Just Breathe

[Sapphire Michaels]

It didn't matter that she knew why, or that she wasn't mad at anyone. Sapphire was just frustrated. She'd fought with Diana, and now Onyx. She just wasn't having a good year so far. Even if Kira had helped her figure out what was in her own head, Sapphire just couldn't relax.

Maybe all she needed was some fresh air. With most students preoccupied with breakfast, Sapphire went out to the lake. She picked up a handful of pebbles from the shore and started skipping rocks.

The soft splashing of the rocks against the water relaxed her. She had skipped maybe six when she heard someone approach. "I'm not really in the mood, Onyx." She said without looking. Who else would be out here but her brother?

 

[Jacob Kingsley]

"Who's Onyx?" Jacob asked, only slightly interested. The lakefront had always been one of Jacob's favorite spots on the grounds, really most of the outdoor spots were, but it was never empty. He'd decided to try anyway, figuring he could probably do with the company even if he was shying away from most people.

Scooping up a rock, Jacob tried to remember the technique he'd been taught ages ago. He side armed it, hearing the soft plunks. Three. Not bad for not having done this in years. "He your boyfriend?" Jacob teased, a half grin appearing on his face as he ducked down to find another suitable skipping rock.

 

[Sapphire Michaels]

Sapph looked over, a bit relieved to see one of her friends. "Hey Jacob," she greeted. "You don't know?" She was a bit surprised. She thought everyone knew. "You're telling me that obnoxious **** hasn't tried flirting with you yet? Huh."

She skipped another rock, trying to figure out how to tell him. After a moment's consideration, she turned to Jacob and just laid it out. "Onyx is my somewhat clingy, overly friendly twin I just met last year who has no clue what a personal bubble is. You haven't met him yet? He's in your house; he transferred here this year."

 

[Jacob Kingsley]

Jacob shook his head, wondering if he should know. The name didn't ting any bells, but his cheeks reddened slightly as she made her next comment. Jacob didn't just go around telling people he was gay even if it wasn't a secret to him. Turning his head to skip another rock (a four!), he quickly ducked down again, taking his time in finding a suitable rock as she spoke. He now knew a lot about Onyx, perhaps too much and he realized it had to be the guy he'd noticed when he'd gone to bed the day before. Jacob was hardly in his room the first few days, not wanting to make small talk with anyone about his break. So he returned to the dorm just in time to hop into bed.

"Wait wait wait. So your parents named you Sapphire and Onyx? Tell me you have a sibling named Emerald" he teased before shrugging. "I'm a busy guy but I think Onyx must be the guy I saw the other night. Dark hair, bright eyes, doesn't smile much?" he asked.

 

[Sapphire Michaels]

Sapph smiled a bit. "Nah, no Emerald, but I do have a cousin apparently named Amethyst. Can't call her that though or she'll kick you. It's 'Amaya'. Her older sister has it better, she got stuck with 'Ember'."

Sapph sighed as the subject returned to her brother. "Onyx... he never stops smiling unless he thinks I'm mad. I'm not, really, just... frustrated." She threw her next rock and it splashed instead of skipped.

"I can't introduce him to my friends, he flirts with all of them. He never stops hanging on me. Hell, he tried to set me up on a date with a bloke I wanted to be friends with and now I'm pretty certain he thinks I'm just a stupid kid. I just don't know what to do with Onyx." She let out a frustrated sigh and ran a hand through her hair.

She flashed Jacob a wry smile. "Alright, alright, I'm done with the ranting. Sorry bout that, you snuck up at a bad time." She nudged him. "What've you been up to? I haven't seen you much since I ran you over last year." She teased before she resumed her task of skipping rocks across the lake.

 

[Jacob Kingsley]

Jacob let out a small chuckle before he tossed the next rock. His wrist movement had been off and it simply plunked into the water. The second year frowned at his attempt as he listened to Sapphire complain about her brother. Jacob almost told her that she should be grateful that he wanted to be around her. His own brother didn't and Jacob was still trying to deal with that.

