Closed Hiding Away

[Casper Kinnek]

There were a lot of things that Casper wasn't good at. Lying was one of them. Ever since the incident with Kiara at the club meeting, Casper had been hiding from Lysander. Kiara had undoubtedly told Lysander way too much. Cas didn't know how to counter that, so he had just taken to hiding in the gardens. He had a nice spot that was tucked away from the rest of the garden. He'd used it to hide away from the school for most of his time here. He was resting under the tree, hidden and behind several bushes. He had his sketchbook out, working on a new forest landscape. It was just a concept for now. He liked the idea of a stone bridge, maybe crumbling. Perhaps an old castle crumbling through the trees? He was lost in thought, sifting through ideas and tapping his pencil against the paper.

 

[Lysander Summers]

After the club event, Lysander couldn't help but stop to admire the work that had been done to the Wild Patch any time he visited to help maintain the garden. It had been a fun project, the awkwardness that was Kiara's matchmaking attempt aside, and he was quite proud of the product the two clubs had achieved. He traced his secateurs along the greenhouses castle-wall facade on his way past. A lot of work had been done to the greenhouse, but there was always more work to be done in the rest of the garden. A few of the spots had become overgrown and weed-riddled, and Lysander wanted to get to clearing them out before some gnomes moved in and overran the place. He could hear them, rustling about in the bushes. He waded his way through some of the underbrush and pushed aside a stray branch, surprised when he found he'd stumbled across Casper, hiding in the garden and drawing away. It was a familiar sight, so typical of the Hufflepuff to be sketching something out. He hadn't seen much of him after the event. Part of him assumed that perhaps it was because they no longer had a project to work on together. Another part couldn't help but think back to what Kiara had said. "Well, you aren't a gnome." He said lightly, offering the boy a smile. Sometimes he thought Casper spent more time in the Wild Patch than his own club, but Lysander wasn't about to complain.​

 

[Casper Kinnek]

Cas looked up, startled, and immediately felt his face flush as Lysander appeared out of nowhere. "And you're the only person to ever find my hiding spot," he countered, pulling his knees up a little closer to himself automatically. He lowered his eyes to his paper, scrambling to find some semblance of normalcy at the unexpected intrusion. "I- er- um- what brings you out here?" He inquired, thinking it sounded normal, and hoped it wasn't obvious that he was blushing or that his voice was just a touch higher than it usually was.

 

[Lysander Summers]

Lysander raised his eyebrows, feeling like he'd stumbled into some big secret. He hadn't checked this spot often, but thinking about it, he thought he might have come across a stray pencil or two in the bushes when he'd gone to weed the area. "Well...the Wild Patch helps to maintain all of the gardens, and I'm the leader of the Wild Patch, so I'm maintaining the garden." He said, giving the air two snips with his secateurs for effect. He sunk to his knees in a patch of grass and shuffled from side to side, trying to dislodge a twig he'd knelt on. "So, uh. What are you hiding from?" He asked. Was this where he'd been huddled up most of the time? It was strange to think about how many times Casper might have been here while he was nearby, tucked away in a secluded part of the gardens.​

 

[Casper Kinnek]

Casper was trying to keep his focus on his sketchbook, his jeans, his fingers, basically anything and everything that wasn't Lysander. "Oh, right, yeah," He replied weakly. He wasn't prepared for the next question, and answered honestly without meaning to. "Kiara," he blurted, then winced. "Crowds. People. Just the busyness of the castle," He offered quickly, hoping it wouldn't bring Lysander's attention to why Cas was hiding from his co-leader. Casper knew already he couldn't lie to Kiara, and he most likely couldn't lie to Lysander either. He briefly remembered the newspaper article when he'd asked for advice, but pushed it aside. He couldn't tell Lysander how he felt. Cas knew how that would go. He would rather avoid the rejection.

 

[Lysander Summers]

Lysander couldn't help but wonder if he'd offended Casper, with the way he avoided looking at him. He racked his brain trying to figure out how, but came up with nothing. Nothing intentional, anyway. He quirked a brow at the mention of Kiara, and how quickly the other boy breezed past it. Just how right had she been? Or was this something else entirely? "Crowds, people, Kiara." he repeated, nodding his understanding. "I don't blame you, Kiara can be a lot." Which was saying something. Emma could be a lot, too, but Kiara had a habit of probing in a way that left his brain frazzled. "Did she...do something to upset you? Or is this about what she said. You know, during our event." Lysander asked, doing some probing of his own. The two of them lead a craft club together, so he could only imagine they spoke about a lot of things. While it was at the back of his mind, he didn't want to jump to the conclusion that it related to what she'd said in the wild patch, or what that meant, but it had also been the last time he'd really seen Cas. He'd scurried off quickly afterwards. A bit too quickly.​

 

[Casper Kinnek]

Casper tried to focus on the first comment about Kiara. "She really can be, huh? Have you ever met her boyfriend? He's so quiet and collected, it's like he just absorbs all her chaos," He chuckled. "But then her best friend, Jordie Harris, is just as wild as she is, when they're together. It's like they feed into each other," Cas shuddered, remembering the pairing when Jordie had stopped by to see Kiara while she and Cas were working on club things one day.

