Sheep and Llamas (Phin and Hunter)

Aoife and Phin were outside, sitting in the gardens under a tree and chilling out, talking casually. They were enjoying one of the last few evenings of warm weather before the season would change and chilly autumn nights would force them to dress up warmly and would be darker much earlier. The first day of school had just finished and she was getting back into the routine of things at school already.

At the moment, she was procrastinating over homework. The Potions essay wasn’t due for a while but she had decided to get an early start on it. Rather than actually writing, the bluehead was arguing with Phin over which was better, sheep or llama. Obviously sheep were the greatest creatures ever and Phin didn’t know what he was going on about, but she had to make sure he realised that. “But llamas spit at people and they always get angry easily!” she argued. “Sheep are peaceful and friendly unless you’re really mean to them!” Yet another reason why the fluffy animals were great.

A lock of hair fell into her eyes and she went to pull it back. But she still couldn't get over just how BLUE it was! So weird and different! A big contrast from her previous orange-y sort of hair. “Phin?” she asked seriously. “What do you honestly think of my hair?” Aoife needed opinions from boys like Phin, because if he thought that it actually didn’t look that ugly, it might not have the right effect. Derek had said it looked fine at the feast, but he was probably just being diplomatic so she wasn’t offended. But she WANTED to be offended!

Sheep vs. Llama's. Llama's obviously. They were bigger, cuter, and sweeter. Sure they spit, but one doesn't necessarily see a sheep in a petting zoo right? AND you can ride them. Sheep just sit there and are kind of useless. But he didn't want to tell her that. He would just give her the satisfactory of winning this argument.

He was just sitting there. She had tones of homework to do, but he didn't have any, surprisingly. He thought they would go tougher on the second years, but apparently they didn't. Then she asked him about her hair. He knew why she did it. It was to piss HIM off. And that was stupid of her. He wanted to tell her that it looked great, and she was the prettiest blue haired child here at Hogwarts. But, he wanted to tell her the truth. And like they always said, "The truth hurt."

So, he breathed in a little bit, and said, "It sucks. It's nasty looking, and the reason why you did it is stupid."

She didn't tell him the reason, but he could guess. He continued, "You don't have to change for a guy. A stupid one at that. You don't have to change...for me."

There he was going for it. He was going to throw everything on the table. Give her a choice, and the sad part was, he knew he would loose. He leaned in and tried to do the one thing that would get her to see him in that way. He tried to kiss her.

Ah, good. He had seen the logic in her argument and come to the conclusion that Aoife was right, like always. She beamed at him, glad that she had a sheep supporter friend in a world filled with sheep haters. She was sure that he would be a good supporter of her charities when she launched them throughout the wizarding world and really raised awareness.

When Phin started his answer, she listened carefully, but stared at her blank piece of parchment at the same time. She hated Potions, that was why it was always so difficult both in class and for homework. Professor Henley was still really nice but that didn’t make up for all the dead slugs and difficulty of the subject.

Aoife nodded in agreement. The reason she had done it was indeed stupid. Phin didn’t entirely understand, though, because she hadn’t done it completely to spite Hunter. It was also to keep boys from asking her out and just as something new, because there was nobody at Hogwarts with blue hair and it only made her more awesome and unique. It was good that he thought it looked nasty. “Thank you for being honest.” It was decent of the kid to tell the truth.

He carried on speaking and she carried on listening. Then he called Hunter stupid and she snorted. Phin so should have been in Gryffindor, he was totally like one. Everything was great then, but next he HIT HER WITH IT. “Change for YOU?” she asked incredulously. A while ago she would have thought he was joking but it hadn’t been like that since Hunter asked you. The world was so much more serious, and it sucked. “Phin… I…” Aoife was lost for words. No, she needed to be just as honest for him. “You aren’t the reason I did it! I don’t LIKE you like that!” Her voice was raised now in her sudden anger. It was happening all over again. She didn’t want to lose a good friend this time, but she might not have a choice.

Maybe, just maybe, she could have forgiven him. But he had to take it one step further and try to KISS HER. She raised her hand and slapped him. “Get AWAY FROM ME!” she said loudly, shuffling backwards. “What was THAT FOR?” That GIT CHILD.

