Open Seriously?

[Chrysander Kaster]

Yep, it was official, everyone hated him. All of his friends had left, all of them. Elsie had died, Elio had f*cked off to somewhere with Rowan, so they’d both left. Sapphire had graduated though he wasn’t sure if she was even considered a friend after everything. Luna had transferred out, the rat. He supposed Marco was still around… maybe, but he hadn’t seen his roommate in friggen ages so where he’d got to was anyone’s guess. His siblings weren’t on his level at all and any progress he’d managed to make last year was pretty f*cking nil. So really, Chrys was all alone again and it was like being a bloody first year. What was it with his year that they all just wanted to f*ck off to places unknown. Rowan and Elio weren’t even the only ones, though he supposed it had to say something that the Ravenclaw was back, probably. He’d been told she was going to be back, but that didn’t mean much considering the source, because Elio and Rowan were supposed to be here too. It was all absolutely ridiculous and the drama queen inside Chrys almost wanted to throw hands, but he was much more mature than that…​

​

Well, not really, but he wasn’t about to break into song about how much his friends sucked.​

​

Instead, he’d come to the ultimate sulky place - for him anyway - the student lounge, where he normally wouldn’t be caught dead. He hadn’t been back here since things went sour with Onyx, a very long time ago. Too many memories, the sort he didn’t really want to associate with if he could somehow avoid it. Still, he was here now, and he wasn’t quite sure he knew what that meant after everything.​

​

Chrys jumped over the back of one of the lounges and landed pretty uncomfortably, but he was too proud to admit to it and threw his legs back and up over the back, his long legs bending at the knee. His wand was in his hand and he was lazily practicing basic spells. They were the kind he could pretty much do in his sleep, but, he didn’t want to slack off just because he was depressed. Well, maybe not depressed, that wasn’t the kind of thing to be silly about, but he definitely was not feeling it with this whole mood thing. Chrys usually had the kind of vibe that made people smile or stuff, not the kind of vibe that made him feel like a cloud was about to appear over his head at any second and rain. This was not the fun kind emotional. Good thing he didn’t cry.​

 

[Sophie Elliston]

Sophie had just finished her first counsellor session and all of the talking made her want to be alone. She couldn't remember the last time she felt like herself. Life was so much different now than it was a couple of years ago. She didn't want to make friends anymore, she couldn't care less about classes or whether or not she was a prefect, and she just felt empty. With a new year underway, Sophie did feel a little more comfortable however. Last year had been the worst and her whole lifestyle had changed, and now Sophie just had to keep to herself until she finally finished Hogwarts and could be fully alone and free.

As Sophie walked out of the library she quickly looked for solitude in the Student Lounge, which was just nearby. She didn't know if she could make it to her dormitory before crying, and the chance of someone else being in the student lounge was quite low, especially since it was so late during the day. She entered the room, her eyes looking straight at the ground. She couldn't believe that she had opened up to someone else about what had happened, even if she hadn't opened up fully. Soon enough the memory of her father would not only be hers, but everyone else's as well, and suddenly she regretted going to the counsellor. How could she be so careless? She closed the door behind her and sat down in front of it, leaning against the hard wood as she brought her knees up to her chest. A single tear began falling down her face, however when she spotted movement out of the corner of her eye, she froze, hoping that the older boy hadn't noticed her.

 

[Chrysander Kaster]

The last thing that Chrys had expected in his little wallow fest had been the disturbance of his limited peace. Of course given where he was he probably should have known better than to expect to keep this place all to himself, but he couldn’t help it. He’d wanted some kind of alone time and now that he couldn’t have that, he was going to have to suck it up somehow. Not that he really knew how he was going to do that at all. Sighing as he heard the door close, Chrys slipped his legs from the back of the couch and spread a little more out on it. He didn’t want to get up and see who’d closed the door, he really, really didn’t, but he always wasn’t sure he liked that his only escape route had been taken from him.​