But there was only so much sidestepping Cas could do. He felt his entire face heat up when Lysander asked another question. "No!" He tried immediately, but his voice cracked and went up two more octaves. He groaned, hating how horrible he was at lying. He buried his face in his hands a moment before running both hands through his hair. "I'm sorry," he blurted, still unable to look at Lysander. "I swear, I didn't- I knew she would- I never said-" He groaned again, before swallowing nervously. "I'm sorry, it doesn't matter, I've never thought... I'm sorry," he stammered out. It was the closest to a confession he'd ever gotten, at least, while he still had feelings. "It'll go away, I didn't- I know you won't- I'm sorry," he apologized again, hiding his face in his hands. In the back of his mind he was already sure he had just insured that Lysander would hate him, be grossed out, would never speak to him again.

 

[Lysander Summers]

Lysander couldn't help but chuckle at Casper's description of Arthur. "He's my dormmate." He nodded. They'd shared sleeping quarters for six years, but Arthurian had always seemed quiet, and he felt like he'd never really gotten to know him outside of that. He'd been surprised to see someone like him dating someone like Kiara, but with the way Casper described it, it made sense. Some people just worked out like that. He nodded again at the mention of Jordie, semi-certain that was the boy he'd seen his dad tutoring whenever he swung by the officer to say hello.

But that was all besides the point. The point was that Casper was feeling some kind of way. It all kind of came spewing out in an almost unintelligible rambling, and Lysander had to bite the inside of his lip to keep himself from laughing. It was kind of cute? He'd had a difficult time telling when someone was into him in the past, and it had taken a long time to figure out here, too. He wasn't sure he would have if Kiara hadn't opened her mouth. He'd been blind to the fact that his friendship with Casper might have been more for one, or both of them. "Ahuh." He said finally. "Merlin, is it that bad being totally in love with me?" He teased lightly, unable to hold back the amused chuckles. Casper was over here acting like it was the worst thing that could happen to someone. Lysander didn't think he was that bad.​

 

[Casper Kinnek]

Casper hadn't thought he could blush any deeper, but Lysander's words had him absolutely burning. "I didn't- I don't- I mean-" Casper sputtered, hugging his knees tighter to his chest. He let out a slow sigh, turning his head away and letting his hair fall to cover his eyes. "It's... it's me." He admitted gently. "You... you're perfect. Captain of the Quidditch team. King of Flowers. You're popular, charming, handsome. And me?" Casper scowled. "I'm just some paint covered loser trailing around after Kiara and pretending I know what I'm doing,"

Casper could feel the tears welling up in his eyes. He quickly gathered up his things and stood. "I won't... its stupid of me to... I know I'm not..." Cas sighed, hugging his sketchbook to his chest. "I won't bother you anymore," he promised, starting to walk away and trying to make a quick escape.

 

[Lysander Summers]

Lysander knew he probably shouldn't have been pushing, but he was enjoying how much Casper's face was gradually resembling a tomato. Casper wasn't denying that he didn't feel that way, and it left an almost giddy feeling in Lysander's chest. He nodded along with the other boys long description of all the things Lysander was, greatly enjoying being showered in so many successive compliments. "Yep. I am all of those things." He agreed with a sense of faux-smugness to conceal his actual smugness. How had it taken this long to catch on? He could only enjoy the feeling briefly, before the tone shifted. Lysander had thought the whole situation was light-hearted. Endearing. It had been cute to see someone get so flustered over him.

His grin fell when Casper referred to himself as a loser, noting how glassy his eyes had started to look. Maybe teasing him about it to loosen the tension hadn't been the best thing to do. He didn't know. This was all new territory to navigate. Feelings were complicated. Relationships were complicated. He'd seen it in his friends, as they all started dating, and had to wonder if maybe it was why he'd avoided getting involved with anyone so far. It was a lot of work. Casper wasn't the first person to like him, but, he was the first person to like him who Lysander had also genuinely enjoyed spending time with. Casper had supported him a lot throughout the year, almost more than his other friends. He'd cared more about what he was doing, whether it was a Quidditch match, or competing in duelling. He'd even painted for him, and no one else had ever put that amount of effort in to a gift. He enjoyed the attention and the affection- that's what it was, wasn't it? They'd danced, they'd flirted, and he hadn't cottoned on to what was happening.