The first day back at Hogwarts had been - well, Hunter wasn't really sure how to describe it. Interesting? Weird? Maybe it was just a lot different than he had imagined it. He'd come to so many conclusions over the summer, and had managed to put what had happened with him and Aoife behind him. And, in a way, he'd written her out of his life completely. He was over her. He didn't need to have anything to do with her. He was going to walk into the great hall and ignore her - he was going to talk to Seren and Blake and Ariel and not even care how much Aoife still hated him. And it was going to work.

But then, Aoife had to go and screw everything up by sitting next to him at the feast. And by acting normally toward him. And by dying her hair blue. Her attitude toward him was something that Hunter hadn't worked into his equation, and now he was left at a loss of how to proceed. He'd expected to just push all thoughts of her from his mind - that way, it would be so easy to not feel anything for her, good or bad. But she'd caught him off guard, and he wasn't sure what to do. Of course he missed her, but was it a good idea to try being friends? It was clear to him - from interacting with both of them at the feast - that he still liked Seren. But just the sound of Aoife's voice had been enough to make his breath catch in his throat.

The entire situation was pushing Hunter into an irritable mood, and he eventually decided to escape the castle and his friends altogether so that he could spend some time alone. His occasional need for isolation had only begun after all the drama last year, and it was one of the things that hadn't gone away over the summer. That and his now-short temper. It was a little late to go all the way down to the lake to sit by his tree, so he headed toward the gardens instead. They weren't as far, and he could spend at least an hour there and still make it back before curfew. But when he made it to his destination, he found that he wasn't the only one there.

He couldn't miss the bright blue hair standing out against the green surroundings - Aoife was across the garden, under a tree with that stupid Hufflepuff that she liked. Of course, she was here. Hunter just ignored them, not in the mood to figure out how to interact with her at the moment - they probably hadn't seen him anyway - and kept to the opposite side of the garden. He found a tree of his own and lowered himself to the ground, leaning back against it and looking away from the other two. He didn't care what they were doing. But then, after a few moments, the sound of Aoife's voice caught his attention, and he couldn't help but turn to see what was going on. She was yelling, and before Hunter could figure out what had caused it, she pulled her hand back and slapped the kid in the face.

Hunter's eyebrows shot up in surprise - what the hell was that about? And why hadn't he decided to be a creep and watch them when he arrived? He'd clearly missed something big. But he had a feeling now wasn't the best time to make his presence known. So he just sat there quietly - this time, being sure that his eyes remained locked on the scene taking place. He definitely wanted to see this!

Images of his father punching him in the face flashed threw his mind. He pictured himself picking up the bottle of muggle beer that his father had been drinking moments before, and pictured himself throwing it towards him, just wanting it to hit him. But unfortunately, the bottle missed.

Phin wasn't even sure what had happened. He felt the palm of his hand hit something warm in response to what he had just felt. He looked from his hand to Aoife, mortified at what he had done. "Never hit a girl." His father's voice had echoed into his head.

And once again, he felt that he had disappointed him once more. He said coldly, "I didn't say you had to change for me. I meant that you didn't have to. You changed for him."

And with that he walked away. He then realized there was a particular set of eyes watching him that he didn't want to look at at the moment. They were HIS. He was screwed.

Aoife definitely hadn’t been expecting that. A hit back, right on her cheek. Maybe an argument, some sort of mean remark from Phin, but not this. Her hand flew to her own face. It hadn’t really really really hurt, but it had been sudden and unexpected. It stung a little bit, but she ignored it and put her hands on her hips, her eyes darkening with more anger. She was speechless for a moment, because she had no idea how she was meant to respond to that.

Why had he hit her? She supposed he had every right after she’d slapped him in the face a minute ago. But it was him that tried to kiss her in the first place, so he was at fault here. Then again, that was what she had repeatedly told herself after she threw that chair at Hunter. That time, it might have been a tiny bit her fault, so maybe it was this time to. At this thought, her hard stare softened because she still felt compassion for Phin. He was a great kid, just a little bit messed up in the head. Could they be equal now and stay friends?

