Kissing Booth!

Roxi jiggled excitedly at their little booth. She had been brilliant to think this up. It was simple really- they constructed the booth, painted the sign, set out a hat for tips, and enjoyed the work. She wasn't being tasteless about it, of course, though she had exhanged mobile numbers with a few boys. It was not just for boys, though, she had recruited two of her friends.

There was Cameron Woods, charming all the girls with his easy going personality. He performed little card tricks for them, smiling, offering to take pictures with them, getting offers to go and get ice cream, though he remained loyal to Roxi and their little business. At the moment, he was bounching a soccer ball on his knees while trying to convince two nervous girls to take the kissing booth for a spin.

Luca Sanguini was the older of the group, and he was by far the most intimadating. He leaned against the booth effortlessly, looking around like he was completely bored. Only the brave girls stepped forward for a kiss from him, but all left incredibly satisfied. It was in his blood. His father had been quite the stud and he was taking after him.

Cameron's girls finally gave in and he pecked each of them, and they left, giggling, tossing in a galleon each. "Whoa stud!" Roxi called at him and he walked over to the booth, grinning, a pleased expression on his face. "I'm a crowd pleaser, what can I say?" He grinned. Luca rolled his eyes and drawled, "Either of you know where Candice is?"

Roxi gasped, forgetting her friend was supposed to be assisting. "You're right! When I see Candy Podmore, I am going to give her a piece of her mind." A group of attractive males walked by and she stepped aside so they could see the sign, grinning. They grinned and whispered that they'd have to double back soon, and once they were gone she stomped her foot. "Yes indeed I will!"

.

Seeing that Athena had left to look for her cousins, Damien stepped out of the little hiding place that contained him and the older Slytherin girl, between two colourful tents. His mood had cheered up quite a bit because of the conversation he had with her. The boy looked around to check for the faces of his mother and her husband. Seeing none of the above, Damien felt safe to be at this lane. The circus held no interest for him. Strange people, strange animals. They were just freaks to him, nothing much to stand and gape about.

Damien adjusted his clothes, ensuring it passes the neat test, before he started to stroll along the lane. Mostly, people were at a side, towards the stalls, crowding around whatever that could interest them. Athena had made a purchase at the glass stall, which made the circus look less of a lame excuse for useless cheeriness to him. Damien, however, took a very reserved stance, avoiding stall owners who looked like they wanted to approach him to promote their displays. Each time someone inched towards him, he inched away, and continued to stroll, pretending to be oblivious to them.

And then a display caught his eye. Well, not exactly a display, since she would have been yet another stall owner attempting to promote her stall. But Damien's eyes quickly caught sight of what this stall was selling, and sneered, as if he was not surprised to see this coming. The encounter with Roxanne Weasley at the Shrieking Shack was still a stark reminder to him. It robbed him of some peace in bed. The boy could not get the image and the feeling of the girl above him, out of his head. He would have felt more comforted at himself if the remembrance made him want to barf. The problem was, it did not, and Damien felt himself pulled to walk closer to the stall.

Roxanne was grinning to a couple of boys, and Damien felt offended, thinking that it was that display on her face that he had first saw when he strolled past the Shrieking Shack. Now, it made him feel generic. It was not looking at her that made him feel this way. It was looking at the boys she was trying to attract that made him feel extremely insulted. They were average-looking, had untidy clothes and messy hair, and looked like mediocre wizards that he could assume to be muggleborns. Damien's footsteps slowed. He caught sight of two other boys manning the stall, and found them extremely familiar. Gryffindors sharing some free love. Damien sneered again. How low could one sink to? Inside, though, Damien was a cluster of contradiction. He felt like he wanted the attention of Roxanne, but did not want to be seen here with her, let alone by her friends even, who would obviously know him from school.

Two girls approached and bravely approched Luca. He kissed them both while Roxi and Cameron leaned against the kissing booth, watching and giggling at the scene. Luca could be a player but he also claimed to not like humans- their vampire friend could be fickle that way. And yet, Luca adored them and they were undeniably human.

He turned, smirking a little as the girls strode off, looking triumphant and caught sight of his two giggling friends, wiping the smirk off of his face. "Shut up," he snarled. Roxi and Cameron burst into laughter and he strode over to lean against the booth, on the other side of Roxi. All of them faced forward, scouting for their next customers.

Roxi's brown eyes swept the area while she reached under the booth and pulled out a cherry lollipop, sticking it into her mouth and staring around idily, swaying her hips as she rested her wright on her elbows. She reached up to tuck her hair behind her ear and that was when hse caught sight of Damien.. Just standing there.

Damien was her secret little pleasure. She loved looking at the boy, because he always looked good. He was eye candy for sure. And he had been quite pleasing in the Shrieking Shack. She licked her lips free of cherry lollipop and felt her eyes train on him, not minding about catching his eye, allowing him to make any move, though she doubted he would. Her mouth raised into a smile, her eyes twinkling.

