Open Pesky Rose

[Jacob Kingsley]

Jacob had purposely waited to deliver this one last. It wasn't like Arvel would know unless he looked at the empty bucket, and even then he might not know Jacob had waited all day in spite of seeing him earlier. He was used to ignoring Arvel so it wasn't hard to pretend he didn't spot him. Finally, he had no choice and so he knocked on the door asking the person who answered if they could ask Arvel to come to the door. Jacob leaned on the wall just across the hallway to wait. He'd put the bucket down and picked up the rose, twirling it slowly between his fingers.

 

[Arvel Ayers]

When Arvel got the message that somebody was asking for him at the door, his first thought was that it must be Analei. It was Valentine's Day; she probably wanted to gush to him about all the roses she'd received from the secret admirers Arvel definitely believed she had. But then he dismissed the thought. Analei wouldn't have asked for him at the door - she'd more likely have barged straight through it and sat herself down beside him, member of the club or not. The last person he expected to see was Jacob. What could he possibly want? Spotting the rose in his hand, the Hufflepuff flushed. No way. Of all the people who could be delivering it. With a surreptitious glance over his shoulder to make sure nobody in the room was listening, Arvel mumbled, "Hi."

 

[Jacob Kingsley]

Jacob didn't know what to expect. His one and only conversation with Arvel hadn't exactly gone well. He knew that what he should do was simply hand the rose over and go. But the moment he saw Arvel, a decision was made to not do that. Jacob tsked. "Come on, Arvel. I came all this way, been delivering roses all day and all I get is...hi" he mimicked Arvel's mumbled greeting before rolling his eyes. "You could at least pretend you're happy to see me. Guess you don't really want thiiiiis" he sing songed as he gave the rose a little shake, ready to lift it over his head if Arvel attempted to lunge for it.

 

[Arvel Ayers]

Arvel turned beet red. He didn't really sound like that, did he? So shy and boring. But in spite of his embarrassment, he couldn't help but crack a smile at Jacob's next comment - a smile that immediately made him feel as if he were betraying Analei. He tried to wipe it off, though a hint of it stubbornly remained, tugging at his lips. "I do," he said, reaching up to try to take the rose Jacob appeared to be offering to him.

 

[Jacob Kingsley]

"Nuh uh uh" Jacob sing songed, whipping the rose behind his back, a smile tugging at his own lips. It was far less sardonic than he'd been going for. Jacob was enjoying this. "Arvel, Arvel, Arvel" he stayed light on his feet, not knowing whether Arvel would make another attempt or not. He didn't know Arvel much so couldn't anticipate what he might do. Usually, to Jacob, Arvel just appeared to do what Analei did, but she wasn't around this time. She couldn't boss either of them around like she did to everyone else. "How badly?" he asked abruptly, a smirk crossing his lips. He'd glanced at the note earlier and knew it was from Analei. It was a pretty sweet message too, but it was from Analei so that made it ugh.

 

[Arvel Ayers]

This was unexpected. Jacob was almost being... nice. Playful. Arvel hadn't had a lot of personal experience with him; his opinions were mostly the product of Analei's, since he agreed with everything she said. He trusted her, of course - he knew that Jacob could be mean and obnoxious - but he did wish he'd had a chance to get to know him before he'd met Analei, just to decide for himself. He glanced over his shoulder, embarrassed to jump up and down for his rose with people watching. Instead he held out his hand and waited patiently for Jacob to hand it to him.

 

[Jacob Kingsley]

Jacob watched Arvel look over his shoulder, the smirk growing. Amusement at the idea of Arvel jumping for it, trying to grab it from around him was clear on his mind. Arvel was almost acting like a normal person, and it was illuminating to see that he could be this...interesting. Jacob had always assumed he had no personality, but this was evidence that he did. Until he didn't do anything but hold out his hand. Jacob frowned, disappointed by this. "Aw c'mon Arvel. You're no fun" he complained as he slapped the yellow rose into the Hufflepuff's hand.