No, they couldn’t. Because he had to make a mean remark and turn to walk off. “You still tried to KISS me!” she called after him. Aoife always got the last word and this time was not going to be an exception. She noticed him look at someone or something at the other side of the courtyard. It might be unimportant, but she strained her neck to look. Hunter. Great. He would have seen her hit Phin and Phin hitting her.

Bright hair falling over her eyes and hiding her bright red face, she sat with her head in her knees. She wasn’t angry or sad, just very confused. Life was confusing. Very, very, ridiculously confusing.

In reality, seeing Aoife smack Phin was surprising, but definitely not all that strange when Hunter thought about it. After all, this was the girl who had thrown a chair at him simply for suggesting that they go on a date. But what happened next was definitely not what Hunter suspected - even despite the fact that Phin had attacked Hunter last term for no reason. The second year retaliated by throwing his arm out and smacking Aoife back - right in the face! It didn't look like he'd gotten her very hard, but still.

The way her hand went to her cheek and the look on her face told Hunter that Aoife was just as dumbfounded as he himself felt. Then, the idiot child turned to walk away and Aoife shouted after him, and Hunter was finally let in on what had happened to cause so much commotion in the first place. Phin had tried to kiss her! Was he really that stupid? Hunter was at a loss - was he supposed to be angry at Phin for bothering Aoife and slapping her in the face? Or was he supposed to find the entire situation completely hilarious and burst into laughter. A big part of him really wanted to do the latter, but he had a feeling it wasn't quite the time. Maybe later. Because finally, they'd both spotted Hunter.

When Phin met his eyes, the boy quickly adopted a deer-in-the-headlights look, and Hunter could tell that the kid thought he was done for. And he would be, if Hunter wanted to put him in his place. But Hunter's eyes were drawn past Phin, to where Aoife had dropped her head to her knees, her hair cascading down over her face. But was it his place to go to her? Probably not, but Hunter couldn't bring himself to just leave her sitting there, looking all distraught. With a sigh, he pushed himself to his feet - why hadn't he just gone down to the lake?

Crossing the garden at his own pace, Hunter gave Phin an even look. "Beat it, kid," he muttered to the boy as he passed him, but otherwise didn't pay him any mind. When he reached Aoife, whose face was still hidden behind her hair, he lowered himself to the ground beside her. At first he didn't say anything, his eyes trailing over her thin frame and his fingers absentmindedly picking a few blades of grass from the ground.

But after a moment, Hunter figured he might as well say something. But what could he say, really? They still weren't friends. He couldn't exactly just give her a hug and tell her it would be fine and be the perfect best friend she used to have. So instead, he looked over at her and asked her casually, "Your face alright?" It didn't look like Phin had hit her very hard, but it was at least something to break the silence. And it was much simpler of a question than asking if she was alright. Then, figuring there was no need to be so formal, he continued. "Maybe he has a thing for blue hair," Hunter joked, giving her a half-amused grin.

His heart was thumping realllllyyyy fast. Not only did he just hit his best friend, but he was standing in front of her old best friend/protector or what ever he was. And he was honestly terrified. He wanted to say that he didn't mean to hit her. It just sort of happened that way. An instant reflex that he diffidently needed to work on, as seen earlier.

Phin was prepared to receive the exact same punishment. But instead he just replied, "Beat it." And with that, he ran in the opposite direction officially ashamed with himself. He made his way to his favorite snowman portrait and slid down to the ground and cried.

What had he done?!?!?! This wasn't Phineas Button his mum had raised him to be. He was better than what he displayed in the court yard. And that's when he decided he needed a change. He wasn't going to be a mummy's boy anymore, or fear his father. He wanted to be a perfect gentlemen, treat others with respect (whether he liked them or not).

And he knew just the person to talk to. And he just so happened to be sitting down in the Muggle Studies office at that very moment. Yes, Ladies and gents, he was going to get lessons from his very own Uncle Chad. This could end very bad, or very good. As long as he changed for the better, he didn't really care.

