Head is. Spinning. Thinking. 'Bout. Boys

Oliver.  Kaiden.  This was the real Kaiden.  The one he'd been with was Oliver.  

What had Selwyn said?  That something had happened to this one's memory.  Shylock wondered whether he'd remember him from school, even.  Would he remember even if nothing had happened?  It wasn't as though they'd run in the same circles.  

He couldn't decide which he'd prefer.  Would Kaiden remembering him be a better thing?  Shylock had had a certain reputation while he was at Hogwarts.  And after Hogwarts as well, if he was being honest.  It was only recently that he'd shaped up.  Ugh, that was such an awful thing to think.  Exactly the sort of thing his father would approve of.

Well, stewing over it wasn't going to help any.  Shylock much preferred to face things head on, especially now that he couldn't avoid them with chemical assistance.  He knocked on the office door.

Summer hadn't gone at all like he'd planned. Not that he'd really planned anything. He spent most of the summer going in circles, trying to figure things out with his family, friends and all those in between. He just didn't understand why everything was such a big mystery. Were the things his family did really so bad that they made it a point to throw him around so he'd eventually fall of their trail? Merlin, it seemed so.

As a student, Kaiden hated going back to Hogwarts at the beginning of every year because it always meant going back to school/homework and petty drama. But somehow, Hogwarts had become his safe space since he became a professor. Some students had helped him remember certain things, in fact, though they hadn't always done so in the nicest ways. But information was information, regardless of the delivery.

He'd barely had time to settle in before classes had begun and his hectic work life came back into existence. The knock on his office door made Kaiden's head jerk up from the paperwork on his desk. He hadn't been expecting anyone. But it was probably one of the other professors.. or something. The professor shrugged, lifting himself from his seat to walk over to the door. He hesitated for a moment, unsure as to why, and opened the door shortly after. A vaguely familiar figure stood before him, though Kaiden couldn't quite place a name to his face.

Kaiden blinked, suddenly feeling awkward at his hesitance. "Oh, um, hello. Can I help you?"

Kai- Oliver would never have said that. Not only because Oliver would have recognised Shylock, while this person obviously did not; it just wasn't in his nature. Oliver wasn't timid. Not around Shylock, anyway. From what Kai- Oliver had said, he got the impression the other man had a distinctly different personality around his family, but he had hardly been in a position to judge.

Being greeted so... cordially temporarily set Shylock on the back foot. He cleared his throat in an attempt to recover some poise.

"You're Kaiden, right?" Shylock asked, as though there was some way he could be anybody else. "The real one." 

"Aren't you going to invite me in?"

If Kaiden was supposed to know who this man was, well.. too bad for him because he didn't. Had his memory been intact, it might have raised the chances of him knowing who that was. However, being that it was basically in tatters, Kaiden couldn't be help accountable for who he did or didn't remember. That being said..

"Oh. Right. Come in." the ex-Slytherin moved from the doorway and motioned for him to enter the office. The other man's question and comment hadn't gone unnoticed, however Kaiden thought it appropriate to allow his company to make themselves more comfortable before getting into anything. The professor cleared his throat and made his way back to his desk. His paperwork abandoned, Kaiden brought himself close to the desk, resting his elbows on it. "To answer your question, yes. I am Kaiden."

His voice was calm, smooth and yet still stern. His expression was serious, almost like the previous awkwardness and hesitance had never been there. "What can I do for you?"

Shylock followed him into the room, and stood in front of the desk, fidgeting with the elastic on the seam of his trousers.  He shouldn't have worn these trousers, but then, that could be said for this whole outfit. Now that he thought about it, Hayes probably wouldn't appreciate him wearing a shirt with profanity written on it through the school.

He watched Kaiden get settled.  Maybe it was just because he was looking for it, he had enough reason to take notice, but Kaiden was not much like Oliver at all.  Shylock consoled himself with the reassurance that he wouldn't have been taken in at all if he'd paid the slightest attention to the other boy when they were at school.

"And I'm Shylock Ashcroft," he introduced himself.  He could have forced Kaiden to ask, but there was little point when this wasn't the person he really had a grudge against.  "I was in the year above you at Hogwarts. We didn't know one another well, though."

