Closed Taking A Break

[Miles Flynn]

Miles often liked coming to the park when things at home got a little too... much. It was hard, constantly trying to have to flit between his parents, almost feeling like their personal owl to deliver messages when they weren't in the mood to actually talk to each other themselves. And then there were his younger siblings, with his parents oft fighting over everything, that left it all up to Miles to look out for them. With being pulled in so many different directions and constantly trying to put on a brave face, it was just nice to get away from it all for a little while. He huffed as he finally sat down on the swing set, using his heels to rock back and forth a little as he gripped onto the chains, looking around to see who else might be around.

 

[Mania Athanasiou]

Mania had been dragged yet on another 'house hunt' to Brightstone Village. She had spent her time between her last visit and now trying to reason with her parents they didn't need to live closer to the school, she'd come home for holidays, but of course there was the fact that Gaia too would attend later. She had convinced her parents to let her hang out at the park again though, as she had put it, it was an excellent opportunity for her to meet kids around her age that could possibly be attending the school as well in the up coming years. As Mania made her way to the park she noticed the swings she had occupied last time to be already partly taken, lucky for everyone she wasn't one to shy away from new people.

Marching her way over to the swings she took the free one and sat down. "Hi, I'm Mania you can either call me Nia or Man, completely up to you, though Man is mostly used by my sisters when they want to annoy me so choose wisely." She said to the boy that seemed to be minding his own business, but it would be rude to just sit there on the swings and not greet the other person, right?

 

[Miles Flynn]

He almost started when a girl suddenly sat down next to him, quickly introducing herself as Mania. Miles hadn't been expecting someone to just sit down like that, so it took him a moment to try to compose himself, offering an almost shy smile to the stranger. "I guess I'll call you Nia, then." He wasn't going to choose a name that the other girl didn't like, that would just be mean of him. "I'm Miles. Just Miles, I guess. I don't really have any other names."

 

[Mania Athanasiou]

Mania smiled at his smart choice, it was sort of her way of testing the waters with new people. Nodding at the boy Mania started swinging slowly. "Miles, that's a nice name. Are you from here?" She presented him with another question. She was curious really to see if he was from there or like her just dragged out here by parents or someone else.

 

[Miles Flynn]

He was quick to shake his head when she commented that he had a nice name. "It's not anything special." He didn't have any particular fondness for his name, it was not as though he had been named after anyone or anything. "Yeah, I come to this park all the time." Then, he paused for a moment, glancing over at the girl on the swing set, almost scrutinizing her with his gaze. "Are you from here? I don't think I've seen you around before." Not that he was the expert on every single person who visited the park, but he did recognize the regulars, at least.

 

[Mania Athanasiou]

Shaking her head, Mania suppressed a sigh at his denial of her compliment. He could suit himself then, but in her books it was a nice name. She then nodded at his explanation of being a local and visiting the park often, that made sense. The park was nice, at least in her opinion. "Nope. I am from well a bit of everywhere I suppose." She started before pondering how to explain herself. "Originally my family is from Greece and that is what I do consider home, but my parents like to see the world so we have been just moving from one place to the next ever since well, before I was born even Hera, my older sister aka first born, has never lived in place for too long until going off to school of course." She didn't mind it, it was a privilege to have seen the world beyond what she considered home, but sometimes it was tiring too. To never feel like you had a place of your own. "I am starting school here next fall, though, in Hogwarts so we have been visiting in their words 'to familiarize me with my surroundings'." The girl added to explain why she was there, if she wasn't living there.

 

[Miles Flynn]

Miles had never had the opportunity to ever leave New Zealand before, so it was surprising to hear an account of someone who had never spent too long in one place. He was fascinated, leaning forward slightly on the swing to peer over at the girl as she explained. "What's it like?" He asked almost as soon as she was finished talking. "Greece, I mean," came the quick added on bit at the end when he realized he didn't actually make it clear what he was talking about. "I've never been out of the country, so I bet it's amazing to be able to go to all those different places and see everything. But, if your family is always moving about, does that mean you're only going to be at Hogwarts for a little bit? Would you transfer someone else if you family decides to move again?"