Then Phin was gone and Aoife was glad of it. She was alone and that was okay. Better than okay. Even though she was happy to be here alone, she was determined not to be all mopey and depressed again, just because she’d lost another friend and it wasn’t her fault. Anyway, she’d make friends with Phin again a lot sooner than she sort of had with Hunter. She was learning from her mistakes because she knew what it was like to be miserable and how to prevent it.

Through the gap between a couple of strands of hair, she saw someone sit down and sat up. She had to madly shake her head rather than push her hair back, because that was boring. Hunter. “That grass looks interesting.” Green, short strands, very special. But if he wanted to sit there and pick it happily like a little kid, she wouldn’t judge him. Well, she probably would, but she wouldn’t mention it again.

And great, he was going to start proper conversation. Maybe he should just stay where he was with that grass. “Yeah, it’s fine, thanks,” she said surprisingly normally. It had probably just been the shock that made her feel a tiny stingy pain right after Phin hit her. It wasn’t worth going to the hospital or trying to use that spell not meant for humans, only objects. There most likely wasn’t a mark. Phineas had weak fists.

Aoife managed a smile at Hunter’s little “joke”. It wasn’t true, though. “He hates my hair.” That was the point, it was hateable hair. Then she snorted, a little amused but mainly bitter. “He told me I didn’t need to change for me because I’m fine the way I am,” she admitted. It was so embarrassing.

Hunter watched Aoife silently as she shook her hair out of her face - in reality, he was waiting for her to tell him to leave. Maybe she would - Hunter wouldn't mind, really. It would just mean that he could escape a potentially awkward situation. But she didn't. Instead, she had to point out just how interesting the grass looked. He blew out an amused breath and tossed the shards that he'd just torn from the ground in her direction.

Hunter just nodded when Aoife said her face was okay. If she said it was fine, then it was fine. There wasn't anything else to say about it. He was a little surprised when she cracked a smile at his hair comment, but wasn't about to complain. He snorted when she said Phin hated her hair. "Yeah, well, who wouldn't? It's horrible," Hunter told her, shrugging. Not that Aoife would be offended by that or anything - Hunter really didn't understand it. "I mean, come on, even you can't possibly think it looks good." Hunter was determined to get to the bottom of this blue hair thing. She'd said she'd done it for more reasons than to just piss him off - but what other reason was there? There was no way Aoife liked it that way.

Hunter listened as Aoife told him what Phin had said to her - again, he was a little surprised that she'd confided in him. It felt normal, though. That was because it was normal - once. Hunter turned the words over in his mind for a moment, and tried to imagine them coming out of the little Hufflepuff's mouth. And all at once, it just seemed so ridiculously funny - and though he tried to stifle it, he couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"He actually said that?" Hunter chortled, his head falling into one of his hands as he tried to collect himself. "Sounds like something straight from a boring romance movie. And he actually tried to kiss you?" Hunter questioned, just to be sure that he'd heard that part right before. "Like, he looked like he was thinking about it, or he actually went for it?" Unable to stop himself, another fit of laughter took over him as the mental image flashed through his mind and it took him another minute to control it. "Sorry," he offered, though he wasn't really sorry at all - now that it was clear that nobody was hurt in the commotion, it was just too funny.

It seemed that Hunter would never get over this stupid hair thing. All she had done was dye it bright blue and Aoife didn’t see why he had to make such a big deal about finding what had made her change it. “Yes, that is still the point.” She sighed. “It was a journey to self-actualization and finding out who I really am,” she nodded seriously. But then she couldn’t hold in her laughter and ended up laughing at herself sounding so stupid. She still wasn’t telling him what her real reasoning was because it hadn’t worked. Phin tried to kiss her even when she had ugly blue hair. Maybe she’d change it back. No she wouldn’t, blue was exciting and she didn’t care about looking pretty.

Hunter had done well in holding back his laughter for so long. It had been obvious just how hilarious he found this since she told him the details of what had happened. She wanted to maintain an unimpressed, pissed off face but his laughter was infectious. She ended up laughing hysterically along with him. It was more funny the more she thought of it. PHIN had asked her out. PHIN had tried to kiss her. It was so surreal and unexpected her laughter came naturally.

