. I can assure you I am. It's late." A hand drew out a small golden pocket clock and he checked the time. "A girl shouldn't stay out and alone this late." The warning came naturally, like something he would have told his sister if he'd learned she's been braving the halls at such ungodly hours. Though he did not know her, it only seemed proper to offer: "Would you need an escort to your Commons?"

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urquhartk
2009-05-07 11:59 am UTC (link)

Oh. The surprise registered on her face, before she managed to remember to have some form of tact and ducked her head as she regained some semblance of composure. When she looked back up, she answered his question with a small smile. "Well, I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing so much as surprising. Most blokes, well, enjoy snogging. A lot. Maybe you've just... not had a proper one yet." Even Kendra felt slightly awkward saying such, but she felt the need to answer his question after she had been the one to bring it up.

Kendra blinked as he pointed out that she didn't have to stay. She hadn't been considering the fact that it was late, and that Phoenix, having a bloody head and all, was probably quite ready to get back to his common room and go to bed. "Oh! It's late, isn't it?" She peered over at the clock he was holding. "I'll be fine. You don't have to walk me back if you don't want to," she assured him.

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phoenixabraxas
2009-05-07 03:31 pm UTC (link)

It was a surprise to Phoenix that she would be so bold as to say such things to him, the tone of her voice seeminly accusing to his ears. What exactly was she implying? It bothered him to be so openly judged. But Phoenix had always been such a controlled individual, so whatever he had felt about her words did not register in his expression. "Maybe. Maybe not." was his dismissive response, his shoulders rising to an elegant shrug.

When she had asked him of the time, Phoenix nodded. "Yes. Very late." She declined his offer for a companion after, and he honored this decision with a nod of his head. "As long as you're certain. I'll be following after in a little while and retreat to my own dormitories." Their small meeting seemed to be nearing a close. It was only then that he had realized that though they have conversing in the past minutes, none of them had thought of asking the other's name. First meetings offten warranted introductions, he thought, no matter how strange one's encounter might have been.

"My name is Phoenix." he told her.

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urquhartk
2009-05-07 05:17 pm UTC (link)

She smiled to herself at his introduction. As she'd thought, though she knew perfectly well who Phoenix Malfoy was, he didn't have the slightest clue. She wondered if he had even figured out which house she was in. She supposed he could rule out his own. "I know who you are," she replied, smirking slightly. Seven years of classes together apparently hadn't made much of an impact.

She turned with a small wave. "I'll see you around, Phoenix. I hope your head feels better."

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phoenixabraxas
2009-05-07 10:00 pm UTC (link)

It was in the slight parting of full lips that surprise registered on Phoenix Malfoy's features as he watched the girl turn and go without returning the gesture that which he had initiated. The slight offense he took in being ignored was suddenly overhadowed by... intrigue. She hadn't told her his name, and where before he had thought this night would fade and be forgotten eventually like the rest, he certainly knew that wasn't true now.

With a renewed headache, Phoenix pushed himself off the wall, dusting himself off as he did so and headed to the opposite direction...

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