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Post by arianna on Jun 7, 2006 0:11:00 GMT -5
The summer home wasn't quite as large as the palace, but was still rather huge in Arianna's opinion. It might have been the size of Hogwarts, but that could be debated when rooms were always appearing and disappearing at the school. The summer home also did not have lower levels that stretched for miles beneath it. But no matter. It was still spacious and plenty comfortable with temperatures staying in the 60's inside. Arianna didn't know if it was the architecture or the magic within. She wouldn't be surprised whatever the answer might be.
Laying stretched out on a bench near a koi pond in the courtyard, Arianna kept her eyes on the skies. She had refused to go with Che this time. The girl had tried to convince her parents to let her go on her own, but they wouldn't allow it. Arianna had fought with herself on what to do. She desperately wanted to see Drew, but the trip would have been an uncomfortable nightmare for the three of them . So she consented in letting Che go alone after writing a quick letter to Drew. Her only hope was that the two boys could get to know each other a bit better on the trip (Che's English had improved greatly) and that neither of them would be mad (though Che already was) at her for forcing them into the situation.
Rolling back over onto her stomach, Arianna watched the fish swimming around in the pond for a long moment before laying her head down and dozing. She didn't know how long she had napped, but was woken suddenly when her name was called
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Drew Thornton
Ministry of Magic
Auror-in-Training
I didn't do it and you can't prove otherwise...
Posts: 14,114
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Post by Drew Thornton on Jun 7, 2006 1:43:13 GMT -5
It had been a long and less than enjoyable trip. He had portkeyed to the island of Oahu early with the hopes that he'd show up at the top of the Diamond Head Volcano just as the park opened... early enough not to be seen, but not so early as to wait around until the gates were unlocked. It had been Dad's fault for getting the times wrong, but Drew still berated himself for not checking as well. He ended up appearing an hour after the park had opened, in full sight of a group of early morning hikers. He was fortunate that only a young girl had spotted him before he had a chance to slip behind one of the old bunker walls imbedded into the crater.
Then was the wait for Che to show up. Drew didn't care much for the other boy, but figured it might be in part due to the fact that they literally could not understand a word the other could say. Why Ari insisted on them spending time together was beyond him. He sat against the wall and popped open a Coke he had brought along, peeking out every so often to see if the little girl was still looking at him. She was. He considered ditching Che, heading to North Shore, and catching a few waves, but decided he didn't want to do that to Ari. Maybe there would be surfing in Qui-lin.
An hour and then another had passed before Drew finally decided he had had enough waiting. The original group of hikers had left by then, but every new set had given him odd looks, obviously wondering why the boy was just sitting there, surrounded by Coke cans. Drew was getting hot and hungry as breakfast time came and went. Plus, he had to pee. He contemplated doing it off the side of the volcano, thinking that might be pretty cool, but decided he really didn't want to deal with getting arrested for indecent exposure so far from home. He went in search of the rest room, only to discover it was at the bottom of the crater.
It wasn't a long hike, but long enough for him to wonder if he was going to make it. Perhaps an arrest record wouldn't be so bad. He finally stumbled into the mens room, not daring to run at this point, and relieved his bladder with a happy sigh. Business done, he went back out into the Hawaiian sunshine and took a look around the extinct volcano. He had been there a few times before, so the surroundings were familiar enough, but none of the faces were. Where was Che?
He readjusted the pack on his back and decided to wander around a bit, wondering if they had gotten the exact location mixed up. Sure enough, there was Che at the entrance of the park. After an awkward hello and a few strained words, the new portkey was produced from Che’s own backpack. The rest was easy. The boys ducked into the woods nearby and in a blink of an eye were standing in front of a massive house. Drew followed Che, not sure where he was going or even convinced this was the right place until he saw Ari lounging in the courtyard.
“Hey, ARI!” he cried out, dropping his pack and running over to her, glad his trip was finally over and the fun could begin.
