Closed Not A Word

[Tullia Whitlock]

Tullia could admit her friendship with Duke was a little less one sided than she would at all moments claim it to be. There was just not a world in which she didn't say that it annoyed her, beause he was annoying. But he was also the only person she spent time with, that she liked to spend time with. The beauxbatons girl had been bored for most of the day, the book she'd been reading of little interest when the weather outside was as nice as it was. She had to just find him, and of course spotted him outside of the school, and on the grounds. She walked towards him. "Whatcha doing Duke?" she asked conversationally not drawing attention to the fact she had sought him out, nor that this wasn't the first time she had done so.

 

[Duke Dallaire]

Duke was getting through to Tullia- She'd become his favorite person to annoy. He was lost in thought today, though, having just gotten news from his mother. They were pregnant, with a little girl, and he wasn't sure what to think of it. He'd found out that morning, and he'd been debating on how to feel about it ever since. He'd been an only child for so long. He was settled under a tree at that moment, hands folded behind his head as he watched the clouds through the leaves and his legs crossed in front of him. The perfect picture of lounging. He hummed softly when Tullia appeared. "You have a lot of younger siblings, yeah?" He asked. He didn't wait for an answer. "What's it like being an older sibling?"

 

[Tullia Whitlock]

Tullia was a little confused at the first question and then shrugged. "It's nice, but it can be a lot." she said, but she had a lot of younger and older siblings, Tullia had always been in the middle. As far as she knew Duke was an only child. She took a spot next to him, not the picture of lounging, but answered him. "Having siblings is nice, but given school and everything i don't see them as much and my parents..they weren't great, so we didn't have a typical..upbringing. Why?"

 

[Duke Dallaire]

Duke sighed, making a mental note to dig into that later. "Mums pregnant," He responded lightly. "I'm not sure what to think of it. The kids gunna be so small," He dragged a hand over his face. "I don't know how to be an older brother. And I'm not exactly home all the time. How am I supposed to learn if I'm gone?" he looked to her, genuinely worried. "I don't want to be a bad brother, Tullia."

 

[Tullia Whitlock]

Tullia was a little surprised at his mum being pregnant, but she wasn't that surprised for long. People had kids all of the time. She knew that. Her parents did. She gave a little laugh at his questions, but stopped when it seemed that he was feeling pretty genuinely worried. "You won't be a bad brother, Duke, I promise you, you won't be." She said simply. "for the next year or so, the baby will be too young and small, so it's mostly about helping be there for them, teaching them stuff, talking to them. They'll find your hand interesting. It gets fun when they hit two and three, when they can walk and talk a little and play games. Games which you'll be great at playing with them,"

 

[Duke Dallaire]

Duke watched Tullia, eyes intent, hanging off her every word. After a moment he let out a soft sigh and sat up properly, giving her his usual impish grin. "How many little siblings did you have again?" He teased her gently, bowing his head slightly. "I lay myself at your elder sibling mastery."

 

[Tullia Whitlock]

Tullia took a moment to count up all the younger siblings she had. She was in the middle, "I have four younger siblings, and thr- two older ones," She corrected herself mid-sentence as she remembered about Tyler and didn't want to mention it. "So, I'm in the middle, experiencing both. Having siblings is good. They understand things about our life that no one else can because they experience it all too,"

 

[Duke Dallaire]

Duke noticed her slip up but didn't bring it up- Tullia didn't share if she didn't want to, and he didn't want to try and force her. "Do you miss them?" He asked. He'd not noticed any other redheads chasing after Tullia's attention. "I don't see any of them here with you." He looked around, as if one of them might magically appear.

 

[Tullia Whitlock]

Tullia nodded. "Mostly," she said, before shaking her head. "No, my two eldest sisters are too old for school, I have one sibling at school in New Zealand," she said. "The rest are too young still," Tullia shrugged lightly and gave a somewhat tight smile. "I want to be an astraunaut, so it just made sense for me to be closer to the European Space Agency, cause they had summer sessions and stuff," she explained.

 

[Duke Dallaire]

Duke considered her words, before nodding slowly. "And your sibling at the other school? She didn't want to come here with you?" He asked, shifting slightly to face her better. "It must be lonely, being all the way out here without your sibling with you."

 

[Tullia Whitlock]

Tullia shrugged a little and then shook her head. "I miss them, but it's okay," she said, and the answer was measured, like she wasn't entirely honest about it, but she knew that her reluctance to be around some of her siblings was caused by the pressure to be an older sibling to the youngest ones and the loss of her brother who had been closest to her in age. "Plus, if I want to go to space then I have to get used to the idea of being apart from people," she told him.

