Closed Different Principles

[Rose Holland]

It was one of the first days of break and Rose had agreed to meet up with her boyfriend. It wasn't technically break for her anymore, as she had graduated, but for now it really felt like any other break between Hogwarts years. She wondered when it would really feel like she was a graduate, maybe in a year? She was waiting for him on a bench near the ice cream shop, knowing he had a shift there before they met up. Rose felt oddly nervous, and tapped her fingers on her knee as she waited. She hadn't spoken to Kauri much near the end of their school year, but she had noticed he hadn't been very happy with the prank she and her friends had pulled. Of course she'd had to be honest about it to him after the fact, even if she hadn't quite dared to tell him beforehand. She knew he wouldn't approve, but... she had still thought it wouldn't be too big a deal. A part of her had hoped that seeing the prank in action would make Kauri laugh and loosen up a bit, but he hadn't seemed to like it at all. She didn't know what to expect of this date. Was he going to tell her off about it even though she was no longer even a student? Hopefully not, she wanted to have a fun date with him today. But Rose didn't know what to expect, and couldn't help worrying about it.

 

[Kauri Morales-Tipene]

Kauri was anxious about today, there was no other way to describe it, and he didn't much like feeling that way. He had never been this kind of anxious about spending time with Rose. Happy-nervous, sure, but right now part of Kauri would much rather have just turned and run, dodged the entire situation, than met up with his girlfriend. The disconnect made him uneasy, and Kauri couldn't stomach it. He knew that really nothing had changed, but he couldn't help but think somehow, somewhere along the line Rose had become a person he didn't recognise. Or maybe this had always been part of her, and her rule-breaking friends had been more of a warning sign than he had thought. Either way, every time Kauri remembered the horrible mess of the frog thing Rose and her friends had thought was so funny, a fresh wave of disappointment washed over him. How could the Rose who was so kind and always liked to make others happy have done something so clearly against school rules, designed to inconvenience others? It hurt his head, thinking of her that way, but Kauri was doing his best to put those thoughts aside. Today was just supposed to be a normal date, just... a nice day out together. When he went back to Hogwarts Rose wouldn't be going back with him, so surely they should be making the most of this time. After finishing up at work he handed off his scooping duties to Archie and stepped outside, nerves spiking at the sight of Rose waiting for him. Trying not to let his nerves show, he smiled a bit too brightly as he approached his girlfriend. "Hi..."

 

[Rose Holland]

Rose was fidgeting with her skirt as she waited for Kauri. She noticed him approach and immediately saw in his expression that things weren't back to normal yet. She smiled back, probably also not very convincingly. With trepidation, she got to her feet. "Hi..." She said hesitating before leaning in to give him a kiss on the cheek. "How's... your break so far?" The words came out unnaturally stilted, and Rose cringed a bit at herself.

 

[Kauri Morales-Tipene]

As soon as Rose spoke, Kauri could tell he wasn't the only one feeling uncomfortable. He smiled when she kissed his cheek, but it felt strange. Different to the easy comfort they had developed over the last couple of years. The frog incident hung unspoken over their heads, a cloud of tadpoles casting a shadow over their entire relationship. Kauri couldn't bring himself to bring it up again though, trying to put on a cheerful smile. "It's been good! I miss school, but work is fun. How is your, uh... adulthood going? Is it weird having graduated?"

 

[Rose Holland]

There was something in the air between them, and Rose knew what it was. But there was a part of her, a part that was perhaps a bit petty, that wanted Kauri to bring it up. He was the one with a problem, and he wasn't telling her about it. Was she supposed to read his mind? Sure, she had a strong suspicion about what was bothering him, but this time Rose couldn't bring herself to feel guilty about the prank she and her friends had pulled at the end of last year. It had been fun, harmless fun. They couldn't leave school without leaving some sort of mark, and if Kauri couldn't understand that, it felt like he didn't understand a part of her. Rose decided she wasn't going to bring it up first. "I bet working with ice cream is fun." Rose said with a smile. "Adulthood is... weird. I still kind of feel like a student on break." She shrugged.

 

[Kauri Morales-Tipene]

Kauri was relieved when Rose responded more casually, though he still felt the strange, stilted tone that had never infected their conversations before. "Oh, yeah, it's great. Selling lollies must be pretty fun too, though." He smiled, suddenly realising he was standing a lot further away from Rose than he usually was, but at the same time not feeling as though it would be right to close that distance. "That makes sense, I kind of imagined it'd feel like that. It probably won't feel real until we all go back to school and you don't..." He commented, coming up empty on anything else to say once again.