| Details for Hate That I Hate You |
| Summary: | Kaiden and Briar have their first real conversation together since the break-up. |
| Date: | January 20th 1938 |
| Location: | Club Room |
| Related: | Kaiden and Briar Break Up |
| Characters |
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It's a week after "The Other, Slightly Worse Event" and things are still a bit…dreary when it comes to the most attractive of the Sykes children. Kaiden can be found all by his lonesome, as most of the normal kids are off enjoying their quality liquors and candy down in Hogsmeade, wailing away at a punching bag and sweating up something fierce. It's obvious that he's been at this for quite some time.
Briar laughs and even giggles as she parts ways with someone outside in the hallway and she steps into the club room. All cheerfulness is punched out of her like she suddenly became the punching bag he's after. Quickening her pace she speed walks across the room to get into the cupboards. He knows that's where she keeps her knitting.
Kaiden stops hammering the punching bag that is complete with an imaginary picture of his own face on it as he hears scurrying in the room. He grabs onto the chain to stay the swinging and turns around, where he spots Briar, knocking what little wind he actually had left out of him. He gulps a bit and refrains from saying anything.
Briar mutters, "Sorry, I just wanted to get my knitting. So I could size it." She peeks over at him and regrets it, dammit! Why can he still make her heart flutter up into her throat. "You should drink some water." He's sweating it all out and she's afraid he'll get dehydrated.
Kaiden shakes his head and says, "No, it's fine. I should go lay down and drink some water like you said. You can knit in here if you want." He scratches the back of his head and look towards the door before returning his eyes to her.
Briar shrugs and sighs, tears are suddenly in her eyes. "No, it's alright, I really was just going to grab it and go. But you should, yeah. Take care of yourself." She swallows and finally scoops up the hand-made vine basket. "Are you…" She swallows and sniffs, she really hates that she's crying right now. "…alright?" She knows that he wahales on the bag like that usually when he's upset. She's also seen/heard that Ophelia and Phae are still together so…
Crying women; a knight's one true weakness. Kaiden sighs quietly and starts walking over to her, his eyebrows raised, "Hey…" He //really/ can't help himself when it comes to a damsel in distress, even if it's his fault. "…don't do that, Bri." He finally makes it over to her, despite the danger of getting a basket full of needles thrown at him by a distraught woman. "But yeah, I think I'm fine. Well in terms of her, I mean."
Briar sniffs and angrily wipes at her face. "I'm sorry, I hate this. I hate hating you…" She chokes back a little sob and again rubs her cheeks pink with the back of her sleeve. "Stupid, stop." She growls at herself.
Kaiden shakes his head at her and says, "I promise it's okay to hate me, Briar. I think I've done at least a handful of things to deserve it." He quirks his lips and rests a hand on his hip, asking, "How…are you?"
Briar shakes her head, "No, it's not okay. I'm not a hateful person, but you Sykes' turn me into something I hate to be. It's not okay. It's the worse thing in the world. I'm horrible, I can't sleep, food tastes like sawdust. I'm tired of people asking me how I am. It's a stupid fucking question. I just got my heart wrenched out of my chest by the one person I trusted the most. How the fuck do you think I am?" It's more sobbing misery being projected than anger right now. She's over the anger, now she's grieving.
Kaiden hangs his head while she spills out all over the place. His eyes return to her face and he nods, "I'm gonna guess slightly better off than me." He takes a breath and says, "If you won't hate me, then I'll just have to do it, myself."
Briar growls, "Slap yourself for me then. Because I've never wanted to slap you so much in 6 years!" That's saying something. "Stop fucking feeling sorry for yourself. Get over it, and don't you dare use me and Ophelia to turn yourself into some mopey moron. If you ever want to get bedded again in your life. Man up, stop acting like some spoiled little boy who thinks he is the center of the universe. Cause you're not." Tears are wiped away again and she points towards the door. "No go wash up, rest up, get over yourself and I'll see you when I've got a better hold on my senses."
Kaiden raises an eyebrow at Briar's outburst and says, "I never said I was 'feeling sorry for myself'." He shakes his head and walks over to the table where he dropped his books, "I'm angry at myself, Briar. Not sad." He plucks his books up and turns around to continue, "I took some random feeling of attraction as a sign of a deeper affection and I hurt you because of it. Now I'm dealing with the consequences of hurting somebody that I really do care about and remaining quiet while that person berates me for having feelings and accuses me of just looking to get 'bedded'." He walks back up to her and says, "Now don't you ever tell me to man-up again."
