Passing Times

With his blood chilling, Gordan could only respond with merely silence and a raised eyebrow. Sister? When did a bloody sister come into the picture? There was no sister whatsoever, Gordan was absolutely certain of this fact! What in the hell was she talking about though? She couldn't quite literally be...insane, could she? He knew he had spent a few moments debating this fact around in his head for quite some time, but now that the actual evidence was staring him down the throat, it was much harder to believe. She actually seemed rather harmless right now, possibly even repetent towards her guilt of teasing Gordan, which he was absolutely glad about. That's all he wanted, but now what he wanted was for her to leave...but it seemed as if that wouldn't happen without telling her something about what she wanted first. Now the rather tiresome choice system came into play for Gordan, as he spent a moment trying to figure out how to reply to the Soulless. She was actually apologizing...but for what only seemed to be towards the goal of figuring out why he hated her. He already spelt it out clearly enough for her, whether or not she got the reason for him hating her would be her own decision from this point on.

What really disturbed him however was this talk of a sister. Younger, apparently. While they were in the detention room, he was greeted to the sight of the Soulless having an absolute mental breakdown, possibly caused by Gordan, to which she started to reach and supposedly hug things in mid-air. Was this the 'sister' she spoke of? Just something in her imagination? As Gordan kept on this train of thought, his stomach began to feel more and more upset as he started to piece things together. The final thought came into his mind, and he finally realized what his grave error had been. When he put the pressure on her without truly comprehending her sanity, he must've pushed some button deep within her psyche. Something that had been building up for quite some time. When that happened, he must've witnessed some sort of deep emotional trauma that had something to do with his sister. This was all well in his head, but the scariest, most morbid thought laid ahead.

He had become something of an interest in her eyes.

Instantly, he felt like shrieking, the world turning upside down and the horses eating each other. This was not good, this was not, not good! He was certain this interest wasn't romantic in the slightest way, but rather a questioning form that the Soulless had taken on currently. She was here right now to find these supposed answers from him, when in reality, she was dealing with something deep within her that she wanted to know about! And he somehow managed to become a part of that!

F***, F*** F***! He thought to himself as he began to visibly seem disturbed. Now she would never leave, this seemed to be the point here. He'd have to find a new hiding spot, it took him almost a week for Gordan to find a spot as perfect as this! The only problem he had to deal with was some gardeners, but besides that, this was his perfect sanctuary. Now...now he had to deal with a she-beast in his spot for what seemed to be the rest of his time in Hogwarts.

Damn it Gordan, he thought to himself, envisioning himself being flung out a window in retribution Do your damn research next time! You've probably got more than you can handle on your hands now!

In all this time of him going through his thoughts, he hadn't realized that the Soulless in question was still sitting next to him, still looking as meek as before. He didn't want to deal with this, he just wanted her gone, how hard was that for someone to understand? Maybe he could find some way to get rid of her, there had to be another option...

Yes, there was always another option. Letting out a soft sigh before he spoke, Gordan quipped "It's fine as long as you understand that I don't like to be disturbed by people. Your sister was an untimely arrival and was beginning to reproach my methods for extracting an apology out of you, so I decided not to press the subject any further. As long as you understand that you shouldn't bother me anymore, I will be happy, you will be happy, the entire school will be happy. Stick with the status quo and go do whatever it was you were doing before you ever met me, please."

Please go, just please go.

Airy glanced up when he finally spoke, and was surprised at the look on his face. She had expected the anger, the hostility, but what she saw was neither and both. She couldn't read his face at all, and usually she was good at doing that. He seemed to be set upon getting her to leave, that much was clear. However, that only intrigued her more. Her anger had turned to frustration, her frustration had turned to sadness, her sadness had now apparently turned to curiosity.

Who was this strange Ravenclaw boy who only wanted to be left alone? Why was he always alone? Did he just hate everyone, or was he hiding something? Why did he seem so afraid of her? He hadn't really answered her question when he spoke. Simply stated what she already knew. He liked to be alone, and wanted her to leave. Airy thought back to the detention, and the look of confusion and fear on his face when her sister had entered the room.

He looked like he had seen a ghost, but it had only been a second year girl with no power of her own. His reaction hadn't matched the circumstances, which made her even more curious to him. Why was he so afraid of himself?

