Cooling Off

"Girls are not meant to live together in one room. I need privacy and time to myself when no one can bother me. I suppose it helps that I am an only child as well." The last sentence was added as a bit of an afterthought. "Do you have siblings?"
 
Bruin was only mildly surprised that Sophia either didn't pick up on his little joke or chose not to respond. "Siblings? Nope, I'm an only child. I think I would have liked one or two, but I suppose I was enough of a handful that my parents didn't want to take the chance on another one like me. How about yourself?"
 
"I am an only child," Sophia repeated, a bit surprised that Bruin asked despite her having just said that.

"A handful? You?" Sophia smirked playfully at Bruin, trying to poke a little fun at him and see how he would respond.
 
"I know it is a little hard to believe, but I used to be a little bit excitable and would occasionally find myself in trouble." Bruin replied, feeling a little more at ease around Sophia.
 
"Only occasionally? Why, I am a loss for why your parents would not have wanted ten of you running around." Sophia smirked at Bruin, definitely feeling more comfortable around him than she used to.
 
Bruin shook his head. "Let's face it. When they made me they broke the mold." After a slight pause, he added. "Actually, in all honesty I broke it, but it was an accident."

"I bet your parents thought they couldn't improve on perfection!" Bruin realized a moment too late that he had brought up Sophia's parents again and winced a little, hoping that he hadn't ruined the moment.
 
Sophia looked at Bruin with a quizzical expression, not at all bothered that he brought up her parents. She was a bit more concerned with trying to figure out if they were flirting with each other.

Sophia was not entirely sure how to respond, not at all used to taking such compliments. "Thank you, I suppose. Where do you get all of your wit from?"
 
Bruin was relieved that Sophia wasn't fazed by his comment. "Who me? Witty? Oh, I don't know. I suppose it's just my curse. My parents are both a little on the sarcastic side, so maybe it's just a defense mechanism that I've adopted. To be honest, I find it just a whole lot easier to joke around then speak seriously." Bruin thought about what he had just said. "I guess it might make it difficult for other people when I try and talk seriously though..." he said with a puzzled look.
 
"I have only recently been learning how to joke. My parents raised me to be a very serious person, and I just always have been. I am beginning to see that it can be enjoyable to let go and joke around. I suppose I have you to thank for that."

Sophia suddenly looked away from Bruin, wondering what she had just said and how Bruin would interpret it. Her pale cheeks suddenly began to blush and she hope that the darkness would hide it.
 
"Well, that's the first time anyone has ever felt that I was a good influence on them. I'll take that as a compliment." Bruin really didn't know what else to say. He and Sophia had come a long way in a fairly short amount of time and sometimes silence was okay too.
 
Sophia considered for a moment how to reply. "Yes, well, you have helped me to learn to let go and not take things so seriously every moment of the day. It is nice to be able to laugh sometimes, I have realized, thanks to you." She gave him a quick small smile before turning back to face the direction she was walking.
 
Bruin smiled to himself. "I suppose it's all about finding the right balance. I could probably afford to be a little more serious sometimes and think things through. I'll try and keep that in mind in the future. It's almost like you lit a little fire under me as well..." Bruin said with his tongue planted firmly in cheek. "And like you said, you can't be serious all the time. It's kind of funny how these things work out sometimes." Bruin said as they continued to walk towards the castle.

(I assume that's the direction were heading?)
 
((That was the impression I was under.))

Sophia rolled her golden eyes and fixed them on Bruin, giving him a skeptical glance. "You will never stop bringing that up, will you?" she asked with a small smile.
 
"No, probably not. I want to keep it fresh in your mind so it doesn't accidentally happen again." Bruin replied with a smirk.
 
"Accidentally? Oh I can make it happen again." Sophia smirked at Bruin, wondering how he would respond.
 
Bruin was under the impression that his being lit up had been an accidental thing, but was Sophia now implying that she could willfully control it?

"Fair enough, I will no longer tease you about it as long as you don't make it happen again. Deal?" Bruin responded with equal measures of sincerity and fear in his voice.
 
Sophia stopped to face Bruin and put a hand on his shoulder so he would do the same. "Oh no, Bruin, I did not do it on purpose. I have been practicing with it lately though, to see if I could control it. I am getting better, I think."
 
Bruin stopped in his tracks when Sophia put her hand on his shoulder. He listened intently as she explained about practicing with her newly discovered ability. "I know it wasn't on purpose before, but now that I know you are getting it under control I have even more incentive to treat you well, now don't I?" he said with a friendly smile.
 
Sophia drew her hand back quickly, her pale cheeks blushing slightly as she looked away, nodding. "I wish it would all just go away," she said softly and began walking slowly toward the castle.
 
Bruin stood motionless for a moment as Sophia drew away and continued walking, wondering what to do or say. Ultimately, he turned and took a few quick strides to catch up with her. "Maybe it will, but if it doesn't I'm sure that it isn't going to change who you are. That's the important thing. We all have things we don't like about ourselves, it's just figuring out how to deal with them that is the hard part." Bruin tried to sound encouraging, but he didn't know if it was working or not.
 
Sophia continued to look forward, listening as she walked. After Bruin had finished his pep talk she thought for a moment, soon responding; "Well then, what is it that you do not like about yourself?" Bruin had always seemed pretty smug and self-satisfied to Sophia, and she was interested to see how he would answer her question.
 
Bruin thought about Sophia's comment for a few moments, simply walking along in silence. "Hmm, I'm tempted to just say that there is an exception to every rule and that, well, I'm the exception, but..." Bruin became quite quiet suddenly, unable to find the words to explain what he was thinking.

Bruin continued to walk in silence, appearing to be on the verge of revealing something very important about himself on a couple of occasions before finally throwing up his usual barrier. "You know what, I think I'm going to need to get back to you on that one." He said with a smile, but inwardly a little disappointed in himself for not verbalizing what he was thinking.
 
Sophia thought to herself as the silence hung in the air, waiting for Bruin's response. She was not entirely sure if she was surprised or not that he could not seem to come up with an answer. "All right, I will hold you to that.

"Would it still be all right if I came to your home over the summer? I would really rather not spend it here at Hogwarts, and definitely not with my father." Sophia hoped Bruin would not renege on his offer for the reasons stated. She had begun to find him someone she could talk to, and she thought that spending some more time with him would be a positive experience.
 
Bruin was relieved that Sophia hadn't pressed him further on the topic of his feelings about himself, particularly as he really did feel he needed some time to think about it. When she asked about the offer he had made to her about the coming summer his response was much more immediate and definitive than his other recent responses.

"Of course you can. My parents are cool with the idea and I think it will be fun. As much as I love this place, I'm looking forward to being home for a little while." Bruin said with a smile.
 
Sophia smiled slightly, glad to see that Bruin seemed more at ease now. "Yes, it will be nice to get away from Hogwarts, as nice as it is. You said you do a lot of things outdoors at home?"
 
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