Exploring

[Kaleb Styx]

Kaleb managed to get his brother, Jaken, to share a dorm with him. Jaken obviously wasn't himself, as he had not spoken much since his return to the castle. Kaleb put on his Slytherin robes, loving the house he was in. The majority of the family was in Slytherin anyhow. Well, the ones that attended Hogwarts. Of course, there was an outcast, Austin, who was a Ravenclaw. Eh, that wasn't really that bad, was it? Kaleb combed his hair, going through the thoughts. He sprayed himself with Jaken's body cologne, which was not strong at all.

He stared in the mirror, and smirked, "Wow, I look good today." Snickering, he exited the Slytherin house, and went to explore around the castle. Within moments, he found himself on the fourth floor. He walked along the halls, with a void expression. He did not need to act until he saw a pretty girl. Kaleb could almost roll his eyes at himself. Sure, girls clung to him like magnets when he was in his acting form. He was supposedly the nicest, kindest, most caring person around. At least, that is how he made himself to be half the time. When he wasn't acting, he could care less about other people. Only those worthy. Kaleb stared down the hallway, making sure not to sure into anyone. He stopped by a window, and gazed out, "Whoa..." He saw the quidditch pitch, where he saw himself a few years from now.

 

[Leia Evans]

Leia was sitting by herself outside her common room with a magazine in her lap. She wore a purple spaghetti strapped shirt and dark skinny jeans, occasionally brushing her dark hair away from her face as she read the magazine. To her magazines were boring, but every time she had gone to work with her mother just to be with her, that was the only thing Leia had to read so she'd grown used to it by now.

As Leia flipped the page she heard someone coming and assumed it was another one of her House mates however when she looked up she saw that he had his Slytherin robes on. Interesting for him to be all the way over here, Leia thought to herself, carefully watching him out of the corner of her eye. She had to admit he was rather good looking. When she heard him say 'Woah' she chuckled lightly before closing her magazine and deciding to introduce herself. Aside from Oscar and Emma, she hadn't made any friends yet and she needed to stop being so anti-social so she stood up and went over to him. "Hey," she said brightly, her voice clearly masking any nervousness she felt. "I'm Leia," she introduced herself with a flash of her signature smile.

 

[Kaleb Styx]

Kaleb wondered what position he would be best in. Beater? Not chaser, definitely not that. Seeker? No, that was too popular. Keeper? Maybe. Although he enjoyed the thought of handling a bat and whacking that bludger around violently. He was imagining himself playing quidditch, determining to be the best Styx. Better than his brother, and now that was competition. He was interrupted by the common 'hey'. His blue-gray eyes landed upon a girl, one without her school uniform. It was hard to tell what house she was in. However, he did think that the girl was rather cute.

He repeated the name in his mind, so he could remember it. He introduced himself, his acting already in effect, "I'm Kaleb." He gave her one of his own smiles, one that was gentle and alluring. Kaleb took his eyes off her for a moment, and glanced at the Quidditch pitch once more. He turned his gaze to Leia and inquired casually, "What brings you out here, Leia?" He purposely used her name, for he had to make sure he even had it right. It sounded right. Though his Bulgarian accent probably made it sound a little off.

 

[Leia Evans]

Leia wasn't one to usually swoon over any guy but she was finding herself feeling rather giddy all of a sudden. She took that as a sign that she had to keep her guard up around the boy, Kaleb, but smiled nonetheless, "Kaleb," she repeated his name with a nod of her head. When he asked what brought her out here, Leia responded with, "Just getting away from my common room, it can get kind of loud sometimes." She shrugged her shoulders but chuckled lightly at her response, it was true after all. "So, what brings you up here, far away from your common room?" she said with a smile, noting his Slytherin robes.

