((Catchy title, no? Anyways, please, if you decide to join our little fun, do so with good will! If you don't want to read long posts, then don't join. because I'm not shortening them for illiterate people. But all of you are literate, so where's the problem? eh......))
In the early morning, as the mist was rising off the ground, a strange sound caused the birds to fly off. It was the woosh of air that a time portal makes when it opens. A second woosh of air indicated the closing of said time portal, and the next sound was arguing.
"Jerk." A male's voice, sounding upset. As though he'd just been scolded.
"Egotistical moron." A woman's voice. Or rather, Ginny's voice. She turned and looked at Conan, her ex husband. She had her arms crossed, and a scowl was on her face. her bright red hair was loose and blowing around her shoulders and face in the soft wind. Her black t-shirt was loose, but not so much that it blew in the wind. Her sneakers were covered in mud, as were her jeans.
Conan was dressed pretty normal for him. Brown slacks and a white shirt. Briefly she thought of how he used to dress, as though a five year old would. (Stripes and polka-dots don't go together.) She grinned, then frowned as he scowled at her, "Just what are you laughing at?"
"Shut up, git." Ginny told him.
((LOL Indeed. No one-liners, humm-kay? ;) ))
"Shut up, git."
In a whirl of hazy black mist, Xaver's low, (almost, but not nearly completely muffled) soft laughter smoothed its way into the Hogwarts realm. His tones predestined his appearance, his solemn figure appearing shortly, though not quite immediately after his chuckle had faded, seeping back into the convex nothingness and nowhere he appeared from. His form was a solid contrast to the soft tones of the underbrush of forestry about him. He was an odd misfit, an oddity, in the sleek blacks in his combat boots, and pants, long-sleeved shirt, and the enormity of the unnatural-materialed cloak nestled about his broad shoulders, to the warm tones of the forest. Raven of hair, and almost ghostly pale of flesh, the colors meshed in a scarily handsome way, though his eyes, blue and alive as the wickedest oceans, were the doors to his being. Shrouded, sure, by a wary curtain of memory and instinct, but honest, no doubt. Honest to the good man, beneath, no matter what he, himself, thought of his own creature.
A bemused grin split his mouth, and he leaned against the thick tree beside him, his blue orbs following the two as they walked near him.
"That is, surely, the first time those words were not directed my way, in my presence. I should be dancing."
With another low, soft chortle of sound, he pushed from the tree, and defused his figure from the shadow that clung to him so very naturally, padding into the clearing.
Both Conan and Ginny turned on a dime to face Xaver. Simultaneous their actions, but there reactions were complete opposites. Where Ginny's face turned into a beautifully happy smile, her eyes alighting at the mere sight of him, Conan's turned into a deeper scowl, his eyes becoming even more stormy.
"Xaver," Ginny said, "There will never be a time I aim it at you and mean it as much as I did just then." She seemed exasperated, and face-on, one could see how tired she was. Not only that, but a deep cut ran from her cheek, down her neck and reappeared on her arm, as though someone had taken their time carving up her skin.
Conan growled at him, "So you are why she was so desperate to come back. I see. Moving up in the world, are we?" He direct this last at Ginny, with a sneer. Ginny sneered back.
Conan was not unmarked, he had a fading black eye, and several bruises on his arms. But he didn't seem to mind as he starred at Xaver, then at Ginny, then back to Xaver.
Her smile.
Ginny smiled at him, and all the built-up tension, and pensive perverseness of the world seemed just that much less important. That much less tiring. All the more worthwhile, if in the end, she was still smiling.. It warmed him. And calmed him, enough so, that Conan's next few comments didn't totally push him over the edge. Which was very, very good for Conan. For if Xaver had gotten truly angry ..that would have been very, very bad for him...
Like a cat, he slowly slinked over to the two, the depths of his eyes uncertain, but closed off, his expressions unreadable, though his mental-state was utterly calm. His gaze flickered over Ginny, the frown slowly settling over his handsome features deepening.