"To tell the truth, I'm here for two reasons. I'm curious as to your intentions toward Adrienne Reynolds.  And I want to know where I can find your brother."

If Kaiden could remember the person he was while he was a student in Hogwarts, he most likely wouldn't be pleased with the memories. The selfish, self-absorbed, pompous Kaiden Poliakoff he'd made himself out to be was so much further from the real him than he had allowed himself to believe in school, and it really wasn't even how he'd wanted to be portrayed. But of course, the Poliakoff heir had to be the perfect prince his parents wanted him to be. Though who in their right mind thought someone like that was ever going to be perfect prince? In a way, the selfish part of him back then was similar to the real Kaiden. The real one didn't want to be abandoned by his parents for any reason, so he did everything he was told. He wanted to be perfect for them for his own selfish reasons.

The Kaiden now would probably smack the Kaiden then to knock some sense into that stubborn mind. None of it was worth it in the end, if he was so easily cast aside when he'd gone missing. Thanks to Oliver being a thing. But none of that really mattered if he could barely remember the events of the time that passed since he disappeared and came back. It was starting to seem insane for him to even remember his Hogwarts years at this point.

The Charms professor nodded slowly at Shylock as he spoke. So that was why the other man seemed familiar. Well.. it was kind of nice to know that Kaiden could vaguely recognize someone he went to school with, even if he didn't know him well. Kaiden straightened up at the mention of Adrienne, his arms falling onto the desk with a light thud. He shouldn't have been surprised that Oliver would have been brought into the conversation, considering Shylock's previous comment about him being the 'real' Kaiden. He was still taken aback, however. "My intentions toward Adrienne?" he echoed, multiple possible responses floating about in his head. "Why would you need to know that?" he asked, deciding it was better to be cautious.

"As for my brother.." Kaiden lowered his gaze for a moment. "I couldn't really tell you. My guess is that he's still at the Poliakoff estate with our parents." There had to be a valid reason for his asking for Oliver, but Kaiden wasn't sure he really wanted to know the details of their relationship. "Unless he's gotten scared I'll do something to him and ran off. But that doesn't seem like him." If there was one thing he remembered about his brother after coming in contact with him when he went to see their parents, it was that Oliver liked to do things to piss him off.

Shylock had an answer already prepared for this. It wasn't difficult to guess how Kaiden would react, and he wasn't disappointed.

"She and I work together at the newspaper," he replied, inspecting his nails. "Adrienne doesn't work well when she's upset, and I detest inefficiency. I'm sure you understand."

He sighed in genuine irritation at Kaiden's admission about Oliver. Shylock had been hoping that Oliver might have taken advantage of the prodigal child's return. He didn't look forward to visiting the Poliakoff Estate.

"Oliver doesn't spend all of his time at home," Shylock stated. "I'd take it very kindly if you'd find out where he goes when he's not there and let me know."

“I don’t think my brother would appreciate me sticking my nose in his business. Especially when I don’t care what he does.” Kaiden replied, a little irritated. Oliver was the least of his concerns, he could care less what the younger twin did. But if Shylock was looking for him, and hadn’t really been able to get in touch with him, then that must mean that Oliver might be trying to avoid hi? Kaiden pondered the thought, falling silent for a bit.

He spoke up again, changing the subject to Adrienne. “It wasn’t my intention to upset her. I don’t know what I expected to happen, though. I was just trying to get answers.” He bit his lip. “But I don’t have any ill will or anything toward her,” he cut himself off as his gaze fell to the floor briefly. “I just still love her.” He half muttered.

“But..” he knew he was making the conversation jump around more than he wanted to. “.. in regards to my brother, I’ll see what I can do. I don’t go to the Poliakoff Estate much, but every time I’ve been there Oliver has been there with my parents, that’s why I’m assuming he’s there probably more often than he should be.” He shrugged.

“You love her,” Shylock repeated the murmer flatly.

He was not especially surprised. Selwyn had painted a particularly sympathetic picture of Kaiden’s predicament, considering the other man was... Well, nobody quite knew what he was to Addie anymore.

“Maybe you ought to tell her that,” he suggested. “The sooner the better.”

He smiled as Kaiden abruptly changed his mind about enquiring after his brother.

“Please, do,” he agreed.