marred | ( eachdraidh inbox )

[ for a moment, he ignores her question. his voice sounds cheerful, ] Hey, Hermione. It's Luke. Checking in that I've got all ten fingers and maybe all ten toes. [ he's wiggling them but he still isn't sure. ]

[ george and martha grow louder as they begin to sing when i'm not with you i lose my mind. there's a bang as luke throws his shoe in their direction. ] It's Britney. She drives me crazy.

Thank you. [ The 'it took you long enough' is probably better left unsaid, she imagines. She can't see him to see if he's actually telling the truth but she'd like to think -- or, maybe, hope. Fruitless, but... ]

No, I don't - I don't know who that is. I imagine she's a muggle singer, right? I haven't really had much time to catch up on the latest music. [ with the, you know. War and all. ]

Britney Spears? The Princess of Pop? Pretty sure Apollo could learn a few dance moves from her.

[ or perhaps how to write actual songs, but not even she does her own stuff. ]

You'll just have to come to The Station with me when I go plug George and Martha in for a recharge. The Staff turns into an iPod. Guess you don't know what that is, either?

[ he'll show you a whole new world. ]

I really don't have any idea who that is. I suppose I'm a little behind in terms of up to date music, unless you've heard of You Charmed the Heart Right Out of Me. That's Celestina Warbeck.

[ Though she imagines Luke is as familiar with wizarding music as she is with muggle these days. She shakes her head, laughing to herslf. ]

No, I have no idea what that is. I'd like to get to know George and Martha a bit more too, if they don't mind. And - well. I'd like to see you more too, Luke.

Never heard of the likes of her!

Uh. [ celestina warbeck? luke may not be a son of apollo, but he does like his music. unfortunately, it doesn't ring a bell. ] Can't really say.

[ but before he can even draw in a breath, george and martha speak loudly. it's as though they've slithered from the other end of his suite to sit right beside him. ]

[ martha's voice is rather motherly and kind. ] Of course we don't mind.

Anything for a beautiful —

[ at the same time: ] Girl. Rat.

[ luke grabs his pillow and throws it at them lying on the couch far from his bed. there's a feminine yelp from martha. ]

Nope. Not it.

[ luke sighs. he rubs a hand over his face, voice slightly muffled, ] I liked it better when they were at half-power. They didn't talk this much. [ that's a lie, however. luke had been worried sick they were going to end up being taken from him, as though the snakes being lethargic and exhausted was a sign of their own shards being removed from them — perhaps that was their shards, their ability to remain enthusiastic and durable. ]

But, uh, yeah. If you're sticking around Caer Glaem. We should make it a date.

Well, she is a wizarding singer. It might just be one of our things - don't want just anyone going around singing 'You Stole My Cauldron But You Can't Have My Heart'.

[ She does -- well. She pauses, blinking, before she bites her lip. A beautiful rat? Or a beautiful girl? She isn't entirely sure if she's being complimented or insulted here, exactly, but either way she's quite keen to learn more about the snakes that Luke has, what magic they might have, what he means by recharging and ipods and all sorts of things that she seems to have missed despite being muggleborn. Telephones and buses and trains? Easily done. iPods? Not so much.

But, of course, they're quickly muffled and Hermione bites back her laughter. ]

Maybe they just like talking to people. I've known a few people like that, here and there. [ Like Dobby, that loved talking to Harry (and even Hermione herself, when she offered him her jumpers and hats). ] I'm not exactly around Caer Glaem, but travel there isn't a problem for me. I can apparate over anytime you need me -- or for a date.

[ ... Not that she imagines it's a romantic date at all. It must be a friendly one, she's had loads of those. The only 'romantic' dates she'd ever had were in the library with Krum watching her like a hawk. ]

[ all three voices seem to overlap at once. ]

I'm going to have to download her.

I've never heard of it!

But it sounds like a good song, doesn't it, George?

Yes, dear. Apollo should rewrite it for Hermes! You Stole My Cattle But I Got A Lyre Instead.

That's a really horrible title, dude.

No one asked you.