If there was anything in this world, the next, or any that bothered him most, it was to see Ginny hurt. In pain, saddened, upset, it didn't matter. It got to him, easier than he would have liked to admit.
And, whence it was his gaze fell upon Conan, it was more than obvious whom he blamed.
"So you are why she was so desperate to come back. I see. Moving up in the world, are we?"
Xaver faced him, fully, and for a moment, he simply stared, a deadly chill touching his blue orbs.
"If that is so," he said, very softly..
-And, is it?- he sent to Ginny, his tones the opposite of his cold physical voice, in her thoughts.
.. "That is her own business, is it not?"
Xaver took Conan in, his gaze set, and cold. Without the formalities he'd once presented to the other male, a time ago. Without the attempt of light cheer. Simply, utterly, razor-sharp.
There were more than a few 'great and powerful' a men who had fallen before the Fallen lord, both willingly, and otherwise. Some had found rationality, and had submitted to the deathly threat Xaver sometimes presented. ..Others had found out the hard way. But, at the end of the day, it was all in cold, hard fact, that Xaver wasn't a creature to be taken lightly, by any means.
And Conan was seriously pissing him off.
"And if she'd been with you, anyway, it's all she can really do, to move up, isn't it? You hit rock bottom," he nodded pointedly to Conan, "before you resurface, they say."
Xaver shook his head, and his eyes flickered back to Ginny, suddenly, easily loosing that threatening veil, a smile of sorts actually touching the contours of his features.
-I've missed you.-
He sent, knowing it hadn't been too long, since he'd seen her last.
But just the same.
Conan swelled with the confidence of a self-important man. Secretly, he thought Xaver a frightening creature, and had no clue how Ginny was attracted to someone so diffrent than himself. But he was also a King, so he knew he didn't want to appear weak, especially in front of Ginny.
"As her husband, it's my business!" He said, his voice dripping with acid.
Ginny snorted, "You forgot the prefix." She growled at him, shaking her head. She looked up to Xaver, though, and smiled slightly at his thoughts.
-Yes. To him, a dog would be moving up.- She told him, with no worry if Conan heard or not. Conan was, after all, a muggle. She noticed him glancing at her wound and she made a pass at it with her hand as if to say, 'it doesn't hurt anymore'. She smiled back at him.
-I've missed you too.- She thought, softly. She turned to Conan who's cheek were puffing out from trying to seem so important and nearly laughed. She found this man to be strangly pathetic, when he wasn't being outright annoying.
Conan looked at her and scowled, "Shut up."
-Yes. To him, a dog would be moving up.-
Xaver passed a grin her way, but bit down a laugh.
-Ah. Maybe now is a good time to tell you that I bite..?-
Softly, aloud, he chuckled, and allowed that calmness of being in her presence, to again envelope him in sensation, allowing ease to settle into his creature.
..Even if it was only for a moment.
"Shut up."
Much like a big cat, Xaver seemed to bristle, a snarl settling into the contours of his mouth, his eyes suddenly burning, the blue oceans blackened; stormy.
He reached foreword, and was gripping the front of Conan's robes, and had him pulled close, before one could even blink. Eliminating space between himself, and the other male, Xaver's mouth was only a breath away from Conan's ear, with the closeness of almost a lover, and the devistatingly surreal threat coming to life, in the power behind his grip on the front of his shirt.
"Not, will you, be speaking to Ginny in such a way, in my presence. Ever. Though may you have gotten away with it, times before, that age has ended. I have no qualms stopping me from tearing your flesh to threads, other than that it may upset Ginny. ..Do not push me, Conan Sulai. I am not above adding to the nice assortment of injuries, you already possess. I'll just do a better job."
And suddenly, Xaver released him, and was standing a few feet away, impossibly quickly, though, it was meer casual movements for him - he'd been to his home-realm often enough, as of late, to forget that mortals moved considerably slower..
