Mad World Mods (madworldmods) wrote in madworldrp, @ 2007-08-13 23:40:00 |
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Entry tags: | benjy fenwick, matilda dukelow |
RP THREAD: Benjy and Matty
LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY benwicky)
WHO Benjy Fenwick and Matty Dukelow
WHEN Monday, early evening of August 13th
WHERE Cork, Ireland
WHAT Matty needs some company and Benjy was volunteered, so he goes.
Benjy wasn't sure at all why he'd said yes and then told Matty he didn't need directions. Mostly the second, because the first he chalked up to surprise because a girl asked him to come hang out. That never happened. And even though Benjy was probably going to get yelled at for the rush job he'd done with the animals, but hopefully this would make up for it. Even though she'd probably asked him because he could apparate and was in the journals available to be bothered. Not like she actually liked him or something, right? But the whole not asking for real directions or accepting the visual that was offered, that was just plain stupid and why he ended up with one foot in a puddle in the middle of a trashy alley with a curse on the tip of his tongue.
But Benjy didn't curse, so it was just a mutter as he shook his leg, coming out of the alley. He really couldn't risk using magic right here, Benjy wasn't sure at all how muggle this place was. If it was anything like home, he shouldn't even be carrying his wand (which he did, in a nifty holster he'd found at a second hand shop in Diagon Alley two years ago - it had taken a bit of working and learning but he could now have his wand at the ready with just a flick of his wrist, kind of like Spiderman and his webs) but if Matty lived here, it couldn't be that bad, right?
Matty had arrived 15 minutes ago and in waiting for Benjy had taken a seat at the edge of the canal, her legs stuck between the wrought iron fencing that separated herself from the water below. She closed her eyes as a rare breeze swept through, the sun making her skin prickle in what no doubt was going to be a sunburn in a few hours. She was glad Benjy had agreed to come, when she'd asked she felt a tad bit forward, and realized it may have been slightly out of place. She thought back to the journals and couldn't help but screw her face up in amusement. For however useful they were, they still took a lot of getting used to, especially when "talking" to another person. It was just so...odd. She brushed her blonde hair back as she turned her head to look for any sign of the auburn haired boy.
Sighing, Matty turned her attention back to the water below, watching as it rippled from the boats passing by a few metres away. He's not coming out of pity is he? she thought suddenly, growing uncharacteristically alarmed. Matty hardly ever become worried, or panicked and yet she couldn't help but feel exactly so at the thought of Benjy only agreeing to see her out of pity. Merlin she hoped not. She'd asked him because they were friends, she considered him a good one in fact, though she couldn't help but feel that maybe she asked...
Her thoughts were cut off as she caught a head of auburn appear from the alley to her right, and the boy's confused look sealed the deal. Tucking her legs back up, Matty stood and beamed, waving at Benjy as she began to approach.
He was incredibly glad that Matty was just right there, instead of having to wander around looking for her. Benjy waved back and grinned at the sight of her wide grin and made his way over, trying to look casual with one sopping foot. Stupid puddles and being in alley ways. He squinted at her and held up one hand as a shield to the sun and gave her a little bow, "At your service, milady, Benjamin M. Fenwick," he said teasingly as he straightened up.
Benjy wasn't normally goofy, he usually kept his humor to dry wit and turns of phrases. The Ravenclaw glanced around and shoved his hands into his front pockets. Benjy hoped he didn't stand out too much, that was one of his biggest worries in Ely. Everyone knew him as the farmer's weird son that went to that posh boarding school and was never right again. Benjy didn't look out of the ordinary - he was muggle born and raised so he didn't have any problem fitting in clothing-wise, it just felt like there was a big, blinking sign saying, 'Hi There! I'm a heathen wizard!' hanging above his head whenever he left the house. "So, I've never been here. What is there to see in Cork, Ireland?"
Matty raised an eyebrow and put a hand to her chest, grining even wider if that was possible. "Well well, I guess chivalry isn't dead," she leaned forward then and took his arm, steering him away from the street and back to where she had been sitting before. It was a rather hot day, Matty had taken the initiative to at least wear a pair of shorts, but her head was bare and the sun took a particular amusement in giving her possible heat stroke.