[ luke sighs, rubbing his fingers hard against his temple. he laughs, more at himself than at george and his snappishness. ] They just like talking. Be grateful they can't get inside your head and never leave you alone. [ despite his words, luke's kind of grateful. he'd been alone for years until kronos had taken the seat george and martha now occupy with a fierceness he wishes he could say comes from hermes himself. but hermes has never clutched anything so tight. he's a thief, he takes and leaves things as he pleases. ] But apparate? Don't tell me this is another muggle thing.

I wonder if you can download her. I'm not sure how wizarding music is shared, really. I never thought to ask.

[ Seeing as they sat around and listened to her on the radio rather than on a CD or something. Hm. Maybe she'll ask Mrs. Weasley next time she gets around to seeing them, whenever that would be. Hermione doesn't really know. But, of course, back to the matter at hand -- ]

Maybe they'll tire themselves out? Or maybe if I ask them very nicely they'll give us a moment or two alone as I can hear all this strange music you've been telling me about. [ She has no idea how George and Martha work, how they act, nothing at all, really, so she's mostly just questioning, curious. Still... ] It's a witch thing. I can teleport anywhere I want to as long as I can visualise it in my head.

[ there's silence on the other end. george and martha are either listening to hermione, as she had asked them to be quiet rather politely, or they wish to hear what an apparate is. for ancient beasts, they're kind of dumb. ]

... So, what? You think of me and you'll just pop on over here in a puff of smoke?

[ it has to be simple. his own boon of teleportation works in a blink of an eye. now you see me, now you don't. it reminds him of how the gods appear at random, popping in and out. sometimes it's like they hadn't been there at all. ]

[ That sounds a little more dramatic than apparation really is and she laughs. She wants to shake her head and lean back before she hums and settles herself up, crossing her legs under her. ]

Not quite. I have to visualise a place, not a person. I think I'd hurt myself if I tried to apparate to just a person.

Oh.

[ that sounds like a bummer. as far as he knows, he thinks of places for his teleporting, too. what if he thought of a person instead? how would she even be able to locate someone if she had no idea where they were or what the terrain looked like? questions, questions. ]

[ despite it being the smarter route to ask them, luke opts to go in the opposite direction. ]

So, you don't think of me. [ it's clear he finds this amusing by the sound of his voice. teasing her is more fun than asking the important and very interesting questions. he lets a huh escape in his bid to feign disappointment. ] Good to know.

I didn't say that!

[ Um. Wait. She's going pink and she hesitates, ducking her head and quietly enjoying the fact that he can't actually see her face. That wasn't exactly what she had meant to say and she hesitates before she continues, coughing a little to get rid of the little frog in her throat.

Why does this keep happening. ]

I mean, I... I do - think of you! I just don't think that's how my magic would work.

[ luke grins, victorious. he tries not to laugh, but it's a little difficult not to. he strings the rope up, wrapping the ends around two tree trunks, and she trips right over it. maybe it's not right to purposefully play games with her, but at least she's thrown a little off balance. regardless of how hard she studies this particular topic, she'll always be taken by surprise. it's better than any other alternative. ]

Have you ever tried?

[ it keeps happening as the brightest witch of her age keeps talking to luke castellan. ]

[ She's a little petulant now and she huffs, crossing her arms and leaning back as she looks down at her locket. She's lucky that Luke can't see her face, biting back her little shocked laugh before she sighs. ]

No, honestly, I haven't. It always seemed a little dangerous.

[ there's laughter in his voice. ] How? All you do is think of someone.

[ it seems easy, doesn't it? to luke it does. he doesn't understand what apparating entails. he doesn't know about splinching. he can't pick up a book in the library and read about it. if he wants to know, he has to pry into hermione's mind — she's a little too busy for such things. all he knows is hermes must think of the people he wants to see, as well as the places, and he just magically winds up there. ]

Think it'd be a little dangerous if they were crossing the road, though. Remember to look both ways, Miss Granger.