"Oh, nothing much. Tried out for the quidditch team the other day and made it as a starter. I'm still a little shocked " he admitted. He knew he was going to make the team, but he had expected to be an alternate for a few years. Jacob was really thrilled about it though and very proud of himself. He'd worked hard over the break. "Do you want me to make friends with Onyx, keep him busy for you?" he joked as he tossed the rock he'd chosen in the air slightly before whipping it towards the lake.

 

[Sapphire Michaels]

Sapph let out a delighted laugh as Jacob told her he'd made the Quidditch team as a starter. "Hey, maybe I'll see you out there then," She told him, smiling wide. "I'm an alternate Beater for the Slytherin team." She held up her hand for a high five. "Maybe we can practice together sometime," She offered hopefully. She needed all the help she could get.

When he offered to keep her brother distracted, she let out a laugh. "You could try, if you think you could handle him." She teased. "Onyx is a lot of energy, and I have a hard time keeping up with him." She told Jacob before remembering he had family of his own. Truthfully it was hardly a subject she thought much about. It was only recently that it had become a recurring thing.

"I bet your mum's pleased that you made the team," She tried, deciding that it could either open up the opportunity for Jacob to talk about his family or Quidditch.

 

[Jacob Kingsley]

Jacob returned the high-five, leaving out the fact that he'd also tried out for a Beater position. She'd find out soon enough. Games were right around the corner, though he was great there was some time before he'd have to take the pitch. Even though Jacob was confident in his abilities, he was still nervous about playing in front of the whole school. He'd sent a letter off to his cousin, Link, asking for some advice. Link never looked nervous about anything and now he was playing professionally.

"I'm a Gryffindor. He's a Gryffindor. I think I'll be ok" Jacob shrugged, wondering how bad this Onyx guy could be. "Yea, she used to play on the school team too, so she's pretty excited" he said, ducking to find another rock. He remained down there, finding a good rock become increasingly more difficult as they continued. "Why didn't your brother start with you?" he asked, unable to contain his curiosity.

 

[Sapphire Michaels]

Sapph dropped a few of the rocks from her hand, trying to be inconspicuous about giving them to Jacob. "That's cool, what did your mom play as?" She asked, skipping another rock. Five.

"Onyx lives with Uncle James. We were separated when we were born and he stayed with the family." She told him, trying not to sound jealous. "We didn't even know about each other until a girl in my house thought he was me during the last break last year."

She pulled a few more rocks from her bag. "He was going to keep traveling with Uncle James, that's why he wasn't here last year. Uncle James's a photographer for a Muggle travel magazine, but Onyx decided to come here and hang out with me instead." She told Jacob before letting out a little chuckle.

"Onyx is a good guy, I guess." She ran a hand through her hair. "I'm just having a hard time adjusting."

 

[Jacob Kingsley]

"Beater" he replied, finally finding a rock he was happy with. Jacob was much too distracted awaiting Sapphire's reply to throw it though and he simply kept spinning it around with his fingers. When she finished, Jacob let out a low whistle. "Wow, and I thought my family had a wild history" he muttered. He couldn't imagine suddenly finding out he had an extra sibling. That would be something, though the Kingsleys certainly had enough going on at the moment.

"At least he wants to hang out with you" Jacob nodded. That had to make him a good guy. The second year now knew that not all siblings wanted to stay together. Ever since Aunt Kiera had died, he'd been learning that, first when Link dropped out and now with Noah leaving to another school. Jacob turned and tossed the rock. Five.

 

[Onyx Derouin]

Onyx had been out looking for Sapphire -he knew she was still mad about his attempts to set her up, but his heart had been in the right place. Even if she wouldn't tell him how it had gone, he figured it hadn't gone the way he had wanted. That's what drove him out to the edge of school grounds and back again to find her.

