Cloud Watching

[Graeme Fergusson]

Graeme had been trying to find a good place for peace and quiet and it had definitely been difficult. Few places in the school were truly quiet, there was always someone about. There was always someone to interrupt, and really it frustrated the Scottish boy, because all he wanted to do was spend some quiet time with Maya and they just couldn't. He had finally decided that the cliffs would be a good place, he had taken Maya out on a first date, and it had gone well in his opinion, they'd held hands but that was the extent of it. He had of course wanted to kiss her, but had been far too nervous to, it was one step at a time with Graeme, he was brave enough, but he got nervous and he was braver mostly on the pitch, than anywhere else. Added to this issue of finding peace, was finding the time, between her OWLs and prefect duties and his quidditch duties and NEWTs they were both fairly busy people but he had told her to set aside an hour of her day for some light lunch and cloud watching. Thankfully it was a cloudy and slightly windy day, which mean it was perfect for cloud watching.

Unlike Maya, Graeme's picnic making skills lack, he hadn't known what to get, what she might want, what might be best for her to have. He had gone to the elves just before leaving for the cliffs and just asked them about it. They had been more than happy to provide him with everything he might need, and he was sure that he would credit them if Maya asked, breakfast he could do, dinner he could also do at a push, lunch, that had always been either his mother, or the school lunches, never had he been left to do it himself. He had thicken woollen blanket for them to lie on and everything else he could possibly need in his rucksack. He reached the cliffs a little before she did, and the prearranged time of this picnic/cloud watching date. He put the blanket down and then lay himself down upon it, feeling his entire body relax as he lay down and looked up at the sky. This was almost a mirror of the last time he'd ended up meeting Maya during the holidays. He hadn't thought about it, until just then, but he thought it was a little funny. He hoped it wouldn't rain at all, though the clouds didn't appear to be rain clouds and he hoped they could spend this hour in peace.
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[Maya Fergusson]

Maya wasn't sure why she was nervous. Spending time with Graeme was something she had done very often. First and Second year she'd seen him every day and she would always talk to him. It dropped off a little in third year and fourth year, but she still saw him often in the common room. He'd seen her in her pyjamas often enough before, but now she got so nervous when she knew he was in the common room and she wasn't pretty. It was the most ridiculous emotion she'd ever felt in her life. She'd never cared before and now all of a sudden all she did was care. It was the main reason she was still getting ready for her second date with Graeme. She had to make sure she didn't look weird. It was nearly time for her to meet Graeme for what she was sure was a picnic lunch. They'd both been fairly busy lately, she as a new Prefect and OWL student and Graeme as Quidditch Captain and NEWT candidate. Admittedly she was kind of glad that they were both so busy. This was all so new to her and she didn't know what she was doing half the time. They'd had a lovely first date, but she wasn't sure what to expect.

Classes had started already and Maya was definitely still enjoying them, though she had a feeling it might all change at some point. She heard OWLs were horrible and that NEWTs were even worse. Maya was wearing her student robes, mostly because she had no idea what else to wear. They were still on school grounds and most of her better outfits would probably be reserved for Brightstone weekends. She hoped it didn't look too bad though. She'd tried to spruce it up a little with some jewellery and leaving her hair down, but other than that she could think of what else to do. She really wished her mother was here, she'd have been able to help so much. Maya hesitantly headed towards the cliff. She was excited to see Graeme, but a little nervous at the fact that it was at the cliffs. She was a prefect and she didn't want to think about what would happen if they were caught. She technically should have been taking points away from him, but the want to have some quiet time with Graeme won out and she eventually walked faster. As she approached she had a flash of memory from the time they'd met up in the holidays before school. They'd been having a picnic then too. Had he wanted to ask her out then? The sudden thought made her smile slightly to herself as she finally reached the picnic. "I really should be taking points away from you, you know." She told him, grinning. He looked rather comfortable and Maya stood still for a moment looking out over the cliffs. It was really quite peaceful here. The last time she had been here though, well, bully wasn't the word. Still, he was out of the school now and had been for a while, she could relax, she knew that. She took a seat near the edge of the blanket and looked at Graeme. "It's really quiet here. I've not been here for quite a while. Do you come here often?" Oh wow, that was a cliche line, even Maya registered that. "That was bad, wasn't it?" She asked, laughing.
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[Graeme Fergusson]