Well, people move, don't they? And no matter how hard or often I think about you you're never going to be in the same place forever. It's far safer to just apparate to a place so you don't end up losing an arm or a leg.

[ Pause. ]

And I mean that literally, you know.

[ ... Funnily enough she had almost gotten herself run over but that isn't here nor there. The fact that it's what he thinks about makes her think that maybe they're a little more in sync than she had ever really imagined. She sighs all the same. ]

I do. Mostly. Promise.

Edited (fuck you html) 2014-10-24 12:48 (UTC)

[ and luke never stays still. even now, he's restless. he can chase the moon for a week without a break and feel like collapsing the moment the quest is over, but hours later, he still feels that impulse to get up and run. ]

... You can lose an arm and a leg by apparating?

[ that doesn't sound very safe to luke. even though he knows hermione would be able to do so without so much as losing a hair on her head, it's concerning. maybe he shouldn't push for her to try it out by thinking about him, then. he's hardly the most stable of targets. hadn't he been out for a run earlier this morning when he should've been lounging about on his bed? he's about to pull himself up and off his couch just to pace the room to rid himself of his restless energy. ]

[ and then he remembers he had a goal for this particular thread of conversation. his tone shifts into that humourous beast it always is. ]

Mostly? Man, what a bummer. I was going to tell you what I was wearing if you thought about me constantly.

Technically? That's what splinching is; if you're not entirely focussed on the apparition proper you could end up leaving a part of yourself behind and hurting yourself. Of course the Healers can generally put you back together again but it's very painful and... Not recommended. At all.

[ Thankfully, Hermione has always been rather good at apparition. She relied on it during their year travelling around England, even though she almost lost Ron in the process once. She still hasn't quite forgiven herself for that and she does her best not to think about it now, shaking her head and, of course, focusing on what Luke is saying to her.

... Even with the ridiculous teasing. Honestly. ]

It - Isn't that some kind of muggle pickup line? Really, Luke?

[ he repeats the word, as if he's learning a new language. ] Splinching. [ that's a word that definitely doesn't belong in the dictionary. it's not as though he knows all of them, but, his dad speaks funny at times (and a lot about firefly) that george and martha would've regurgitated it at some point during their project: talk hermes up. it had failed. ]

Baise. [ luke may be aware he's cursing in french. hermione hates curse words, non? ] Yeah, we don't want that. Maybe you should cease the whole thinking about me thing, then. I prefer you in one piece. [ it does make him wonder if the same can happen to even the greek gods. does dad have to think so hard about where he wants to be, in case he ends up splattered across his destination? it seems too easy, the way the gods go back and forth between the mortal world and their own. everything requires some degree of concentration, but for almighty gods capable of too much, do they risk being splinched? ]

[ he finds he actually doesn't wish it on hermes. ]

[ but she's splinched her chance at picking him up. ]

[ he laughs. ] It would've been if you had asked. [ he tries to stifle his laughter as he attempts to be serious. ] Wearing my favourite converse shoes, by the way.

Splinching, or the separation of random body parts, occurs when the mind is insufficiently determined. [ A little mini-lesson is always useful, right? It's obviously not a word Luke is entirely familiar with and that makes sense -- her world is completely different to his, both magically and with the makeup of it, and she wants to share hers with him as much as she can, even if it's literally only a word here or there.

Still, her mouth turns down at the swear -- she did spend some time in France, she isn't an idiot. ] I can think about you all I like as long as I don't try and apparate to you while I do it. [ He - well. Um. She pauses and swallows, shaking her head and leaning back. Her expression is softening and she breathes out, trying not to let out how embarrassed she is by her own slip. Whatever. ] I've never actually splinched myself, actually. I was one of the first people in my class to pass the test.

[ Hah. Funny.

She does giggle, though. ] Just your converse? The poor faeries, they must be terrified.