 

[Kaleb Styx]

Kaleb raised an eyebrow a bit. "I take it that you are in Hufflepuff." He completely masked his disgust for the house. He was almost chosen for it, thus, almost getting in the way of him being in Slytherin. Therefore, he hated it even more. "Just some of the people I saw being sorted in there looked like the loud type. That's all." He shrugged lazily. Kaleb bit his lip slightly, wondering himself. He replied honestly, "I got bored. My brother wasn't really being himself, so I left the Slytherin house itself. And I don't really want to hang out my cousin and her friends." He laughed softly. Though he didn't like his acting self, he still enjoyed what came from it in the end. And that, is the funnest part of the game.

 

[Leia Evans]

Leia nodded her head once as she proudly said, "That is correct," when he guessed that she was in Hufflepuff. She refrained from rolling her eyes at his statement saying that the people he saw sorted into her house looked like the loud type and instead kept a calm smile on her face. She was used to smiling sweetly even when she was feeling mean or sad, it was one of the good things that came from being constantly photographed in New York. "I can say the same for your house," she said, her musical voice instantly sugarcoating an insult. Leia smiled at him brightly, thinking she could play along too, though she was clearly unaware of how good this guy was at playing the game.

 

[Kaleb Styx]

Kaleb’s mind smirked. He really liked this girl already, but by looking at her, and hearing her speak. Especially when she sugarcoated the insult. Kaleb pretended to sound offended, though he made it look as fake as he possibly could, even if then the acting was good. Kaleb folded his arms across his chest, and raised an eyebrow, “Surely my house isn’t all that bad. I mean, there are some people there even I cannot admit to liking because it would make me a liar, and that is something I am not about.” His eyes revealed that he was telling the truth. Well, the truth was masked so perfectly, it would be hard for even his family to see through his act. Kaleb unfolded his arms, and shrugged lightly, “Eh, houses don’t mean anything to me anyway. It is all about the personality in a person, right?” Ha, said just like a gentleman. He smirked once more in his mind, not faltering the charming smile he had upon his lips.

 

[Leia Evans]

Leia gave out a little giggle when he acted offended. "What, you can dish it but you can't take it?" she teased in her musical voice. Even if his earlier comment had been an actual insult to her, Leia didn't care. She was born with tough skin, not that the insult even bothered her. When he said he wasn't a liar Leia looked into his eyes, as if to catch him in the lie, though she couldn't help but naively believe him. She smiled brightly when he said houses didn't mean anything to him and she replied, "I agree." She laughed nervously for some reason and took one small step back away from him. Leia's common sense was telling her to stay away but there was something different in the air, was it a sense of danger? that kept her rooted to the spot talking to Kaleb.

 

[Kaleb Styx]

Kaleb gave her a mischievous look, just adding to how handsome his appearance was. He informed, “Trust me, I can handle a lot more than a simple insult.” He laughed a bit, knowing that he was fooling the girl with his act. It was a pretty neat act he was pulling off. Kaleb actually liked being this character. He watched out of amusement, though undetectable, as she stared into his eyes. Would she see through it? The probability of that was slim. Kaleb shrugged lightly, “Eh, so much hatred for houses. I don’t see why. My cousin, who is a Slytherin this year too, hates any house that isn’t her own. Or she might just hate anyone she comes across.” Kaleb thought for a moment. Though he was rambling slightly, he chose to stray off that topic, “Well, do you like Quidditch?” He motioned with his head toward the Quidditch pitch out the window. He adored it greatly.

 

[Leia Evans]

Leia bit her lip as if to stop herself from swooning when he looked at her mischievously. What was that Leia?! she questioned herself, since when did she swoon over someone? Suddenly it was as if she had an Angel and Devil on her shoulder, bickering with each other. Get a grip on yourself this guy's a total player, the Angel told her bluntly. No way! Look at how cute he is! And he doesn't seem like he's lying, the Devil said in a dreamy like voice. It seemed her Angel and Devil had a sort of opposite personality but still told her what they were supposed to tell her. "You're only eleven Leia, boys shouldn't matter to you! the Angel tried to convince her.