She turned her attention to him, pleased that he had come, and happy to finally have someone other than her cousin to hang out with. Despite being a half-blood and growing up in a muggle atmosphere she was usually only really comfortable around Wizards who understood what it felt like to have a secret life that; at least where she lived, was meant to be kept hidden. "Well," she started, glancing over her shoulder at the baffling number of tourists that were making their way to the usual touristy attractions-churches, the art gallery etc. "Unless we want to be incredibly boring," she nodded towards a couple taking pictures of St.Patrick's Bridge (it was just a bloody bridge!) "we could go to Blarney Castle, the marketplace..." she trailed off as she thought about what they could do.
In all honesty when she had invited him she wasn't thinking of any activities. For a girl who always thought ahead, she wasn't exactly doing well at that today. "There's also the port, or even the park" she turned her gray eyes onto him and shrugged, "we could even swim if you'd like."
Benjy had not been expecting the heat and so he was just in his work jeans and t-shirt but he suddenly remembered the ballcap that was jammed into his back pocket and pulled that out and put it on to help shield from the sun's rays but he could already tell it was going to be ridiculously hot. Maybe swimming wasn't such a bad idea - only that it was with Matty and he didn't undress in front of girls; even his sisters and he hadn't brought any swimming trunks and even then he didn't think he could just go shirtless with just a girl.
"Erm," he said flushing a bit and adjusting his cap out of nervousness, "Blarney Castle sounds fun. Can't never get enough of castles yeah? Does it have anything to do with a blarney stone? Like you kiss it and you can flirt with any girl or sommat?"
Matty twisted her lips in amusement and cocked her head to the side slightly. "Not quite," she motioned for them to begin walking, bumping shoulders with him as she made ot avoid a few kids sprinting about. "It is the blarney stone but," she paused here and chuckled, "it doesn't necessarily have to do with flirting. And besides," she turned to him grinning cheekily, "why would you need a stone's help for that?" She started to pick up the pace, wanting to get past another group of tourists who were receiving information on the bridge. She loved her home, but she really wished that no one else did.It was just a city, an ancient one at that but she'd really like to be able to stroll the pier in the morning without having to watch if she walked into anyone's picture.
"They say if you kiss the stone you become eloquent,"she explained, pushing blonde hair out of her eyes, "that you'll never have to search for words again." She bit her lip as she thought back to how many times she and her cousin went up there for fun. "So..." she trailed off and stopped at the street corner turning back to him, "you could use that power for good or evil, I'm not sure where flirting with girls comes in" she laughed and looked down the street searching for a giant red bus to appear. "We can go by bus, it'll take 30 minutes or," she turned her grey eyes back to his and stared a moment, her tone suddenyl becoming low. "Can you apparate the both of us?"
"Uh, I don't I guess? I dunno I just heard that's whut it was for. I don't really," her cheeky grin was throwing him off a little. Did she think he was trying to flirt with her? Benjy supposed he could have been, but it was entirely unintentional. He didn't want her to think he was a sleaze and hitting on her or something, "I don't really with, you know, girls and stuff." The number of tourists didn't bother Benjy, he kept up just fine and actually, he liked big crowds, it was easier to get lost and you didn't have attention on you. Benjy didn't really like having too much attention.
"Are you sure that's not a babbling curse? 'Cause that kind of takes away the whole aspect of thinking about what you say. If you're never at a loss as to what to say, then you don't have to think about that. I don't think that I'll be kissing the blarney stone though," Benjy scrunched his nose and shrugged a little. He'd never done side-along before but he was pretty good at apparating... so Benjy nodded and grabbed her hand, tugging her into an alley way. "I've ah, well I don't want to leave any of you behind so you should probably hug me, and describe to me where to go."
