Closed Off-Hours

[Connor Holland]

As much as he hated to think it, Connor didn't love New Zealand. He had always felt more at home in Australia no matter how much time he spent here. But after five years of spending time here, the country was certainly starting to grow on him. The forests and flora were beautiful, the people were.... mostly nice, when they weren't Kas and Freya making fun of his accent. All in all, it wasn't a bad place to be. And the outdoors were definitely Connor's favourite part of the country. He had found himself missing the Wild Patch over the holidays, and it was nice to take some time out of shopping to just.... relax in nature. Eric was off doing something or other, Connor had failed to listen to his brother with the promise of time in the garden on his mind, and he couldn't quite bring himself to care. He had found himself a comfortable corner of the park with a nice flower garden, trying not to think about how close he was to the spot he had met Nicole and the van Houten twins so many years ago, and set about weaving the flowers into an extravagant crown, wishing he had a camera with him. It would be nice to snap a picture to send to Lucas...

 

[Lysander Summers]

Coming to Brightstone had been a chance to get some time away from home, and work, which Lysander was starting to realise were slowly becoming one and the same. He'd thought coming home for the holidays would be relaxing. It wasn't, it seemed there was always something else to do, more to pile onto his plate. Looking after the animals had been fun when he was younger, but now that he was being paid to do it, and taking on more responsibilities at the menagerie, his father seemed to think he could take that additional work home to care for the animals they took in. He adored them, he did, but it was getting to the point where he felt all of his time was being spent caring for them, and not enough for himself. There was no balance. His father hadn't been too pleased when he'd asked for some time off from the store, but it was what he needed. The OWL year had been more stressful than most, it had exhausted him, and he simply couldn't keep putting in more energy than he had available to himself.

Honeydukes had, naturally, been the first place on the agenda in his little trip to the village. Candy fuel was the best fuel he knew of. A visit to Gambol and Japes had been at the back of his mind, too. Sully was probably working, and he had no doubt his friend would have some great recommendations of gadgets and gizmos to de-stress with. He cut through the park, hopping over a flower bed with a leap to cut down his walk time, and landed close beside someone sitting down. He hadn't taken notice of who it had been, only catching a head of wavy brunette hair from behind. At a second glance, he realised it was Connor and came to a stop. "It's a bit early to be making your new king a crown." He remarked, noting the beginnings of a very lavish flower crown. He'd need to prepare himself something just as extravagant for his first Wild Patch meeting, if not more so. He smiled to show he was joking, and crouched to his knees. "Are you waiting for someone?" He asked. He had to wonder what he was doing out here, by himself. If Connor was there, Eric couldn't have been too far away, and that was someone he had the misfortune to see more than enough of in the year already.​

 

[Connor Holland]

Flowers had always been an easy way for Connor to lose himself, and he wasn't paying much attention to his surroundings at the park until someone landed behind him with a thud, making Connor yelp and jump, almost dropping the flowers in his hands. Turning around in frustration his anger died quickly at the sight of Lysander. "Oh, hey!" He said brightly, laughing softly at Lysander's comment. "Don't have to be a king to wear a crown." He said smugly, weaving another flower in amongst the throng. He had lost his place in all the kerfuffle, but at this point he was really only decorating the structure of the crown he had already built, so it didn't matter all that much. He shook his head at Lysander's question, giving a small shrug. "Eric's off doing... something. I wasn't really listening. Probably making out with Minnie. Or he ran into Noel and they're swordfighting, or something." He couldn't help pulling a face at that, though he quickly smoothed it, adjusting his new glasses. "What are you up to?" He asked, enjoying the novelty of seeing a school friend outside of Hogwarts.

 

[Lysander Summers]

Lysander shook his head with a laugh and dropped onto the grass, swiping away at a few stray sticks getting in the way. "Tell that to the kings in medieval times. If a commoner wore a crown I bet they'd have ended up in a dungeon somewhere. However, I-" He said, splaying his hand against his own chest. "Am a great and generous king, so I'll allow it." He joked. "It's looking good. If you use a preserving charm you could display it at the next club fair, if you like." He suggested. He had to start thinking about what he'd do for his stall at the fair. The Student Defence Association always had photos of the tournament on display, and he had to wonder if he could get Ajax to photograph stuff around the gardens. He listened to Connor bring up Eric, doing his best not to scrunch up his face in distaste all the while. At least he wasn't here. "Swordfighting, now that's medieval." Lysander mused. He'd have paid to see a swordsmans duel between Noel and Eric, though he had to remind himself not the voice the thought out loud. He leaned back against the grass, supporting his weight on the palms of his hands. "I'm killing time today, wanted to have a break from work. I thought I'd go check if Sully was in at Gambols, see if I can sweet-talk my way into a discount." In reality he imagined he'd just ask and Sully would probably very likely say yes. "If you want some company I could wait around. Beats being by yourself." He half-shrugged, unsure if Connor actually wanted the alone time or not. Home time was alone time for Lysander. If he was out and about, everything was made that much more enjoyable with someone else around, save a few specific people.​