Before the Devil could respond, Leia heard Kaleb talking again so she refocused her attention on him instead of the stupid thoughts running through her mind. "I don't understand why people waste so much of their time hating people," she said while shaking her head as if in disappointment though there was a simple smile on her face. If someone didn't like her or vice versa, she'd simply ignore them. When he brought up Quidditch Leia laughed a little, it seemed like it was a guy's favorite topic. "I like watching it mostly, I'm not very good," she said with a small smile. "Though it doesn't mean I don't like flying," she decided to add. Flying for leisure was better than flying in a complicated game, she thought so, but that was only because she didn't know how to play Quidditch very well.

 

[Kaleb Styx]

Kaleb smirked in his mind, seeing this reaction many a times in his life. Though, none of these thoughts appeared on his face. He liked this girl, for her beauty and ignorance to what he was doing to her. His act… flawless. He leaned against the wall next to the window seal. Kaleb’s eyes took on a charming effect, acting like he was agreeing with her in the topic. “Hate. Such a wasteful thing. I hate it when people live off of hate.” Kaleb knew all about hate, yes. Coming from a family of his, who wouldn’t know? Kailie wouldn’t but that is because she is so young. And Kaleb was overly protective of her, acting or no. Kaleb raised an eyebrow, hearing Leia’s response, “Well, you don’t like playing it? Wow, that is a first I’ve heard. I adore playing Quidditch, but won’t try out for the team until next year.” Kaleb laughed, and added, “Oh, flying is one of the greatest feelings ever.” Kaleb loved to fly, but hasn’t in a long time. Mainly because he wasn’t allowed to at the moment.

 

[Leia Evans]

Leia smiled brightly at Kaleb, feeling more sucked into him by the minute. Still, she kept her distance as if doing so would keep her aware of what he was doing to her, but something about him made her common sense go out the window. She looked out the window he was leaning by, making sure not to let her chocolate colored eyes stray over to his figure and laughed when he said that was the first time he'd heard someone say they didn't like playing Quidditch. "It's not that I don't like it, it's just that I'm an amateur at it so I'd like to get better before I go out there and make a fool of myself," she motioned towards the Pitch. "Why won't you try out until next year?" she asked curiously, forgetting that she told herself not to look at him, and did anyway.

 

[Kaleb Styx]

Kaleb continued to stare at the pitch, dreaming of when he would be playing quidditch. His blue-gray eyes shone more prominent in color once the sunlight hit them. Unless in the light, his looked either gray or blue, depending on his mood really, they were right in-between. Kaleb listened to her laugh, and smiled once more as well. Although he laughed when she explained herself. "I'm sure flying classes will help you get better. Trust me, learning to play is almost as great as learning to really fly." Kaleb turned his gaze to her, almost at the same moment she did. Kaleb shrugged lightly, "Well, my brother plays as the Slytherin Keeper right now, and he is in his seventh year. I want to be able to play without him showing me up. Sibling rivalry comes naturally between the Styx's. And I want to get better at flying before I really try out. Helps my chances on making the team." He smiled charmingly. He rarely spoke the truth while acting, but he actually did this time. Well, it would help on getting this girl to do his bidding.

 

[Leia Evans]

Leia naturally smiled as soon as Kaleb looked away from the Pitch through the window, and right at her. She rolled her eyes playfully at him as she said, "It's not the flying that I'm not good at, it's the Quidditch. Do they teach Quidditch here?" she asked with an eyebrow raised in curiosity. That would be really awesome for her if they did, she was rather sporty, though sometimes her appearance might not have said so. Leia was glad that she was now free from her mother so she didn't have to wear all this fancy clothes and she could just wear her torn up jeans and a band t-shirt like she preferred.

She laughed lightly when Kaleb explained that he wouldn't try out until next year because of his older brother, sibling rivalry, she'd never experienced that. "Well good luck to you then," she said with a flirty grin though she quickly coughed and turned it into a small smile. A flirty grin? Where was that coming from? "Who knows, maybe I'll get good enough to think I have a shot for the Hufflepuff team," she added with a shrug, hoping that some flying lessons would do her good.