There was only one thing to do then... she had to find out, whether he liked it or not, she had to figure him out. He was a puzzle, and she was the cat who curiosity killed. Time to figure it out.

"Gordan.." She said lightly, setting her hand down on the bench between them, and slowly shifting her gaze up to him, looking up at him through her eyelashes, leaning just slightly towards him so her low-cut shirt opened just slightly to give him a proper view of her cleavage.

"Why do you want to be alone so often? It's not... healthy you know... I should know, I'm alone a lot, not by choice of course, just because people think I'm crazy." She flipped her hair over her shoulder, and continued to look up at him, seemingly oblivious to her hand which had slid a couple inches nearer to him on the bench in her movement.

"You need friends, and... I know we met in a really strange way.. but, I'd like to try and be friends with you. Just because I'm a Slytherin doesn't make me a bad person, I'm just like you! I don't have any hidden motives.. my motives are out on the table for you to see, I just... want to have a friend, and you NEED a friend... What do you say?"

Airy had mastered this technique, it worked every time. She blinked a few times extra, she looked away occasionally, sending him mixed signals. Was she interested? Was she not? It was impossible to tell. She leaned towards him on certain words, but then leaned back, and set her hand in her lap again, only to set it down closer to him on 'accident'.

She wasn't sure if a loner like him would be up to handling her flirting, but maybe it'd startle him enough to not go running off again. Maybe he'd answer her without her having to hex it out of him. There were more ways then one to get an answer from someone, especially when you are a female. So she leaned back and looked up, her body tense while she waited for his reaction.

It started out as a few bursts of air just leaving his system. Then it began to increase in volume as they came out in droves. As Gordan began to cover his mouth to hide his grin, he started to flat out laugh as hard as he could, his own face turning as red as a tomato at her response. His entire body shook with his laughter as the sounds reverberated all across the canyon. He was sure someone must've heard his rather strange cackle, but he just couldn't hold himself back. He needed a friend? A friend that was trying to seduce him like that? It was all too much for him, he never expected something this hilarious to just appear out of thin air today. He'd normally read a book for something like that to happen. Granted, she was attractive, but there was no way in hell that was going to happen!

"A...a friend, right!" he stated, right before cackling to himself once more, a hand over his belly as he tried to contain himself. It just wouldn't stop, it was almost starting to hurt his lungs! "Because...because I need a friend, right!"

A few moments later, his laugh finally died. With tears in his eyes and a large smile on his face, Gordan merely stated "I've gone through the last four years without friends, I certainly don't need one now! And even if I did, which is not likely, I would've found one already within my own house. They are bookwormish enough to be absolutely riveting in conversation. I would've just befriended one of them and moved on, as always. Even then, the chances of that becoming a necessity are quite slim indeed!" He almost felt like laughing again, but the reminder of his burning lungs made it evident that wouldn't be possible. He wiped away the tears in his eyes with the back of his hand and made one last chuckle when he thought about what she said.

"So, me and you? We're not the same. At all. For starters, I am a handsomely devilish rouge that prefers to spend his waking days alone in thoughts and meditation, while you on the other hand am part of some alternate reality firefighter service." To emphasis his point, he gestured a finger over towards the barren flower gardens nearby. After the Soulless' recent attack on the innocent forms of life, the gardeners mourned their loss for a few days. They replanted the same ones once again after depositing some new dirt and fertilizer, hoping that they would fully regain their glory sometime next year. "So don't go comparing me to you. You prefer the ideal of friendship while I revel in the possibility of everyone here in this school just dropping dead. It's. That. Simple."

Picking himself up from his seat, he finally felt irritated enough to leave his Sanctuary. He heard enough from the Soulless, and he was determined to escape her clutches no matter what. Even if he had to graduate in order for him to evade her, it would be a glorious occasion indeed. "So just leave me alone. I don't want friends, and I certainly don't want to be friends with you. Just leave me alone and the rest will be fine."

With that, he started his way towards the staircase.

His laugh made her inside's twitch with a small amount of annoyance, but for whatever reason her anger wasn't there in it's full fury. Only annoyance as he laughed at her advances and she fell back against the bench, miserable and sad. It hadn't worked. He was laughing at her. She really had lost it then. He was such a puzzle, she couldn't even get her body to help do the talking. What kind of woman was she if she couldn't even manage to convince a man that she was all for the best with a little flirtation.