 

[Connor Holland]

Connor laughed at Lysander's comments, pulling a face. "Good to know I've got such a benevolent ruler." He teased, weaving another small flower into the crown where there was a little gap left. It was pretty much finished though, and he smiled at Lysander's comment. "Oh, that's a good idea! Would be nice to have some showy stuff to encourage kids to join the club." He smiled, picking up another flower from his small pile to add to the crown. He laughed at Lysander's comment about the sword fighting, then nodded when he talked about his day. "Sounds like a good plan. Sully's cool, he'd definitely give you a discount." Connor didn't do much actual customer-facing work in his job, but he was pretty sure he would give discounts to friends if they asked. As long as Zelda was alright with it, of course. He smiled when Lysander offered to hang out with him. "Sure, that'd be cool." Weaving another flower into the crown, Connor gave it a last look over before finally considering it finished. Without really thinking he leaned over to settle the crown on Lysander's head, giving him a cheerful smile. "There, makes you even cuter." He said happily. And it wasn't untrue - he had always thought Lysander was cute, even though their one date had never gone anywhere. They had been kids then, maybe things would have been different if they had waited. Either way, he didn't see anything wrong with thinking the Gryffindor was cute, it was just true.

 

[Lysander Summers]

Lysander settled in when Connor let him know he was down to hang out, and plucked a couple of flowers from the garden bed to weave himself a bracelet out of while they talked. He figured he could offer it to Sully in exchange for a discount later on, as an additional bargaining chip if he needed it. He glanced up at Connor, and then to the floral crown as it was lifted to his head. He was about to make another joke about being king, but his thoughts became distracted when Connor called him cute. No, cuter. His cheeks reddened and he shot a guilty look around the park, as if Lucas were about to jump out of one of the flower beds. "You can't say that. You have a boyfriend." He flustered. Lysander hadn't ever been in a relationship, but he had been on dates, one with Connor of all people, but even he knew that it was against boyfriend law to compliment someone else like that.​

 

[Connor Holland]

Connor hadn't thought much of his comment until he saw Lysander's reaction, immediately tensing. He hadn't even been thinking about Lucas. It wasn't that he had forgotten he had a boyfriend, he just... hadn't been on Connor's mind. But it was true, and guilt immediately curled its way into his stomach. What kind of boyfriend was he if he forgot about Lucas the second he talked to another cute boy. "I was just..." Connor trailed off, unable to quite meet Lysander's eye. What had he just been doing? "I was just... saying stuff, I wasn't thinking, it's not a big deal." He said, though Connor was aware it was probably a bigger deal than Lysander would know. What was he supposed to do with the knowledge of how easy it had been to forget someone who was supposed to mean more to him than this?

 

[Lysander Summers]

Lysander pulled a face as he listened to Connor defend himself, and raised his hands to gingerly lift the flower crown from his head, feeling as if it were a tarnished gift he shouldn't be wearing. "Don't let Lucas hear you say that." He frowned. Admittedly he might not have thought it that big of a deal either, it was a harmless compliment, had it come from anyone who wasn't Connor. But it hadn't. They'd been to a dance together, in a capacity that was a bit different than when he'd just gone with his friends. He'd thought Connor was cute, too. Especially now, in those adorable glasses. At a time he hadn't been opposed to the idea of dating him, so it felt wrong to sit there and hear that kind of thing. Partially because he really liked being complimented by him. It was so brief, so simple, but it had left a vague feeling of butterflies in his stomach. "Look, I'm, uh, I'm not the best person to tell you to think before you speak. Like, at all." He gave the other boy a half-smile and settled the crown back into his lap. "Just, you know. Be careful you don't pull a Nicole." He shrugged his shoulders lightly, and tried to focus on the bracelet he'd been weaving together to avoid the awkwardness. There'd been enough relationship drama as it was.​