[Campfire Pit] Paradise Found?

[Lianna Maylorn]

11 July, 2009
12:47 pm

Alright, so it wasn't completely paradise. There were bugs, lots of bugs and most of - if not all of - them either bit, stung or annoyed the living hell out of her some other way. But that was what happened when summer rolled around, and when your home for two weeks was somewhere quite literally in the backwoods of nowhere special. Or was there secretly some community just over some hill that she couldn't see through all the trees, high grass and other...stuff? No..no, this was quite certainly nowhere...and so far the only advantage it has was no Manchester racket! Although last night's sleep had been right dreadful enough on its own. The mattresses could hardly be called such and since the Ministry wouldn't let her use magic outside of Hogwarts just so she could get a good night's sleep on a cushioning charm she could only suffer a not so beautiful sleep till the morning.

The morning however had brought with it - along with a crick in her neck - a rather beautiful sunrise, warm breakfast and enough semi-enjoyable moments to make up for the camp's horrid start. With it now being just past, or perhaps right on noon she knew lunch should be somewhere on her agenda but she wasn't all to hungry. What she was, was bored and one could only play exploding snap or wizards chess in the bunks so many times before losing lost it's appeal. She ended up in the campfire circle, laid out on one of the benches, staring at the sky and finding that she couldn't even look at the clouds all too well through the occasional gaps in the tree leaves. But it was still sunny, still nice and it was only the first day. Things were still likely to improve, they simply had to at least do that much

Maybe the bugs could go away...?

(Closed.)

[mcnutt]

Awake. That's what Dustan was. He was awake. The matresses were most uncomfortable, but not unbarable. The food wasn't any better, and he was wondering if he should've told him mother to just let him go to France for the two weeks, rather than roughing it out at this camp that he'd been invited to attend during summer. Of course, he'd be going to France after the two weeks were up, but maybe going for the full amount of time would have been nicer.

Walking down some trail or other, avoiding the lake the camp offered, for fearing of being asked to join those nearby, he wound around the woods, taking foot paths and things that looked like they might've been paths for mice, but he didn't care, as long as he could avoid the lake.

Wandering, he recited poetry to himself, his favourite being that of Robert Frost, though he recited others as well. An opening wasn't far from where he was located, and he knew it didn't lead directly to the lake, so he decided to take a break, though after entering the open area, he knew it was the wrong choice.

"I left you in the morning,
And in the morning glow,
You walked a way beside me
To make me sad to go.
Do you know me in the gloaming,
Gaunt and dusty gray with roaming?
Are you dumb because you know me not,
Or dumb because you know?"

[Lianna Maylorn]

It was funny really. Funny how that one of the simplest of diversions, that was mildly entertaining at its best and not even on the list of available time tabled activities could still be more enjoyable than over half the other options that the camp's staff had available. She couldn't see half the of the various cloud formations through the leaves and that really only made it more interesting because what she 'saw' then wouldn't be the same commonality everyone else did. Krups, clovers and ravens were far more specific than dogs, birds and a leaf. Her imagination was more free and open, like now she was pretty certain she could see a centaur that...

"Are you dumb because you know me not, or dumb because you know?"

That could talk patronizingly to her with a boy's voice? That was definitely a new adaptation of the sky that really made her feel right crazy, of course a moment later she heard the snapping of a twig which told her it wasn't the sky talking to her...or likely anyone else. But she didn't recognize the voice and they invitation to this place had never said it was only for Hogwarts students so, maybe the boy was from elsewhere? Besides, any completely mortal diversion had to be better than cloud watching...

"I'd like to think I'm not dumb at all, but if you want an amusing first impression that's fine too," Lianna offered while sitting up to actually get a comfortable look at the boy. He reminded her alot of Jase, but at the same time nothing of him at all. Of course the last she'd seen of that boy had been her second year...so Merlin only knew what he could have done to himself to make such a comparison statement completely false. He was Jase, he was a crazy, hyperactive fool who she wanted to strangle on four out of five occasions, and yet Hogwarts really wasn't the same without him.

"But I'd suggest you try again if you want anything other than that."

[mcnutt]

Unaware of the presence of another, Dustan continued down the small hill that led to the campfire pit, the place he'd been a few times. There was something on the air, but he couldn't quite tell the scent, only that it smelled somewhat familiar, something he knew from before but nothing he had quite paid enough attention to to know the actual source of the scent. Then he heard an attached voice, one he didn't recognize.

Stopping dead in his tracks, the young man looked around, trying to pinpoint where the voice came from, freezing when he saw the young lady. Was it strange he recognized the face, but didn't know anything about the person? Or was it okay because he spent so much time with his own friends and his plants?

"I--I didn't mean, you're not... I was just." He was just what? Reciting poetry to himself? What a way to make himself stand out and look like a fool? What was wrong with him lately? He had been doing this far too often as of late. "Hello?"

