SOMEONE *holds* M-E *safe* and {WARM} (((OPEN)))

"I'm sure it is," Sterling laughed as she insisted that her cake was obviously better. He didn't doubt it, he had never had it. Sterling had seen snapdragons before, but still preferred the sunshiny joy that white and yellow daisies never quite failed to bring.

Sterling shivered in pleasure. Why did she have to tantalize him every moment of the day? He wanted nothing more than a kiss... but realized the value of conversation far exceeded the value of a kiss. They didn't have that kind of relationship.

The real answer was that his sisters had ruined his self esteem by never accepting him to study so hard and never work at Quidditch. You have such promise as a Keeper! he would always say. He could have made the team, but he saw it as a distraction, so never tried out. From that moment onward, they had shunned him and incessantly put him down, and he now lacked the confidence for anything, really. But he wasn't going to tell her all that.

"I don't know..." Sterling said, worried that disclosing such information with another would be unfair to his sisters, whom he loved regardless of their taunting. He felt as if blaming such a negative portion of somebody's personality on somebody else out loud was merely being too weak to accept responsibility for yourself.

But it was hard to keep secrets from Cat.

Sterling smiled. Clouds... he loved clouds... except when they were the featureless expansive sheets of an overcast day... but today they were large, numerous, fluffy and separated, yet the sun was still shining with dazzling brilliance, which he now noticed accented Catalina's wondrous eyes twice as blue, more contrasted, and lighter and darker at the same time.

Sterling looked at them thoughtfully... he saw a bunny, a lollipop... Or was it a tree? The bunny changed to a jumping position. He was about to point it out when he saw an oyster. It had its shell open and was magnificently 3D. He smiled, remembering Professor Tiquelle's lesson on symbols. Oysters meant love, and an impending commitment...

"I see an oyster," he said, pointing it out. It couldn't be mistaken for anything else, it was so obvious. Even the lines on the exterior of the shell were there, defined and clearly contrasting with the white of the rest of the fluffy cumulus cloud.

And of course, she knew he was lying about his past. Her smile was so irresistible. He wanted just to spill everything out right then... tell her everything about himself... but he held his tongue. He knew he would have to tell her eventually, but maybe he wouldn't... as long as she stopped giving him such understanding smiles. It was harder to keep something from someone that said they were okay with not knowing than it was to stubbornly refuse to tell them.

Sterling shivered in pleasure as she moved her hand across her chest. She would have to stop that if she wanted to keep talking to him... it made her so hard to resist when she did that. Sterling snuggled his face next to hers and laughed. "Oh, well I was going to point out a rabbit. But the oyster is so obvious, look!" he said, following her pointing hand with his. He made sure to run his hand along her arm the whole way up to point, and then accidentally-on-purpose to caress her hand when he reached the top.

"It's an omen of love," he said dramatically, pulling his head away from hers just enough to look her in the eyes.

Sterling kissed her softly back, desperate for more, but able to resist... at least for a moment longer. "My family..." he said slowly. He was reminded of the reasoning he was still keeping from her. It hurt his heart to do it, but he couldn't blame his sisters...

"Well, my parents are both kind of Healers, in a sense, except they deal with more minor stuff generally. Our family's pretty... poor, really. My sisters are all phenomenal at Quidditch, the captain of each of their respective teams. Nobody has been in the same house in our whole family." he explained. Each one of them were so different... although he more than the rest. He laughed a little and said "It makes sibling rivalry 10 times as bad when your own sister caught the snitch before you did, winning them the championship..." he said slowly.

Sterling frowned when she kept asking questions. He was kind of embarrassed of his family, and didn't talk of them often. "Well, my family never really had a lot of money because my parent's work isn't exactly in demand... people usually deal with minor injuries on their own, but they're too old to switch career tracks now..." he said. He wanted to get to work right out of Hogwarts, but he didn't know what he wanted to be. He didn't have time for additional training though, he had to get his family money ASAP. His sisters were phenomenal, but professional athleticism can only get you so far and last for so long... and they're grades were horrendous.

"I want to start working as soon as I can to support them. They're names are Persephone and Sterling. My sisters are May, Persephone Jr., and Lauren. 21, 19, and 17." he said. Only one was still in school. Sterling smirked at the imagination of he and Cat on a broom together... it would be the greatest feeling ever...

"You can teach me to fly. What does it cost to enroll?" he said cheerfully. He wasn't a bad flier, but he wasn't professional level either, like his sisters were. They had practiced with him enough that he could have easily made the team if he had cared to try out...

Of course it wouldn't cost anything, but Sterling was hoping she would charge a kiss, because he was having trouble thinking about much else.