"Wait." Lysander interrupted, jumping to his feet and reaching out to try and take hold of Casper's sleeve. "You can't say those things and then just run off, are you kidding?" He started. "You aren't some loser. You're so talented Cas, you can do so many things I could never do. Have you seen me with a paintbrush? Kiara needs you just as much as you need her. You wouldn't be in charge of the club if you weren't good enough for it. And you aren't bothering me, at all. I like hanging out with you. A lot. Like, a lot-a lot." The way that Kiara had talked about it, it was almost like they'd been dating. But if it was love, it just hadn't been as magical an experience as Lysander had been lead to believe it was in the fairytales he'd read. Falling in love and having feelings for someone, it had always been described as this special thing whenever anyone talked about it, they always seemed to know the moment it happened. What he had with Casper had sort of felt...normal. Different than with his other friends, dynamically, but still normal. But he had no reference, no idea how else it was supposed to feel. What he did know is that he found him attractive, and Casper definitely had feelings for him. Maybe that was enough to go on? Or maybe he simply needed more of a push, a way to tell if the sparks were there. Lysander didn't give it much more thought, in the moment he needed to do something. He took a slight breath and leaned forward to plant his lips against Casper's, wondering if it would be enough to know.​

 

[Casper Kinnek]

Casper stopped as Lysander grabbed his sleeve. He turned halfway towards Lysander, hugging his sketchbook close and not looking at the other boy. Cas wasn't sure what to say, really. At first, it just sounded like the usual platitudes that Linden would give him, and he was half writing it off as another usual attempt to turn him down gently. He was almost expecting that. What he wasn't expecting, however, was the way Lysander emphasized how he liked hanging out with him.

Cas was about to start stuttering out another apology. He was completely short-circuited, however, when Lysander leaned in and kissed him. Cas' breath caught and he froze, completely caught off guard. Before he could properly react, Lysander had pulled back again. Cas stood there for several more moments, staring wide eyed at the other boy. His sketchbook slipped from his arm and hit the ground, pages scattering over the grass. His sketchbook bouncing off his foot startled him enough to break him out of his trance a bit. His face turned bright red and his heart rate jumped drastically. Cas tensed, blinking rapidly and drawing in a deep breath. "You.... you just.... kissed me," He squeaked, still in a slight bit of shock.

 

[Lysander Summers]

This wasn't the first time Lysander had kissed another guy, though it was the first time he hadn't been kissed back by one. It had been a very different experience kissing Lars, and Kaster. Particularly Kaster, but he was a veela, and it'd taken him a while to get the boy out of his head after that night. In both cases, there'd been no real attachment behind the kiss, but they'd been reciprocative. Casper was like a deer caught in headlights. Lysander might as well have kissed a brick wall, or the golden eel. There'd been no spark. "Yeah, uh. You didn't kiss me back." He responded, awkwardly scratching at the back of his head. Oof. "Did I read those signals wrong? I thought you were into me." Merlin, he'd felt so confident in thinking Casper was head over heels for him, that they might have had a thing going on that he'd been oblivious to. The Hufflepuff had just said all those nice things about how handsome and charming and perfect he was, yet he'd literally just been trying to run away from him. He probably should have asked first, right? "It doesn't matter, sorry. You were going. I should uh, leave you to that. Sorry about your drawings and stuff." He said, taking some steps back and trying to laugh it off with an awkward chuckle.​

 

[Casper Kinnek]

Casper swallowed nervously, dropping down to pick up his sketchbook and gather the scattered pages. "I- I know- I- I'm sorry, I-" Casper stuttered, dropping his pages again and having to pick them back up. "I was just... surprised, that's all," He admitted gently, peeking up to Lysander through his hair. "I've... never kissed anyone, I didn't know you were going to- you pulled away before I- it happened so fast-" Cas was rambling, standing again with his sketchbook held tightly to his chest.

His heart was fluttering madly. He was mortified. He knew this was a bad idea. Lysander was never going to like him. When the other boy basically dismissed him, Cas turned and fled, not wanting Lysander to see him cry. Cas felt awful. He hadn't embarrassed himself this badly since the yule ball date he'd had with Lucas.