She did say to try again.

Glancing at her again, he couldn't move his feet toward her, extend his hand. Why was he stuck in spot with nothing moving except his dull green eyes? Not even his brain was moving and it wasn't looking good for him either. Dustan truly wished he knew what to say in front of girls, it would make life so much easier.

[Lianna Maylorn]

He'd gotten that deer in the headlights look almost instantly and it took a good deal of the self control she had to not laugh at him in turn. During that same moment where he froze up to the point of near petrification, she recognized his face, well, sort of anyway. She knew he went to Hogwarts and every now and she thought he might have been in classes with her but beyond that nothing really clicked. This was the first time she'd heard him speak and now that she thought about it, she realized he probably hadn't been talking about her at all and she'd just been rather mean without any real reason to be...

"I--I didn't mean, you're not... I was just."

He was stammering and apparantly scared out of wits. That only made her feel worse now for putting him on the spot like she had but he was company - even if he hadn't planned on becoming it. Now she had to make amends somehow before the situation got worse than it already was...

"Hello?"

Or...he could actually take her joking literally and try again, that worked too. He still seemed scared beyond his wits, but at least he'd gotten a straight word out of his mouth now. Lianna still couldn't right understand how she'd frightened him in the first place, but then again he probably hadn't even seen her to begin with so maybe her talking was all it took... Anyway, she certainly didn't see herself to be a frightening girl...

"Hi," Lianna replied with a small laugh and smile. He wasn't moving, well not beyond his eyes anyway, and that genrally wasn't promising. "Didn't mean to startle you y'know...um...sorry for that..." How the devil did you apologize for something that should have been ignorable to begin with? She was always apologizing but she'd never had to apologize for any of her fun poking before. No one had ever been affected like this by it...everyone seemed to realize that's all it was, fun.

She really could use a new friend and here it appeared she'd blown a perfectly good one already without even knowing she'd had an opportunity...that was a sad thought, even if the sun was still shining above her.

"You do know I was only jesting...right?"

[mcnutt]

When the young girl apologized, he felt his face flare red at having been told outright once more that he was doing what he knew he did, without meaning to. And the apology made it all worse because she was apologizing for something that couldn't be helped. It hadn't been her fault, not really, it was, but not entirely. If she hadn't scared him, maybe he wouldn't have sounded so bad, and he could've made his mind relax before saying a word to her. Not that it would've sounded much better anyway.

"Huh?" he asked, distracted with his thoughts about how stupid he sounded. "I mean, well, yeah, of course, I knew, I was...uh, just, ummm....jesting back?" Now he sounded real smart. It was more than obvious he had no idea what he was doing, and to lie outright to a girl, of all forms to lie to, a girl. What was wrong with him?

Clenching his fists, Dustan inhaled deeply, trying to calm himself, while taking small glances at the girl, but for the most part avoiding her as much as possible. Her face was familiar but nothing more came of it, no name, no friends, nothing. Was she even a Hogwarts student? Or was she just an unforgettable face from a crowd he'd gone through one time or another?

Taking another, longer look, he didn't think it was that last option, she didn't have a face that he thought would stick out in his mind incredibly so.

[Lianna Maylorn]

"Huh? I mean, well, yeah, of course, I knew, I was...uh, just, ummm....jesting back?"

His words were as transparent as the air that surrounded them but she could live with that right now, plus he seemed frustrated enough with himself without her making it worse...again. Green eyes searched past him and up the trail a brief moment as she now struggled in a search for words that were likely to not offend. She didn't really want to make him more annoyed with her than he already seemed to be.

He didn't seem to really want to talk to her, actually he seemed more annoyed than anything else. She had already apologized for making him look the fool, she didn't really know what else she could do - yet alone consider saying at this early point. Yeah, so much for the 'make polite conversation' plan. She didn't really have to say anything, but he kept glancing at her like he was waiting for her to, like conversation was still somehow salvageable. She was fairly sure she'd ruined those odds, but if he expected her to try then try was what she would do.

"So what were you talking about then, I mean...since we both know you weren't really calling me dumb an' all?"

[mcnutt]

Why was he so apt at blowing things like this? It was a meeting, a chance encounter and he didn't really know who she was, so why did it bother him so? Because she was a female and he was so uncomfortable around females, that was why. he had such trouble just speaking to them, with no reason to be the way he was. They were nothing more than a more feminine version of his circle of friends, with more personality than his plants. So what was his problem? Was it just a phase? And if so, how long was sit supposed to last, because he'd been doing this for years.

Once again, he drawn from his thoughts by her voice. It had a very calming nature to it, but at the same time it frightened the hell out of him.