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Post by arianna on Jun 7, 2006 3:22:49 GMT -5
The shout startled Arianna out of her stupor. She barely caught herself from falling off the bench and into the pond. In the next moment was on her feet hurrying over to Drew. Once the gap between them was closed, she threw her arms around him in a great hug. It wasn't the tackle hug she would have preferred to surprise him with, but it was hard to set one of those up without the surprise factor in your court.
"You're here!" she exclaimed, a wide smile passing over her lips. She glanced across the courtyard in time to catch Che disappearing around the corner and let a small frown cross her face for a quick second. It wasn't like him to leave without saying anything to her. But then, he'd never been this mad at her before. Arianna shrugged it off, though. Drew was here and she didn't want to make his visit a bummer.
"How was your trip?" Arianna questioned, distracting her mind with all sorts of questions for the boy. She hadn't seen him in nearly two months and had greatly missed her friend. "You didn't have to wait very long, did you?"
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Drew Thornton
Ministry of Magic
Auror-in-Training
I didn't do it and you can't prove otherwise...
Posts: 14,114
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Post by Drew Thornton on Jun 7, 2006 23:33:42 GMT -5
Drew caught her in his arms, giving her a bear hug back. He didn't know or care where Che went now that he had found Ari.
"Eh... it was okay," he said, not wanting to get into it so early into his vacation. Besides, it had all been worth it now that he had made it to Qui-lin.
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Post by arianna on Jun 8, 2006 0:10:50 GMT -5
"Sorry I couldn't come," Arianna appologized, though couldn't really wasn't the right word. She kept her smile on, though, as she lead Drew along the cobbled walkway to a pair of emense carved wooden doors that lay open to the fresh air. These doors, along with every other door and window in the house, were always left open, letting the scents of the flowers and trees outside perfume the air within.
"So, do what do you want to do first?" Arianna questioned, stepping in front of the boy and turning so that she was forced to walk backwards as they entered the corridor. "I can show you to your room so you can drop your stuff off. Breakfast isn't for another few minutes, but it should give us enough time for a quick tour or whatever you want to do."
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Drew Thornton
Ministry of Magic
Auror-in-Training
I didn't do it and you can't prove otherwise...
Posts: 14,114
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Post by Drew Thornton on Jun 8, 2006 0:25:02 GMT -5
Drew nodded as his stomach growled at the mention of food. Of course, he had eaten breakfast when he had woken up, but that had been hours ago. It had been nearly lunchtime when he had left California, just about breakfast time when he left Hawaii, and now he was starving, feeling like he had missed out on two meals. "How much longer until breakfast?" he asked, following along.
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Post by arianna on Jun 8, 2006 21:23:07 GMT -5
"A half hour tops," Arianna replied, turning back around so she could watch where she was going. She led Drew to a large tapestry of a small Tsukiyama garden of hills, flowers, and small ponds. Lifting it up, she stepped aside to let the boy through a dimly-lit passageway.
"Watch your head," she instructed before Drew could get too far. Every few feet a wide plank of bracing wood stretched from wall to wall. It didn't cause any problems for Arianna or her family, but then not even her father was quite as tall as Drew. When they had reached the top of the stairs, the girl instructed Drew to knock twice on the wall in front of him. It opened up into another bright corridor across from two doors perhaps seven feet apart, both left wide open. Arianna led Drew to the one on the left.
"I hope it's okay," Arianna gave the boy a crooked smile as they stepped inside. Within was a fairly large room, perhaps a bit smaller than the dorms in Ravenclaw. The walls were painted with a serene scene of another garden, only this one had the familiar oriental dragons watching over it. The bed, more than big enough for the boy, lay against the right wall, it's covers a deep blue and gold and the windows, open to the cool air, looked out over the courtyard in which they had stood moments before.
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Drew Thornton
Ministry of Magic
Auror-in-Training
I didn't do it and you can't prove otherwise...
