Playful lips made of yarn.

[Samuel Phillips]

"Hey! Wait for me!" another annoying first year called, their trainers squeaking in an irritating fashion on the floor. Hastening amongst lessons was a venture Samuel never favored to take. He believed the frivolous hours spent enclosed between oppressive classroom walls could be better disbursed painting, this being the basis for his copious unexplained absences throughout the on-going semester. Skipping classes had been no loss to the adolescent; his future relied on his art, not learning how to empower an object to hover using the hover charm. The blissfully oblivious first years had no speculation of the tedious years that lied on the continuously windy path ahead of them. Drowning away his aggravation towards the ignorant first years behind the noxious fumes of another cigarette contented the sixteen year old. Rebellion was a matter that intrigued the teen; the sheer thought of acting out brought a smirk to Samuel's striking features.

The Part-Veela removed a shabby packet of cigarettes from the back pocket of his faded skinny jeans, alternately glancing about the vacant corridor. This would undoubtedly add to the cloud of suspicion already looming over the teen's head. Samuel was not in fear of being caught, in fact the teenager was enticed to the thought of being held in the vicinities of detention; however, the teen's real panic was intertwined with the leeway of another interruption by an uncouth onlooker. The sixteen year old seized one cigarette from the disheveled box, using a scratched lighter to scald the tip. The adolescent took a drag from his cigarette, feeling the poisonous smoke interlace with the air surrounding him, the nicotine numbed his former irascibility. In turn, causing the artist to sigh in relief.

Out of Character:

Credit for the first sentence goes to Olivia

 

[Buddy McMerdor]

The escaping vapour of Buddy’s breath aided in keeping his mind off the cold. Watching the steam roll in the direction he was walking pleased him more than the hot mug of coffee he had hours prior. Turning into a screeched courtyard that separated him from his class made him regret leaving his jacket on the doorknob of his bedroom. If there was one thing Buddy couldn’t stand more than anything it was not foreseeing the most obvious of events.

The lone tree in the centre of the grass reminded him of the previous afternoon. Since the interaction with Samuel ended in such a terrible way, he spent the rest of the day hating himself for his lack of control. The question of why he acted in such a way circulated in his mind until sleep. Never in his life had he talked to someone in that manner, let alone another guy. To him, Samuel didn’t seem like just a ‘guy’. He seemed much more than just that.

Buddy took in a bitter breath that crashed against his fragile teeth and bolted across the lawn. He shot straight across and into the entry way of another corridor. The cracking of his boot heels slowed as the ground changed from soil to stone. As he turned down a desolate hallway he was startled to see a fellow student smoking a cigarette. Then it suddenly dawned on him. “Oh crap.” The familiar silhouette petrified him. The very thought of running into him on the school grounds hadn’t bored its way into his skull until now. Buddy just didn’t know what to say. It took him little under a minute for him to finally stutter out anything. “Hi, Samuel”.

 

[Samuel Phillips]

The sixteen year old hated to smoke; it smelt disgusting and left him with an intimation of guilt in his veins. However, he still continued on smoking, giving in to the illusion it would relieve his ever growing stress. It was given that he would reek of the venomous fumes emanating from his cigarette later on. He would collect critical and occasionally envious looks from his peers when he returned to the common room with a self-satisfied smirk gracing his pale features. Rebellion was a trait many cowards would resent Samuel for; he had no caution of anything in the world besides attaining what he craved. Not even the wistful sound of footsteps ringing through the corridor unsettled the young wizard from his peaceful exterior. Samuel wasn't fearless, nor was he a coward; the teenager's previous nerves had vanished away, leaving only a satisfied Samuel to face the possible punishment that lay ahead of him.

Coincidentally, the footsteps belonged to another student and not of a professor. The sixteen year old glanced in the same direction which the footsteps approached from to visualize a familiar face, it was Buddy. Samuel instantaneously focused his eyes on the stone floor; he was now uncomfortable in Buddy's company, which was on no account a shock to the sixteen year old, bearing in mind the circumstances. This caused Samuel to only to utter his next words after a few short flashes of awkward silence between the two teenagers. "You're a wizard too, huh?" The teen inquired, keeping a sense of detachment from his fellow artist. Their first meeting hadn't turned out virtuous, it had lead Samuel into a state of curiosity in addition to the apprehension that was dwelling in his gut. The 'what if?' questions that had been plaguing the teen's mind hadn't ceased to exist just yet.

Samuel wasn't the kind of artist to reside on a social situation to inspire every painting. The Part-Veela focused on the intense sentiment of physical and emotional agony that emerged from heartbreak. Unfortunately, Samuel hadn't experienced profuse emotional pain, especially not that of love, thus leaving the teen temporarily unable to continue his work. Devoid of a suitable creative outlet, this gave him plentiful spare time to engage in an addiction. In this circumstance it just so happened to be smoking. "Would you care to join me Buddy?" Samuel asked, the adolescent knew that if he spent a longer amount of time exchanging dialogue with his fellow student, maybe the numerous questions brought on by his seemingly undying curiosity would be put to rest.

 

[Buddy McMerdor]

“Doing what? Smoking?” The entire thought of doing such a thing completely disgusted Buddy. He had seen the effects of the toxins on the body on the cigarette boxes. It wasn’t the smell that he hated, he never wanted to risk addiction. The thought of spending the remainder of his days feeding an unsatisfiable hunger scared him into refraining from the habit. Trying to avoid harshness and hostility, Buddy calmly rejected, “Not for me, but I’ll sit with ya if you want.” Buddy walked up and leaned casually against the cold wall next to Samuel.