Maybe it wasn't her fault? Maybe it was that he really was some weirdo psychopath who liked being alone all the time, and liked to take revenge on people who did nearly nothing towards him. If that was the case she had him figured out already. However... there was something about him that bugged her. She didn't like it, but she wanted to know it more, and it frustrated her to no end. So flirtation hadn't worked, he had laughed at her, and now he was standing up to go. After once again telling her off.

He stood up and she rose to her feet, pulling out her wand and pointing it at the stairwell, muttering "Protego" under her breath. Knowing it'd make a handy little blocking spell over the entrance that he wouldn't be able to get past. "Now listen here." She said, her voice suddenly a bit deeper, her back straight and her hair getting a little frizzy.

"You seriously think I prefer friendship? Have you even see how I act? I don't even HAVE friends. And yes. I do believe you need friends, because who the f**k do you have otherwise? If you keep at this rate you'll be as alone as me! And twice as angry! So why don't you just shut the F*** up and listen to me alright? I'm done getting preached at, I get it, you want to be alone. You've told me twenty thousand times. But you've not let me say my part!"

She felt as though she should have been angry, but the anger was drained, she talked in a cold, cruel, deeper tone that almost scared herself. It was calm and harsh and she had advanced towards him a couple steps, her chin up as she glared into his eyes.

"You took the whole revenge thing way too far. And now you act like a total a**hole to me and just about everyone. You run off the moment you have to confront your feelings, someone makes you realize what you're doing and you run away like a scared little kid! What's so wrong with people you hide from the world? What's so hard to understand that maybe, just maybe, someone thinks you're kinda interesting and would like to get to know you a bit better? I know I made a bad first impression okay? I get that.. but come on.. can't we start over? I'm Aurora Daniels, I'm a fifth year Slytherin, and I'd like to get to know you better."

The first thing that popped into Gordan's mind when he noticed the large shield spell blocking his way out of this infested hellhole was 'Now what do I do?' He was rather left with no choice at this point, his own irritation starting to build as she continued to show signs of defiance, why were people so stubborn to the point of becoming hostile? It seemed to be in her nature of course, but this clear show was...frustrating. Did he not say enough to get his point across? No, he was sure that she understood what he was saying, there was just something that wasn't clicking in her head. He figured she had two marbles out of place, but this seemed to be almost insulting. He'd probably have to start speaking on a child level, to really make his point clear, but he figured that'd probably lead to one fight he was not interested in getting himself into.

So he merely stared boredily when she began to go off on some tirade, something that he was expecting in the fullest. Frankly, she was coming off a bit of a neurotic, possibly due to desperation...which was again, something he didn't understand. All this effort, and for what? For a chance for him to be her friend? Was she feeling under the weather or something? Did she need a crying shoulder to place her head upon as she spilt out all her negative influences? This was something that was intimidating to Gordan, he wanted absolutely nothing to do with these delusions she was facing.

Even when she finished, he merely stood like a statue with a gaze that seemed to reflect his stance. A few moments passed after she finished speaking, the only sound in the area being the shriek of the wind. He looked down at his wrist in an exaggerated way, checking some invisible clock on his wrist, and then looked back into the Soulless' eyes.

"So, I let you finish," he stated solemnly "I let you explain what you wanted, and I'm flattered. But here's the thing. I don't want you to know me. I don't want anyone to know me. Sure, I will give a few details here and there to further support my own gains, but besides that, I will offer absolutely nothing to you. You want a friend, you want to get to know me, that's all well and fine, but here's the truth. I don't want you to be involved with me, because I choose not to. This isn't about my past, this isn't about some kind of game we played against each other, this is just who I am. So there, you actually learned some about me, isn't that just peachy?"

Turning his back from her, he merely waved his arms again in an exaggerated way and began to walk towards the shield charm. "But excuse me if I try to run! Would I prefer to stay here and fight some pointless battle that won't even matter in a few years, or do I just go and continue to benefit myself further. You see, that's the fun part. I truly don't want anything to do with anyone, and I enjoy it. So why you continuously persist in this whole farce is beyond me. So I felt bad after I cornered you in the detention room like that, so what? Human generosity is a bountiful thing in this world, just go find someone else to find it from, because you won't find it from me again."