Posts: 14,114
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Post by Drew Thornton on Jun 8, 2006 22:43:27 GMT -5
{you ready for it? ;D } Drew ducked into the room and took a look around, grinning at the accomodations. He tossed his backpack onto the bed and then threw himself onto the pile of pillows. With a ahlf hour until food, he would have time to shower. After spending a couple of hours in the Hawaiian sun, he probably needed it. "This is good," he told her, stretching out across the bedspread. "It's definitly bigger than the room you have at my house." {now I want a party }
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Post by arianna on Jun 8, 2006 23:01:54 GMT -5
(*hands out drinks and turns the music up ;D)
With a grin, Arianna plopped down beside Drew, letting her feet dangle over the edge. She was glad he liked it. Especially after worrying so much over things being too grandiose for the boy's comfort, Arianna was happy to see he wasn't a bit nervous about being in such a large room.
"I'll leave this one open for you," Arianna promised. "Unless you find another room better, I'll make sure this one's always set aside when you come to visit."
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Drew Thornton
Ministry of Magic
Auror-in-Training
I didn't do it and you can't prove otherwise...
Posts: 14,114
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Post by Drew Thornton on Jun 8, 2006 23:17:11 GMT -5
"Naw, this is good," Drew answered, stretching out spread eagle. His stomach gave a loud growl, not having had anything for quite a few hours. Drew propped himself up on his elbows and grinned. "Is there somewhere I can take a shower before meeting your parents?" he asked. "Sitting in a volcano kind of leaves you with a grimey feeling."
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Post by arianna on Jun 8, 2006 23:50:23 GMT -5
"Oh! Yeah!" Arianna hopped up and hurried to the wall next to the bed. There seemed to be nothing there, but when the girl touched her fingers upon a green dragon's jeweled eyes, a doornob appeared. Grasping the nob, she turned it and opened a door that had blended very well into the wall.
"Toilet and sink on your right, shower slash hot tub on your left," she explained, now feeling very much like a tourguide. "We have to share, but my door automatically locks if you lock yours, so I shouldn't be walking in on you if you remember that."
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Drew Thornton
Ministry of Magic
Auror-in-Training
I didn't do it and you can't prove otherwise...
Posts: 14,114
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Post by Drew Thornton on Jun 10, 2006 1:02:45 GMT -5
"Cool deal," Drew answered, hopping up and peering at the bathroom from over her shoulder. "So you're just on the other side?" It was good to know she was so close... and yes, he'd remember to lock the door.
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Post by arianna on Jun 10, 2006 22:24:39 GMT -5
"Yup," Arianna gave a short nod as she stepped onto the jade tiles. Truth be told, she was still getting used to the place. As with everything else within the summer home, the bathroom was also quite big. Just to their left a long step raised onto a platform of smooth rosewood surrounding a white marble tub, large windows stretching from its far side clear to the ceiling.
The toilet lay to their right, closest to Drew's door, and the vanity, topped in what could have been emeralds for all Arianna knew, sat right next to it with sink and a huge mirror behind it. During the day the room needed very little lighting since the sunlight coming from outside and its reflection created just enough light to do what one had to do in here.
"Don't worry about the windows," Arianna assured Drew before he could even ask any questions. "We're high enough up that no one can see in unless they rappel from the roof."
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Drew Thornton
Ministry of Magic
Auror-in-Training
I didn't do it and you can't prove otherwise...
Posts: 14,114
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Post by Drew Thornton on Jun 11, 2006 0:06:26 GMT -5
Drew had to laugh at that, remembering how they had tried that at school. "Yeah, I'll keep that in mind," he told her, reaching into the tub to turn on the faucet. He was hot and sticky even though it was early in the morning. A cool shower would feel good.
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Post by arianna on Jun 11, 2006 1:16:46 GMT -5
"I'll just be in my room while you clean up," Arianna motioned to the door on the other side. She could feel her own stomach starting to growl and would have been tempted to sneak down to the kitchen for a quick snack if it they weren't already so close to serving breakfast. "Let me know when you're done."
Slipping carefully through the door to her room (Juni was trying to get in), Arianna shut it softly behind her and carried the cat to a corner strewn with balls of yarn and tattered bags, where they could play until Drew was ready.
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