freestyle fun

[Benjamin Chase]

It was 10 o'clock PM and Valentine's Day and Benjamin could not believe he was sitting on the child's swing, just gently moving himself as he thought about life in general. To be honest he had been a tired man recently, for all the work and training he received from his boss (his father, specifically) was mentally stimulating and Benjamin was almost sure he wanted to take a 10 day leave from the office. Since his father started to groom him to become the next one to manage the architectural business they had, Benjamin never stopped moving his feet. He had to go to places and look at the different structures of buildings, towers, statues and analyze on what made them so special. He had been all over Europe, almost half of Asia and recently, he had begun to explore Africa as well. It was an exciting process but it did not erase the fact that there was little to no room for leisure these days. Except for a while ago, wherein he roamed around muggle New Zealand for the entire day to study several structures and what made them sturdy and all. A little after 8 o'clock PM, he found himself nearby a muggle club where people were coming in and out. The night was still young, but there were already people who had pissed themselves. "Must be a Valentine's day tradition for the muggles too," Benjamin had mused. Those who were single obviously needed entertainment so Benjamin watched from afar until someone had interrupted him people watching. He was a young, muggle man just like Benjamin and he started to blab about drunk texting his ex for the entire evening. What the hell did 'texting' even mean? As a pureblood with no proper exposure to muggle culture, he had no clue. The man even brought out his phone and shoved it in front of Benjamin's face for him to read the conversation. It was truly f*cked up, because all Benjamin could read was gibberish. He knew that was his cue to leave, so he had slapped the man in the back the good old fashioned way, before looking for a spot to apparate with no witnesses.

So here he was, contemplating on everything. Benjamin kicked the dirt on the ground and whilst he had his elbows on his thighs and his back slouched, he sported an expression of tiredness. Ben sighed heavily and continued to gently swing himself. The park was rather empty, unless there were people lurking (like the kind that were a couple). Benjamin felt the air held loneliness and right now, he was feeling the same thing too. He thought of conjuring a smoke, but that'd be inappropriate to do in a children's park. And so instead he flourished his wand and shot some random spells at the unknown darkness ahead since he was pretty sure there was nobody there. Anyway, wouldn't it be fun to see a couple come out the darkness with legit boils in their faces?
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[Athena Zhefarovich]

Athena had come to know Takarokaro park quite well over the past few months. It was funny that she’d had numerous opportunities to explore it when she’d been a student and resided much closer to the park, but she’d never taken advantage. Perhaps it was because she was only allowed to visit it during the day back then and with so many students wandering inside, the place had held little interest to the girl. Now, she visited the park most often at night so that she could set up in a small clearing and gaze at the stars. At night, the park was usually pretty empty aside from the other stargazers and the random creeps that skulked in the trees. Thankfully, she’d never had any incidents in the park. It had proven itself to be a nice little retreat from the day-to-day stresses that Athena dealt with. The blonde sighed as she walked towards the park and made a sharp left, following the path that lay before her, leading right to the park. She was uncharacteristically dressed down for the day, looking very much like a person who was about to attempt a heist in her all black ensemble. Her hair, which was tucked into a ponytail, was the only bright spot. With her hands in her pocket, Athena felt almost naked without her telescope strapped onto her back. She’d been forced to leave it behind at a specialty shop after having dropped it earlier that morning. The accident had soured her mood for the entire day, which was why she had shown up at the park for this walk. She figured that the fresh air and the lack of people would help set her mood right once more.

It took a few moments for the woman to take notice of the couples walking past her and to realize what day it was. Valentine’s Day, she thought with disdain. It reminded her, rather painfully, of the break up that she’d endured. With a sigh, the girl continued forward, glad to see that the path in the park was free of any couples. Lost in thought, she continued forward, mulling over her life and the many paths she’d taken. If she’d been paying more attention, it was possible that Athena would have noticed just how close she came to being hit by several spells. By the time, she did realize that someone was shooting spells, it was too late. Slipping on a piece of ice that had magically appeared on the ground before her, Athena let out a sharp yelp as her legs flew into the air and she landed hard on her back, the breath knocked out of her as her wand skittered away into the bushes. She remained on the ground for a few seconds, wondering what on earth had happened and taking mental stock of her body parts, wondering if she’d broken anything. Pushing up on her elbows, Athena rose to her knees as she struggled to get off the ice. She grumbled as she did so, cursing the person who had done this. It was obvious to her that someone had. New Zealand wasn’t exactly known for ice, and already the ice was melting, leaving her black jeans soggy. “When I get my hands on whoever did this…” she grumbled to herself.