 

[Kaleb Styx]

Kaleb shrugged lightly, “They might. As if I would know though, right? I haven’t been here longer than yourself.” Kaleb gave the girl, Leia, a charming smile once more. He was happy that his acting was still holding up well. His hair moved slightly when he shifted his weight onto the opposite leg. His head cocked slightly to the side, as he stared at her in false admiration. Though through his mask, it seemed real. Kaleb beamed, “Thanks! Though I wasn’t really expecting a compliment from someone like yourself. I mean, look at our houses? And once you do get good enough, we might end up playing against each other. Imagine that.” Kaleb wondered if she ever would be in the Hufflepuff Team. And if so, would he make it? He had no doubts in his mind.

 

[Leia Evans]

Leia laughed when he said he wasn't expecting a compliment from someone like herself. "And why not?" she asked with an eyebrow raised. "I am a Hufflepuff after all, aren't we supposed to be nothing but nice with sunshine and rainbows, no matter what House you're from?" she said with a playful smirk. She didn't mind those stereotypes about Hufflepuff, it was the pushover or "leftover" ones that really irritated her, and she hadn't even been in the House for that long. When he said that maybe they'd be playing against each other she smirked again and said, "I guess I better work on my Quidditch skills then," indicating that she couldn't wait to beat him, or really just Slytherin at a Quidditch game. Half of her was just joking around, she didn't think she'd actually try out for the team, not this year at least, perhaps next year like he was doing; but the other half of her was thinking competitively like she often did when it came to sports and she was beginning to think that learning the ropes of Quidditch would be a good thing after all, not to mention just plain fun.

 

[Kaleb Styx]

Kaleb frowned for a moment in thought, before finally laughing at himself, "Ah, you are right. You guys are nothing but sunshine and rainbows." He added teasing in his voice. The tone was light and gentle. Of course, he made it that way too. Kaleb was amazed on how smooth this was going. He wondered if he should add in something else that would definitely make it to where she would be his toy, and well, no one else would suspect anything. He debated in his mind on what he was going to do. Kaleb took a small step toward her, just to lessen the distance just a tad bit. He made look like he was just adjusting his posture once more, and all in while, admiring the beauty this girl had. He put his hand upon his chin, appearing like he was in thought, and smirked slightly, playfully, "Sounds like a challenge to me. Are you a competitive girl?" Whether he was acting or no, he always fancied competitive females. They were the funnest, not only to mess with, but just to be around all together.

 

[Leia Evans]

Leia playfully rolled her eyes as Kaleb agreed with her on the obvious stereotype of Hufflepuff but laughed anyway. She watched as he adjusted his posture once again and she swore he just got a bit closer to her, but she shook it off, thinking she was just being over-analytical about nothing. Besides, even if she wanted to, she didn't retreat away.

Leia smirked smugly when he asked if she was a competitive girl and replied with a simple, "Yup." She loved playing sports and since girls rarely ever played sports, Leia was used to competing against boys. She smirked before saying, "Let's just say this Hufflepuff isn't always all sunshine and rainbows." Her tone of voice was smooth and musical and for a while it sounded cool, as if she did this a lot, talking to boys and dare she say, flirt? But her small bit of laughter afterward broke her 'cool' but she simply smiled up at him.

 

[Kaleb Styx]

Kaleb's eyes lit up, another technique he learned recently through his acting skills, with excitement. Who would have guessed that she was a competitive girl? Kaleb thought that this would be even more fun than the usual girl, and well, it definitely caught to his interest. "Ah, that is just excellent then." He used his velvety tone voice this time, where it lowered to almost a whisper. Kaleb wondered if this girl was flirting with him, but he had it happen to him a lot, he failed to notice anyway. Not like he cared. All he wanted was hidden, and there was no possible way this girl could find out about his intentions unless Brodie, Carmen, or Aleyha spilled their guts. Which is something he doubted. "Sunshine and rainbows on the outside, and yet, a hidden passion for competing. I like that. Competitive girls are always great to be around." He smiled brilliantly. Perhaps even a hint of flirtatiousness to it.

