The Tattered Page (Cari/Klaus)

[Klaus Audley]

“Haha, of course I mean with me! Oh, maybe we should go to the Three Broomsticks! I know that just about everyone goes there, but who cares?”

[/color] After he suggested that, he wondered if he should have suggested somewhere else, like Puddifoots, but it was too late for that. He had just said the first place that came to mind, because he was too stuck on what she'd said. That meant that Cari was wondering if he thought that she was pretty, right? But... why did she care? Most girls would have been appalled that he'd even said it. And Chii... Cari's thoughts? Hadn't seemed all that disturbed about it. But he wasn't good enough at decoding a girl's thoughts to know what it meant.

He somewhat sped his exit, hoping that she would follow him, because he was feeling a bit nervous. However, before they even left the shop he turned to her, unable to contain his words. Mostly, he was afraid that she would think that he was avoiding the issue for some reason. “I do think that you're pretty... Despite the ears and the tail... You know, you are one of the prettiest girls that I've seen, and that's why I can't believe that I didn't at least know your name in school! And you're...so great.”[/color] His face was bright, bright red. Why did he say that? He knew what he meant. That she wasn't like any other girl he'd met, being interested in what he was interested in, and not repelled by his dorky side.

But whatever he meant by it, that was a terribly awkward way to have worded it. “Err, sorry. Did that come out wrong? I don't know... I just wanted to let you know that.”[/color][/blockquote][/center]

[Cari Saer]

As he was heading out, she scrambled to catch up with him, only to stop quickly when he turned to speak. She listened to him and smiled, "Oh, there's no need to apologize. You're...great too, Klaus. And...and I like you."

She stood up on her toes and placed a soft peck to his cheek before skirting around him and heading out of the shop and waiting for him on the other side before playfully grinning up at him. "So, the Three Broomsticks then?"

She saw Sam wandering through one of the aisles and chirped softly, "Sam! I'm going to go to the Three Broomsticks with Klaus. I'll be back...sometime." Sam smiled, pleasantly surprised. "Alright, I'm sure I can hold the fort! Have fun!"

Cari grinned and her attention turned back to Klaus, "Alright! I'm all yours." Woah...that came out wrong, "I...I mean...for the afternoon! Not that I wouldn't mind being with you." ACK! "Well...I just keep talking myself further into a hole! Perhaps I should shut up!" She turned beet red and bit her lip furiously.

Oh, Merlin, she just could not communicate today!

[Klaus Audley]

Klaus allowed himself a moment to wonder if he might merely be dreaming... This whole day was going in a way that he had never imagined any day would. He couldn't think of anything witty to say that might help him win her over, so he said nothing at all. In the end, what would she want with someone who was still in school? He'd be a moron to expect something to happen... Though, it didn't stop him from hoping just a little bit.

He gave Sam a little wave. He had never really paid much thought to the shop owner, but now he would. He headed out the door, following Cari. It wouldn't be the first time that he went to the Three Broomsticks with a girl, but it had been a long time. Probably since like his second or third year, when his female friends hadn't yet been noticed by the other boys. They developed, they dated, they left Klaus behind.

His mind couldn't help but jump to... other thoughts, when Cari said that she was all his. But he knew what she meant, and planned on dropping it at that. But then she tried to cover what she'd said, and only made it more awkward. Klaus laughed, he couldn't help it! It was because he had done almost exactly the same thing before.

“Don't worry about it! It's okay... I understand what you're saying... I think. What was that about you not minding being with me?”

[/color] he asked with a grin on his face, teasing her. It was lighthearted teasing, though, and nothing was meant by it. “I'm only kidding. Don't worry... You don't have to be embarrassed about anything that you say. I mean, we shared our first meeting making action figures come to life, right? We're practically soul mates. So... what do you want from the Three Broomsticks?”[/color] He did the same as her, jumping over what he'd said, but then he sealed it by changing the subject. [/blockquote]

[Cari Saer]

"B-but, I don't mind being with you. Not at all." She insisted, her tail giving a quick whip through the air for emphasis as she looked up at him. Circe's tits, she was tripping over her own tongue and embarrassing herself! How was she going to stop?

Wait? Soulmates? Her heart fluttered a little but the sudden staring of the people outside made her gaze around quickly and lower her ears, looking ashamed. "Uhm...butterbeer is good, or pumpkin juice. I drink about anything really." Seeking some solace from the staring crowds, she wound her arms around his arm and pressed close to him, looking up softly, "Are you sure you don't mind being seen with me?" She asked as they made their way down the street and into the pub.

