| Details for Girl Talk |
| Summary: | Andromena and Ria get some much needed girl talk. |
| Date: | 1938-11-22 |
| Location: | Green House |
| Related: | — |
| Characters |
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"I'm pretty sure it happens after he finds her in the rain, lost on her way her from her grandmothers," Ria pauses from her pruning a few branches off her dancing maple bonzai plant to recall a portion of the book with Andromena. Herbology not being her strongest subject, it never hurts to get a little bit more time in the greenhouse. "Anyhow, the imagery used there is a lot more thorough than say … The Auror Who Loved Me," she offers, pulling her work gloves to fit her hands better. Due to the nature of Ria's hygenic tendencies, she's wearing a long sleeved frock made for potions and two gardening aprons. No risks taken here!
Andromena nods to Ria as she finishes her explanation. "The Auror Who Loved Me could have been so much better," said in an off-hand manner as she was very carefully pruning a single little sprig from her own bonzai. There was some good aspects to Herbology, even if she too kept her hands encased within sturdy gloves. No reason to turn those dainty fingers tough and dirty! Satisfied with her decision, Andromena set the freshly cleaved sprig aside for later use in another project. "Did you pick up Diderot's new book?" Finally looking to the other girl, Andromena wore a content, easy-going expression. "His stuff has gotten a lot darker lately, but I don't mind," a smile for the thought. "It feels like his writing has grown up with me, if that makes sense." Which was why she had smiled, because it was akin to having one constant companion. An author and his books.
Ria nods vigorously in agreement at her dissapointment in the book. "Definitely didn't live up to my expectations," she shrugs, running her hands over the dancing mini tree. There currently is no music on, so their trees should be fairly still, but the boughs are responsive to their touch, like a cat to petting. "Has it? I haven't picked up a Diderot in while. He writes those clever, fun little stories right? What about it is so dark now?" she asks curiously while running her hand through the foliage of the tree to help it calm down a bit more.
Thankfully nobody had decided to try and sing or something. It was time-consuming enough keeping her precious plant in tip-top condition without some cheeky prat trying to imitate opera and thus sending her project into little whirling, thrashing fits. "Oh yeah," she says to Ria, idly inspecting a few top leaves between thumb and forefinger. "It used to just be light, happy-fun times for everybody. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed those too, but now…" Andromena subconsciously leaned a little forward towards the prefect, as if confessing a secret. "Now he's not afraid to put his characters into trouble. They have to fight to come out on top - sometimes they still don't. It's an utterly new atmosphere to his style." And over all, she really like the new turn! "He even got me to cry during one part. I think that's why I'm so enamoured. I don't just read the book and move on. It touches me." Andromena let loose a light scoff at her admission, suddenly feeling rather silly for having done so.
Ria listens in with deep interest on the Ravenclaw's review of Dillorous' latest work. "Are you serious? Dillorous Diderot? I can't even imagine him writing books like that and it'd be any good," Ria pouts in skepticism. Or is she pouting because she's looking over at Andromena's plant and it's way happier and better than her own? It could be both. The prefect snorts at her friend's self-admonishment and shakes her head, "Oh don't be that way. Everyone eventually reads book like that. Though I will absolutely have to check it out now that you've said that. I think perhaps it's the times. Things are tense out there lately, or so I hear. There's only so much we can experience within a castle in the middle of nowhere after all." Her bonzai calms down, and Ria gently snips at stray bits here and there. "I've been meaning to ask you Mena…"
"Oh, you'd definitely think he was no good at it, but he actually is," a final bit of praise for the once happy-go-lucky, child-friendly (insofar as a kid could read his stuff without getting angry letters from parents), Dillorous Diderot. Andromena completely misses whatever look Ria happens to be wearing just then, for plants or otherwise, because she was too busy staring down at her own. "True enough," comes her agreement not a moment later. "The last letter from my parents hinted at as much. I can't say I'm not grateful to actually be here." Her hand flutters off in some vague direction, away from the both of them. "I mean, we're fairly removed from it all and yet things still seep in. I don't want to talk about Gellert Grindelwald all the time, you know?" They'd get enough of that once they were out of school and trudging on through life. When Ria trailed off, her question as yet unasked, Andromena faced her squarely. "Hm?" Innocent blink.