 

[Leia Evans]

Leia flashed her signature smile at him when he said competitive girls were always great to be around. She couldn't help but feel elated that he'd said that but played it cool like her mother did when receiving compliments. "That's right," she replied with a playful smirk on her face. Leia was mentally doing all she could not to blush or swoon so she just twirled her dark long hair in her hands. "I hope you're not a sore loser," she teased him playfully. She was doing a lot of trash talking for someone who didn't think they knew Quidditch very well but it was all in good fun.

[Sorry lame. ]

 

[Kaleb Styx]

Kaleb had to admit, Leia had a great smile. Though now wasn't the time to compliment on her looks just yet. He would have to wait until he was sure she liked in, or rather, crushed on him, before he would really lure her in. Kaleb figured that he would be right. He hated it when he was wrong. What boy didn't? Well, not a boy like him, that's for sure. Kaleb shook his head and smirked teasingly, "Me? A sore loser? Ha, that is like saying that I love to read. I'm not a sore loser and I sure don't read much." Kaleb moved his hair out of his eyes once more. It kept falling, and it was getting to him slightly. Kaleb added, the smirk still remaining, "I just hope that you aren't a sore loser either. I don't think I can handle someone crying over losing." Kaleb laughed, but in his acting form, he would 'feel bad' for seeing someone cry. But really, it would get on his nerves.

 

[Leia Evans]

Leia actually subconsciously got closer to Kaleb, by means of adjusting her position, after he had smirked at her. Her subconscious was sending her brain warning signals but she was completely oblivious to the extremely cute boy standing right in front of her, now moving his hair out of his eyes. Leia giggled but kept the smirk on her face as she replied, "Don't worry, you won't have to deal with crying over losing - well at least I mean I won't cry when you lose, I can't say the same for yourself," she concluded with a grin. Poor Leia actually thought she could keep up with the boy's game but in reality she had no clue what she was getting herself into.

 

[Kaleb Styx]

Kaleb glanced down at the space between them getting smaller and smaller it would seem. However, Kaleb wasn’t the one to back away from a nice treat when he saw the chance. Kaleb was like a master of this game. Hardly anyone that he knew of could withstand his charms for long, and knew most of the tricks. Like all, he had a weakness, and he assumed that it would be his best friend, Carmen. He felt some sort of need and want for her, and he just couldn’t act in front of her. He was himself. Right now, he was someone else, perfectly molded to fit a dream boy. Kaleb smirked only added more to his features, “Ha, I would love to see myself cry if I ever got beaten by anything. I am extremely competitive. But I won’t harm anyone to win though.” Though that was a very nice lie, though should be convincing enough. Truth be told, he had not needed to harm anyone to win at anything…yet.

 

[Leia Evans]

Leia couldn't wipe the grin that was on her face right now. What was it about this boy that she'd only just met that made her smile like a fool, she'd never met anyone who could do that to her. "Such a gentleman," she said playfully when he said he'd never harm anyone to win. The words came out playfully, as if she didn't believe him, but she really was impressed by his seemingly sensitivity. She giggled and said, "Well I think it's safe to say we're both very competitive, but neither of us will try out for the team until next year - so how else can I prove I'm better than you?" she asked with a sly smirk on her face, though her innocence masked her deviousness.

 

[Kaleb Styx]

Kaleb could only smile when she said that he was a gentleman. Even in a playful tone, he knew that if she did not believe him, it would be the truth. Perhaps his outer exterior was, but the inner Styx was indeed like the river in the Underworld. Void of any warmth. Why would Death and suffering bring out anything warm anyway? Kaleb continued smiling, in a flirtatious demeanor. "Raised as one, naturally." That was the truth, he was raised to be one, but did he really abide by those rules? Why no. Kaleb thought for a moment, and shrugged lightly, "Hm, good point. I'm not up for grades, but what else can we do? Fly on a broomstick and see who is better that way?" Kaleb wondered what they could do to compete.