astor; AISLING (aastor) wrote in reduxpitch, @ 2016-03-29 00:00:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | !thread, character: xavier ansari, location: hogsmeade, retired character: aisling astor |
who ? xavier ansari and aisling astor
when ? straight after this
where ? panquake house, hogsmeade
what ? xavier had an encounter with a bad man and aisling's going to make it better (with hair pets and soothing words probably)
status ? complete
Aisling was quite glad that Easter was pretty much over. It wasn’t that she had hated being at home, but it got rather tiring rather quickly. She also had had to put up with her younger brother, which mostly had just made her miss Quake desperately. Aisling honestly felt much closer to every single member of the band than she did to either of her brothers. At least Arthur was smart enough to act like a normal human being, Alex, on the other hand, was a waste of space, in Aisling’s personal opinion. At least there had been chocolate. It had helped.
She hadn’t been back for long, having just finished distributing the fancy chocolate eggs around the house, when Xavier appeared and then disappeared. Aisling hadn’t even managed to call out a ‘hello’ properly before he had zoomed past the open living room door, seemingly not even noticing her. That was unusual, Aisling thought. It wasn’t like she was expecting attention, but all of them had a good relationship, certainly good enough to tell when something was off.
Checking up on Xavier seemed like the best course of action. Before she headed up, though, Aisling made a mug of tea for Xavier, making sure to use both his favourite mug and his favourite tea. Even if nothing was wrong - and she suspected something was - tea was always a good call. A mug in hand, Aisling walked up to Xavier’s bedroom, knocking lightly on the door before pushing it open.
“You okay, sweetheart?” She asked poking her head in. “I made some tea for you,” Aisling added holding the mug so he could see it.
-
Xavier wasn't sure what was bothering him more, that feeling he had from being so surrounded by things he didn't like or that he'd punched someone. Not just someone - someone running for Minister. Both were bad, together they were worse, and running home had done nothing to make him feel less frantic inside. So yes, he'd gone straight to his room, even though he didn't know what shutting himself in it would accomplish. Nothing, he imagined.
He'd been pacing laps around it before there was a knock, and for a brief panicked moment he thought it must be the police, but of course it wasn't. Aisling's voice managed to give him a little bit of relief from everything else coursing through him - adrenaline? nerves? who knows? - but he still didn't feel like he could stand still. Moving wasn't helping, but it was something.
"I messed up," was all he managed to say before his hands were up on his face, rubbing over it as he started back on the path he'd been walking before. "Fuck..."
-
That... literally in no way sounded promising, and Aisling frowned. She put the mug down carefully, before approaching Xavier slowly, like he might have been an agitated animal. The pacing wasn’t really doing a great deal to shift that image out of Aisling’s head. “Messed up how?” She asked carefully because unless Aisling knew all the information, she wouldn’t be able to help, and she wanted to help. It pained her to see Xavier so worked up, and mostly Aisling wanted to just give him a hug and make it better. Whatever it might be. Her need to protect her house and band mates was rather strong, but currently, Aisling felt justified in feeling so.
Standing rather still, in contrast to Xavier, Aisling held her arm up, reaching out to Xavier but not actually attempting to force contact in any way. “You want a hug?” She asked rather hopefully, because she kind of really wanted to give him one.
--
Xavier didn't know how to put it into words. It was simple, but it wasn't. He knew he had to justify his actions and he could but what if it didn't make sense outside of his head? His hands slowly dropped down to his sides as he turned on his heel and walked the other way, only really pausing when Aisling's arm came up. He hesitated, looking at her, not sure if standing still enough for a hug would help but really kind of wanting one anyway.
Stepping over to her, Xavier leaned into the hug easily, his arms slipping around her and his face nestling in against her neck. He was shaking, though, barely but noticeably, the energy he'd been getting out by walking transferring to trembling since he'd stopped moving. "I hit him," he mumbled against her neck, giving a little shake of his head. "I hit him."
-
Aisling was pleased when he came into the hug, even if he did shake against her. She brought one of her hands up, running it over the back of Xavier’s neck, fingers caressing his hair gently. When Xavier told her he had hit someone, Aisling frowned but didn’t move or make any other physical signs of response. She kind of almost wanted to make a cooing sound that she had heard mothers make to their children in comfort but perhaps that would have pushed it too far.
“Who did you hit, love?” Aisling asked softly, instead, fingers never stopping form where they were in Xavier’s hair. There was no doubt in her mind that no matter who he had hit, they had deserved it. Whether her opinion was biased or not, Aisling would swear passionately that Xavier could and never would hurt someone unprovoked. Out of all of them, Xavier, in Aisling’s eyes, was the one least likely to do something rash like hitting someone. It made the situation even more confusing. Still, no matter what had happened, Aisling knew it hadn’t been Xavier’s fault. Couldn’t possibly be.
--
Aisling’s fingers felt good in his hair, calming, soothing, and nice in a way that made Xavier not want to move from that spot. His fingers curled in against the back of her shirt where his hands were resting, absently knotting into it and letting it go slowly, then again, his breath shaky where it played against her skin. He could already see the headlines, could already see Nina’s face, hear her disappointment, anger - would she yell at him? Maybe, probably.