 

[Mania Athanasiou]

Mania was a little surprised at the question, not fully understanding what he meant before he followed it up with the mention of her home. A warm smile etched onto her face she took a second to ponder her words. "It's beautiful, warm, amazing food and people. There's so many beautiful historical things and everywhere you look you are met with indescribable beauty, whether it's in the form of nature, architecture or people." She explained to the best of her ability, it was difficult to put into words what she felt about the place, but she had tried. Frowning at the boys next question she thought on it for a bit. "I don't think so, I won't let them make me transfer. As much as I love seeing the world and appreciate it, I want for once to feel at home. Have a place to call my own, not leave friends behind and be forced to make new ones. I want to belong and stay longer than a year or two." Mania would not let her parents take her out of the school, it was the one thing she wanted to go through in one place and Hogwarts seemed a good fit.

"Besides I am trying to convince them to stay the way they are, not move closer. As much as I love my family it is a lot, always has been." She purposely left out the part that with her always acting on her emotions and without thinking she was the problem child of the family, she didn't want to necessarily feel like her parents would always be there to watch her. "I could show you some photos some time, from everywhere I have been to I mean." She offered with a smile.

 

[Miles Flynn]

Miles sat still as he listened to everything the girl had to say about her home country, pretty enamored with how she was describing it. He would love to visit another country sometime and actually get out of New Zealand. Of course, he loved his home and didn't want to move away to a country he had never been to before speaking a language he didn't understand. But just to visit, that was another thing completely. Of course, with the way his family currently was he very much doubted they would be taking any amazing vacations anytime soon. If he wanted to visit another country, he was probably going to have to wait until he was older and could afford to go himself. Or, he was going to have to be invited to come with someone else. "It sounds amazing," he mumbled, suddenly feeling quite jealous about the whole thing. "I'd love to see some pictures, though." Maybe he could try and imagine himself there if he could actually see photos of what it looked like. "But, I suppose it does suck having to move all the time. I couldn't imagine living anywhere different. I've always lived in the same house since I was little."

 

[Mania Athanasiou]

Mania could see his point of view too she supposed and he was right it was amazing. It had its sides she supposed, nodding she brought her eyes to examine his face and smiled. "Well then next time I'll uh bring my phone or just show you the pictures once we get to school next year. I will be taking bunch of pictures with me to there anyways." She said as she shrugged her shoulders. "Is there anything cool to do around here? I mean I do like swinging I guess but is there like anything that you are told not to do that I should know about, so I can avoid such things obviously." There was a mischievous glint in her eyes but in her defense if she had to spend a lot more time here she might as well see what fun was around. Swinging in a park was fun but rather mundane and it would be good to know what she could do, if she ever found herself bored enough.

 

[Miles Flynn]

Maybe he would have to go home and ask his parents if they could take a holiday somewhere out of the country. While he doubted they would agree, maybe everyone going on a trip would help with everything. They might just enjoy themselves so much they forget what they were arguing about in the first place, or something. "I'd really like that, yeah," he responded to the girl with a nod of his head. Though, he supposed that seeing pictures would only make him want a holiday even more. And then the question of things to do around here, and Miles paused thoughtfully, pressing his lips together as he looked behind him. "Well, there are a bunch of shops in the village you can visit, and sometimes it's just fun to browse through stuff. I guess there's also the Borely mansion over that way." He paused, using a finger to point in the general direction. "It's the old and abandoned house that's supposed to be super haunted or something."

 

[Mania Athanasiou]

Mania gave the boy an excited smile, looking forward to showing him some pictures. Perhaps she could give him a glimpse of the world beyond, she could see it in his eyes. He wanted to see it, but the most she could do for him was pictures. Her ears perked up when Miles started telling her about places around there. Shops sounded reasonable, but not very thrilling. The mansion on the other hand? Oh that sounded fun. "Perhaps I will someday explore it." She said tapping her fingers softly against her knee. "Do you have any siblings?" Mania asked out of nowhere, she hadn't exactly meant to ask that but figured it didn't matter in the bigger scheme of things, besides if he had some that was just one more thing to relate on.

 

[Miles Flynn]

Just listening to stories of what other countries were like was all he was going to get for the time being, he supposed. But it was nice to daydream, with enough information and enough imagination he could picture himself there. Even if it was for a little bit. But, as for what there was to do around here, he could tell that maybe shopping and browsing the stores wasn't exactly what Mania had in mind. Though she did seem to take some interest in the Borely Mansion. "I've always been meaning to go and get a closer look, you know? I've seen it from behind the fence, but it never really looks that intimidating." He always thought that the stories of the place behind haunted were just to try and keep kids away, and something to try and scare them to keep them in line. "Yeah, I'm the eldest," and these days, the one mainly looking out for his siblings while his parents were busy arguing, "How about you?"