Matty nodded and patted him on the shoulder. She knew he wasn't comfortable around girls and she felt slightly bad because she was acting very forward. That's right Matt, scare the boy away, she shook her head and sighed at herself. "You know Benjy," she pointed out, surprised when he suddenly took her hand and pulled her into the alley. "It's just a folk tale," she bit her lip as she stumbled slightly on a rock, cursing in between her pause. "while you have a valid point, a very thoughtful one," she pushed her blonde hair back from her face, "you're ruining the fun that is the stone." She stopped suddenly and looked pensive, "then again there have been millions of people kissing the same stone, hardly hygenic."
She turned her head to watch as a few people passed by the mouth of the alley, they were so far down by then that she highly doubted anyone could see them. Even if anyone did, two teenagers holding hands, standing close together could only mean two things. They were snogging, or he was going to kill her, she bit back a smile at the thought. "Hug you?" her attention suddenly turned back to Benjy, her eyebrows raised incredulously as she stepped closer to him hesitantly. Well, she really didn't want to lose an arm, she needed that for Quidditch. Come to think of it she'd love it if she were in one piece come September...
Stepping closer to him she slid her hand out of his and looped her arms around his back, leaning her head closer so that her face was against his chest. Breathing in she thought for a moment about where they were going and unintentionally knocked his chest with her chin. "Allright so, there's a rock garden by the castle," she closed her eyes and twisted her face trying to bring up the picture. "There's this staircase, it's cut straight through a gigantic rock and descends down to a passage of sorts, it's called Witches' Stair" her tone took an ironic lilt and she grinned. Opening her eyes again she glanced up and chewed on her lip, "it's surrounded by dense trees and large boulders."
"Sorry, I guess I read into things a little too much. Thinking about stuff is one of my big problems I guess. It's good for people to have stuff to believe in, yeah?" Benjy cleared his throat as she moved closer and tried to focus on what she was telling him with the directions rather than the fact that she was pressed against him. Benjy slipped his arms around her back and held her a little harder just because he didn't want to splinch her or anything.
"Rock garden, witches stair, large trees and bolder," Benjy repeated the instructions and closed his eyes thinking of the three D's and with a soft pop they were gone and when he opened his eyes they were right in the middle of the trees she'd been talking about, only his back was pressed against a tree and there was a branch poking him in the neck. He let out a nervous laugh and looked Matty over to make sure she was all there, "You all right? You look it, but." This made him sound like an idiot. "I mean I'm not bad at apparating just, uh," his face flushed and he pulled his hat down a little further to hide his embarrassment. She was standing really close still and well he didn't exactly hate it, he didn't want to do something stupid being so close.
"Everyone needs something to believe in," she agreed, and tightened her hold on him. While she knew he was perfectly capable of apparating the both of them, she couldn't help but become hyper aware of her limbs-holding onto him seemed like the best option for them. When they apparated, Matty's brain felt as thought it had snapped off and then back on quickly, causing her to lose balance and stumble into Benjy when they landed. "Oi," she whispered spacily, moving a hand to her head as she fought back the spots overtaking her vision.
She shook her head and looked towards Benjy, a grin suddenly breaking out. "Well done!" she patted his chest, still pressed tightly against him. Realizing that this was a compromising position, Matty took note of his blush and felt her own face flush against her freckles. She hated blushing, the fact that she was a very freckled individual made turning red a regular freak show, the brown and red clashing horribly. "Er.." she trailed off, and took a slight step back, eyes lingering on his torso for a moment before she turned away. She extended her hands in front of her and turned her wrists, smiling in satisfaction when they cracked. "I'm all here," she spoke up, gray eyes on his a grin breaking out. Reaching forward she took his hand and led him away from the tree and towards the path to the castle, "you're quite good at that, when did you get your licence?"
"You sure you're okay?" Benjy said in a fretful tone, keeping his hands on her shoulders to make sure she didn't fall over or anything. Oh, bother, he'd thought he'd really done a good job that time. Blushing was something Benjy was prone to - whether nervous or angry, so he didn't comment on Matty's flush other than to drop his hands from her. Maybe she didn't like that - it was definitely a possibility yeah? Right no more touching - except that her pulling him away by his wrist was kind of confusing.