“That stupid idiot,” Xavier muttered, his eyes squeezing shut a moment as he tried to block out the thought of him. “Lockhart.” He brought his head up, eyes open so he could look at her. “I didn’t mean to, he just… wouldn’t let me go and I told him but he wouldn’t…”
-
Well, that was probably pretty bad, actually. Not that Aisling intended to tell him that, hardly. But it also solidified to her what she had already known, it definitely hadn’t been Xavier’s fault. It wasn’t that Aisling had a great deal of opinion on the man but he just seemed so... delusional? Aisling wasn’t even sure whether it was worth her attempting to find out what exactly had happened. It would almost definitely make the papers, though, that she didn’t doubt. But again, that was not the sort of thing she needed to tell Xavier right now.
“It’s okay,” Aisling told him instead, running her hand that wasn’t tangled in Xavier’s hair lightly across his back, in a fashion that she rather hoped was comforting. “It’ll be fine,” she assured him and that wasn’t even a lie. There was nothing awful that could come of this. Bad press? Sure. Potential criminal charges? Maybe. But it wasn’t exactly like punching someone was going to land Xavier in Azkaban and quite frankly, even if it was to, it was a touch too late to cry over spilt milk now. The best thing to do right now, in Aisling’s opinion, was to make sure that Xavier was okay.
“Do you want anything?” She asked careful not to stop either of her hands from moving against him. “Ice for your hand?” Aisling offered. “There is also tea,” she reminded gently.
--
There was no way it was okay, Xavier knew that. He’d known that from the second it happened. He’d also never hit anyone before - ever. That was probably why he was so shaken by it, because it had happened so fast and he hadn’t even thought about it, it had just happened. The only thing really keeping him from spiraling into himself more about what happened was the way her hand was moving along his back. It was something, even if it wasn’t him moving.
“Ice?” He repeated, because he hadn’t thought about his hand at all. He’d been too busy being in his head to notice whether it hurt or not, but it did. It was throbbing, actually. Flexing his fingers, Xavier brought his hand around to look down at it, frowning. Tea would be good, but tea was already there, so ice seemed more a pressing matter. “Ice would probably be a good idea.”
-
Ice probably really was a good idea. Aisling, despite her upbringing, had dealt with bruised knuckles before. Mostly, probably, because her younger brother was an idiot. She knew how to get swelling down easily, though. With a small nod, Aisling pulled back a bit, looking at Xavier carefully. “I’ll get something and be right back, yeah?” She offered him with a small smile, before brushing her lips against his cheek carefully. “You can pace for a bit more,” she added almost teasingly but mostly just hoping that perhaps that might help. Being friends with Ashleigh had led Aisling to be rather good at dealing with all types of anxiety.
Aisling moved away slowly but once she had detached herself from Xavier, she made a rather quick walk down to the kitchen, heading straight for the freezer to get a bag of frozen corn out. Getting a tea towel on her way back up, Aisling wrapped it around the bag before she had even made it back to Xavier’s room. “Here,” she said once back in, walking over to Xavier and picking his hand up carefully, holding the frozen vegetables against it carefully. Aisling made no attempt of moving her hand away from his.
--
Xavier stood still for a moment after she left, but that was as long as it lasted. He cradled his hand against his chest and went back to walking a steady path across the length of his room, but slower than he had been before. Aisling had been calm, so that had managed to quell some of the frantic feeling inside him - and maybe he was crashing down hard after such a strong surge of adrenaline, but whatever it was, he was glad it seemed to be going away.
"Thanks," he mumbled as she took his hand to put it against the frozen vegetables she got, wincing a little at the first contact against where they were sore already. He stared down at their hands, exhaling slowly. "Nina's going to kill me."
-
Aisling gave a soft sigh, matching Xavier’s, at his words. “She’s not going to kill you,” she told him carefully. “But she probably won’t be happy, no,” Aisling added because that was fair. There was no point in pretending like this wasn’t going to be a PR nightmare, because it definitely was. But again, there was no point in feeling bad about it now since what was done was done. “It doesn’t matter, though, okay?” Aisling said with rather a lot of determination in her voice as she brought up one of her hands to lift his chin up, make him look at her.
“You did a stupid thing, yes,” she started with another small sigh. Again, there was no use in pretending he hadn’t. “But we all do stupid things,” Aisling assured him. Perhaps none of them had punched a candidate for the Ministry but at the same time, they all did do stupid things and they dealt with them, together. This was no different. “And just because your stupid thing is slightly more adventurous than anything I would do,” Aisling said with a small smile, a teasing tone in her voice. “Doesn’t mean we can’t still deal with it and make everything be fine, yeah?” She offered honestly believing her own words. There was nothing Aisling didn’t think they couldn’t fix together, the band was strong and worked well, but most importantly, they were family.