 

[Mania Athanasiou]

Mania smiled at the boy. "Oh? We could go see if you'd like? I have a few hours to kill before I have to get back to my parents" She admitted dismissively. They had set a meeting time and she'd respect it, but nothing was stopping her from being a little reckless in the meantime. "Ooh, I am the second eldest of five so, four plus me, all girls. Though two are adopted but they are as much part of the family as biological ones, but makes explaining the ages a little easier I suppose?" She explained a little unsure how to explain her family dynamics. Her sisters Gaia and Eris weren't twins but they were born in the same year and adopted as babies so it could get a little confusing if they were to ever speak ages.

 

[Miles Flynn]

"You wanna?" He was a little surprised that she was so willing to go right this second, and was so willing to try and get a closer look with him. There was probably a reason there was a fence in place to keep people away from the house, so hopping over it could get them both into trouble if they happened to get caught. "You have four other siblings? That sounds... nice." And incredibly chaotic, if he were being honest. Miles thought it bad enough with his own siblings, but he couldn't think about being the eldest of five. "Bet you never have any free time with so many siblings running around, though," which did sound like it would be hard. But at least she wasn't the eldest, they always tended to get lumped with most of the responsibility - something he knew from experience.

Sorry about how late this is! Time got away from me.

 

[Mania Athanasiou]

Mania smiled broadly, absolutely feeling up for the possibility of exploring. "Yes yes, sure I think it should be fun, no?" She said with her tone growing more and more excited at the possibilities. Mania just shrugged at his response to her sibling count. "Eh well it has it's days. I wouldn't say it's nice especially being the one to be born second. Always the second oldest, second best and not the exciting one nor the babied one like the younger ones. I have always just been... there..." As if the statement of just being there made any sense. Sure it was nice to have siblings, especially when you were constantly on the move like her family, at least you had some friends so to say, that stayed with you from one country to another. "I well I make free time, I slip away and it's not as if they even notice it." Nia shrugged, she was good at slipping away the perks of being just there. "Soooo, what's it going to be? We going or no?" The girl said raising an eyebrow and getting up from the swing, showing an effort to go closer.

(Absolutely no worries! It be like that sometimes besides I was away for a bit too so no worries! <3)

 

[Miles Flynn]

Yes, it could be fun, but it could also be dangerous if there did seem to be something lurking in the house besides some harmless ghosts. But, he supposed, that was always part of the fun of it all. "If we aren't supposed to be allowed there, hope you're fast if we have to run away." Because Miles had no intentions of getting caught doing something they weren't supposed to be doing. "Well, I guess being second is better than being first in a way, because you're not the one with all the responsibility to look after your younger siblings." That was always the job of the eldest sibling, something Miles had plenty of experience with thanks to his own parents constantly not having the time to look after their offspring. It still sounded plenty chaotic, though, and Miles couldn't say that he would want to switch places with the other girl anytime soon. Nodding his head, he hopped up off the swing himself, grinning slightly. "I guess we are," it was better than just sitting around here, anyway.

 

[Mania Athanasiou]

Mania gave a shrug, "Oh yes I am quite fast." She had had plenty of practice running from her siblings and sometimes from the trouble she had caused. Mania gave another shrug at the boy, seeing that there was more meaning behind those words than he let on, but not wanting to press it as they had just met. "I guess they both have their sides, though I think my sister, Hera, quite loves being the oldest." From the way she was bossing everyone else around it certainly seemed so at least. Her delight and therefore grin also grew in size at the boys agreement. Oh this most definitely should be fun. "Last one there is a loser!" She exclaimed, wasting no time in jumping into a sprint towards the general direction of the mansion, only to realize she was not sure where exactly it would be, but it should stick out enough right?

 

[Miles Flynn]

Miles couldn't help but grin a little as the girl said that she was fast. "Hopefully, we won't have to run, but, you know." It was always useful to know these things beforehand, just in case there was a need for them to suddenly make a break for it. "Being the eldest can be alright, but it's just a lot of extra effort most of the time." Having to look after his siblings and also trying to keep his parents together and all the extra responsibility. Stretching, he was quite surprised when the girl suddenly sprinted off, in the wrong direction, claiming that the last one there was a loser. "Well, you're going to be the loser because the mansion is this way!" He just shouted back, trying not to snigger as he turned and sprinted off, though not at full speed, just because she did need to follow him.