"Last summer, actually," Benjy said as she pulled him along, "I turned eighteen in July. I just don't have a lot of practice doing it with other people. My dad doesn't really appreciate magic at all and won't let me apparate with my sisters." Or do anything else, really. He wasn't supposed to use magic at home, except for when it was helpful and even then he had to do it on the sly when no one was around. Like fixing the faucet. Just a quick reparo! and it was done but Benjy had to wait until the middle of the night to do it. "My mum's a bit easier, she likes it when I make her teapot dance to the opening bars to the radio show Just A Minute, but that's our secret."
Matty raised her eyebrows, picturing a teapot dancing to music. Quite the use of magic, she wanted to say but instead chose to smile politely at a couple who pushed by them on the small path. Turning slightly as she led him Matty grinned, "Quite the talent you are, haven't seen entertainment like that at any of the breakfasts." She weaved her way around a large stump that had grown twisted in the path. "Unless you count Potter," she stopped and skirted around another tree," and his great talent for declaring his love to poor Lily," she rolled her eyes at the thought and stopped abruptly when the reached an opening in the trees.
It was almost like a circular garden, rocks littered throughout the glade but Matty took no notice of them as she turned to face Benjy. "They say fairies and elves come here," she offered as a sort of explanation before taking a seat on a rather massive tree stump. The sun was shining less here, and Matty wondered idly if it was going to rain. And why shouldn't it? It had rained yesterday, and the day before, and the day before that...
"My Ma was a Gryffindor," she started ushering for him to sit down for a few minutes break. "And with my being a witch, she feels like she's won against not using magic," she stuck her hand into her pocket and fumbled for an elastic to pull up her blonde hair. "My Da and sister are both muggles, so with a two-two tie, my Ma gets to use whatever magic she likes," Matty shrugged her shoulders, and wound the tie into her hair, the blonde falling down her back from the knot at the top of her head. She chewed on her lip and the corners of her mouth tilted up, "her favourite is turning the Callahans-our neighbours- laundry pink, and watching as Mrs.Callahan accuses her husband of using the pink soap again." She laughed, "My Ma has a bit of a mischievous streak."
Benjy shrugged, "Yeah, I don't really like being the center of attention, I guess. I leave the breakfast table antics up to Potter and his gang of merry nit-wits." His comment was harsh yes, but Benjy didn't see the whole point of creating mayhem for the sake of it even if a few of their jokes were actually funny, they were mostly nuisances though.
"Faeries?" Benjy asked curiously, peering over some of the rocks and nudging one with his toe. "Probably not, most likely it was used as some sort of storage, so maybe elves but I don't think muggles think of house-elves when they think of elves. More like Keebler elves in hollow trees with magic ovens. They kind of got the ears right though," he bent over to pick up a twig off the ground, twirling it between his forefinger and thumb.
He glanced over his shoulder at her with a small smile, "Your mum sounds like a lot of fun. It's just me as both a wizard and a boy, though my older sister got married last summer. He's pretty dull though and kind of boring. I think Wren likes that though, so she can boss him around. I was never very good at the things she wanted to do, I liked doing you know, boy stuff. So when my younger sisters, Bridget and Maggie, came along, I got to do stuff on my own though I get to do the big brother thing and boss them around. I think Maggie has a bloke though and wherever she goes Bridg' is sure to follow."
Matilda nodded her approval, "No, I'm not one for attention either.. well," she made a face and tried to amend herself, "being Quidditch Captain gets a bit of attention, but I find it so unnecessary," she ran her hand over the stump , rapping her knuckles on the wood. "Why go out of your way for someone to notice you?" she shrugged her shoulders and began scuffing the bottom of her shoe with the dirt lying at her feet.
Her gray eyes looked over a small family that were eagerly taking photographs of the Sign indicating that it was a Faerie's glen, their eager faces comical when one actually knew the reality of magic folk. "I rather like the Keebler elves," she started again, eyes still on the family before she turned away and focused on Benjy. "Though I can't imagine how they use an oven in a tree, especially if they aren't magical. It's a fire hazard," she grinned and leaned forward, her forearms resting on her bare knees.