Graeme sat up slightly as she approached him, he couldn't help the wide smile which crept on to his face at seeing her and at what she said about him, he shook his head at her, "I know you won't," he told her grinning, "Not unless you want tae have detention together," he added though he was sure that wasn't what she wanted, for him detention didn't mean much, if they took his team, that was a whole other issue, Graeme loved quidditch a lot, and he wasn't about to give up his team for anything. He wanted them to win, he wanted them to feel victory like they'd never felt before, and he was sure they could do that. They hadn't won the cup in a long while, and Graeme really wanted that to change at some point under his leadership. But, instead of letting his mind linger on the thoughts of quidditch, on what he could do with the team, the different ways the team could be set up, instead he focused his attention on the girl he had invited out here, Maya. He smiled at her, clearly coming out his quidditch daze at the exact right point as she began to talk about how this place was.

"Aye," Graeme couldn't help but agree, although he laughed at her phrasing of it, enjoying that she was laughing at it too, it was nice, it was comfortable and different. He wasn't stressed out his mind, or constantly moving to the next thing he had to do, "I can come here as much as you want," he retorted although keen to just move along, "If I'm trying tae find peace, I usually fly but with a game coming up I can hardly just chill and relax in the air," he chuckled lightly, he got a little of the food out and motioned to it, take a small sandwich and eat it, before lying down on the blanket and staring up at the sky, "I figured we needed an hour away fae it all," the teen continued, since he knew they were both pretty people, "And hopefully we won't get caught, cannae have you losing your badge, congratulations by the way, I knew you'd get it," he told her, assured of what he was saying. He had invited her on the pretence of looking at the clouds so he was hoping she would lie down and look at them with him. It was perhaps a little less energetic than most people would opt for a second date, but outside of quidditch, Graeme didn't like stressing and he did avoid it as much as he could. This was perfect then, really.
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[Maya Fergusson]

Maya smiled at Graeme and listened as he spoke. She would definitely be coming here more often, especially if it meant that she could spend more time with Graeme. Though they'd often spent time together before, things were different now and Maya was surprised at how easily they seemed to slip into a new routine, though she wasn't sure that there was much different between what they did now to what they did before. Still, she didn't mind, any chance to hang around Graeme and she was happy. "Well, I don't know how often it will be, but I'll definitely be here some more." She said, looking over at the ocean again. She looked back at Graeme. "That makes sense. I usually sew something to relax, or read one of my books, but I haven't much time to do that lately." She laughed slightly at the thought that she using sewing to relax. That would probably be weird for some people. "An hour, a month, a year, anything would be good. Though I'd like to try and avoid detention." She added, coming back to the previous comment of their problem. She tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear as he mentioned her new title. "Well, then you had more faith in me than I did. I was completely dumbfounded when I received the letter. Pretty sure my dad couldn't stop grinning for a week, told all his work friends and everything." Of course he'd not explained about the school. They only knew that she attended a boarding school, which was a half truth.

Maya moved further onto the blanket and laid in the opposite direction to Graeme, her head close to his, but her feet off the other side of the blanket. She looked up at the clouds. "Did you have anything specific planned? Just watching the clouds?" Whatever they were doing was fine with Maya, because she was slightly overwhelmed by classes already, anything they did would take her mind off of classes and that was good enough for her.


I'm so sorry.​

 

[Graeme Fergusson]

There had been no other plan for this time he had arranged for them, it was a simple hour or so in which he felt like they didn't have to even think about other things. Where they didn't have to put their minds to anything other than just sitting watching the sky and enjoying the lunch which had been made. It was all about forgetting everything about life and just enjoying the moment together, a simple but sweet moment where nothing mattered but them. He watch as she lay down next to him, and he reached out and lightly grasped her hand, giving it a small squeeze before laughing slightly at her words, "No really no," he told her grinning even though he was just looking up at the sky, he had always enjoyed just watching the sky, watching how it was just so easy to lose track of time as the mind lingered on the moving clouds.