A dreadful thought crashed into Buddy’s head. He ripped the pack off his shoulder and tore open the zipper. A thorough examination confirmed all suspicion. His bag had no text books, only art pads. He could see his school bag hanging on the door handle of his wardrobe, full of text books in his head and the identical bag full of drawing materials in his hand. The fifth time in three weeks he had made the mistake. This would no doubt see him in trouble with just about every professor he had. “You wouldn’t happen to have a copy of Flesh-Eating Trees of the World would you?” He just needed to attend Herbology first, then skip Potions to run back to grab his bag. He was ahead of Potions, so one missed lesson wouldn’t hurt.

 

[Samuel Phillips]

To the teenager, Buddy was the kind of individual that would take care of himself, this would be measured as a respectable trait by some, however, Samuel had an opposing opinion. The sixteen year old believed the true way to pure happiness was to achieve what you desired, when you desired, without thinking of any possible consequences that could arise in the process. As long as he was satisfied, nothing else really mattered to him. That egotistical attitude had done nothing but good for Samuel, and he sure wasn't going to change his perspective any time soon. "That's what I meant." Said the Part-Veela as he stomped out his cigarette on the stone floor, his calm words emanating a sentimental aura into the stone hallway. Being alone with Buddy lead Samuel's curiosity into a crescendo, if he hadn't have left their last interaction so abruptly, he couldn't have guessed how it would have ended up, but the adolescent sure coveted to find out.

This brought the young wizard to his following reaction, he wanted to know, to explore all his opportunities with Buddy, but he was dating Elspeth. She was more than beautiful, completely stunning to be more particular, and he didn't want to be disloyal to her, on the other hand, he didn't want to betray his impulses either. "I think you should go to your dorm and get it then." Replied Samuel, in turn making the decision to stay loyal to his girlfriend, no matter how much it would end up enraging his already aggravated hormones. Without one doubt, he had regretted his last statement as soon as the words absconded his lips. The vastly intense feeling of remorse added to Samuel's already mixed up feelings and creating him even more stress than a few mere seconds earlier, fighting an internal battle was something Samuel never wanted to experience again, would putting a conclusion to his curious feelings and up over powering the guilt from cheating?

 

[Buddy McMerdor]

Buddy new that missing herbology would get him in more trouble than not having his books, but even with that knowledge he still felt lost for options. “Man, I don’t know what to do.” He scratched at his face while trying to come to a decision. “I guess if I run I could get there in time to get back before class ended.” He checked his bag once more to make sure he wasn’t just imagining his art stuff. Unfortunately, he wasn’t hallucinating his drawing books.

Suddenly a thought struck him. He figured that the library would have at least one spare copy. Even after these years the library still seemed like another country entirely. Without checking first he could just end up wasting his time, but if there was one he would be only a few minutes late. “Screw it, I’m checking the library.” He picked up the bag and threw it over his right shoulder and turned to leave. But before Buddy started walking, he realised that he had now idea of how to actually get there. The additional inconvenience stopped him in his tracks and he hung his head in exasperation.

 

[Samuel Phillips]

Observing Buddy turn around and start to leave made Samuel's hollow stomach constrict; it had only dawned on the adolescent now that he hadn't eaten since breakfast the previous day. The sixteen year old shook his head, his out of control mind shouldn't be making him think about something insignificant when a more important event was unfolding before his fatigued auburn eyes. He oh so desperately needed to clear his head before he did something stupid, but it was all too late to back out now. "Wait." Was the only word Samuel could manage to say, his mind hadn't had the convenience to decelerate in the minute or two that had passed, it was still racing as fast as ever, and there was only one way Samuel could conclude that would qualify him to think clearly again, and no matter how much it would deceive his apparently perfect girlfriend, he would still persist with his testosterone fuelled actions.

The next thing the teenager did was place a delicate pale hand on Buddy's shoulders and turn the other wizard around to face him. For the first time in his life, Samuel felt he needed to be perfect, he knew the Veela blood that ran in his veins would never fail in letting him succeed in all his romantic endeavors, but now he was not sure, looking into Buddy's brown eyes left him apprehensive about his movements. The Part-Veela tightened his grip on buddy's shoulders and kissed him, maybe the kiss would finally retort Samuel's questions, but he was no longer thinking about them raging in the back of his mind. The sixteen year old was solely focusing on the passionate kiss between the two; it was nothing he had experienced before. The kiss was indulgent and unlike any other kiss Samuel had engaged upon. Moving his lips away from Buddy's wasn't easy, but when Samuel did, he whispered "I just needed to admire you from a different angle first." As he rested his forehead against that of his fellow student.

 

[Buddy McMerdor]

Buddy stood both shocked and mesmerised by what just happened. The tenderness of Samuel’s pink lips pressing against his own left the slightest echo. The warmth of their breathing brushed away the cold stains on his skin. His stomach told him that the floor had dropped away, a feeling he could guess at what it was. It was unlike anything he had heard of, let alone felt himself. He brought up his hand to touch the skin of Samuel’s face and the other slid around the back of his neck. He pulled in his head until their lips meet once again.

“Good to see you’re not running away” he chuckled. He wrapped his arms around Samuel in a tight embrace. Buddy closed his eyes and stood pressed against Samuel. Everything was just so perfect to him. He reluctantly pulled away and picked up his bag. “I still need those books. See ya round.”

He turned away from Samuel and walked slowly out and across the courtyard, still feeling the warmth on his lips making him immune to the chill of the air. The whole way back to his dorm he played the situation over in his head. How he was turned around, how he was kissed. By the time he got back to his dorm, he had forgotten why he was there. He lay down on his bed and thought of Samuel. He closed his eyes and went to sleep, still thinking of him and the kiss.