Open Meeting Expectations

[Eric Holland]

Set after this topic

Eric had walked out of the Great Hall with long, angry strides. He'd walked out of the school the same way, anger boiling underneath the surface. But as soon as he stepped outside, he turned right rather than walking down onto the lawn. He walked around the castle a bit until he found a shadowed part of the outer wall, where he was mostly out of sight. There, Eric let out the yell of rage he had been holding in. He kicked the wall of the castle, over and over. Then hit it as well. It hurt, but it hardly made him feel better. Eric was so angry, but underneath that anger he just felt betrayed and hurt. Eric growled in rage again as he kicked at the stone wall again, then realized tears were streaming down his face. When had he started crying? With another growl, he roughly wiped at his face. He could not allow himself to be seen like this.

 

[Connor Holland]

Connor didn't know exactly what he had seen in the Great Hall, but he had at least gotten the gist. Nicole had said something Eric didn't like, and the fight between them had clearly been catastrophic. Whatever the case was, Connor didn't think he had ever seen Eric so upset, and he couldn't just leave his brother like this. When Eric had left the hall Connor had abandoned his food at once, hurrying out after his brother. Eric moved faster than Connor expected but he stayed on the tail, reaching his brother just in time to see him kicking at the castle wall, and crying. Connor hadn't seen Eric cry since they had been small children, had spent years enduring his brother's insistence that real men didn't cry, that Connor needed to toughen up. He had always thought his brother was wrong, that there was... something important about being able to cry, but now of all times, Connor wasn't going to rub it in Eric's face. Instead he approached his brother quietly, softly resting one hand on Eric's shoulder. "Eric?" He asked softly, ready to embrace his brother and let Eric cry for as long as he might need.

 

[Eric Holland]

Eric felt that the tears were still coming, and harshly wiped at his own face. He let out an angry sound when he heard someone say his name, initially turning away to hide his tears. But it then slowly got through to him that this was Connor, and he slowly turned to him. "What!?" He snapped, glaring at him, hoping he wouldn't dare bring up the crying. It was absolutely humiliating that Eric was crying, especially over someone as stupid as Nicole. But it wasn't really her that had upset him, just... how she had seen him. He knew everyone saw him that way, he fed into it. So why did it hurt? He didn't understand it, and he honestly didn't really want to understand it either. "If you're going to be mad I yelled at your friend you can go away." He snapped at his brother.

 

[Connor Holland]

Connor jumped when Eric snapped at him and withdrew his hand, eyes flying wide for a moment. As a kid that would have been enough to make Connor cry, but he had gotten much tougher over the last few years, instead shaking his head firmly. "I'm not mad!" Connor snapped back, though his tone wasn't nearly as harsh as Eric's. "I came to see if you were okay! I dunno what Nicole said, but it sounded messed up." He added, a hint of bitterness sneaking into his voice as he remembered how Nicole had plied him for information about Eric so long ago. "Do you wanna... talk about it?"

 

[Eric Holland]

Eric wished he hadn't snapped at Connor, but was at least glad his brother didn't cry. He took a deep, shuddering breath. "Sorry." He spat out. "I.. it's-" He shook his head, cursing loudly. "It's so messed up!" He said, though some of the anger seemed to leave his body. "She was talking to her stupid friends, the twins, right at my table." He said bitterly. "And they were talking about how ... how I'm boring, and how the only reason she even dated me was to look edgy and cool." He said, his voice sounding more hollow now. "Everyone could just hear them. I could hear them."

 

[Kasim Safir]

Kas was starting to develop a sixth sense for drama in the Great Hall. He wasn't sure if it was a defense mechanism after the slime incident that one year or if his ears just knew what he preferred to hear, but it took less than a few seconds to recognize that something was going down at the Gryffindor table, and even less to realize that of course Eric was the center of it. Honestly, Eric was probably due for some kind of spectacle by now, so if a big public break-up was the worst of it he'd gotten off easy. Still, Kas couldn't resist following Eric out of the hall, even when he spotted Connor doing the same thing.