 

[Mania Athanasiou]

Mania stopped like a bird flying into a window at those words. She had gone the wrong way, great of course she had. Navigation had never been her strong suit. "Oh don't you worry about it! I told you I was fast!" She shouted back turning around and huffing in frustration seeing the amount of catching up she had to do to even make it there at the same time. No use of getting annoyed at it she decided as she started to sprint at full speed again. Manias limbs burned only a little at the effort she put in to catch up. It took her a second but as the mansion neared Mania managed to make it next to Miles and they made it there at the same time. "I suppose nobody's a loser then?" Nia said between breaths, leaning her hands onto her knees to catch her breath.

 

[Miles Flynn]

Saying that you were fast and actually proving that you were fast were two very different things. However, Miles was a little surprised at how fast the girl actually was. Though he wasn't sprinting at full speed himself, he was surprised at how fast she managed to catch up with him. "Guess not," he agreed, huffing out a breath from the effort, putting his hands on his hips so he could stretch his back slightly. Running without warming up was never much of a good idea, but he hoped this wasn't going to come back to bite him later. It was not like he had sprinted, and it hadn't been far to go. "So, this is it. I know, doesn't really look like much from here, but the stories say it's haunted." To him, it just looked like an old and run-down house, not much else.

 

[Mania Athanasiou]

Mania looked up at the old building then back at the boy and then at the building again. "Yep, does not look like much at all." Narrowing her eyes Nia turned to look at her watch and frowned slightly. "Ugh, I am supposed to meet up with my parents in the village in about thirty minutes or so, of course it had to ruin my fun." She said looking back up from her watch. "Do you think we could squeeze in just a little bit of looking around before I have to go?" She asked, it shouldn't take too long for her to get to the village but she also did not want to be too late from the set meeting time and give her parents a real scare. "Do you think the door is locked? They sure should keep it locked if they want to keep children out..." Surely it'd be locked, adults were supposed to be smart after all and if they wanted to keep children out that'd be the smartest thing or maybe enchanting it or something.

 

[Miles Flynn]

Some people would probably be scared just looking at the house from a distance. But Miles was not most people. He didn't see anything terribly frightening about a house from a distance. If the stories were to be believed, it was what was inside the house which made it so off limits. But getting inside was the problem in the first place. "Ugh, that's pretty lame," Miles was lucky his own parents often just forgot about him while they were busy arguing, so it was easy enough to come and go from the house as he pleased. So long as he told at least one of them where he was going in the first place. "They probably locked the door to stop people from getting in," otherwise, he was quite sure there would be loads of stories from people who had managed to get a good look inside. "But guess we're not going to know unless we really try, yeah?"

 

[Mania Athanasiou]

Mania shook her head with a smile. "Yeah well I suppose it is lame, though if I were a parent I'd probably want to set a meeting time with my kid too if I let them out of my sights in a foreign country." She admitted with a shrug, not that she'd be a parent anytime soon though. "Then, let's go try!" Mania exclaimed and then she was hurrying over the fence and towards the front door. She stepped carefully on the steps leading up to the porch and eventually door, hearing a creak made her heart stop momentarily every time. She could do without falling under the porch thank you very much. "Come on now Miles!" Nia called behind her carefully walking to the door. "Doesn't look locked, you should try open it." Just in case the local kids had put a jinx on it and Miles was in on it trying to get a good laugh, she could never be too careful, who was she kidding she was never careful. First time for everything though.

 

[Miles Flynn]

Miles huffed slightly, "Yeah, you probably have a point." Maybe it was a bad thing that his own parents didn't really seem to care much about him at the moment. Well, his mother was still protective, but only when his father was involved. Which was just more annoying than anything else. Craning his neck to look up at the house better as they approach, Miles was starting to feel quite nervous. He'd never actually been this close before, always staying back behind the fence and just wondering what all the fuss was about. And then Nia was asking him to open the door, and he just frowned as he glanced over. "Why do I have to do it? You too scared or something?" He wasn't worried about just yanking the door open himself, but now he was just curious as to why she wanted him to do it instead.