Hearing Benjy talk about his family was nice, she liked hearing about other peoples' lives, problems, anything if only to distract from her own. Not that she had any real problems, but she liked piecing together peoples' lives. "Only boy huh?" Matty clucked her tongue and tried to imagine having a brother. "I would have liked to have an older brother, I'm kind of surrounded by girls minus my Da." She stood up finally, the photographing family catching her eye again. "So are you the protective sort of brother then?" she asked, slightly distracted as she eyed the camera. They should document this, she hadn't used a muggle camera in a long while.
"Being a prefect gets me attention, but not a nice kind. More like the pranky kind." Benjy shrugged even though he felt exactly the same way as Matty. He slashed the twig through the air a little like a fencing sword. She was right, there wasn't much to do except for watching tourists which, wasn't a bad thing, because you could make up outrageous stories about where they were from and their histories or what not. You just had to not get caught talking about them.
"Nah, the elves aren't magic, the oven is. It's a secret magic oven in a hollowed out tree. Haven't you heard the jingle?" Benjy cleared his throat and mumbled it out, "Man, you never would believe where the Keebler Cookies come from. They're baked by little elves in a hollow tree. And what do you think makes these cookies so uncommon? They're baked in magic ovens, and there's no factory. Hey!" Wow, that was really stupid. Why had he just done that? It was like he wanted her to laugh at him. She was probably going to go make fun of him or something when she got home.
"Protective? I guess, only when it comes to boys though. My family is a little... well they all go to church every week and Wren married the nephew of the Bishop so they're not strictly allowed to date or know anything about sex education so it's like sending a little lamb out there for pervy boys to have at her. Not that I think they're weak minded or anything, just, naive and trusting. Someone's got to watch out for them you know?"
Watching Benjy, Matty shook her head, entirely impressed that he knew the jingle. "Amazing," she said, biting her lip as she began to laugh. "I knew there was an entertainer in there somewhere," she leaned forward and patted his knee, standing up all the while. Her knees cracked from the effort and she screwed her face up. Well that wasn't good, she better not be rusty come Quidditch season. "I still think it's a load of rubbish, fire hazard" she uttered again, drawing it out as she teased.
She grabbed his arm again and pulled him up from his spot, following the lead of the many tourists before them as they walked the path. "That's very nice of you," she started again, glancing at him from the side as a crack of thunder echoed suddenly over head. Uncaring, Matty continued as if she hadn't heard a thing. "It's nice to know that not all boys are the pervy kind, you can't really expect much out of prepubescent boys who don't exactly know how to just think with their brain..." she trailed off and gave him a pointed look, not at all trying to suggest that the main topic of the majority of the male gender's mind was in fact sex. "So are you deeply religious then? It kind of comes at odds with being magical doesn't it?" she genuinely interested, her family had never been particularily religious at any point in Matty's life.
He snorted at her joke and shrugged, "I don't think you'll be hearing me on the wireless or seeing me on the telly anytime soon." That was actually a laughable thought but his thoughts were diverted by her tugging him around again. Benjy didn't care at all, his sisters dragged him around town all the time - it was the only way to keep him from stopping and reading a curious book or examining an interesting trinket. He wasn't really one for shopping himself but he did like to accompany his mother and sisters.
"I don't think you'll find many boys that don't just think with their 'not' brains," Benjy said with a wry smile, feeling a little bolder, "though I'm sure you'll find one that can think of more than just sex." Of course he was referring to himself, because Benjy knew he wasn't like most blokes and didn't spend his time panting after every nice pair of legs that walked by.
"I guess, yeah. I mean, believing in God isn't something I can just stop doing?" Benjy looked at her intensely, "I grew up on it, it's a part of me. Even if I am a witch and a heathen. My parents don't let me go with them anymore, though. I didn't go to my sister's wedding because it was held in the cathedral and they thought it was an affront to God or something," Benjy said this without any malice or bitterness, mostly because he agreed. If he wasn't a wizard, then everything would be all right with his family. So really, it was his fault. "So, yeah, they're at odds. But I think you can have faith and still be a wizard. I mean, some magic and wards requires you to trust yourself and your magic and have faith in that so it's not so much different. I think I'd equate it to flying on a broomstick," he said, making a vague hand motion and keeping his tone low enough for the muggle tourists not to hear them. "The first time you rode one, how did you know it was going to keep you on the broom and not fall?"