(I miss long rp's they're the best)
"Please do try and not to tear him up. There are ladies present after all. And besides it would make such a mess." Lavy sat upon a branch a few meters above their head. Her feet swung back and forth like a child's and she rather looked like on too.
She wore her hair in two long pigtails that each started at the top of her neck and stretched down her back. Her baby blue head band matched her dress that puffed out around her hips and made it's way to her knees. She wore no shoes but her feet where unquestionably clean.
Lavy turned her attention to Conan. She couldn't stand people who hurt her friends. "Wow the last time I saw you, you were messing with other people's lives. Suprise, surprise you're still doing that, Kind of unfortunate."
-Do you now?- Ginny's voice was still soft, and obviously amused, but tired all the same.
Conan seethed after Xaver let him go, and after Lavy spoke. Mostly to cover his embarrasment, but also because he felt they had no place to speak to him. As far as he was concerned, these people knew nothing. He knew now why Ginny had such a temper, for he saw she delt with such people. She had given him the black eye, only days before, when he had made some snide remark about her friends. About this Xaver person.
He wouldn't have said anything if she hadn't seemed so casual about the threat on his life.
Ginny's face had gone blank when Xaver had threatened Conan, and although she knew Xaver was fully capable of doing everything he said, she also knew he wouldn't kill Conan. If only because he didn't want to upset her. Not that his death would upset her too much. Rather, it would cause way too much work for her, and would take her away from this place she loved so much for an indefinite amount of time. Away from those she loved and cared for.
She sighed, then spoke, "Sadly, you can't kill him. That's the whole reason he's here."
Xaver glanced upward to Lavy, though, he said nothing, his deep blue orbs fixing upon Ginny when she spoke.
"Sadly, you can't kill him. That's the whole reason he's here."
He shook his head, then ran his fingers through his obsidian hair.
He knew that.
"I wouldn't, either," he said softly. His gaze fixed on Conan, and hardened slightly. "Though, you'd be surprised what you can life through--.."
Suddenly, he tipped his handsome head back ..and sniffed.
What many didn't know about Xaver, (because, after all, appearances could be very deceiving), he was not human.
Perhaps in the slightest, but when it came down to it - the human traits, the humanity, the senses -- he was not human. He looked, and felt, and was flesh and blood, but of a very different source.
... Something was.. different. Wrong. A frown swept over his features, and he quite nearly growled.
..But, what was it?
Ginny nodded at him, but Conan didn't believe him. He stepped forward when Xaver growled, thinking it was to him, "Your an animal." He told him, firmly. Ginny scowled at Conan.
She looked to Xaver, noticing that something was wrong. She wasn't sure what it was, but she knew he was upset by something.
"What is it, Xaver?"
"You're an animal."
Slowly, Xaver opened his eyes, his gaze sliding over to him. He blinked.
An animal?
He resisted the urge to show Conan just how correct, indeed, he was..
"What is it, Xaver?"
Xaver looked to Ginny, and his features softened, considerably. He shook his head.
-It's.. I don't know. It can't be what I think it is. Maybe I'm just paranoid. ..Or crazy.-
"You are crazy." Ginny pointed out, smiling. Yes, Xaver was crazy, but in a good way. She liked his craziness. His craziness was good for her, it seemed, as he made her smile, and laugh. He made her happy.
Conan could see this and it made him immensly jelouse. He had planned on making Ginny's life miserable while she had him here, but he could tell it wuldn't be easy when this Xaver person was around. Or Lavy. Once, Ginny had made him happy. It had been amazing. But then he knew that her being stronger was a threat to his own power.
Ginny looked at Xaver, her eyes soft.
Xaver glanced at Ginny, and quite nearly laughed. His senses were nearly ringing with the acknowledgement ...of something. Just what was it?
It was frustrating, to say the least. He couldn't put his thumb on it, though he knew the presence was familiar.
He tried to ignore it.
He had to, or it was going to drive him crazy.