The darkened corners of this place was where she normally stayed when she visited. At least alone, she didn't mind being seen with him and would sit anywhere he asked. Her chin rested on his arm and she spoke again, "You're so sweet, Klaus. Thanks for asking me to come with you. I normally don't come out rill night time so I'm able to hide pretty well. But, I can't wait...cuz you have curfew. So, yes, this is wonderful already!"@

[Klaus Audley]

It kind of hurt that she would ask him if he'd mind being seen with her... How could she think that way? He knew that she got weird looks and was probably mocked for her tail and ears, but... She really felt that badly about herself? It made him sad. He shook his head. “No, of course I don't mind! I'm glad that I met you... and I want to spend time with you. I don't care what other people think. I would have a lot more trouble if I did.”

[/color] He smiled at her from the side. He was a nerd... being seen with a girl, no matter how she looked, was hardly the worst that could happen to him. “Besides, I'm honored to be seen with you! Whatever anyone else thinks, you're stunning, and they just don't know you.”[/color] He'd only just met her, but...

He wondered if it made her uncomfortable that he was a student, and they were hanging out together. But she probably would have said something about that already. “I think that it would be interesting to be here at night, though... When we can be together, I mean! Like uhm, over the summer.”[/color] His face was red. It sounded a lot like they were dating, even though he knew that they weren't. That would be a miracle, and even those didn't happen in a day.

He decided to order them both some butterbeer. He hoped that was okay. He looked at her for confirmation. [/blockquote]

[Cari Saer]

As he ordered, she found herself nodding approval quickly. Butterbeer was her favorite drink! As the barmaid wandered away, she found herself tilting her head to one side, much like a cat that had seen something interesting. "Thank you. I try not to let too much of how some people treat me affect my mood, but sometimes its hard. You're the only person near my own age to actually not try to yank my ears or tail off. I assure you, they're quite attached!" She smiled at him softly from across the table.

"If you wanted to visit me over the summer...I would like that. I mean, this town is really boring in the summer. No one is around except half of the shop owners, Sam, my adopted big brother of sorts Aiden, and me. It's total blah fest! But, since I can't go anywhere else, it's home sweet home. It would just feel more like home with....someone to make it not so lonely." She blushed softly.

It wasn't normal to be fawning over some boy she had just met, but Cari always was one to be more affectionate than other women. It was in her nature! Plus, he was super adorable and nice and smart. Why not get to know him? "Klaus, can I ask you something? She asked softly before waiting for his reply. "Do you think you might remember to visit me? Or else I might miss you...r...company."

[Klaus Audley]

Klaus was somewhat horrified, but not surprised, at what she said. There were a lot of reasons why Klaus didn't like many people his own age, and that was one of them. A lack of respect and an abundance of cruelty. “You don't have to worry about that from me... I never even pulled off Santa's beard when my friend's parents made me go see him.”

[/color] Living in a remote place, Klaus hadn't had to worry about dorky things like that. But one of his old friends, who he didn't talk to anymore, had. It was an experience, at least.

“Really? I thought that there would be a lot of students here during the summer,”[/color] he said with surprise. Although now that he thought about it, Klaus wasn't sure that he'd want that company. Not if he had ears and a tail that apparently looked fun to pull. When she asked him if he would remember to visit her, he frowned a little bit. “Of course I'll remember! And every Hogsmeade weekend that I have! It's not like I have anything better to do. I mean... even if I had something to do, I would come here. I didn't mean to imply that you were my last resort...”[/color]

He was talking himself into a hole but he cleared his throat and forced himself to look directly into her eyes. “You'd be my first choice.”[/color][/blockquote]

[Cari Saer]

Cari giggled, "I never tried to pull Santa's beard either, but he did kind of scare me when I was a little, little girl. You know, my parents taught me to not talk to strangers and then this guy in a big red suit came along and they wanted me to sit on his lap? No thank you! The first time I saw him, I clung to my mother's legs so tightly you would have had to pry me off with a crowbar!" She laughed now, the thought was pretty silly really. "My little brother was the same exact way! Once we hit about 5, that stopped though. Come to think of it, the Easter Bunny tweaked me out too."

Hey, wait a second.

She would be his first choice?

A blush sprang over her features and she smiled shyly, trying to hold his gaze. "Th-thank you. You would be my first choice too. Though I wish I could visit you. There's so much about the muggle world that I miss. It's just very difficult to keep my differences under wraps, though sometimes it works well. I could possibly squeeze off one very careful day without being noticed." She girinned sheepishly before catching what she said. "That is if you didn't...mind that of course." Before she could quit it, she leaned across the table and kissed his cheek again before sitting down promptly.