"I just thought it would be good tae get away you know," he told her with a small shrug, "I mean, we cannae leave, but this place is quiet enough, distant enough," he shrugged but he knew she wasn't exactly seeing him do that, but he was hopeful that she at least felt the same way about this place as he did. All they needed was a little bit of quiet and a stress-free place, and ignoring the forbidden-ness of this place he thought it was one of the better places in the school, "Things back there are stressful, here, we don't even need tae think about any of it," he finished looking over slightly at her and then back up at the sky, he got the feeling that with all the stresses of the year she might agree with him on this, and she hadn't yet demanded they do something so perhaps just.
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[Maya Fergusson]

Maya smiled at the contact of their hands. She had always been an affectionate person and so she showed affection by instances of touching, like holding hands, hugging that sort of thing. It comforted her, made her feel better and allowed her to remember that her presence was appreciated. Not that she would ever doubt that from Graeme, but her father hadn't always been the lover of cuddles that he was now. Maya had to train him to be like that, but at least he was much more open to them now and hugged Lyana constantly. Maya was enjoying this more than she thought. She was so used to the fast paced lifestyle she was currently living that she was surprised that there was even still time to slow down and just watch what was happening. It wasn't often that she could just stop and watch the colds fly along. At home there was rarely clouds in the sky except during the winter and the rainy season. She never got much of a chance for cloud watching, so she was glad she had some time to do it now. "That's alright, this is good."

Maya nodded, though it was difficult to see as she listened to what Graeme was saying. Staring at the sky made her kind of tired though and she yawned slightly as she watched the fluffy clouds leisurely sail past. "D'you think if you touch a cloud, it would feel as soft as it looks?" She asked, rolling her head to look at Graeme as she did so. They always looked so soft and she wondered what it would be like to sleep on a bed of clouds. "I've always wanted to sleep on a bed of clouds." He was right about this place being relaxing. They didn't have to think about anything out here. It might have been technically against the rules, but it was the only place to get some peace and quiet and after the tumultuous time they'd had at school lately, was it any wonder they needed to get away?​

 

[Graeme Fergusson]

Graeme was definitely glad that Maya seemed to settled, she settled into his side and it made him feel comfortable, this closeness was nice, and he was looking forward to all the time he would be able to spend with Maya in this way. All of the closeness their relationship would provide for him, and that he could provide for her. He didn't mind so much having to sit and worry about all the things which could happen, but rather this moment staring up at the sky cleared his mind in a way that usually only quidditch did. The boy was usually this calm with Maya, there was just something so easy in the way they hung out, the way they spent time together than made the teen just smile, even if it meant bending a few rules and just sitting for an hour sharing this simple company and simply enjoying this company. The teen was smiling to himself and to Maya especially when she said that it was all alright, which was exactly what he needed to hear, that everything was just alright, that things were fine. It was nothing too extravagant just simple.

Looking between the clouds the teen just continued smiling, and then nodded stifling a fair amount of laughter as she spoke, "I've been in a cloud, stood in a cloud," he told her, since he'd occasionally gone up with hills when the clouds were low lying enough that he felt the rain and he could feel the softness of the air. It was like a slightly thicker mist, not as soft as she made it sound, "I mean it's generally wet, so maybe it's different with white non-rain clouds," he shrugged but he couldn't help but be heartened by her words. It was such a strange but lovely thought, sleeping in a bed of clouds, "I cannae say I've ever wanted that," he told her with a smile, "My bed back home was ridiculously soft, maybe no cloud soft but soft," he told her, then he pointed to one of the clouds, "That cloud looks exactly like Australia, don't you think?" he motioned to the cloud with a grin looking between Maya and the cloud.
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