Closed Slow Building Friendship

[Aisa Hunter]

With the new year starting, Aisa had to get back into her routine a bit. She was up a bit early this morning, and arrived at breakfast with the hall relatively empty. She scanned the Gryffindor table for Sully, or maybe Jarica or someone else to sit with at breakfast, but didn't spot anyone she wanted to talk to. She didn't see Adorah over at the Ravenclaw table either, so she looked over at the Slytherin table, where she spotted Simon. It wasn't that long ago that Aisa wouldn't even have thought to sit with him, but lately she had warmed up to him more and more. She wasn't sure if she would consider him a friend, but it was something close to it. Aisa headed over to the Slytherin table, ignoring anyone who gave her an odd look for sitting at the wrong table as she took a seat on the opposite side of the table to Simon. "Morning." She said. "Mind if I sit here?"

 

[Simon Thorne]

Simon knew it was pointless but there was a part of him that told him not to give up yet and maybe just maybe he could turn his grades around. He was co-president of Brotherhood now which should have been impressive but his father had not seemed moved by it at all. This morning he was trying to get a head start on reading for his classes but nothing was making sense. He looked up as Aisa greeted him and asked to sit down. He gave her a nod and closed his book without a second thought. "Go ahead." he said with a sigh and wiped his hands over his face. "It's a hopeless endeavor anyways." he said gesturing to the discarded textbook. "I hope your semester is starting out better than mine." he grumbled before grabbing an orange from a bowl of fruit.

 

[Aisa Hunter]

Aisa could tell Simon wasn't in the best mood, but she didn't really need someone annoyingly cheerful to share breakfast with anyway. She looked at the book Simon put away. "You're getting an early start with studying." She said, raising her eyebrows a bit. "It's a bit early to say it's hopeless too, don't you think?" She added, then paused. "My semester is fine so far. What's wrong?" She knew that Simon had some issues with his dad, it was something he'd told her last year and probably something that had gotten them quite a bit closer. She wondered if this had something to do with that.

 

[Simon Thorne]

"Is that so hard to believe?" Simon asked in mock offence but he had to agree it was a ridiculous notion. "Is that optimism I hear? What's got you in such a good mood?" he asked curiously as he locked his fingers together and rested his elbows on the table between them. He gave her an amused look until she asked what was wrong. Simon sighed. "Just a thorn in my side, the size of an eleven year old." he said with a shrug, the play on words not lost on him.

 

[Aisa Hunter]

Aisa laughed softly and shook her head. "I guess not, I'm just used to hanging out with Sully all the time so seeing anyone studying is like a small miracle to me." She joked lightly. When Simon asked her why she was in such a good mood, Aisa shrugged a little and looked away, glancing in the direction of the Ravenclaw table even though she had already seen Adorah wasn't there. "Not sure." She said, not quite ready to talk about her feelings with Simon Thorne of all people. Especially not when he was in a bad mood himself. She smiled a bit as he talked about his brother. "A Thorne in your side, literally." She quipped. "I saw him at sorting, he seemed like a sweet kid." Aisa said with a shrug. "But maybe it's easy for me to say, I've never had to deal with annoying younger siblings. I guess I am the annoying younger sibling." She said, pondering it. Her relationship with Abian felt different than the typical younger and older sibling dynamic. Sometimes she had felt like the oldest.

 

[Simon Thorne]

Simon considered her reasoning and nodded. “Fair enough.” he said, holding his hands up in mock surrender. He knew Sully well enough to understand where she was coming from. He noticed the way she glanced at the Ravenclaw table when she brushed off his question about being in a good mood. He didn’t say anything but narrowed his eyes slightly before grimacing dramatically as they started to talk about his brother. “Unfortunately.” Simon said dryly as she made the obvious joke. He made a face when Aisa called Caleb sweet and tried to think of a way to describe his brother and explain why he felt so put out by his presence but he just came up short. “He’s….fine.” was what he settled on, sounding annoyed and defeated in the same breath. He had to be the mature one and realize that they had very different experiences with the move and growing up with the same parents. “I have two, we can share.” he suggested cheerfully when she brought up her own sibling situation. Simon was still a bit embarrassed he never realized Abian and Aisa were related until far too late. It wasn’t like Hunter was an unusual surname but they did share a strong resemblance that made him feel foolish when he finally connected those particular dots.

 

[Aisa Hunter]

Aisa wasn't sure what to make of Simon when he said his brother was fine. But she decided not to push it. She knew from previous conversations that Simon had a pretty complicated family history, and she didn't want to press and make him uncomfortable. Aisa laughed softly. "I'll take Delilah, then." She teased. "She seems quiet." She had never officially met Simon's sister, but she seemed like a pretty typical Ravenclaw. Before her first year, Aisa had thought she might be in that house herself. She had the feeling she might get along with Simon's sister if she had to.

 

[Simon Thorne]

Simon let out a laugh when Aisa claimed Delilah. "Good choice." he said thoughtfully but didn't look up and instead picked at his breakfast. She was quiet and would probably get along quite well with Aisa. But only a moment later he was suddenly lost in thought as he started to try and imagine his future after school which was becoming harder and harder to do. If his father was true to his word and cut him off, what would his relationship with Delilah and Caleb even be like? There was a part of him that was relieved by the idea of not having to think about them anymore, but it was followed quickly by a rush of panic he didn't want to process right now. He was sure he looked absolutely disturbed as he glowered at his plate and looked up quickly and grinned, pushing those thoughts away. "Speaking of siblings, how is Abian doing?" he asked curiously.

 

[Aisa Hunter]

Simon was a bit quiet, and Aisa quietly watched him as she ate. She wondered how he was doing, what was happening under the surface. But then instead, he asked about Abian, and Aisa took a moment before answering. She smiled. "He's good. He's now training to be a healer, though that apparently takes ages. Four or five years, I think." She said, almost unable to believe her brother would have willingly chosen to go to school longer.