Relaxing

[Kale Thomas]

Kale walked down to the lawn and took a seat under a the shade of a tall willow tree, there were birds chirping up above him and he couldn’t help but curse to himself hoping that they wouldn’t ‘go’ on him. Talyn, his milk snake, was slithering up and down his arm and lacing through his fingers, Kale sat with his back against a tree and people watched for a bit. There were kids sitting around and doing their schoolwork in the yard, others were just sitting around and doing what he was, enjoying the crisp fall breeze.

Reaching for his book bag, he managed to fetch the daily issue of The Daily Prophet he must have re read this article over a hundred times. Kale couldn’t believe that death eaters had gotten into the ministry and killed innocent workers at the trial…actually, he could, those death eaters always seem to have something up their sleeves. Kale sat back and scanned the article, while absentmindedly leading Talyn through his fingers. There’s no doubt that Tristan and his motley crew were in on this.. he thought to himself while exhaling deeply, This is just too much. Kale kept his gaze on the newspaper, the fresh fall breeze ruffled his hair as he zoned out into space.

 

[Estrella Drage]

Estrella saw Kale sitting out on the lawn, and she crept up towards him, his gaze intent on the newspaper. Without warning, she tackled him, laughing all the way and hoping that she had scared him.

 

[Kale Thomas]

Kale had his eyes glued to the paper, not really thinking about the article any longer, when all of a sudden he felt someone or something jump on him. At that very moment he crumpled over to the floor and let out a goofy grunt, "What the --" his eyes were wide and she had made him nearly jump out of his skin. His cheeks suddenly began to feel warmer, "You....scared me." he said with a laugh as he lay on the grass, Kale opened his arms for a hug and reached for Estrella acting like a little kid, "How're you?" he asked with a warm smile.

 

[Estrella Drage]

"Pretty good," Estrella said, hugging Kale tightly and kissing him playfully on the cheek. Her eyes strayed to the paper he had been reading. "Watcha reading?" she said, inquisitive. She had not read the Daily Prophet for quite some time, having entirely too much to do. "Hehe, I scared you."

 

[Kale Thomas]

Kale hugged Estrella and kissed her warmly, she was someone who he could always be around and talk about pretty much anything with. A completely different relationship that he had with some people. Kale smiled at Estrella and sat back up, propping his back against the tree, he bit his lip when she asked what he was reading, "The Daily Prophet" he said gesturing to it, his smile fading, "Have you read the latest article?" Kale inquired, "There was a massacre at the Ministry..." he said with hesitation in his voice.

 

[Estrella Drage]

"What?" Estrella exclaimed. She must have been deaf to the world these past few days. "No, I haven't been reading it lately. A massacre?" She grabbed the paper, skimming through it quickly. "Dear merlin," she cursed, looking up to Kale with some sorrow in her eyes. "Wanda Fortescue.. That must be Melissa's mom.."

She looked to him angrily, and then it faded from her eyes. "Sorry, I'm not mad at you," she said quickly, hugging him, but still finding it hard to believe.

 

[Kale Thomas]

"Yep." Kale's eyes darted from one place to another at Estrella's reaction, he had never seen her act out like that before. Kale put his arm around Estrella as she hugged him, "It's okay, who is Melissa?" he asked with a hint of confusion in his voice.

 

[Estrella Drage]

"Melissa Fortescue. She owns the Ice Cream Parlor and I think the General Store," Estrella said quietly, her gaze a little vacant but glad that Kale was around, hugging him back. "Sorry I was so- abrupt." She looked up at him apologetically.

 

[Kale Thomas]

Kale smiled down at Estrella, "No, it's fine. Really, there is no need to apologize." he said reassuringly. Kale picked up Talyn from the ground who curled up tightly because of Estrella's grand enterance of toppling him over to the ground. "Do you think your father had a part of this?" he inquired, not really wanting to bring up Tristan like he always did, but was curious to her view on what had happened.

 

[Estrella Drage]

"I'm really not sure," Estrella said, not wanting to think of her father as a murderer but accepting the fact anyways. "I sent him a letter the other day." She looked up to Kale, her face filled with a million different expressions.

Her attention diverted to the milk snake. "Oh! You were talking about him before. Talyn, right? Can I hold him? He's quite adorable."

 

[Kale Thomas]

Kale looked to Estrella, his face absent of expression. He was already positive that Tristan did have a part of this and he began to feel bad that he had even asked her about him.