 

[Benjamin Chase]

"...Sh*t." His ears picked up on a sharp yelp and Benjamin perked up with alarm. His pulse rate sped up a wee bit and his mind ran with the tons of possibilities behind that yelp. Was someone in danger because of him? Did he, out of nowhere, throw the Killing Curse at someone? He wanted to hear a groan or a scream of irritation but this was unexpected for. He stood up from where he was and stopped firing the random curses, jinxes and charms his mind subconsciously told him to perform. From what he remembered, his last spell to utter was something that made the victim's hair turn into the frizziest thing ever, courtesy of the cosmetic book his sister accidentally left in his room months ago. The sound of surprise certainly came from a female but from its tone and pitch he was not so sure if it was from a teenager or an older woman. He hoped it was the former, since he was sure as hell he could handle someone younger than him. Benjamin hurriedly went to the darkness that held the owner of the voice and realized, it was not so dark after all once he saw its owner's hair. It was silvery, blonde and... familiar. All too familiar, in fact.

She looked fine from afar but Benjamin sensed that there was something that caused her even the briefest pain. He approached her, a wrinkle creasing his forehead and held out a hand for her. "Miss, oh god, did you just slip?" He reached out to her, holding on to her elbow very gently, but not too tightly to let him know he was a helpful presence. She was tall for any woman and when Benjamin looked at her, his expression straightened and he blinked, thinking that perhaps in his loneliness, his mind had caused him to see Athena Zhefarovich right in front of him. He let go of her abruptly, surprised by the realization, and felt amusement and laughter stir up within him. "Athena? No way, is that really you? From all the people who has to play the damsel, it just had to be you huh," Ben uttered, his lips quirking as he looked at the blonde. It was Valentine's Day and Merlin's pants, was he fortunate enough to at least spend the remaining hours of the annual event with someone he could tease, mock and challenge without getting bored. Benjamin pretended to look surprised at the ice on the ground, which was melting, and looked back at those silvery orbs that was so used to matching his own green ones.

"Why the hell is there an ice over there?" It was rather medium sized - not too big but not too small to go unnoticed either. "Did your ex just send you that? How unfortunate for Valentine's Day," he mused, ruffling his hair casually to let her know that he was just doing some good old fashioned talk with her. Of course, Benjamin never meddled within her love life, because their "friendship" did not cover that domain. Of course, he was pretty sure that the ice came from one of his spells he fired about 2 minutes ago. For some reason though, Benjamin was pretty amused and happy to see her here, even if she was hurt by his secretly created ice cube.
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[Athena Zhefarovich]

Athena was busy trying to regain her footing, so it took until the man spoke, his voice deep and strong, before she realized that she truly wasn’t alone. She had already suspected as much because of the ice that she had slipped on. It wasn’t typical for the woman to accept help from anyone let alone a stranger, but she readily accepted the grip on her elbow that helped her to get to her feet. Her footwear, a pair of sneakers, were nowhere near what she would need to manage the ice well. As her silver eyes lifted to thank the person who was assisting her, a smile broke out across her face as she was confronted with the face of…a friend. At least, she believed him to be one, though by the way they spoke to each other it would be hard for a stranger to tell. Thoughts that he might be the culprit didn’t so much as pass through her mind. The pureblood boy seemed above such childish things, at least she thought so anyway. “I’ve been called many things, but never a damsel” she replied, a smirk of her own coming across her face. Athena was not really the type to play the pretty princess who couldn’t manage anything on her own. “Funny running into you here” she added as she moved cautiously off the ice so she could regain her wand. Listening to her former classmate as he spoke, Athena bent down to pick up her wand. “Although I know he is capable of many things, I don’t think that he would do something like this” she stated as she pointed her wand at her pants and cast a hot air charm. The warmth hit her jeans and they quickly began to dry up.

It didn’t take long for the charm to do its work, and Athena stowed her wand carefully back into her pocket. She was glad that it wasn’t broken. The last thing she wanted to have to do was buy a brand new wand. She’d grown quite attached to hers. The blonde walked back over to Benjamin and spoke, a smirk returning to her face. “What brings you here on Valentine’s Day? Surely, Benjamin Chase has some pureblood girl to romance with chocolate and flowers?” she teased, giving him a poke in the arm. Her silver eyes looked up at his green ones. That was new. Usually, she was looking down at him because of her height not because she thought herself better than him. Athena had a great deal of respect for Benjamin, a fellow Slytherin and, more importantly, a fellow pureblood.