Turning his sight back towards the disgruntled Soulless, he returned her gaze with an irritated one of his own. "I want my privacy, I want my life, I just want my time to myself. The only reason why I say this to you is because that is the truth! I try not to sound preachy, but it just comes out that way. So just let me leave, before I lose my own sanity down here."

With that, he flopped his arms down to his sides and shook his head, clicking his tongue in the process. This would go on for some time, he was predicting that as such. Repeating himself wouldn't do the trick anymore, he just needed some kind of concrete plan to follow through on. Attacking her was out of the question, the fallout from that would be quite devastating, even if he proclaimed it was in self-defense. No, he was stuck between a rock and a hard place once again, and he had no way of getting out.

Airy had to change tactics. She was getting nowhere with this nut-job. Was it so hard for him to understand? Was he really that absolutely dumb to not get what she was saying? She held the protego in place, watching it for a moment when they were both silent, the slightly wavy look to the air the spell caused, a slight disturbance, and a slight green-ish tinge that made it obvious there was something blocking the path. She watched it waver for a moment before finally looking at him, once he was done talking.

Her curiosity was only peaked, it didn't waver in the slightest, in fact she couldn't keep her eyes off this boy who was so determined to get away from her. How could someone hate people so much that they would spend their whole lives trying to convince themselves that they needed no one. Airy watched him for a moment, before going over the stairwell and sitting down directly in front of her spell. Taking a moment to find her breath, she stared at the ground at her feet.

He seemed to have given up talking, and she was simply collecting her thoughts. Why was she doing this anyway? He so obviously wanted to leave, never see her again. But this persistence made her curious, made her frustrated, made her want to find out what it was about this boy that made him tick. He was just too adamant about being left alone. Too ready to fight to get his privacy that made her want to know why he wanted to be alone so much.

"But why..?" She lifted her head to look at him, her eyes searching for his carefully. "Why do you want to be alone so bad...? What happened to you?" She asked softly, her voice timid again, but she didn't let up her spell, nor did she move away from the stairwell, hoping if she got him trapped here long enough he'd tell her what she wanted, or maybe just calm down enough that she wouldn't need a spell to hold him in place.

Gordan cocked an eyebrow and his shoulders sagged in a rather disbelieving way. Seriously, would they be going at it like this all day? They both realized they were stubborn people, that much was a given, but what the Soulless didn't know however was that Gordan was a master of being patient. He always thought out his plans carefully, with a swift and brutal execution to follow through with. This charade of her putting up some shield to keep him trapped in his alcove was pitiful to say the least. She probably knew that wouldn't stop him, and he didn't really care if she had a plan for what was next.

All he needed was just a way out.

Having spent so much time in his little sanctuary, Gordan had managed to come up with several different escape plans. Some were more desperate than others, but he figured he'd need a quick exit if the professors ever decided to come and find him. That was highly unlikely, yet it was better to be a little bit paranoid than to expect absolute kindness. He would never know what tomorrow would hold.

To that effect, Gordan had managed to devise a total of four different escape plans: one involved him dangling himself over the railing and shimmying across the railings to get into one of the dungeon classrooms, one involved an underground tunnel that was still being renovated for his disposal, and one involved a timed set of 'unfortunate' circumstances that would be involved with the plants nearby. That plan had been destroyed some time ago, so he only had one more idea at his disposal.

Nodding his head a few times, as if understanding the Soulless' question, he merely chirped "Yeah, sure, I guess I have an answer for that. It involves a certain circumstance with a Soulless woman, who decided to stampede her way into what I like to call my personal home."

As he spoke, he began to pace back and forth, his hands gesturing in a rather expressive way, the sounds of his footsteps echoing across the canyon. "See, this Soulless decided to show up one afternoon and mess with my time. I didn't want that, I most certainly did not. After I replied in a rather funny manner, she instantly decided upon herself that she would destroy the rest of my day, as if she was some sort of plague upon a village of happy innocents."