Her fingers drummed nervously on the side of her leg up until the barmaid brought the butterbeer to the table. "'Ere ya go, love. 2 Butterbeers. Oh, Cari. 'Ow's Aiden doin' in St. Mungo's? Been missin' his charms on the fireplace." Cari smiled a little, looking up at her. "He hasn't woken up yet, I don't think part of him wants to...but, he's getting better." "Poo' dear. Send 'im my love, will ya?" "Of course."

As she walked away Cari looked back over at Klaus and smiled sheepishly again. "Sorry. A lot of people here know Aiden, he's like the big brother I never had, owns a shop a few houses down. But, his magic specialty makes him a target for those who would want to hurt people. He's a good guy, loves absolutely everyone. Most nights for the past couple of days, I've been up at the hospital to keep him company even though he's sleeping."

She shook her head quickly, then moved around to the other side of the table to sit next to him and tilting her head against his shoulder, holding her cup in her hands. "Enough of that for now. I'm curious, what are you learning in Transfiguration right now?"

[Klaus Audley]

Klaus had never thought of it that way. It was a danger, wasn't it, to teach children that it's alright to sit in the lap of a stranger as long as he was promising that he would bring you toys? He shuddered. What were adults thinking? “The Easter bunny is just weird. Why does a bunny bring people eggs? Or... hide them. It sounds like a college student playing a prank or something.”

[/color] He snorted at the thought. Literally, unfortunately. Then he stared at Cari, wondering if she would make fun of him for it. He was alright with it if she did, oddly enough. If it made her smile, then he wouldn't mind one bit.

He wondered what his parents would think if he came home with a girl one day... Actually, it was more his sister that would make a big deal out of it, since she knew that Klaus didn't have girlfriends or anything like that around. He'd be mocked mercilessly, and probably be further embarrassed by his sister asking questions... “You should come to my house! I think that... Well, you know... My family already knows that I'm a wizard, so any more surprises should be expected to an extent.”[/color] He spoke calmly, though his face was bright red. He was getting kind of used to the contact, but at the same time, he wasn't. His heart still reacted the same way. He didn't think that he would ever fully get used to it...

Klaus frowned deeply, wondering what had happened to this Aidan. Her explanation didn't quite cover that, and he wasn't sure that he should ask more about it. “I'm sorry to hear that... I hope that he gets better soon. He will get better, right?”[/color] She'd told the woman that he was getting better, but did that mean he would fully recover? Not knowing what had happened, Klaus wasn't sure. “Sorry... I should mind my own business.”[/color] He mentally scolded himself for having such a big mouth.

He blushed quite a bit when she sat by him. He wasn't sure that he could think about Transfiguration when they were close. “Uhm, birds,”[/color] he said simply, not sure what else to say. How did the words fly from his mind so easily? Ha, birds. Fly. “I mean, we're conjuring birds. That was the last thing that I learned. I have to say, I like your lessons more.”[/color][/blockquote]

[Cari Saer]

Going to his house? That could be fun! Well, certainly more fun than developing new spells all by herself like she did last summer! She smiled, the thought that he didn't mind her being around him was something that she never thought she'd witness. Lord, it had been some time since she had been in the Muggle world.

When he asked about Aiden, she nodded. "He will be. Physically, he's fine. Mentally sharp as a tack, but all his pain manifests here." Her palm pressed softly above his heart. "He's loved the same person all of his life, but he hasn't seen him in years. When he gets attacked like he did...he avoids mental damage by pushing himself into his memories and stays there with him. I think that he's just reached a point where he'd rather stay there than face the world again." Despite that being horribly sad, she still smiled. "He would never leave the students though. Some of them rely on him and he knows that he is needed here, it just takes some coaxing and he will be back." She hoped.

Birds? "Avis?" She asked with a tilt of her head. "That one can be fun. But, I'm glad you enjoy my lessons! I will have to find ways to make them more enjoyable so that I can coax you to come back. After all, the grand battle is no fun to animate all by myself! I'll need you!" This time she giggled, a bright smile on her lips. Her head lowered and nuzzled his shoulder gently, the faintest sound of a purr escaping her chest. Ah, she was content.

[Klaus Audley]

Klaus felt a little bit awkward because he never knew what to say in situations like this. It was hard to comfort someone about something that you didn't really understand yourself. Not completely. The thing about it, though, was that he knew to an extent how this Aiden felt. More than most people would, probably. But it wasn't a lover situation. It was...

“I have times where I would rather live in my head, too, with my sister. You see... When I was little, we were playing outside and she... she got hit by a car.”

[/color] He didn't tell this story to most people, both because it was depressing and because there were few people who would even know what a car was. He felt really weird to be saying something about it, but for some reason, he wanted Cari to know. “Sometimes I like to close my eyes and pretend that she's still here with me. We were more than siblings... We were twins, and best friends. Everyone thinks that I should be over it since I was small when it happened, but I can't. So I pretend that everything is alright. So I can understand why he would want to hide in his memories. They're safer than the emotional roller coaster the real world can be.”[/color] He laughed awkwardly, kind of afraid of what Cari might think of him.