What is this? Roxanne merely stood at her stall. She did, however, locked him with her stare. Damien allowed himself to be locked, not knowing where to train his eyes next - somewhere else or at her lips. The part of him that wanted the girl's attention should have been satisfied merely by the fact that she had noticed him. But he was disappointed, and Damien was puzzled at his own disappointment. What did he expect anyway? Did he really think that the girl was going to run to him and wrap her arms around his neck?

It was definitely a little too early to be seeing the Gryffindor girl again. Damien remembered how he had told Roxanne that he would somehow see her in school, although he knew that the pressure of others being around would make him incredibly uncomfortable to be seen with her. Now, though, he saw her again, and Damien found it strangely impossible to merely walk away. If Athena saw him, she could positively drop him from her agreement to coach him.

Well, he felt like he needed Roxanne's attention, so Damien thought of the best way to go about doing this. He would interact in the form of insults. At least that would let him keep his dignity, and still buy him some lines of responses from the girl, of which it meant that she would have to pay him some kind of attention. Attention was all Damien wished for. He hated his need, but even he could not fight against his own desires.

Collecting himself, Damien strolled to the kissing booth, aware that the eyes of two Gryffindor boys would notice him, sooner or later. Damien tucked his hands hard into the pockets of his jacket, as if by doing so he was holding himself up. All this while, the boy did not remove his eyes from Roxanne's.

"Weasley," he began, attempting to have that come out in a curt manner. "What a fancy kissing booth. A good idea for a great act of kindness." Damien continued in a condescending tone. "Trying to attract the sort of people who have to pay for kisses? " And then he eyed the Gryffindor boys before leaning close to Roxanne's left ear. "I wish you had hired prettier displays than that. Or is that all that the brawny house of Gryffindor can offer?" Damien let a smirk invade his face as soon as he offered that to the girl.

He began to stride towards the booth and Roxi felt her grin widen, her lips pulling tight as her eyes twinkled mischeviously. She quirked an eyebrow, surprised he had decided to approach. She felt Cameron turn to watch some girls flouncing by-- he would not notice Damien, yet, and once he did he was sure to be an arse- he hated Slytherins. Luca merely eyes Damien. Luca was a year older so he did not know Damien, but he seemed supicious.

Damien spoke condescendingly, but Roxi was unfazed. She rested her elbow on the booth and then cradled her chin in her palm, swaying a little as she stared up at him through her thick eyelashes, her lips curled into a grin, her eyes looking absolutely develish with the secret. She had never been good with secrets but this had been her best attempt- she could not help but grin at him now, even if she should have been acting digusted to see a Slytherin.

She shrugged, saying, "Well, you see, a kiss from me is in high demand, and why should I go around just giving them to whoever. Only very, very special people get them for free. It would be a shame for them to be wasted after all. These people are regarded as very lucky.. A lot of them can't help but brag, you know." She shrugged. Then she realized this would all sound suspicious to the others, so she added, "Good advertising."

He leaned closer to her and spoke into her ear, causing her to giggle just a little. She replied, "I'd consider them pretty good displays, myself. Nothing on you, but you don't want to have anymore fun with me," she pulled away slightly so he could see her pouty lips, her eyebrows curled upwards in a sad expression. Much too easy.

Damien frowned a little when Roxi talked about her kisses. He could not help but realise that there was something else she was referring to in what she said. Of course she did. It was as if he lost his rights to truly pack some good insults at Gryffindors ever since his encounter with the girl. At least, he had lost some of it when it came to levelling with her. Damien had to learn to live with that. He began to feel one of the Gryffindor's eyes on him, eyes that did not belong to Roxi. He wished that guy would stop staring. A punch would do him some good, but Damien only thought it, his fists still stuck to his side. Besides, a scene was uncalled for. Slytherins should never resort to such means. Damien was almost sick in his head thinking about what he should be doing, and what he should not. He knew, however, that he would go on upkeeping the expectations.

In a strange way, Damien had to hold back a grin, or a smirk, he did not know. Roxi had said that the special ones get them for free. He pondered on that. Surely he liked to have his things paid for. At least it set him apart from people who could not afford things to save their own lives. But when it came to something like that, after what seems to be Roxi's terms of intimacy, Damien figured that he could congratulate himself on that. At least it seemed as if the girl implied that he was special. Now that was a boost to the ego that he could not resist. Still, that boost came from the girl's terms. Damien tried to remind himself of his place.

"I was just wondering ... why won't you keep it for special people then?" He talked, but he made sure that he kept his voice low enough so that the others could not get a clue of what he was saying, unless they really followed the way he mouthed his words. "If they're not special, then it doesn't matter how much they try to dig out of their tiny pockets for a Weasley kiss, they're still ... unworthy." He said all of that, not knowing whether he was mocking, or if he meant that. Damien did not question the intention.

The boy watched Roxi put up a display that really added fresh wounds to his obnoxious skin, adding to his memories from the Shack, as if they were there to extend his time in bed thinking about what happened. Too bad he felt compelled to stay then. "Fun?" He repeated, eyeing the boys before he looked back at Roxi, finding himself near her ear again. "I don't have to pay for my fun. And I don't like to do it in public."