--
Xavier was still fairly certain Nina would kill him, despite what Aisling said. He let his chin be lifted up and looked at her, blinking a few times before giving a little nod. The corners of his mouth tugged down in a frown when she said what he'd done was stupid - he knew it was. Punching anyone was, and then punching someone campaigning for the Ministry, at an event, in front of supporters and press, that seemed to go beyond stupid. But he hadn't meant to.
"He wouldn't let me go," he said quietly, his gaze flickering down to their hands again. "I tried to get away and he wouldn't let me go, so... I didn't mean to do it, it just happened."
-
Aisling had to bite the inside of her cheek not to give a growl at Xavier’s words. Whilst it still didn’t exactly tell her what the situation had been or why this had even happened in the first place, the way Xavier said that Lockhart hadn’t let him go made Aisling very, very angry. It didn’t matter who or what had made Xavier this upset, Aisling wanted to maim them. Except that was not the thing that needed her attention currently, so Aisling refrained from just getting angrier, and instead let her hand move to the back of Xavier’s neck, resettling her fingers where they had been before, tangled in his hair.
“Xavier,” she said very softly, watching him carefully. “I won’t let Nina, or anyone else, be angry at you, okay?” Aisling offered. There wasn’t much she could do, but that, that she could. There was no need for anyone to get upset with Xavier over this, not when it clearly hadn’t been intentional, or unprovoked for that matter. “We’ll solve this and it will be fine,” she added because Aisling would make sure it was.
--
Xavier's shoulders relaxed a little as her hand moved into his hair, curling in as he let out a slow breath and listened to what she was saying. There was no way to control how other people felt, but he believed she would try to get them to understand. The rest of the band, he wasn't as worried about them other than knowing he should apologize since it was about to be guaranteed bad press for them because of what he'd done. Nina, well, she may get mad but he couldn't change what had happened.
"Thank you," he murmured, his free hand coming up to rest lightly on her waist, fingers curling into the fabric of her shirt. "I didn't mean to. I've never hit anyone... before."
-
There was a degree to which Aisling found it rather worrying that Xavier had actually punched someone without meaning to. She didn’t feel now was the best time to address that particular aspect of the situation, but she did file it away for later. Aisling had literally no doubt that it had been a one time thing, nonetheless, though, she felt that something that Xavier found this emotionally distressing perhaps needed to be discussed further at a time when he could think straight.
For now, Aisling hummed softly, shifting the frozen corn against Xavier’s hand. “Does that feel slightly better?” She asked to make sure she wasn’t accidentally giving him frostbite or something. “Would you like to have some lukewarm tea, now?” Aisling offered glancing over to where she had left the mug upon her arrival. It wouldn’t be hot anymore, but it was still tea, and tea cured many ailments.
--
Biting the inside of his lip when she moved the corn, Xavier gave a little nod. It was making his hand feel kind of numb, but numb was preferable to the painful throbbing that had been there before. He looked over to the tea, and the want to drink it edged out the desire not to move anymore. Slowly, he let his hand drop from where it had settled on her waist, giving another nod.
"Tea sounds good," he said, drawing his other hand away from her too and carefully holding the frozen corn against it himself as he shifted back a few steps to get to his bed, sitting on the edge of it and absently kicking off his shoes.
-
Aisling let him go easily, giving a small nod at Xavier’s confirmation. After a small pause, Aisling moved to retrieve the mug, muttering a quick warming charm to make it warmer but still cool enough to be drinkable. She joined him on the bed, pulling one of her legs under herself as she sat to face Xavier, holding the mug out to him. “Here,” she said, waiting for him to take the mug from him before she moved one of her hand to run across his back and resettle where it now had a rather familiar position against the back of Xavier’s neck.
After waiting for Xavier to take a sip, Aisling moved her other hand to gently run across the side of his leg. “Do you want me to pet your hair?” She offered. Aisling wasn’t actually sure what else she could currently do to make him feel better and hair pets seemed to always be a rather good way to offer comfort. Except to Andrew, who didn’t want people touching his hair. Xavier was definitely the one who seemed most receptive of Aisling’s hair pets.
--
Xavier shifted to get more comfortable and settled on the bed before she came back, resting his hand on his knee and the frozen corn on top of it so he didn't have to hold it there. He gratefully took the tea and brought it up to have a sip, closing his eyes a moment at the taste of it on his tongue and the welcome warmth it spread through him. More so than the tea, he was grateful for Aisling being there, keeping him from getting lost in his head and making it worse than it was. And offering hair pets.
"Yeah," he said softly, managing to offer her the tiniest hint of a smile. "That would be nice."
-
Aisling smiled when he said that hair pets would be nice. She could definitely provide on that. So she resettled to make herself more comfortable and made sure to bring her hand more into his hair. Once he was done with his tea, she thought, Xavier could settle down lower, let her have his head in her lap. Aisling had a lot of confidence in her hair petting skills, and if that in any way brought comfort, she had zero objections to doing her best. Then, once she would deem it appropriate, Aisling was going to make sure that this got handled and sorted appropriately, because she had a lot of confidence in her micro-managing skills, too.