"Talk--talking about?" he gulped, forcing that bullfrog in his throat down further. It'd come up later, he knew that for sure. "Oh, I was just...uh, well, you see..." he started, not sure what to really say. "Reciting a poem I like?" Dustan tried. "It's by Rob...Robert Frost, a great poet. he...I mean, I--well, I like his work, I guess, well, you know, I mean, hes' a good writer...for being a poet?"

Would she understand at all? No. Did he care? Slightly. Was she knowledgeable of Frost's work? Hopefully.

[Lianna Maylorn]

As the boy quite literally babbled on again with apparent unease, Lianna still couldn't see what the problem was. There was absolutely nothing wrong with her question, her tone, heck she was pretty sure she had even smiled a bit when she'd asked it but he was about as big a train wreck comparable to that if the Express were to derail. Maybe this was just how he always was and none of this was her fault; maybe she was just overreacting...again.

Poetry though? It wasn't something she knew a lot of, actually she didn't know anything beyond a couple lines but it was something she enjoyed hearing - or could get used to hearing again. She was pretty sure some of the stories her father told her when she was little were poems. They had rhymed, sounded nice and ended good; plus all the real stories she knew now didn't rhyme and most likely never could be told in rhyme for as long as they were.

"Poetry's nice; I don't know any really -- not by heart anyway I mean." the brunette began. "But I enjoy hearing it. Guess I just didn't catch enough of it to realize what it actually was. You enjoy it then?" She paused; eyes finally noting all the unused space and coupling it with his still standing form. "You're welcome to have a seat y'know; Merlin knows there's plenty of room."

[mcnutt]

Uncomfortable, completely at unease, frightened. There were many more terms to describe how Dustan felt at that moment, but he wasn't unhappy. Actually, it was nice to have someone to talk to, just, why did it have to be a female to whom would merely make fun at his problem. With guys he didn't have problems, but the female form did something to him that made his words pause and twist. It was like they got into his mind and tried to hypnotize him, but they just couldn't because his mind wouldn't allow for it. That didn't stop them from trying though.

Nodding, close enough to make him look like Sir Nicholas at the castle on a bad day, he didn't let his eyes glance away from her face. She actually enjoyed poetry? That surprised him, not too many people he knew actually liked to listen to poetry, of course a lot of it depended on the vocals of the one reading it. his dad had had a voice that put one in a dream-like state, but wouldn't ever really allow for you to fall into dream because you were so charmed by his voice you didn't want to chance falling asleep and having it disappear. That was the voice Dustan wanted some day, and he practiced, hoping it'd come and he'd be rid of the scratchy deeper voice he had. It was horrible that puberty wouldn't leave him alone.

When she told him he could sit, he took it as a command, which likely it was as hypnotizing as females were. Shuffling along the grass and dirt, he stared for a moment, not sure if she was supposed to sit with her on the bench where she was or somewhere else, there was plenty of room after all. After a slight hesitation longer, Dustan plopped onto the ground, staring out over the campfire pit, not sure what to say. Damn females.

"D-do you have an-any fav--favorite poets?" he asked cautiously. Maybe if she did he would know a poem or two that he could entertain her with, Merlin knew he had plenty at the back of his mind waiting to be used.

[Lianna Maylorn]

She had tried. Merlin knew she had tried pretty hard too. But all of his edginess and unease - although both sad and confusing to her - was incredibly amusing, and even though it was the last thing she had wanted to happen the teenager couldn’t help the small giggle that forced its way from her lips when he nodded his head as fervently as he did. It was not as though she had meant to, anyone with even a single brain cell could tell that simply by how quickly her hand went to her mouth to silence herself. But it was likely the damage was already done again. Here was a boy who seemed to be uneasy around her without her doing a ruddy thing wrong or mean and yet she could only exacerbate it without meaning to.

In the fleeting moments following her offer of a seat he eyed her with that intense uncertainty once again. Really it was becoming a bit annoying by now. She hadn’t hurt him, hadn’t spoken harshly to him, hadn’t intentionally belittled or mocked him. She hadn’t done a ruddy thing to him this whole time and still he didn’t trust her enough to sit and talk instead of… Did he really just sit on the ground? How in the name of Merlin did he find her this intimidating when everyone else saw her as a timid mouse? Heck for that matter if she was the school mouse then what did that make him?

“D-do you have an-any fav--favorite poets?”

All that the girl could do for a moment was blink, still hung up on the fact that she had offered him a seat and the first place he thought to sit was the ground as to the bench like a normal person. Maybe…maybe he was one spark short of a spell somewhere… Maybe she needed to stop assuming. After all, it only seemed to get her into trouble at the moment, especially with this particular kid, and she wasn’t too big a fan of trouble – not after four years of it anyway.

“It’s kind of hard for me to have a favorite poet when you don’t particularly know a lot of poetry…” Lianna replied, pausing a moment to look down toward the campfire circle before speaking again. “You know. When I said you could sit I didn’t mean on the dirt…”