Matty was caught off guard by his teasing and turned to look at him sharply, her smile still set but her brows creased. "You wouldn't be talking about yourself now would you Benjy?" she asked, the crease smoothing out as her smile turned into an amused smirk. She liked Benjy, he was one of the very few decent blokes that she knew,she hoped he realized that and wasn't just playing it off like some kind of joke.
She swung the two of them around a corner, the great lawn in front of the Blarney castle met them in a field of vibrant green. That was one thing about Ireland, she had grown tired of. Everything was green. The thunder above cracked again and the vibrant green turned more a shade of forest green as the dark clouds covered the sun. "That's too bad Benjy," she said softly, upset that he would be banned from his own church. She wasn't sure how God fit into their magical world, but it seemed to her that if his own parents deemed him unfit to attend church something just wasn't on. "I won't pretend I'm an expert in religion, but we" she stressed, turning to face him, an intense look on her face, "are not the work of Satan, and no person has the right to decide you unfit in the eyes of God but God himself>" She started walking along again, her hand dropping from his wrist, "..or herself," she amended after a moment, her thoughtful expression turning apologetic. She reached the lawn and looked up just in time to see a splash of water hit the bridge of her nose.
"As for brooms..." she grinned at the familiar subject. "I knew I wasn't going to fall because of pure talent," she laughed at herself, arrogance not really her strong suit. Her smile turned closed-lipped and she shrugged. "I trusted I wouldn't fall, funny how that works."
"Me?" he said innocently and left it at that, not knowing what she was thinking. Benjy knew he was a good guy, one of those 'nice guys' that girls were always friends with but never dated - good thing that Benjy wasn't really interested in dating anyone. It seemed like a lot of hullabaloo for instant gratification and that wasn't something that appealed to Benjy at all. Call him a romantic, but he was definitely waiting for someone to appreciate that was completely irreplaceable in his life.
Benjy looked up at the sky rather than at the green lawn and shrugged noncommittally. Matty wasn't a work of satan or whatever, it was Benjy and she'd grown up with magic and knowing it - there wasn't really anything to change about Benjy's mindset and Matty's words just confused him more, so he hunched his shoulders a little, deciding to drop the subject. "Except for first year I've never been on a broom. There's just something.... eh, about it. Like, how you're never supposed to trust something that talks if you can't see where it keeps its brain? Yeah, brooms and flying carpets and moving armor. I know it's magic but it's still really..."
Matty chuckled at his explanation and blinked as a few more drops fell. "Ah but you haven't truly experienced life then," she pointed a finger at him, shaking ehr head as if disappointed. She stopped suddenly and a large grin filled her face. "Well since it's raining and our outing has been a little interrupted by weather, why don't I take you flying?"
Matty was a calm person, even when it came with Quidditch, but the prospect of giving Benjy a flying experience while it was raining was too much to pass up. "I can Accio my broom," she began again, pulling them away from the open and back into the trees, better cover there. "Please?"
"You're only sixteen, you can't summon your broom," Benjy said, looking a little scared. He really didn't like brooms and no matter how much he trusted Matty, there was no way he was getting on a broom, especially when it was going to start storming out. Was she mad? With a grin like that she probably was. "Besides, I think I'm fine with the life I've experienced so far. It's been pretty good to me and I don't think dying because I was dragged onto a broom is a good way to pay it back, you know."
Anything to get out of riding a broom. He wasn't scared or anything, it was just. Unnatural and weird to put yourself on a stick and FLY in the AIR.
Matty nodded slightly put out. She'd been waiting for her 17th birthday for what felt like a decade, and she couldn't help but feel jealous that Benjy could do magic outside of Hogwarts while she couldn't. "You're right, of course," she smiled at him and then wiped rain water from her eyes. "So this outing has been poured on," she looked towards the sky and sighed again. "Sorry, thought we'd have a little more to do," she looked at him apologetically before walking back up the path, this time towards the castle.