..Though he knew it probably would, anyway.
"So, how long do you have to stay here, Conan?"
"Like you care." Conan snarled. He scowled angrily.
Ginny gave him a look, then looked at Xaver, shaking her head.
"He only cares so he knows how long he has to put up with you." Ginny told Conan, sighing. She looked at Xaver, knowing that whatever he felt was bugging him.
"Put up with me?" Conan repeated, "Why, he should be glad he gets to 'put up with me'!"
"You should be glad, sirrah, that I am going to put up with you," Xaver murmured pointedly.
He shook his head then.
Xaver sure as hell was not a creature one would want for a foe, but, as a being, as a man -- he didn't much like fighting and arguing, strange as the irony was. He was good at it, for certain. Even if he hated that he was.
He was very good ..at doing terrible things.
But he didn't believe he had to live (or, be) that lifestyle. Sure, he knew more than the average would be able to comprehend, but, alas - Xaver was still holding onto the threads of trying to remain, a living, working, amiable creature..
"Forgive me. My manners seem to have run amok, and left me a floundering waste-basket of dispute and nonsense. I do apologize, Conan, for ruffling your egotistical feathers, and not offering up enough praise to soothe them as you are accostomed."
d**n it!
Half through an apology and, there he went. Being cheeky again.
A change had come to Xaver - he'd loosened up a bit.. Quite a bit.. And ever since Kylie's death...
Xaver blinked.
Kylie?
He looked to the side, curiously searching, though he knew nothing was there, his gaze lingering in the thick undergrowth for a moment, before he looked back to the others. He shrugged.
((Gonna let the others have their one RP back. ha ha))
Ginny snickered and shook her head. She didn't know if Xaver was doing it on purpose, but he was really making Conan angry. She looked at Conan and smiled.
"Why, what a beautiful shade of purple your face has become..."She said, sweetly. Conan scowled at her angrily. She shook her head, then looked back to Xaver. Briefly, she remembered a few weeks ago, losing her temper, crying, her outburst. She and Xaver hadn't spoken of it again.
Ginny wanted to. She had been busy from the second she had woken up that next morning, and had only been able to send him a note saying 'I'm sorry.' She knew they should sit down and talk, so she could apologize about her rather emotional outburst. Ginny hadn't seen him since then, and she had no clue what he thought of her now. So far, he had been cordial, polite, and friendly. But did he still love her? She couldn't tell. She hoped so.
Ginny loved Xaver with all her heart.
Conan started to say something, and for once, thought better of it. He was a muggle, and although he could fight physically, he knew he wouldn't have a chance against any of them if they decided to use their powers. He slunked over to a tree and slouched there, making angry faces, sometimes muttering to himself nasty words. He could tell Ginny cared deeply for Xaver, it was more than obvious. He also knew he'd never have another chance with the pretty red head he'd met when he was younger. He would admit it to himself, but never to anyone else, he was jealous of Xaver.
((^^ Sorry I've been gone. I 've got the next few days for some majorrrr RPin, then on Friday I leave to Sac, and then fly to Oregon for a week. After thaaatt, more RPin! Been busy workin and catching up on junk))
Xaver knew Ginny loved him.
At least, he hoped to high heaven she did. Or still did.
After graduation he'd planned on moving back here, back to the mortal realm, to settle down and try to live more normally.. To live closer to her, really.. But, when things had gone down with his brother, he'd learned real fast that nothing was going to go as he'd planned, or wanted.
He was struck, ambushed, and abducted not a few days home in his home-realm, and he came to months later...
He didn't know the whole story, himself, though his scars did their fair share of telling... So he knew Ginny was up in the air in knowing where he'd gone.
He didn't know if she'd forgiven him.
Or if she ever would, really.
He didn't blame her.
After everybody that had gone, and left her, he didn't deserve forgiveness for allowing himself to be gone so long from her.
Though.. he wanted it..
He didn't look for it. He didn't expect it.