He nodded enthusiastically when she said the name of the spell. “You don't have to coax me! This is going to be the best thing ever... Too bad I can't do magic over the summer, or I would get all my action figures together and one of us could play the bad guys and the other...”[/color] He trailed off, realizing how silly that sounded. As if they were little kids. He lifted his hand and ran it through her hair with a smile on his face. “You know, not play... Uhm, run?”[/color][/blockquote][/center]

[Cari Saer]

As he spoke, she listened carefully. When she realized what he was saying, she felt her heart go out to him. "I'm so sorry to hear that, and I think I would do the same if I lost someone dear to me. I haven't, but that would be what I would do. Sometimes I go off and live in my fantasies when I start feeling lonely, or I read." Yes, nothing like an engaging story to help someone forget that they were lonesome! Sometimes her mind would put her into the story, just to make sure her mind was off of it. "I know it's not really the same...but I still think I can understand the feeling, even if I'm grasping at straws."

His enthusiasm returned and she giggled audibly, blushing softly as he ran his fingers through his hair, "That doesn't mean that I can't cast it all. It's no big deal!" She nuzzled into his shoulder with a beaming smile as hwe heart felt like if was singing.

[Klaus Audley]

Klaus smiled at her, happy that she would even try to understand. That meant a lot to him... Because most people just got uncomfortable and wanted to pretend that he hadn't said anything. Or they wanted to reassure him, in ways that only made him feel worse. He couldn't blame those people, but this was a nice change. “I wonder if that's why people like us become... well, people like us. Finding our way into a book is so much easier sometimes than facing the real world. Sometimes... I even write stories about people around me, in other worlds... So that Kimberly can be alive still in one form.”

[/color]

He had never told someone that before. He wondered what it was about Cari that made him confess so many little things that he had never told another person... He wished that he could say something about that, but it sounded like he was just a creepy nerd. “That's true... It could be fun! My parents will think that we're such nerds... Oh wait, do they still monitor your magic when you're seventeen?”[/color][/blockquote]

[Cari Saer]

It was endearing, the way he spoke of his twin. "At the risk of sounding like something out of The Lion King, she lives in you." Her fingers patted over his heart softly and she smiled. "The way that you talk about her, so fondly, she's all but real to me too." She had never lost someone close to her, not completely. Aiden always fought back, and he always came back. What if he didn't one day? She'd probably try to keep him alive too.

As he spoke again, she laughed. "Oh, not anymore, no. I can use magic if I wish too, just nothing outlandishly huge or seriously dangerous. Not like I would cast something like that unless it was for defensive measures! I don't think I have it in me to really hurt anyone. So, I could be a mega nerd with you and those epic battles will ensue!"

The prospect of having that much fun was certainly appealing. She went to tell him so and was captured with the shy gaze of his eyes and it felt like the world was moving through water. Wow...his eyes were pretty, plus the way those messy curls fell into them...she couldn't help herself from getting a dopey smile on her face and her eyes softened. Yikes! That feeling was coming back!

Quickly, she leaned in and pecked the corner of his lips swiftly. "That's...for....being you. Right! That's just for being you!"

[Klaus Audley]

Klaus laughed. It was still a new experience to him that he could make muggle references and there was someone here who would understand them... It was even more amazing that someone else would make them. Despite that, a blush creeped onto his face. She had touched his chest, even if it was to demonstrate a point. He tried not to think of the touch as anything but friendly... He really was a creep, thinking that way given the conversation topic! “Th-thanks... That actually helps, coming from you.”

[/color] He smiled at her shyly, hoping that his earlier thoughts didn't show on his face.

“Oh... In that case, I'm fine casting spells during the summer, too! I'm seventeen.”[/color] He looked rather pleased with it. This was the first time that his age really made a difference, besides the way that he convinced himself that now he was an adult and it should feel different. “We can both charm some of them! I wouldn't leave all the work to you, you know. Besides, it will feel more like a war that way.”[/color] He winked at her.

There was a bit of a silence, and Klaus wondered if he should break it. But as he was thinking of something to say, she leaned in and kissed him. Not directly on the lips, but somehow, that was even... worse... or better... he wasn't sure which it was. “For... being me? Well, that's a lot better than when my parents say I should be myself... I never thought it would really pay off. Can I... appreciate you, too?”[/color] He tried to make it sound playful, and like he was flirting, but he was actually asking her if he could kiss her. Only, he wondered if he could get away with a full on the lips kiss...[/blockquote]