He was curious a little that there was someone who seemed to be having a bad enough day that they needed to be completely alone and closed the door to a communal space - even though everyone knew this was communal, at this time of the day there weren’t many people. Most had class - so he was a bit curious for sure. He bit his lip and sat up, looking over at the door to see a girl leaning against it. She didn’t look good and if she was looking at him she would have noticed the deep frown on his face.​

He had no friends and really not much to care about. Chrys wasn’t usually the kind of person to get attached, but this was a thing for him. He liked helping people, but just didn’t always know how to go about it. She was a bit younger than him, he’d seen her around. She was also pretty much his type too, not that it was any indication to whether he’d talk to her, except that it kind of was.​

“Are you alright?” he asked, though he didn’t move from where he was leaning over the back of the couch to talk to her. She clearly wanted space and so crowding her was the last thing he wanted to do. He knew what it was like to need space and not have enough of it. Sure, he wasn’t always clear on boundaries, but he was learning. Elio and Elsie had taught him a lot about personal space, though given they’d also left him, one voluntarily and one not, he couldn’t see the reason to keep up with it, except that he’d learned what he liked in his own personal space and he didn’t want to revert to that. “You look like sh!t, no offense.” Truth be, so did he, but he knew that already.​

 

[Sophie Elliston]

Sophie was glad that the boy didn't walk over to her, but couldn't help but be startled as he spoke up, asking her if she was alright. She sat there, feeling all of her muscles tense as she just stared at him, hugging her knees against her like they were the only thing protecting her from any danger. She hoped that he was just a figure of her imagination, and didn't have any intention of replying to him as she thought the answer to the question was rather obvious. His comment didn't offend Sophie, however it did make her question whether or not she always looked like sh!t, as this was always what she looked like. She hadn't done anything differently, she hadn't fallen into a dark hole, unless of course that dark hole was metaphorical, and so she wasn't really sure why the boy would say that.

"None taken." Sophie replied, not really caring about what the boy thought. After all, it wasn't like she had to try and impress him. She just continued to sit there, suddenly feeling annoyed by the boy's presence as she knew that he would probably be watching her. She quickly wiped away another tear before speaking again. "I don't mean to be rude, but-" She sniffled, really hating the fact a stranger was in here watching her cry. "Why do you care if I'm alright?" After everything Sophie had been through, she didn't think anyone at Hogwarts cared except for Selene. It was a strange feeling to be cared about by a stranger, especially since no one had asked her about how she was feeling until now. She was just curious, and hoped that the boy didn't think she had any bad intention.

 

[Chrysander Kaster]

There wasn’t much in the world that could pull Chrys’ attention from his own selfishness. He was actually very selfish - as most people that knew him well would undoubtedly find out about him if they hadn’t discovered it upon first meeting - but something that he just couldn’t abide was people who were vulnerable in places they probably didn’t want to be vulnerable. Maybe it was his friendship with Elio, Elsie, Rowan, Luna, whatever, but he couldn’t just sit idly by whilst people suffered around him. Not really.​

​

It was one thing for him to be selfish when they could be selfish with him, but to do so when someone really needed help just wasn’t his thing. Okay, so maybe he wasn’t actually as selfish as he generally wanted people to believe, but he did have an image he liked to maintain and… well there was no one else in the room so he was sure his little cultivated image was in no danger of harm. He was vain as f*ck, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t see this girl needed some space and maybe someone to talk her down from whatever ledge she was standing at. He’d been there, he was sure most people had.​

​

He sat up a little straighter, but made no moves to get closer to her. He could read people pretty well he felt, he’d had years of experience. He’d worked wonders with Elio, after all, he knew what it was like to have so many emotions you couldn’t properly process what it all meant. Sometimes you needed a bit of coaching to catch up with the beat of your own heart. “Good,” he said, genuinely pleased she really didn’t seem to be offended by the comment. “Woulda been a bit sh!t if i’d made you feel worse than you already clearly do, huh?”​

