Passing the Time {open}

Both Ella and Kaden  walked side by side down the street as Kaden recounted the story of what happen last night.

"Well, Tony decided he needed to do some redecorating half way through the party. Mind you he was on his fourth shot or beer or whatever.Him and a couple of guys took these old antique desks, hundreds of years old and stack them on top of each other. He told me it wasn't tall enough so he got the couch, 2 chairs and a table one on top of each other. By this time it was ten feet high, he had a couple of more drinks in him and hyped on adrenaline, so he decides to climb...what did he call it? I don't know. Mount something. Well, anyways, you know Tony once he gets an idea in his thick head of his he has to go for it. I knew right away what was bound to happen.  I made sure it didn't get ugly so I laid pillows around just in case. Sure enough once he was on top of his mountain and the crowd was cheering him to Jump. He jumped. And what do you know happen next? He missed the mound of pillows and whacked himself on the carpet floor. Nothing got broken except his ego."

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L seemed fixated on her own thing, forcing herself to ignore the uncomfortable stares that her table mates directed at her. L was really trying for Jett's sake, but if she had to look at Choi's look of awkward contempt one more time as if Eleanie was the plague, she would smack that look right off. It was hard enough without being looked upon as a side show freak.

She was in the midst of turning over the second to the last card, when Morgan chimed in, as if he was at all interested in her now. "Did Kia put you up to this?" She snapped. After all Tony and Kaden where best friends. He was always at L's house, and visited Kaden when he was sick. No one ever visited Eleanie during that time, even though she was also absent from school. Oh, no. It was all about Kaden. Oh, poor Kaden. Kaden this and Kaden that. Just thinking about it made her bitter.

On the other hand, Tony did show an inept understanding of divinations seeing as how he too had the same classes as her. He might have even enjoyed the class, seeing as he participated every once in awhile, asking the professor questions.

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Kaden walked in behind Ella into the Three Broomsticks.  Surprisingly it was not busy at all. There were a few customers, but hardly jam pack especially on a Hogwarts weekend. Kaden notice the small things that Ella communicated. It was a silent conversation between her and a man across the bar. Kaden acted like he did not notice and continued to talk in order to keep up pretenses.

"I don't know how he talked me into doing the same stunt, but I also found myself ready to jump. It was stupid, I know. But at least I landed on the pillows that cushioned my fall."

Kaden scan the room again seeing his friends at that far table and to his surprise Leia. "There's Tony." He pointed him out as both of them walked around the tables and chairs to get them.

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Fine. For this one time Eleanie would give Morgan the benefit of the doubt and answer his silly questions. "Well if you must know..."

Eleanie spotted him immediately as he entered the Three Broomstick. It was her twin brother, the bane of her existents. Of course he had to show up now and ruined everything for her. Same old, same old. She was destine to  be in his shadow forever. She shut down immediately and went back looking at her tarot cards.

_____

Kaden had a cheery smile as he saw his classmates and friends talking cheerily at the table. "Jett, Eleanie how have you guys been. Honey always a pleasure to be in your presence. You all know Ella, right?"

"Tony! Are you feeling better?" He said patting his friend's bruise back a little harder than necessary with a playful grin on Kaden's face. "Move over so Ella and I can sit," he said towards Tony before grabbing an empty chair from another table and setting it next to Jett for Ella to sit.

As the scene continued to unfold, Ha Ni seemed to have disengaged entirely, focusing only on the pages in front of her. She didn't really take notice in the others after this point until Jett stood from his chair in response to another fellow Ravenclaw entering the pub. She had seen him behave this way towards certain girls during the short time they had known each other, and though they really hadn't known each other long, the sight was a bit annoying. Even more so when she identified the other student as Ella, who she didn't know personally, but certainly knew by reputation, though quite a different reputation from Eleanie. Ha Ni glanced around the already cramped table and realized that they would either have to get a bigger table, or suffer squeezing in a couple more chairs. She was about to return to her book when Kaden greeted them all, and she looked up when she heard her name and smiled hesitantly, not having expected a compliment so out of the blue, "Thank you Kaden, it's good to see you too." She glanced towards Ella and gave a curt nod in greeting.

"What, no!" Tony shifted in his seat, looking up from the cards to Eleanie, his brow furrowing in confusion. “I was just-” but she wasn’t asking anymore, shutting down as soon as Tony had waved Kaden over.

Normally Tony wouldn’t miss on an opportunity to tease Jett (he didn’t know anyone else who spoke like that: a bit disgusting and a bit sweet and a lot disgustingly sweet), but very soon his attention was on Kaden instead. He gave a smile and a nod in Ella’s direction, then hunched forward as Kaden’s hand ran just over his bruise. “Piss off and sit down,” he said in response, shifting his chair closer to Eleanie to make space for them. "Wait no- get me another latte while you're still standing. Go on, shoo." He made the shooing motion with his hand, his brow rising in expectation at him.

“You jumped, too?”

Ella was nearly surprised at Kaden’s actions, having most often found herself in the comfort of his arm and his words and rarely seeing him so built around action. Though perhaps there were moment that Ella couldn’t remember well enough, where Kaden had displayed a more rash personality than she believed him to have.

Ella heard a familiar voice appear from around the corner, turning her gaze to meet that of Tony’s. She smiled as she peered back at Kaden, having found just who they were looking for with so little effort. Ella had allowed Kaden to go first, as Tony was a far closer friend to Kaden then he was hers, and she had no intention of becoming a barrier between their potential conversation. So, Ella walked, as well as she could, by Kaden’s side as they made their way across the bar.

As Ella made her way, she felt the need to blink heavily, a figure appearing in front of her that she could hardly believe was there. The boy—no, the man—stood. His hair was a deep brown and she could feel the silken texture of it between her fingers even though she did nothing but watch. Nor had she ever touched it before. His eyes were wonderfully alive, like an electric current that reached out and surged beneath her skin, pulling her closer to the boy.

Ella could feel a blush creep across her cheeks, or was that perhaps just the alcohol hitting her system? She couldn’t tell, but there certainly was a strange feeling, a pull, that wrapped itself around her body.

Her heart felt as though it had been misplaced in her own body, swapped with something different. Something more alive, something beating its wings against her lungs to stay afloat, lighter than any butterfly she had known. She found herself breathing in a cold, crisp air that sat in her lungs, forgetting to continue its way out of her body.

For a moment Ella closed her eyes, and the feelings dissipated, if only for a moment. What was this pull? This silken rope that entangled her body and drew her ever closer to the boy? The boy spoke.

“Then it appears you hope for so little. Surely you must desire more than the appearance of a simple personage?” She played with her words, she knew, but there had been something about Jett that warranted Ella to build a game into her words. Even her own name she had reluctantly gave to the boy when they had first met. There had been something about him, something strange, that had triggered Ella to fight her own body with what words she could manage.

“Alas you compliment me, and far too kindly. Thank you.”

Even in her conversation, Ella took notice to the crowd around her. Kaden’s sister was here, playing with beautiful tarot cards. She had never spoken much to the girl, having always seemed to find that if she were with Kaden, there was less chance of her seeing his sister. It was an odd thing, she could have thought, though Ella made no judgments. She was an only child and could not place any conclusions onto something that she had no understanding of.

Choi was here as well, the girl giving a curt nod towards Ella, and Ella respectfully returning it. She had spoken very little to the girl, but she respected her patience and dedication. She was a hard worker, and Ella appreciated seeing such wonderful qualities in another being.