At times like these he was more than happy to have Talyn as a distraction from what they were currently talking about. Kales face trasformed from impassive to a small smile, "Yes, his name is Talyn." he confirmed while picking him up and handing him over gently to Estrella, "Sure, he's really friendly." Kale laughed when she called him adorable, "Adorable? I've never heard of anyone calling a scaley snake adorable."

 

[Estrella Drage]

Estrella took Talyn, holding him gently and stroking his scaly skin, letting him wrap around her wrist. "I love snakes, I admit, I'm not like most girls; they would run off squealing." She grinned broadly, glad that the conversation had taken a lighter note. "I used to have a white rat when I was younger. She would crawl all over my shoulders. It would scare the living heck out of the old aunts and such in my family. Good times, good times.." She laughed. "Have you ever had another pet, Kale?"

 

[Kale Thomas]

"Well, if you were 'like most girls', I don't think I would like you as much as I do." Kale smiled while grabbing a hold of her free hand. "Nope, I haven't had many pets. Ma would never allow them in the house after my older brother lost his pet trancula in the house...Mindy got a hold of him and squeezed him.." Kale winced at the thought. "...she didn't know any better." he said in defence of Mindy.

Kale laughed at the thought of the white rat scaring the older ladies, "Rats are cool. When they're white and have red eyes, I find it creepy for some odd reason." he said shrugging his shoulders, "What was your rats name?" Kale asked with a broad smile.

 

[Estrella Drage]

"Twizzlers," Estrella said, laughing, "I got the class lab rat when I was forced to go through a few years of muggle school, and thus, named her after my favorite candy. Before I came here, I mean. It would have looked weird if I hadn't, in a muggle world and all."

 

[Kale Thomas]

"That's an odd name. You get to have animals in miggle school?" Kale inquired with a surprised expression, he then looked down at Talyn who was still wrapped around Estrella's arm. "What are twiz-zl-ers?"

 

[Estrella Drage]

Estrella kept chuckling to herself; she was with Kale so much that she forgot that he was oblivious to many muggle things in the world.

"Twizzlers are only the best muggle candy ever invented! Especially the strawberry ones. They're amazing licorice."

She grinned. "Hey, when I ever get a chance to find them, I will buy a ginormous bag of them and give you some." She watched as Talyn slithered around her arm, lashing his tongue out. "Some people are weird and don't like them, though."

 

[Kale Thomas]

"Licorice is that red or black stuff...right?" Kale asked, all of these muggle things interested him too much. "I love candy" he exclaimed with a laugh, smiling widely.

Dash came swooping down from the sky with a loud hoot; he stretched his wings and ruffled his feathers with a full body shake. Kale removed the letter from Dashs leg and retrieved a treat from his hoodie pocket, "Thanks Dash." he said while giving him a couple of pats and opened the letter so Estrella could have a view of it.

Deer Estraya and Kale.
Mummy sayd that she would help me write with you guys a letter. I am very gud and writing my ABCs now.

My favrite color is still purple! And gess what??! Mummy sayd that she wood git me a new toy broomstik! I am vary excited.

I mrs you booth a lot. Will you be comming bak soone?
MindY

Kale chuckled at Mindy's letter and looked over at Estrella speechless, it made him miss home more than anything seeing letters like this.

 

[Estrella Drage]

"Yeah, licorice is either red or black. I prefer red though." She grinned, and Dash suddenly appeared in her vision. "Oh, that must be Mindy's letter!" she thought, grinning as Kale opened it.

She read it and laughed. "She's actually not that bad for a five year old," she said, her eyes twinkling. She read it over twice, looking over to Kale, who had suddenly looked homesick. "Oh, I know, I miss them too."

 

[Kale Thomas]

"Yeah, I'm surprised how well she could write too. Ma is a great teacher, real patient." Kale said rolling his eyes thinking about how much trouble he put her through. Kale tried not to show it, but he was feeling extremely homesick, visiting home in the summer made it worse. He nodded at Estrellas comment and squeezed her hand; focusing his eyes on her, "I don't know what I would do without you." Kale said looking down to the floor for a moment.

 

[Estrella Drage]

"Me either," Estrella said, grinning and entwining her fingers in Kale's. She really didn't know what she would do without him, and it wasn't a lie. She leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek, and then moved to his lips, staying there longer. She opened her eyes, looking back at him and grinning.