Spoiler: Yellow Rose

Dear Arvel,

Thank you for being the best friend anyone could ask for

Love Analei

 

[Arvel Ayers]

Arvel didn't care if he wasn't any fun. At least he hadn't embarrassed himself. He took the rose and opened the note up eagerly. A warm, genuine smile lit up his face for almost a full second before he realised whose company he was in and forced his expression to go blank again. But the note had put him in a good mood - Analei thought he was the best friend she could ask for! - and he was suddenly overwhelmed with the urge to prove that, actually, he wasn't boring, he was fun, just as fun as everybody else. "It's from Analei," he told Jacob, unaware that he'd already seen it. "She says I'm the best looking person in the whole school, and... she wants to go out with me." If he could just bait Jacob into lunging for the note, maybe Arvel could watch him jump up and down for it.

 

[Jacob Kingsley]

Jacob felt a twinge of envy as he saw Arvel's reaction to Analei's note. That smile had shown him just how true their friendship was. With no reason to hang around now that he'd delivered his final rose, Jacob began to turn around, beginning to think about a quick nap before the dance. So he was pretty surprised when Arvel felt the need to tell him who the rose was from and then, more surprisingly, lie about the note. He raised an eyebrow but he was hardly just going to give himself away. Jacob fancied himself too clever to do something that dumb. "You mean you two aren't already dating?" he asked, pretending to be immensely surprised by this revelation. He turned away then, both to scoop up his now empty bucket and to hide a laugh. By the time he'd turned back, his expression had returned to a more neutral one. "Wow, I really thought you two were like... a thing" he repeated it again, shaking his head as if he was in shock.

 

[Arvel Ayers]

Jacob's surprise caught Arvel completely off guard. This was not the reaction he had been hoping for. Had Jacob really thought they were already dating? If so, now Arvel just looked lame, because he'd admitted that Analei wasn't his girlfriend after all. "Well," he said, grasping uselessly for a witty response. The rose was limp in his hands. "She wants to go out with me, but I said no." Was that believable? Probably not. Then again, if she had asked, he really might have said no. He just didn't see her, or any girls, that way. "How many roses have you got?" he asked, hoping the number would be small enough to smirk at.

 

[Jacob Kingsley]

Jacob listened, confusion growing on two counts- why Arvel kept telling him about this and why he kept lying. Jacob was beginning to think there was some kernel of truth to it, just not from this note. "Right" he replied, a little awkwardly. The word betrayed his disbelief at this all. Honestly, he couldn't see Arvel saying no to Analei about anything. He would believe it happening the other way around, her saying no to him but even that didn't feel quite right. Glad for the change of subject because thinking about Analei at all was annoying, Jacob grinned. "Zero. You were my last del- oh, you mean personally?" he realized. His smiled broadened. "Four. Three yellow and a pink" he added, quite pleased with his haul. "You?"

 

[Arvel Ayers]

Nope. Arvel definitely wasn't a good liar. It was funny, then, that he seemed to be lying more and more frequently lately, mostly to professors. As soon as Jacob grinned, Arvel knew he'd gotten more roses than he had. "Nice," he muttered grudgingly. This time, he decided to tell the truth. Jacob would probably be able to see through him anyway. "Three. Two pink ones, and one yellow." At least he'd got more pink roses than him. Hah! Only, it didn't really satisfy him in the way he'd hoped it would. "Thanks," he said, waving the rose a bit to indicate what for.

 

[Jacob Kingsley]

When Arvel thanked Jacob, he shrugged. "Just my job for the day" he explained. "Not gonna lie, if I had a choice of who I'd deliver to, you probably wouldn't have made the cut" he shrugged again. "Especially not delivering that rose" he added. He was just being honest. He didn't really mean to offend Arvel, especially since this conversation had gone ok except for the lying. He still couldn't figure that out. "I'm gonna get going. I've got a pillow with my name on it in Gryffindor Tower and it's calling my name" he added with a yawn as he backed away and then turned around. He began walking without saying bye and then realized he should do something so he lifted his hand and waved without turning back. He couldn't say something like see you soon because, though it might be true, he was sure this whatever that had happened was a one time thing, a fluke, a rift in time.