[ he grins, laughing lightly, ] The brightest witch of her age is imagining me in nothing but my Calvin Kleins right now. [ it's tempting to pick up on the slip and tease her senselessly about it. he's been panning for gold in this particular riverbed and he's struck it. but rather break the mud that's caking the damn thing away so he can become mesmerised in its shine, he leaves it as it is. it is fun embarrassing her and seeing her speak off the cuff rather than with any walls erected. it's actually quite nice he can return the favour with himself. ]

[ instead of showing off the nugget of gold he's found, he pockets it instead. ]

[ luke's shaking his head. ] Is there anything you can't do? That brain of yours can't be sufficiently determined all the time. [ though, he has no doubt whatever it is she puts her mind to, she achieves it, regardless of her skill level. it's an attribute of athena she possesses with an incredibly determined and ruthless grip. it reminds him of annabeth, of how any task was never impossible. ]

Hardly. [ Admittedly, her voice is a bit of a flushed huff now. ] I am imagining you completely clothed, thank you, with - with a hairnet, and a bow. A pink ribbon. It's very charming. [ She has no idea what this is, really, if this is teasing or something serious. All her experiences with any kind of relationship like this is limited to Krum and Ron, which leaves her with a quite, admittedly, stunted idea of how to handle any kind of 'more than friendship' scenario. That's what this might be, isn't it? They tease each other, she knows they're flirting, and she sighs softly.

Maybe she's just making a complete and utter idiot of herself and Luke is just laughing at her as he sits in his room.

She steels herself a little, voice low. ] Someone has to do all the thinking -- but there... I wasn't ever particularly good at a Patronus, not for a long time. That's what I did last time I saw you, the otter. It was my Patronus, a guiding and protective spell usually meant to help protect you against a creature from my world. I always had a rough time with it.

Pity. The fairies like seeing me naked all the time.

[ and it's a quip he wishes to expand on, especially after what she says. he remembers that word — patronus. and he remembers that otter as vividly as if it's curling around his shoulder right now, weightless and bright. part of the reason why luke hadn't called her had been for that particular thing — for a guy who can find almost anything, travel on any terrain and find a hut that hadn't been marked on any map, he'd lost one of the most important things to quickly come into his possession. it had been shame and guilt at being too caught up within the chase that had lead to the demise and disappearance of the otter that had kept him from calling hermione. ]

[ and the fact that it clearly means so much ... ]

[ merde. ]

Uh. About that ... [ he wants to let it trail off there and hope she never picks up the thread, but hermione's too sharp for that. to expect her to not even notice he picked it up and dropped it is insulting to her intelligence. ] If you were expecting a return to sender, I may have to give you a rain check.

Well, I'm not a faerie, thank you very much.

[ Hermione has no idea what's going through Luke's mind, of course she doesn't, but she does feel the tension that might be rolling off him and she pauses, hesitant. She isn't entirely sure what she ought to say here, but, finally, he continues, and she bites back her laughter and she grins, leaning back and settling on her bed, legs crossed under herself and leans into the call. ]

Oh, no! I didn't expect it to come back. Generally they're used to help fight back against dark creatures and they're not supposed to last for that long, but I thought I'd send one with you, just in case? So he - he wasn't meant to last forever."

[ luke's not quite sure he's hearing her right. her patronus was meant to only last temporarily? he'd thought any spell she cast would be permanent, and the loss of her otter had meant he'd lost something he was meant to keep and return. either luke needed to find a book on spells from hermione's world or he'd really need to ask her twenty questions before he set off on a quest. ]

[ he's quiet for the longest time. ]

... You're kidding me.

[ he doesn't sound offended. he's vaguely amused, but he's most certainly taken aback by the information he's clearly misinterpreted. he hadn't called her due to simply — it wasn't forgetting so much as it was being overwhelmed with annabeth and thalia being here, especially the latter. she'd been warmer to him than he had expected, and it'd fried all his nerve endings simply knowing she wanted to reconnect and rebuild what they had lost between the time of her turning into a tree and him slipping into darkness. hermione had inadvertently been pushed to the wayside until martha had commented about the pretty girl with her otter — and how she'd once almost dated one. ]

[ luke laughs at himself, rubbing his face with his hand. ] All this time I spent stressing over the fact I lost your damn otter, it was never meant to last in the first place?