It took a hot minute to find where he'd gone, but a Hominem Revelio eventually lead Kas to the appropriate nook, assisted by Eric's own yelling too of course. "Well, at least someone thought you were cool," Kas offered, trying not to look as uncomfortable as he felt as he rounded the corner to join the two brothers. A more sane part of his brain told him he should probably leave this one to Connor, that poking Eric at a time like this wasn't what he needed, but Kas soldiered on despite it. Deep down, Eric was still his friend, and Kas hated that he was clearly upset. "Nicole Fisk's a loser, I don't think anyone cares what she says," He added, giving Connor a shrug since he knew he hung out with her before.

 

[Connor Holland]

Connor relaxed visibly when Eric apologised, surprised his brother had gone that far. Eric wasn't much given to apologies, in Connor's experience, and he was relieved that even as upset as he was, Eric seemed to be calming himself down fairly well. Connor moved closer as Eric explained the reason for his outburst, heart and face sinking as one as he listened. "That's horrible!" Connor exclaimed, at the same time as he heard someone else speak. Connor turned to see Kas, glaring daggers at him. Why on earth would he think this was the right time to make fun of Eric?! "Kas, either help or leave us alone!" Connor snapped, giving his roommate intense stink-eye. His next remark about Nicole didn't help matters any. "Nicole's not a loser, calling names isn't going to make things any better!" Connor snapped. "She did something horrible and that's not okay, but that doesn't make it okay to be mean back!" He hesitated, turning back to Eric. "Could we... tell a teacher? They'd probably be angry if they found out..." Connor said, trailing off as he remembered who Nicole's Head of House was. He couldn't picture Professor Styx caring about relationship drama, to be honest, and the thought of seeing the terrifying professor angry wasn't something he was particularly eager to do.

 

[Eric Holland]

Eric wondered if he should have said what Nicole had said, but he knew Connor would be on his side. And his brother didn't disappoint him. Then Kas appeared, coming with a joke that was entirely Kas. Eric glared at him. "Not funny." He snapped, even as part of him was grateful to the other boy for even appearing. It means ht had followed them, and that meant he cared and was on his side. Eric's shoulders sagged a little when Kas said Nicole was a loser and that what she said didn't matter. "But it's not just Nicole." He said, shaking his head. "Everyone thinks it. Everyone says it. Her friends were laughing about me." He frowned at Connor. "A teacher?" He asked him, clearly incredulous. "Yes, Connor, I'll go tell a teacher about my girlfriend- or ex girlfriend I guess, hurting my feelings. They'd laugh in my face." He said, rolling his eyes. "And they'd be right to."

 

[Kasim Safir]

Kas raised his hands in defense when Eric and Connor snapped at him, but he mostly just shrugged it off, not sure what response he'd been expecting. It was weird seeing Connor so worked up, arguably more so than Eric was now, and Kas wordlessly moved to slouch against the nearby wall, simply raising an eyebrow when Connor moved to defend Nicole. "Her friends are losers too," Kas said simply, shrugging again and giving a Connor a look as if to dare him to dispute it. "At least you broke up now, before things got too seriously or anything," Kas added. He'd never been super wild about Eric dating Nicole, but even he knew better than to stick his nose into that wasps' nest of a train of thought.

He did have to join Eric n scoffing at Connor's suggestion. It was so very Connor of him. "Not sure relationship drama is a big concern of theirs. I'm happy to jinx her hair green or something if you want though." Petty revenge was much more Kas' speed anyway. Connor had his way of helping, and Kas had his, but he knew they both wanted to do something if it would help Eric feel less miserable.

 

[Connor Holland]

Connor winced as Eric and Kas tore into the van Houtens, feeling increasingly torn. "They're not losers, I'm sure they just didn't know!" Connor said quickly. "It's not anybody's fault but Nicole's, I can talk to them!" He cringed as both boys shot down his idea of talking to a teacher as well. "It's not just relationship drama, she was calling him names in the middle of the great hall, that's bullying, whether they were dating or not! I'm sure a professor would take it seriously!" Even Connor could hear his voice failing by the end of the sentence. "I just... there's got to be something we can do..."