 

[Duke Dallaire]

Duke hummed. "Yeah, I suppose that makes sense," He agreed, giving her an impish grin. "I suppose apparating into a space shuttle wouldn't really work," He laughed lightly, offering out his hand for her. "Thanks for talking with me, Tullia," He told her, his voice sincere. "I'm glad we're friends."

 

[Tullia Whitlock]

Tullia gave a little smile. "I'm not even sure that would be possible, and I don't think we should try to find out," she replied with a little smile, even as her mind thought of it if was or wasn't possible. "Of course, Duke," she said in response. "Even if you're super annoying a lot of the time, I'm glad we're friends too."

 

[Duke Dallaire]

Duke laughed lightly. "Aw, come on," He teased, giving her an impish grin. "You don't want to see my floating by your spaceship, all blue and quiet for once?" He asked, winking playfully and stretching out in the grass again. He laughed a bit louder as she called him annoying. "Aw, you know you love me," He winked again. "I know you do," He put his arms behind his head.

 

[Tullia Whitlock]

Tullia didn't bother replying to what he said, shaking her head lightly to shake the thought from her mind. "I might dislike you, but I wouldn't want you dead," she replied, though she knew that he knew that, and knew that he knew she didn't actually dislike him, but thought it right to still say it anyway. "Please, love is a very strong word,"

 

[Duke Dallaire]

Duke laughed again, trying to be dramatic and trying to lay across her lap. "Aw, you can say it, you loooove me," He teased, trying now to annoy her a bit. He was just being playful, and he'd stop if she looked too aggravated, but he did like to try and make her laugh. "Tully loooves me," He sing-songed, winking playfully.

 

[Tullia Whitlock]

Tullia rolled her eyes, and moved to stop him from laying over her lap. She knew now, that this was him just trying to annoy her, just trying to do away with any of the real feelings they had both been expressing and start joking about again. "Gross Duke, I could never love you," she teased lightly, playing along with him.

 

[Duke Dallaire]

Duke threw both hands over his heart like he'd been shot, rolling a few times. "Trajedy! Despair! Death!" He declared dramatically, flopping back on the grass and playing dead, eyes closed and tongue stuck out. "Bleh," He just laid there, waiting to see how she'd react to his 'death'.

 

[Tullia Whitlock]

Tullia watched his as he dramatically rolled a few times away from her. She rolled her eyes and got to her feet, going to where he was laying with his eyes closed. "Well, I guess I'll go," she said, but she did lean down and went to kiss his forehead. "Goodbye fair Sir Dallaire," she said before she leaned in to kiss.

 

[Duke Dallaire]

-godmods approved-

Duke lay perfectly still, flushing as he felt the kiss to his temple. He let her pull back just enough before he shot up, wrapping his arms around her waist in a flash and rolling them in the grass a few turns before pinning her lightly to the grass, half over her but careful not to keep her trapped. He smiled easily. "Oh, hello," He teased. "Caught ya."

 

[Tullia Whitlock]

Tullia had known that it would be a mistake, but she had done it anyway. He caught her, and rolled them on the grass before pinning her down. She rolled her eyes at him, but just let him. "Fun, now let me up," she said with a smile.

 

[Duke Dallaire]

-godmod approved-

Duke smiled, considering it for a moment. "Hmm... no," He declared, before landing dramatic, noisy kisses over her cheeks, nose, and forehead. He planned to let her up if she said please, or showed aversion to the game they were playing. His grip was light, and he was poised to move as soon as he needed to.

 

[Tullia Whitlock]

Tullia couldn't help but giggle as he kissed her. She pushed against him playfully, and then eventually said, "Please," she didn't mind this, it was all Duke. She liked him. She could deal with how he always was. "I have things I have to do," she added between giggles.

 

[Duke Dallaire]

Duke let out a dramatic sigh, pressing another loud, sloppy kiss to her cheek before rolling to the side and stretching out in the grass. "Fiiiiine," He declared, giving her an impish grin. "If you absolutely must." He propped up. "Need an assistant?" He offered, figuring that would give him something to do.

 

[Tullia Whitlock]

Tullia's gaze lingered on him fondly as he rolled away. She wiped her cheek with her sleeve and then rolled her eyes. "I have to study and practice and that, nothing you find interesting," she told him, not saying no, but giving him a chance to turn it down if in fact it seemed a bit boring to him.