Aoife nodded as he talked. Her laughter died down a little so she could listen properly to the STUPID QUESTIONS he was asking. “Mm, he’s a cheesy little git,” she snorted. “He actually went for it. Leaning forwards and everything.” Then Hunter apologised and she stuck her tongue out. “Yeah right!” It almost felt, sitting here laughing, like they were still best friends and they could still easily talk openly about anything. But she still didn’t feel comfortable hitting him just yet.

"A journey to self actualization, huh?" Hunter repeated, smirking in amusement, as Aoife started laughing. Hunter just rolled his eyes at her. Hunter knew all about journeys to self actualization - he'd undergone a major one last year. And he'd found out that he was really an arrogant git that punched things when he didn't get his way. He unconsciously ran a finger along the scar on his hand and looked at Aoife. Well, it's your hair, I guess," he shrugged. "Not that you reacted much better when you saw I cut mine," he reminded her.

Hunter had kind of expected Aoife to get angry or hit him when he started laughing, but she actually ended up laughing along with him - after trying to keep a straight face and failing miserably. She was full of surprises today, and Hunter hadn't been prepared for any of them. But for the first time in a while it really felt like nothing had happened between them - like they hadn't spent the greater part of the past year not even speaking to each other. He'd been so prepared to continue ignoring her, and here he was with her, in a fit of uncontrollable laughter. But he was enjoying the moment too much to dwell on it's strangeness - after all, hadn't he spent all that time wishing he had his best friend back? For the first time in months, it seemed like it could be possible.

As his laughter died, he fell back onto the grass and stared up at the leaves of the tree above him. He grinned over at Aoife from the ground when she answered his question. "That kid was sorted into the wrong house," Hunter commented. "I mean, come on, how the hell did he end up a Puff? He tried to attack me last year, remember, and now this? As much as I can't stand him, I have to hand it to him. The kid's got guts to try anything with you." Hunter would know, since he'd gone through it before. "Though, maybe slapping him wasn't the best way to handle it," Hunter pointed out. "I mean, he's just a kid."

Not that Hunter had room to talk, because he and Aoife were alike in that way. They dealt with their problems violently. Though at least Hunter took it out on inanimate objects - Aoife usually went after people. His eyes traveled back up to the sky, which had darkened considerably since Hunter had left the castle. And then all at once, the sky opened up, and rain started falling. Hunter didn't even flinch as the water hit him. A grin spread across his face and he propped himself up on his elbows. "It's raining," he commented happily, not making any effort to get up and head indoors.

Too funny. Sort of. “Yes, it is my hair, so shut up. I know you are jealous of it,” she nodded seriously. Hunter couldn’t pull off blue hair like she could - it just wouldn’t work like this did. Aoife shook her head when he brought up his hair. Everything had to be about that git, didn’t it? “But your hair was entirely to piss me off, so I had better reasoning to be sad and angry about it,” she pointed out. “Your hair looked good before, so it was a huge mistake to cut it off, whereas mine wasn’t that great already. And I was just angry when I saw yours. I didn’t question it, like you question mine.” There was a long list of reasons why she had more right to be angry at his hair and that was only a small portion of it.

Maybe Phin was more of a Gryffindor, but he was a multi-house kid. He was brave, loyal, sometimes cunning. Maybe not always the smartest, though. The sorting hat must have thought the loyalty and kindness was the most prominent in his personality. “He’s loyal and friendly - to people he likes - and thoughtful,” she found herself defending him. “Just a bit messed up. He was being my knight in shining armour that time. He was trying to defend me against you while you were being your usual selfish, obnoxious, heartless self.” Her tone was still light, but she did believe that Hunter was actually like that, even now, and she wasn't joking. It felt like things were back to normal but she didn’t want to be best friends with him anymore, not really.

“That isn’t guts, it’s stupidity.” Aoife was worried Phin was taking a page from Hunter’s book and following in his example. He knew what had gone on between her and her best friend last term. Today he’d been full of himself, violent and he tried to kiss her. “You wouldn’t understand,” she muttered. Nobody had asked him out and he had no idea how she had felt and what thoughts had flew through her head. “If he was just a kid, he wouldn't have kissed me and he wouldn’t have hit me back afterwards.” She hadn’t expected it of Phin to react violently like she did. It wasn’t predictable behaviour coming from him.