 

[Eric Holland]

Eric snapped at Kas. "What about everyone else in the school, Kas? Are you going to say everyone who thinks badly of me is a loser?" He snapped. "Because that's a LOT of people." He added angrily. He sighed when Kas said he had broken up before it got serious, shaking his head. It was clear the Hufflepuff didn't get it at all. "Right." He said, not wanting to argue that. Eric then turned to Connor. "The twins were clearly agreeing with her, they all laughed at me." He said angrily. "And no, Connor, a professor is not going to care." He glared, annoyed at how naive his brother was being. "And even if they did, they'd take Nicole's word over my own. Especially after I yelled at her in front of everyone. Don't you get it? I'm the problem, the one screwing things up. At least in their eyes. It's always the same f***ing story."

 

[Kasim Safir]

Kas just shrugged again, trying not to take Eric's animosity personally. It seemed convincing Eric that caring what the general school population thought of him was a waste of time, though it was surprising to see just how much Eric apparently cared about his own abysmal reputation. "I dunno, man. I just think you shouldn't care what gossiping little girls say about you," he said placidly. "We know the truth," he added, motioning to him and Connor. Kas knew what it was like to care about reputation, to care about nothing but reputation, and the last thing he wanted was Eric to get caught up in all that. But it did sting a little that apparently his and Connor's opinions counted for so little over some idiot girl and her friends in their year. But Eric wasn't one to see reason that easily, and for all Kas knew his reputation was bogus, he knew Eric's temper was very real. "Look, you wanna take your anger about this out on someone? Just hit me and be done with it," Kas said exasperated. He knew Eric was hurting, but Kas just wished he'd calm himself down for a moment to see how little it all mattered.

 

[Connor Holland]

Connor was quickly losing control of this situation, looking between his brother and best friend in dismay. He had thought he was doing fine calming Eric down until Kas had shown up, and he really didn't want to just tell his best friend to go away, but he wasn't making this situation any better. Especially with his last comment. Connor blanched and moved between the two of them quickly, struck for a moment by the realisation that he could probably actually take his brother in a fight now if he had to. Not that he wanted to. Quite the opposite. "Nobody's hitting anybody!" Connor said firmly, giving Kas a dangerous look. "Both of you calm down, right now! Violence isn't going to make things better! If you're not going to be helpful, I think you should go." He added, giving Kas an apologetic look despite his firm tone.

 

[Eric Holland]

Eric frowned when Kas said he shouldn't care about what people said. He'd like to see Kas say that if people were gossiping about him that much, but they weren't. "Whatever." Eric snapped, shaking his head. Connor had to be on his side, being his brother, and Kas... well, he just seemed to like stirring up trouble. But they were the support he had, and he did appreciate that. Though when Kas offered to let Eric hit him, Eric actually laughed. "Hit you? You'd end up in the hospital wing." He said, slightly cheered up by the opportunity to make fun of Kas. "Besides, why would I want to hit you?" He shook his head. "No challenge." Eric rolled his eyes at Connor, who sounded a lot like their mother at te moment. "I've already calmed down, idiot." He muttered. The whole conversation had helped him. He was still mad, but it no longer felt like his blood was boiling. "You can thank this clown for that with his ridiculous suggestion." He added, nodding to Kas.

 

[Kasim Safir]

Kas rolled his eyes as Connor flipped out, crossing his arms. He'd been ready to leave and let Connor deal with Eric when Eric spoke up himself and Kas was forced to roll his eyes again. "Yeah yeah, I live to amuse," he said dryly, giving Eric a mock bow with a flourish of his hand, though he was glad Eric seemed at least slightly less distraught than before. Angry Eric Kas was used to, but actually upset Eric had been weird and wrong. Kas would take smug, superior Eric over that any day. "If we're done with the angst session, maybe we can find something more interesting to do?" Kas offered, motioning away from their little corner of the grounds.

 

[Connor Holland]

Connor felt like every nerve in his body was standing at the ready, fight or flight in charge to handle the situation no matter how badly things broke down. So when Eric laughed it took a moment to really sink in, Connor's head snapping to look at him in disbelief. It took a moment before he felt comfortable enough to lower his arms, looking back and forth between Eric and Kas as they spoke. Whatever... bizarre macho nonsense the offered punch had represented, he didn't understand it at all, but at least Eric seemed... better. "I hate you both." Connor grumbled, glancing daggers between the two of them, though he relaxed slightly when Kas mentioned going to do something else. "Yeah, we should get out of here." He agreed, glancing at Eric to confirm.