Her mouth opened in surprise as she heard a hoot. "Holy owls!" she exclaimed as she saw Harper swooping down towards them, finding it quite insane that both of their letters had returned.

Harper dropped two letters in front of her, and her eyes widened as she saw both of the letters. On one of them, she recognized the handwriting as Carlisle's untidy scrawl. However, on the other, was a neat print, and her throat seized as she sat there and stared at it. She wasn't exactly sure if she wanted to open it. Grabbing for Carlisle's quickly, she opened it.

Estrella,
In response to your last letter, I would be overjoyed to have you over over Christmas break.  I would not mind you having your friend Kale over either.

Estrella chuckled a bit at that. She could imagine the indecision that Carlisle had suffered for letting her have a boy over.

I also wanted to note, we have also adopted a dog.  She is a mamalute.
Cheers,
Carlisle

Estrella smiled at Kale weakly, and her eyes strayed to the unopen letter in front of her.

 

[Kale Thomas]

Kale kissed Estrella back and lingered there for a moment, he looked her in the eye and smiled wider than usuual. She always seemed to know what to do and never ceased to amaze him.

At Estrellas exclaimation, Kale looked into the sky as the two letters were dropped by Harper. When Estrella opened up the first letter he looked at her, "What's it say?" he asked interested and backed up a bit, hoping that he wasn't butting into her business. Kale looked down at the unopened second letter that Estrella seemed to be hesitant to open, he could only guess that it was from her father. "You gonna open it?" he inquired with an encouraging smile. "It's okay.." Kale squeezed her hand.

 

[Estrella Drage]

Estrella smiled weakly, handing the letter from Carlisle to Kale for him to read. Tentatively, she reached forward and picked up the letter. She wasn't sure if she wanted to open it or not, but on impulse she ripped it open, scanning it with her eyes quickly.

Estrella,
I would never consider hurting an owl.  But why am I talking about owls?
I know we've never been able to talk, and I recognize that most of that is my fault.  I also apologize for the majority of my actions over the summer.

Erik has been doing fine.  He's crawling quite well now.

Prefect?  That's great.  I thought prefects were fifth years and up, at least, that's how it was at Hogwarts England.  Never got to be Head Boy though; Percy Weasley stole the title.

How are your classes going?  Are you enjoying your electives?  I always found Ancient Runes to be my favorite.
With love,
Dad

Estrella's hands lowered slightly, as she reread the letter. With love? She didn't know whether to take that statement seriously or not. She looked to Kale, allowing him to read it, and said, "Sorry, I don't mean to be so mopey."

 

[Kale Thomas]

Kale grabbed the letter that Estrella handed over to him and read it. It was official that he would be spending break with her at her uncles. He couldn't help but have a sudden urge of nervousness take over him. Kale forced a weak smile at the mention of a dog at the end of the letter, he had never seen a dog in real life only in photographs and other forms of publications. Muggles.. he thought to himself.

As Estrella finished up her second letter and held it out to Kale he took it gently from her grip, he scanned the letter quickly once and looked up to Estrella. "He really does care about you." Kale hated to admit about such a dark person. "You're not being mopey." he stated with a blank expression.

 

[Estrella Drage]

Estrella's expression lightened a bit. "I know; everyone tells me that." She hugged Kale back tightly, being silent for a moment, and knowing that he was right. She then smiled broadly, looking up at him. "Yay, we're going to the States for Christmas break!" she managed to utter excitedly, trying to push the matter of her dad's letter out of her mind. She would reply later.

 

[Kale Thomas]

Kale smiled at Estrella and kissed her on the forehead softly, he could tell that she was skeptical about her father and thought that pushing the issue to the side would be best. Dash perched himself on Kale's shoe, he laughed and stretched his hand out in front of him to pet the back of his neck, "You can leave now Dash.." he said while tossing another treat in his direction, while pointing to the owlery tower. Dash caught the owl treat easily and gobbled it up. At that, Dash gave Kale one last affectionate nip to his hand and flew off toward the tower.

"The states.." Kale exhaled, and thought about it for a moment; he never imagined that he would be visiting the US. He was excited to finally be able to travel. Kale grinned goofily and squeezed Estrella's hand, "Break is going to be awesome." he said looking her in the eye, whenever she was around it was definite that he would have a good time, but now it's going to be thousands of miles away from home. "Where does Carlisle live exactly?" Kale inquired with an embarassed expression, "I'm sorry, I forgot where you said."