They'd argued, a few weeks ago. He still had the note she'd sent him, tucked snugly away in his pant pocket. A reminder, of sorts. Of what he truly desired, and what he was risking of losing, each and every day. It was a heavy weight. A heavy burden. And he wasn't sure how to bear it. He didn't know how.
He didn't know how to approach their situation.
He knew waiting for the right time, was pointless - there was never a right time to approach an uneasy topic..
But gawd.
It stung all the more, that he loved her so d**ned much. Loving was new to him, still... But he knew it well. He loved Ginny Weasley. Hell - he'd almost proposed to her...
Xaver glanced at Conan, as he mumbled, and his expression saddened slightly.
Would that be him, soon? Wallowing in misery... in the misery of losing his Love?
Xaver cursed, aloud, in his own language.
Ginny raised both eyebrows. Not in shock. In interest at the two boys. She smiled shyly at Xaver, then turned to Conan.
"Come on, you loser." She said, somewhat kindly. He looked up, nodding at her. Since the divorce, they had been strange around each other. He had planned to kill her, after all. But in the end, both kept trying to remain friends. They knew they had to get along, for the most part, if they were to rule their country right.
"Where?" Conan asked, looking somewhat confused. He knew Ginny was about to stow him away somewhere, and he was glad of that. her time, her school, most of the people, scared him a bit. They were so diffrent in many ways, these modern people and him. He would stay where ever Ginny put him.
"Hogsmead." Ginny answered. She turned to Xaver, "Coming with us?" She asked, softly.
Xaver raised his arms over his head, tilted his head back, and, much like a big, deadly and dangerous cat, he stretched, his wings, for only a moment, flickering into appearance as his back arched, and his muscles tensed. Then they were gone, like a trick of the eye, or flicker of light, and he dropped his arms back to his sides, shaking his head slightly.
He nodded, to her question, and, after a sure glance to Conan, answered.
"Yes, I do believe I will. I've been cooped up for far too long."
And he meant it.
Literally.
Ginny nodded, happy that he would come. She really loved being around him. Just his presence gave her more energy, strangly enough. She started off towards the village, on a small path.
"This way." She told the two boys.
Conan just followed, scuffing the dirt with his shoes. He stayed several paces behind Ginny, only glancing at Xaver as he walked past him.
Xaver nodded to her, and followed.
He didn't care, really, where they were going. He could be walking to the middle of hell itself, and not care, so long as he was beside Ginny.
Though, he didn't think he had the guts enough to admit that, yet.
-Where are we going?-
He questioned, his tones low, and mellow.
~I'm setting him up in a room at Hogsmead and telling him that if he leaves, the big scary monsters of our time will eat him.~ Ginny told him, soft laughter following in his mind. Conan had no clue they were talking telepathically, and he was relishing the silence.
In a few moments, they were suddenly in the small village. It was a quiet day, with few people on the streets, and Ginny liked that. She stepped along the cobbelstones lightly, leading the boys past the Three Broomsticks. Soon she came to a building with the word Inn over it. She nodded happily to them and led them inside.
Xaver felt a grin touch his lips, and he could do little in the way of preventing it.
"Monsters.." he said under his breath, shaking his head as they entered the inn.
-Obviously he's never seen me pissed off..-
Xaver waggled his eyebrows playfully Ginny's way, then leaned a shoulder against the registering counter, as they approached it, watching them both with a sort of easy, lazy aura about him.
Ginny went straight to the man behind the counter.
'Hello." She said, happily. The man gave her a long look, wondering what this teenager wanted. He despised most children.
"Yes?" He asked, snottily.
Ginny smiled at him, sweetly, "I'd like to get a room for an undertermined amount of time. Oh, and could you make it one of the Ministry rooms?" She said the last part while pulling out several papers and bages. They showed that Ginny was a Ministry official, as well as a Hogwarts teacher.
The man almost had a heart attack. He could only nod and signal to a bell boy.