Briar rolls her eyes at him, "I never accused you of looking to get bedded. I was saying that the head hanging and self-loathing isn't go to do you any favors in ever getting a girl again. Trust me, even after what you did to me, I still want you, until you go on about the hate yourself. So I will tell you to man-up. Because I do care about you, and I don't want to see you killing yourself over some mistake, however massive it might have been." She smirks and gives him a little 'so what are you going to do about it smirk as she says, "Man-up. Man-up. Man-up." In a rather sing-song sort of way.
"I have to hate myself, Briar. At least a little bit. It's just a process. I mean, it's only been a week. If I go on like I did nothing wrong, there's a chance I could do it again, y'know?" At the taunting, he says, "If it weren't for the fear of a legion of tiny Hufflepuffs hiding in the woodworks waiting to strike, I'd bap you." He raises his hand and pokes her in the forehead, "Right there."
Briar bites at the finger on her forehead. "Knock it off, little boy. It won't. It's not you going on like you did nothing wrong. You'll have a chance of doing it again no matter how you behave right now. The only thing that really will keep you from doing it again is just learn from it and….wait for it…" She drum rolls on the side of her basket. "Man-up."
Kaiden smirks at her and says, "You are so lucky I don't have my beater's bat." He shifts the books under his arm and says, "I'm gonna keep loathing myself. I guess I'll do it more quietly, though. For your sake."
Briar smirks at his 'threat' and shakes her head itching at her neck a bit, the movement of her hand pushes aside her collar and reveals what he most certainly knows as the thong of what was once his medicine bag. "Fine, do whatever you want to do. You always have." She pokes her tongue out at him and then sighs deeply. "You going to go wash up in the Prefect Bathroom? Mr. Captain of the Quidditch Team?"
Kaiden's eyes rest on the strap of the bag for a moment before they return to her face, "If…if you want me to stop all the self-loathing, then I'll stop. Simple as that." He furrows his brow and says, "Oh, yeah, I can use that now. I always for get about that." He shrugs, "I might, yeah. Why?"
Briar realizes that he's seen her little secret and she pulls the collar up higher. "I want you to stop being so depressed, yes. It makes it harder on me. Because it makes me want to forgive you, just so you'll stop looking like someone just killed your puppy." Then she smirks and answers his why about the bath, "Because you look like a wet dog, and smell like one too."
Kaiden says, "So, if I start acting depressed again then you'll forgive me?" Kaiden grins and whines, "I'm sad, Briar. Briar, I'm so very sad. Look at how sad I am, Briar." At the wet dog comment he rolls his eyes and says, "I smell like dreams come true, woman.""
Briar picks up a smallish ball of yarn from her basket and lobs it at him. "Shut up."
Kaiden chuckles and shuffles the books again under his arm as he's pelted with a ball of yarn. "Careful now. I wouldn't want you dealing any lasting damage with your lethal balls of yarn."
Briar licks her lips a little as she narrows her eyes at him. "You're just lucky I value being a prefect more than your sister did. Or I'd blast you the same as she did Leander." She bends over to scoop up the lobbed ball of yarn and drop it into the basket again.
"That's my sister for you." He rolls his eyes at her and runs a hand back through his slightly damp hair which is just getting longer and longer, it seems. "But in any case, all I have to say to that is 'bring it'." He flashes her a wink.
Briar rolls her eyes and points to the door. "Don't provoke. Just go take a bath." She likes his hair long. It's just another thing that's making staying away from him, and forgiving him that much harder.
Kaiden just sort of…smiles at her. It's not one of his lopsided grins that he throws about when he's being cheeky. It's more the same smile he gave her when she woke him up after he'd fallen asleep under the tree with his sketchpad. One of those things that indicates Kaiden having a normal, non-Sykes moment. He nods to her and says, "That does sound like a really good idea. I'll…see you around, Briar."
Briar just wants to bolt, because that smile nearly has her leaning forward to kiss him and tell him that she will see him later, or to invite him down to the cave where she was heading. But instead she manages to contain herself barely and just meeps out, "I'll be hiding." And then off she goes like a scared little jack rabbit.