On his way back to the school, he spotted her by the lake. Grinning widely, he ran over, popping out through the trees near her. "Sapphy!" He cooed, throwing his arms around her. "I've been looking for you!" He told her cheerily, before finally noticing the boy with her.

"Oh, hello," he flashed the boy a copy grin. "I didn't see you there. Sapphy, aren't you going to introduce me to your cute friend over there?" He grinned, winking playfully at the boy.

 

[Sapphire Michaels]

Sapphire let out a squeal, smacking at her brother as he appeared out of thin air to hug her. She made a face but didn't move to push him away. She's worked out at least a bit of her anger at him, though she was a bit irritated that he'd snuck up on her.

"Speak of the devil," she muttered as Onyx noticed Jacob. She couldn't help but roll her eyes as he called him cute. "I dunno," she asked warily, "Can you behave?" She shrugged out from under her brother, putting a few feet between them before turning to him. She crossed her arms and looked her brother in the eyes.

 

[Jacob Kingsley]

Jacon grinned as Onyx appeared right on Sapphire's shoulder as if he'd been there all along. He should've known they were siblings. Seeing them together now, the resemblance was uncanny.

Holding a hand out, manners instilled to early for him to fight them off easily, Jacob tried to take the compliment in stride. "Jacob. We're house mates" he introduced himself, knowing he should have done this days ago and hoping Onyx wouldn't hold it against him that he hadn't.

"Sapphy here was just telling me what a great brother you are" he added with a small sideways glance to the girl.

 

[Onyx Derouin]

Onyx grinned impishly at his sister before turning and shaking Jacob's hand. "I've seen you around," He told the boy, kicking himself for not being friendly before. "I should've stopped to say hi. I've just been a bit caught up with my little elf here," He dropped his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "She's got quite the arm, has she hit you yet?" He asked playfully, letting out a little yelp and dodging the whack he knew was coming from his sister.

 

[Sapphire Michaels]

Sapphire rolled her eyes as Onyx turned his charms on Jacob. She whacked at him, not caring that she missed. "I swear you're like a lost little puppy," She told Onyx, trying and failing not to smile. "If you start calling him dreamy like you did Oliver and Alkander I'll toss you in the lake." She warned, glancing at Jacob. It was never easy to tell how people would react to Onyx.

 

[Jacob Kingsley]

Jacob waved a hand dismissively. Onyx hadn't owed him anything. Looking to Sapphire, Jacob replied with an amused expression on his face. "Nope, guess I'm lucky." He realized this was so when she slapped Onyx.

Turning to toss the rock he had picked up, Jacob felt the back of his neck heat up. Four. He wasn't going to get in the middle of that even if the idea of being called dreamy was fun. People always thought Noah was good looking. "I'm surprised Alkander didn't toss him in the lake" Jacob quipped.

 

[Onyx Derouin]

Onyx slipped away from his sister, snaking around to Jacob and wrapping his arms around the boys shoulder. "Aw come on Sapphy, it's not my fault you have such beautiful friends. Though I must admit," he continued, winking at Jacob. "Between the hair and his eyes, Jacob here is the best looking friend you've got,"

So maybe he was flirting now. He couldn't help it, the boy was shy and cute and somehow that made him a bit more appealing.

 

[Sapphire Michaels]

Sapphire let out a sigh. "We were at Alkanders zoo. I'm surprised he didn't feed him to the Hippogriffs." She rolled her eyes, skipping her rock again. This time it was only three.

She shot Onyx a glare as he blatantly flirted with Jacob. She scoffed. "See what I mean?" She asked Jacob. "He's hopeless."

 

[Jacob Kingsley]

Now that Onyx was closer, Jacob wasn't feeling quite so bold as he'd felt a moment before, not that he'd felt especially bold before. He laughed nervously. He'd never had someone he wasn't related to quite this close. It was definitely different than if it had been his cousin to do this. "I see what you mean" he replied.