Rain started to fall. It had been so sunny before, but the sky was a lot more grey now she looked at it. “Yes, I know it is,” she smiled. She wrapped her jacket around herself a little tighter. Because she had been deluded into thinking it was a nice evening, she had been stupid enough to only bring a thin jacket rather than a nice heavy raincoat or something. “I like rain. It clears everything and makes a fresh start and everything looks beautiful.” Then realising she sounded stupid, she added, “And it makes it nice and muddy so you can roll around and make mud pies and stuff.” Best thing about rain, of course. Sometimes it was a bit cold, though.

Jealous was definitely not the word, but Hunter didn't say anything. He just picked absentmindedly some more at the grass and listened to Aoife talk. First of all, she had it wrong. Yeah, Hunter had intended his hair to upset Aoife, but it was also highly symbolic of him moving on from her. It was the turning point in his annoying depression. He shook his head. "No, yours looked good before, too," he told her. "Now it just looks - " How was he even supposed to describe it? Terrible? Ugly? It wasn't really ugly, not really. Just... "Wrong." Horribly wrong. "And you didn't question it because you already knew why I did it and - okay, this is stupid." Hunter cut himself off, realizing suddenly how pointless the entire conversation had become. In the end, it was just hair.

Then Aoife was defending Phin and calling Hunter selfish and obnoxious and heartless. And though her tone was still casual sounding, Hunter frowned, his irritability from before washing over him once again. "I'm not heartless," he interrupted her coldly, meeting her eyes with an even look. Was that really what she thought? Hadn't he found himself in the gardens in search of solitude, to try and stop thinking about what had happened between himself and the girl sitting next to him? When he saw that she was here, why hadn't he moved on? His excitement from being on speaking terms with her decreasing significantly, Hunter lapsed into silence, no longer in the mood to talk.

Courage or stupidity. Hadn't Hunter spent a lot of time trying to figure out which he himself possessed? Yes. So he didn't even hesitate before replying, "It's both." He snorted when she added that he wouldn't understand. "Of course not," he scoffed sarcastically. "Because you're the only person ever who's gone through anything like this - who's had to deal with somebody liking you. Must be rough." Hunter shook his head. "No, if anything him hitting you back makes him more of a kid," Hunter said. "It looked like a reflex. He seemed horrified once he realized what he did." Hunter could understand feeling the need to hit something after being rejected - but at least Hunter had the self control to find a solid object to punch, rather than punching Aoife.

Hunter sighed, trying to clear his mind. Things had been going well between them so far, and he really didn't want to fight with her any more than he had to. So he just sat in silence, water soaking his hair, and watched Aoife's reaction to the rain. She said she liked rain, and Hunter smiled listening to her explain why. She said something about fresh starts, and Hunter nodded thoughfully. "Yeah, fresh starts are good," he agreed quietly, looking at her. Was that what this was for them? A fresh start? He didn't have long to think about it because she then went on to add that the mud was also a nice touch. Hunter laughed. "Yeah, who could forget that?" Then as an afterthought, "I don't think I've made a mudpie since I was about nine - I think I got Jack to try it though."

Aoife decided Hunter was right about this whole argument being stupid so she shut up after his last comment. It was pointless, since they both knew that she’d won the argument. Instead she moved on quickly to what he was saying. Not being heartless. “No… I don’t think you’re heartless, as such,” she decided. That wasn’t necessarily a good thing, though. People like Morgana were heartless, because they didn’t understand most people’s emotions and maybe couldn’t really care. There were few people who were actually properly heartless, even though she had used the word to describe many people. “You have a heart, but it’s just messed up. Sometimes you care and like people, then other times you’re just a bad person.” For example, one minute they were best friends but when she made a small mistake in throwing a chair at him, he had to get his dramatic revenge by asking Seren out and flaunting her at the almost innocent Gryffindor girl.