​

He supposed he could say something like I dont care but you’re cute and I’m being a gentleman but that was probably pretty sh!tty and he wasn’t sure it was exactly the truth either. Whilst he’d never really been against lying - he lied all the time about stuff! - he was against making people uncomfortable and feeling worse, which was probably what that comment would have done. “Well, I guess I just think it’s not fair…” he said, frowning. Though he realised she probably wouldn’t understand and so continued, “I mean, you came here to get away from people obviously,” since she’d closed the door, “and here I am in your space witnessing your vulnerability. I just felt like I should at least check on you.”​

 

[Sophie Elliston]

Sophie didn't like talking about her feelings. The only person she comfortably could speak to about how she was feeling wasn't even there anymore, and it had been so long since anyone had showed any interest like that. What she had felt these past couple of years was odd, but Sophie didn't think she ever felt like sh!t. To be honest, she hadn't felt anything in so long other than numb and lost, so she simply shrugged off his comment about making her feel worse, feeling as though that simply wouldn't possible.

Sophie listened as the older boy answered her question, feeling as though it made sense. A nice enough person would not have ignored her and so perhaps he didn't really care at all and was just hoping she would move from the door soon so he could get out. Nodding as she agreed with her theory, Sophie scooted over to the right away from the door, allowing enough space for the boy to leave if he wanted to. "Sorry, if you want to leave you can." she told him, wiping her tear-stained face. She had mostly stopped crying now, however her eyes were red and swollen which suddenly made her feel very insecure as she looked at the boy, noticing his very masculine face and his almost perfect jawline. Maybe she really did look like sh!t. "By the way, um, my name is Sophie."

 

[Chrysander Kaster]

Chrys didn’t know what it was about Sophie that just made him feel like he had to talk to her. Perhaps, in some small way, he sensed a kindred spirit. They both seemed to be having a difficult time of things - though he could admit she possibly won in that department if looking at her was any indication - and so maybe they could wallow in their hurt together?​

​

Honestly - despite all his moaning to the contrary - Chrys didn’t actually want to be alone. He never had. He was so used to being surrounded by people that suddenly not having that kind of closeness around him was weird. Most of his siblings were off doing other things and so he had to deal with himself most of the time. Ben was always with their Dad for his training, Aleks was about to gallivant off around the world some more. Elsa was in a different school and so all he really had were Flynn and Jemima and he had no idea what either of those pair were doing except apparently avoiding him since he hadn’t seen them in days. Not since they’d got here pretty much.​

​

“Nah, it’s fine.” He didn’t want to admit that he wanted company - that was so childish, but he shifted his body so he sunk back into the depths of the lounge again. She’d moved away from the door - sweet of her but unnecessary. “I’ll just stay here if you don’t mind.” He hoped she didn’t. He didn’t want to leave.​

​

From where he was laying spread across the couch, he hoped his voice traveled enough for her to hear him. “Yeah, I’m Chrys. Pleasure Sophie.”​

 

[Sophie Elliston]

It seemed that the older boy didn't want to move, and Sophie just took a shaky breath as she continued to sit against the wall, wondering why she hadn't scared him away yet. Was he perhaps just too lazy to get up? Maybe he was hoping she would leave first? But Sophie felt too tense to get up and leave, and felt as though she might get dizzy and fall over if she tried. He sunk back into the lounge and Sophie was kind of glad for this. She could see less of his face now and it made her feel a little bit more comfortable.

"Yes, a pleasure." Sophie spoke, replying to him as he introduced himself as Chrys. She liked his name, liked it a lot, and couldn't help but smile slightly as she wiped the last tear from the side of her face. She didn't know what it was about him, but now that she couldn't see his face she felt a lot more calm knowing that there was another presence in the room with her. "So, what brought you here? Is something on your mind too?" Normally Sophie wouldn't care, but it seemed like the student lounge was the ideal place for someone to clear their head, and for the boy to be there he must be thinking about something too.