Roxi shrugged at his words, reaching one finger up to her hair and twirling a copperish strand around her finger. In the sun, her hair looked a little more red with the darker brunette undertone, making it quite hard to look away from. "Because those who are special enough are far and few. And they seem to not be brave enough to come for seconds." She shrugged. "They may be unworthy but I have needs and if they'll be man enough to satisfy those needs, then who am I to complain?" She shrugged again.

He continued on but Roxi had never been the best at witty banter; she was far too oblivious to maintain that carefully worded banter. So at his words, she slid forward, her arms flat against the counter and reaching all the way on the other side, leaning forward, sticking her tongue out up at him, as she looked up at him, swaying her legs to sway her hips in turn.

"Well then let's blow this kissing stand!" she said, adding, "If that what it takes!" She giggled.

Damien squinted his eyes at Roxanne. Was she referring to him? Sure, he could be oblivious sometimes, but this time he thought he saw himself in the girl's words. Damien tried to convince himself it was just his stupid conscience working itself up, but of course it was not as if he could shrug it off. It was not just the way that the girl seemed to imply him in her sentence, it was more of how it sounded as if he had been a coward, and it was not something that agreed with his ego. Damien directed a glare at the Gryffindor that he found unfamiliar, definitely because they did not belong to the same school year. The other guy's stare was unnerving, and Damien had to do it to attempt to stop him. He wanted some ... if he could even get it, private space for his conversation with Roxanne.

"I don't see why you've to frolick with unworthy boys when you've ..." He bit his lower lip. What; was he trying to be protective now? While he had to deal with that thought in his head, Roxi had spread herself further against her counter, making it difficult for Damien to clear up his thoughts. As soon as she spoke again, he smirked. It did sound like a good idea to him, her offer. Somehow, he wanted her away from that booth. He could care less if the other Gryffindors wanted to sell their cheap free love. He simply could not reconcile that Roxi was going to sell more of it, and he was sure she would sell more than the boys, if she was going to continue staying at the booth.

"Don't you have a business to take care of?" That was probably a yes from Damien, albeit an uncertain one. He was ready to leave the circus anyway. "Dinner?" He wanted to be brave. If she challenged his ability to go for seconds, he had to accept the challenge. And then Damien began to run it through his head, to look for a place away from people. He really did not want to be seen with this secret that he could not dismiss.

Oooh, did he not think as poorly of her as Roxi had assumed? Roxi had guessed Damien had found her easy or something, seeing as he had seemed to be avoiding her, and had done a good job of it, until today that was. She had, after all, slept with him after a brief conversation and a few years of pretending they had never met on the Hogwarts Express. Simply because she had been in the mood for Slytherin boy and had found him attractive and willing.

Well.. sort of willing.

Heasked about the booth and she opened her mouth to speak, when she looked up to see a moody looking Peaches walking up to the booth, her perpetually glum expression residing on her face. She stomped up and looked at Roxi, glancing at Damien, before droning, "Roxi, I'm here, but I don't think I'm right for this job."

"Well, it's your shift!" she grabbed her friend's wrist and whirled her towards Luca and Cameron. "Thanks, you're a darling!" She took off, walking past Damien, not exactly sure where she was going, but hoping Damien would take the lead and take there somewhere else. She wung her hips for extra measure.

Roxi seemed to have hesitated at his suggestion, or rather, at the way he had offered his acceptance of her challenge. Surely he could do intimacy that do not elicit his emotions. It was going to be his little experiment. Earlier, Athena had mentioned his weakness. Damien did not expect his weakness to be blatantly on display for everyone to see. He tried to reassure himself, though. Perhaps only someone like Athena would notice his flaws, and he would allow it. However, it had better be only her. She was his mentor now, he could see that. He had conferred that unofficial title earlier to the older girl. If she pointed out something about him as his weakness, then he should prove her wrong. Rather, he should correct that wrong. And he was going to start here, with Roxi. Damien was going to get rid of this little feeling for the Gryffindor girl that he had always forbidden himself to even acknowledge. He was going to take this on.

Damien wondered at Roxi's hesitation, hoping to believe that it was not reluctance, but surprise, that allowed it to happen. He was about to taunt the girl further by questioning her inability to meet his challenge, but someone interrupted. Damien turned his had slowly to the presence that had stomped up to Roxi, finding his eyes at a girl's chest, before trailing them up to her face. Yet another one of those Gryffindor girls. She was not like Roxi, though. Damien considered her face and decided that he had slept with the better girl, not as if this new one would offer herself to him. She glanced at him, and Damien looked away at random people along the lane. He did not want to look as if he even considered her presence. If she wanted his attention, she was going to have to fight for it, like Roxi did. Well, it was not very hard, really. Or perhaps Roxi just had something about her that gave her an easier time.

Before he knew it, Roxi had muttered some words to her friends and walked off. Damien, however, did get the idea that she was done with the booth. He smirked in delight at that, happy that no one else was going to get to enjoy this little booth display. He found his eyes drawn to the girl's hips before blinking a little, reminding himself his ultimate motive for this task. To get her out. Of my head. Nodding only to himself, he followed after her, sorting through options for their next destination as he caught up. He had to decide it quickly. He wanted the evening to go on his terms. It had to.

[OOC: I'll make the next thread soon! (:]