 

[Sapphire Michaels]

Sapphire rolled her eyes and went to fetch her brother, pulling him away from Jacob. "Okay, Romeo," She started, exasperation clear in her voice as she dragged her brother along. "Is there some reason you came out here looking for me or were you just checking to see if you could flirt with more of my friends?" She pulled a few rocks from her bag, handing them to Onyx and wordlessly pointing to the lake. Maybe he wouldn't be such a hassle if she could keep him occupied.

 

[Onyx Derouin]

Onyx grinned mischievously at Jacob, though that grin quickly turned into a pout as Sapphire took hold of him and pulled him away. "Aw, come on, Sapphy," He whined, "I can't help myself. I appreciate beauty. It's no fun just keeping it to myself." He took the rocks from her and skipped one. Seven.

"You're right though, I did have a reason to look for you." He glanced at Jacob, wondering what Sapphire had told him, or if she had told him. "I know you're still mad at me for setting you up with Mervyn." He spoke, turning back to his sister. "I wanted to know if there was anything I could do to make it up to you." He gave her his best puppy eyes. "I meant well, I promise!"

 

[Jacob Kingsley]

Jacob couldn't help but laugh as Sapphire spoke to her brother though it made him a touch envious as well. Their banter was mostly amusing however, and Jacob had had his fill of skipping rocks so he was glad for the new distraction.

Snorting at Onyx's attempt to get back in his sister's good graces, Jacob couldn't help but insert his own opinion. "Maybe she's got her eyes on someone else " he teased, not really knowing Sapphire enough to know if this was the case. "Or maybe she really, really wants to focus on her studies" he said in an even more teasing voice. Somehow he didn't think Sapphire was like, say, Analei who he heard had once asked for extra homework. Who even did that?

 

[Sapphire Michaels]

Sapphire rolled her eyes at Onyx's offer to make it up to her. She had to snicker at Jacob's interjections, though. She turned to her brother, trying to find the right wording. "Look, Onyx, I'm not sure I even like him like that. I think I just want to be his friend, I'm just not very good at making friends. So just... stop setting me up on dates, yeah? I'm awkward enough without your help." She warned him, before pulling three suckers from her bag. She popped one into her mouth and offered one to each boy. "Candy?" She asked as she held a cream sucker out to Jacob.

 

[Onyx Derouin]

Onyx listened to Jacob, then his sister. He pouted a bit but agreed reluctantly. For now, he should probably wait before trying to force her to admit she was really into someone. After a moment's thought, he decided maybe he should just lead by example. He snagged the root beer sucker and wrapped an arm around his sister, turning to look at Jacob as he put it in his mouth.

"Hey, Brightstone is coming up. Sapph has been nagging me to make some friends, wanna go get a butterbeer or something?" He asked, attempting to keep it friendly... ish. Maybe if it went alright he might flirt with the kid some more, see what happened. For now, though, he really did need a few more friends.

 

[Jacob Kingsley]

It was equal parts awkward and fascinating to watch the siblings work through the issue. Jacob did note Sapphire said she wasn't sure, which to him meant that she might like Mervyn. His eyebrows raised at that but he was smart enough to keep his mouth shut. The second year watched Onyx take a look at one of the candies which gave him enough time to see the flavor. He shook his head. "No thanks" he replied.

Jacob was trying to figure out a good way to exit the scene so they could continue when Onyx spoke directly to him. Jacob thought about it for a moment. He liked butterbeer and Onyx seemed like a cool guy so there was no reason he could think of to say no. With only the briefest of glances to see her reaction, Jacob shrugged. "Sure. I was planning on heading to Dervish & Banges anyway, heard they're selling quidditch collectibles. I checked at Quality Quidditch Supplies but they didn't have them." Jacob waited a beat and then spoke again. "So, I should head off, told my mum I'd help her with something." She hadn't given him an exact time, but he knew he should just do it already. "Catch you later, Onyx? Bye Sapphy" he chuckled as he backed away.