 

[Benjamin Chase]

At once, memories of them two quickly flashed in his mind starting from when he was still an immature prick whose primary hobby was to bully first years. Thinking about it made him cringe but those memories with her were one of those where he could look back at with a funny smile on his lips. Athena was an annoyance before but now that they were older, Benjamin had seen their relationship flourish into a friendship of sorts and something that he would not want to let go no matter the circumstance. Seeing her here and knowing that he was the one sent her that accidental ice block made him snicker, so he did, but he quickly covered it with a cough. She was explaining something about her ex and that it was not his style to do something like sending an ice for her to stumble upon and silently, Benjamin agreed. He would bet that Athena's type was somewhat mature and calculating. Any form of revenge that he would send was going to be more than just an medium sized ice block her way. He wished not to see it and since it was Valentine's Day, he trusted that her ex would just leave Athena to be at peace for today.

Benjamin rolled his eyes at Athena, as soon as he absorbed that idea of him giving out his heart to some pureblood girl for Valentine's Day. He was tricky in the romance department since it was not his forte after all to being patient with women or even, trying to get a hint from all the clues they send his way. He was as dense as a rock there and Ben dared not to share that. He simply shook his head and shrugged. "No... Quite the opposite actually." He was not sad that he had no woman to give his love to or, a woman to spend his money on, but Benjamin sometimes wondered what it was like to fall in love. The type of women he always had his eyes on were somewhat younger than him and dating someone who was younger at this moment was not the best thing for the young man currently. "I just came from a muggle nightclub," Ben admitted with a sheepish smile. "A lot were drunk; most were shouting about their exes or being happily single. One even asked for my 'number.' What kind of 'number' did they mean?" Benjamin felt rather stupid, asking a simple question to Athena because of his ignorance of the muggle culture. Sure, he knew about their official and historical data but pop culture was entirely unfamiliar to him. "So no, I have no girl to romance nor do I plan to get one anytime soon. How about you? Nobody can resist your temper, so... Where's the lucky guy? Is he hiding here?" He teased and chuckled, a pleasant light shining in his own green eyes that were now on level with her silver ones.
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[Athena Zhefarovich]

Athena would have been more surprised about Ben's revelation had she not gone to school with him. She couldn't recall having seen him off with anyone in the school. Sure, he had a lot of female friends but no one that she thought he was romantically involved with. It wasn't that he wasn't good looking enough for a girlfriend. Even Athena could easily admit that he was a nice looking guy. Not that she planned on telling Benjamin that. It would just go to his head, and their friendship was still based on the two of them mutually teasing each other like brother and sister. Still, Athena didn't know what prevented him from finding a nice pureblood girl. As the conversation drifted, Athena's eyes widened. A muggle club? Athena didn't have to wonder too long about it as he quickly began to share his experience. The woman had never stepped into a muggle club, so the conversation was very one -sided. She finally had the opportunity to get involved, but she had little to offer. "Maybe number means age?"she suggested, wondering if it was some sort of slang. "Who knows what they mean?" she rolled her silver eyes.

As Ben turned the conversation about significant others on her, Athena pretended to look around towards the bushes. With a snort, she shook her head. "Yea, his invisibility cloak is so good I haven't been able to find him yet" she stated. It was a joke that she had with her sister sometimes. Athena shrugged her shoulders, only a little upset about being single on Valentine's Day. The twins were both in relationships with purebloods and happy in those relationships. Her dad even had a new girlfriend, one that she was still deciding if she liked. "Tell me more about these muggles" she stated, her interest clear in her words. Athena had never actually met a muggle before. She'd met muggle-borns, of course, but they were annoying because they unnecessarily thought highly of themselves for living in two worlds. The pureblood couldn't bring herself to believe that there was anything about that world that was better, though that didn't stop her curiosity. "What made you go to a muggle club anyway?"she asked, a spark of mischief lighting her eyes. "Looking for your next girlfriend? I won't judge...much" Athena mumbled as she cocked her head slightly to the side. He had to know she was lying about that last part. Of course she'd judge him if he dated a muggle.