Now, he was approaching the wall near the railing, but whatever was beyond it wasn't the plan for Gordan. No, he had a better idea. Doing a couple of stretches in his legs and allowing the burn to return in his thighs and calves, he continued to speak. "So...once she decided to destroy my day...I took it upon myself to rectify that situation in an appropriate manner. Now...once I had exacted my revenge, she still continued to show up!" He continued with his stretches but this time with his arms, folding them across each other and pulling the muscles apart. "That's the thing I don't understand however... I have no problem with people in general, as long as they don't bother me...but this woman insisted herself upon me and wouldn't let go! What's a guy to think, am I right?"

Now, he positioned himself near the railing, some 15 feet from the wall. His legs and arms felt like and his blood was beginning to pump hard. This was an amazing feeling for himself, it was the only part of his childhood that he actually seemed to remember fondly on. With a quick sneer in the Soulless' direction, he spoke one final time. "So that leaves me with a quandary. If she gets in my way and I have no way of pushing her aside, what should I do? The answer? I guess I must go up!"

With that, he pressed off the ground like an athlete in a sprinting contest, his dash aimed towards the wall. He hadn't done much practice doing something like that before, but with his extensive time climbing things, he figured he could pull it off this time. Right before he hit the wall, his foot jumped out towards the wall, the bone and muscles colliding harshly with the wall. His momentum instantly pressed upon that foot, the pressure starting to feel unbearable for Gordan. However, he pushed up off that foot with all his might and leapt through the air as far as he could, his head having no time to process the information flooding into his brain. The only thing on his mind was grabbing the stone railing above him, which was only some feet from where he was. The thought of failure didn't peer into his mind, this would work, he could do it!

What followed was a grunt that exploded from his lungs as his right arm managed to catch the railing, his biceps screaming for relief. He needed to do this more often, if he had to do this any more, he'd probably die from the pain. With a determined look on his face, his flung his other arm next to where his planted hand was and pressed his feet against the wall, giving him more leverage. With his grip strength in check and his legs doing most of the work for him, he managed to successfully pull his way up and over the stone railing, with a few concerned glances pointed his way.

Out of breath, but relieved, he turned around and bent his body over the railing, a cocky smile pointed towards the Soulless' direction. "And so I managed to win the day back, fairest of all monsters! I hope you will enjoy your time alone, you shall never see me again...hopefully, at least!" With a mocking salute, he let out a slight laugh and turned around, running away as fast as he could. He wasn't sure if she'd chase him, but he sure as hell wouldn't give her a good start.

With his destination in mind, he quickly shoved his way past some of the neighboring crowds in front of the entrance hall, his path heading towards the dungeons. When he first met the Soulless, she managed to outrun him somehow towards the Ravenclaw common room entrance, something that still haunted his dreams. She would never expect Gordan to find his other hiding spot in the dungeons, it was perfect! With renewed vigor in his bones, he continued his slight prance to his new destination.

Airy sighed and listened to him speak, her mind still racing, hardly paying attention to his pacing until she caught his sudden movement out of the corner of her eye and she jerked her head that way to see him go flying up the wall, grabbed the railing, and disappearing over the top of it. Only to look back down at her with a grin that made her stomach churn.

So that was that then..

She didn't know how else to get his attention, and she was pretty much done with the kid. He had made it perfectly clear now, she wasn't going to get to be his friend.. so she'd go back to being a loner if that was it. She didn't have much else to do anyway. It was always like this, and Airy sat down on the step for a while, letting herself feel sorry for herself for the time being.

He was a jerk.. no more then a jerk, a complete asshole who didn't deserve her attention anyway. He had literally climbed a wall in order to escape her.

Was she that bad of a person?

Airy felt tiny tears pricking her eyes and she brushed them away angrily, standing up and swiping her wand to the side to rid the stairwell of the protego charm she had placed upon it, stamping up the stairs in an angry huff. Fine, he could go back to his stupid pouting in corners for all she cared.

Her feet carried her away from the light of day, inside the castle and down the stairs towards the dungeons, she worked her way towards her common room before turning a quick left, down a secret entrance that looked like a regular wall, her pace picking up until she was almost sprinting down the hall, pushing her body to the limit in an attempt to keep the tears away from her eyes.

He wasn't worth it.

She skidded to a stop outside an old, rusty door. A single torch had burst into flame right outside it, and she grabbed it off the handle, pointing her wand at the lock and grumbling a spell as it shot open and she stepped inside the unused and completely pitch black classroom.

Her little hiding spot in the dungeons, no one would find her down here.