Whatever he said. She wasn’t in the mood for another meaningless stupid argument so she just shrugged. “I didn’t say that,” she said calmly. She paused to try and think of what to say next which was sort of polite. But then she realised there was no good reason to make a special effort to be polite. “I don’t seem to remember you being through anything like this before. I mean, I threw a chair at you, but that’s about it. And it looks like you’ll have a happy ending with Seren. Why on earth would I think you understand what this is like?” Hunter’s life was pretty damn good, with all his friends and Seren and happiness. “I know other people have been through the same thing, but is that supposed to make it any better?” she added. Aoife was quite impressed with how calm and quiet she had managed to stay in her little speech.

“Fair enough,” she said. “Then he’s proved that he’s a kid.” An idiotic, violent, immature, messed up kid. Who she, oddly, still didn’t hate. It was weird, because when Hunter, her best friend, asked her out, she hated him, but when Phin, her best friend, tried to KISS her, she still felt ready to both apologise and forgive him. Maybe because it was plausible for Hunter but Phin was just absolutely ridiculous and hilarious. And like Hunter said, Phin had looked horrified after he’d hit her back, so perhaps he was sorry as well.

It looked like Hunter was thinking deeply about her accidentally deep statement. And he was giving her a serious look. So she looked away because it was awkward. “I.. uh, I like fresh starts when your favourite sheep gets old and dies and you get all depressed. Then you need a fresh start,” she nodded. That terrible event had been when she was about eight or nine and it had felt like the world was over. It was the saddest time in her entire life and she had never fully recovered. “You mean you don’t make mud pies all the time?! I always make mud pies when I’m at home!” she gasped. “And Jack ATE it?” That was ridiculous! Aoife giggled. “He’s dumber than he looks.” How old would he have been then? Eleven or something? And he still ate a mud pie? Either Hunter made very realistic looking mud pies or Jack was a moron.

Hunter just stared at Aoife as she went on, saying that he wasn't heartless but that his heart was messed up. What the hell was any of that even supposed to mean? It didn't matter, because Hunter wasn't really in the mood to hear any of it. Sometimes he cared and sometimes he didn't? "Yeah, well, good job, you've just described the entire human race," he retorted irritably. "Including yourself." What she'd described didn't make someone messed up - it made them human.

Was she really still pointing out how he couldn't possibly understand? Honestly, Hunter couldn't stand how naive Aoife was - how had it never driven him crazy before? His gaze set into a glare as she brought up what had happened last term - they definitely weren't to the point where they could talk about that yet without any hard feelings. "No offense, but it isn't that hard to understand. You're a girl, you've been asked out a time or two - it's not exactly breaking news or anything. It's you that I don't understand."

Aoife wasn't exactly trying to be nice, so why should Hunter? "I mean, what kind of person turns their back on their best friend because of something that insignificant?" Hunter had managed to keep his voice even, matching the level of hers. He didn't want to ruin their chances at talking again - if nothing else, it was just easier to not avoid Aoife for the rest of his life. They were in the same house, they had every class together, and had a lot of the same friends. A lot of awkwardness would be spared if Hunter could manage to avoid messing this up.

They fell back into a bit of lighter conversation then, about Jack eating mud pies and whatever. "He knew, he just did it to get a laugh," Hunter told her, but wasn't actually paying much attention anymore - he was too busy wishing that he'd never sat down with her. Because now he was thinking about what had happened last term, and that was the last thing that Hunter wanted to dwell on. Maybe it was time to make his escape - he wasn't really enjoying her company anymore, so what was the point?

"Look, I should probably go," he said, trying to keep his irritation out of his voice. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay. But you're clearly fine. And I - I told Ariel I'd walk to the kitchens with her tonight," Hunter lied, hesitating slightly as he tried to come up with a plausible excuse. Then, he lifted himself to his feet and looked over at her. "Er, see you," he said awkwardly. Then, he turned and took off at a jog toward the castle. Away from Aoife - away from his frustration - away from his confusion. This was definitely going to be an interesting year.

Sorry that I ended this, but I'm going to be absent for a while and won't be able to post much, and we always have tons of threads together and we can make another one when I have the time! Reply if you want or not! Doesn't matter! Or reply with a one paragraph response just to get an extra post in so you can meet your 800 goal!