Ria nods continuing with care at her plant, attempting to emulate the precision of a surgeon. "Hmm yes well you're also right about that. That's why I can only imagine how things are out there if we're supposed to nice and cozy in here and we're not," she half frowns, the corner of her mouth crinkling. But continues where she left off,"I mean to ask, now that you are Alphard are together -" Oh the frankness. Though there's been no verbal admission between the two girls, Ria seems to already know. "- How do you find yourself dealing with his views? He's as Black as Black gets, and you know they're not afraid of being supporters of the Truth." Then again, neither is Ria's family, but since she likes Andromena, the Slytherin is more willing to turn the politics off.
Oh Ria, if only knew how Alphard had…well, she could, because Andromena decided to tell her. "You know he just said we were dating," that was, Alphard never actually asked her, instead declared how things were. "Which was fine," she added, setting a small pair of clippers she had been using down. "Anyway, you'd be surprised how little we talk about that sort of thing." Or maybe she wouldn't? One could only guess! "Sure, he'll say this or that, but then it's on to other stuff." Almost as if Alphard himself did not really care, and was only saying things by rote. Not that Andromena had picked up on it. "I am glad he doesn't blather on about it. I can't say I'm entirely sure about how I feel regarding the notion of revealing ourselves to muggles." But she did think about it, and tried to keep pace with what was going on…if only because she hated feeling uninformed. "Can I ask about yourself and Proudmore?"
A pause. And then a snorty giggle that makes Ria stop her work to try and cover her mouth with her gloved hand. "I'm sorry Mena, but that's so Alphard." It take her a second to compose herself, having a gardening gloves near her mouth gave her a good wakeup call. Gross. "Are you sure that's fine? Don't you ever want a little romance from him? Or don't you ever like putting him his place just a little?" The mention of Lucian however, makes Ria sober up a bit, but she's still got an easy-going demeanor about her. Must be the Ravenclaw. "We're…," she lingers on an answer, eyeing the door to the greenhouse. Good thing greenhouses are made of glass! Which is see through! Her voice drops down a couple volumes, "…We're seeing each other again. In secret. Hard to keep away, you know?"
Andromena laughs, too. Not too hard, though. She's the type of girl that laughs, then her eyes water from the effort, and in the end everybody is asking her why she's crying! It was a very Alphard thing to do. "He can be romantic…at times." Her brows furrowed together with thought, and before too long she had pulled out her gloves and was rummaging about in a little book bag she kept with her on certain days when her schedule was particularly full. When she found what it was she wanted, she presented it to Ria. A little booklet, with a page marked to reveal a hopping blue bunny, now and again it would face its viewer to give a twitch of its dark blue nose. "He got me that after he saw how much I liked one…" For Alphard, it was pretty cute, wasn't it!? "I think he would have actually bought me the real thing, but I mentioned how jealous my cat can be." Which actually bore a strong resemblance to Black - personality wise.
"I think Alphard suspects already," this said in a low whisper. No reason anyone nearby needed to overhear. "He hasn't really said so, but I saw the way he was looking when we were there for the interview." It was a bit of a shame, really, how well the two girls were getting on while the male interests of their lives detested one another.
"The Auror Who Loved Me, kind of romantic?" Ria smirks and continues her plant petting. Those green eyes do wander and watch Andromena as she shuffles through her things. And she blinks in confusion to watch the bunny hop about so happily on the page. But when she learns it's from her housemate, her eyes widen slightly in disbelief. "You're kidding! I can't even believe it. By Merlin, I thought I'd never see the day," she shakes her head, "You can forget about The Beast, Andromena. You've tamed yourself an Alphard Black. I suddenly feel the urge to … " And something takes over Ria's body. In dramatic fashion, she begins bowing down to Mena as if worshipping a goddess and monotonously chants, "I'm not worthy!" She keeps that up as long as she can, until she breaks into a fit of giggles and keeps up with her working.
"Does he? Shite," she curses under her breath. "I sort of had a feeling. That's not good. I mean, I'm on well enough terms with him now but Lucian tends to play with his fuse, and I'm afraid it'll make Alphard turn around and blab to my parents…"
Oh. Oh goodness. Andromena did not suspect this sort of behavior from Aria Sykes in the least, and it left her cheeks tinged pink. "No need for that," the Ravenclaw titters, reaching for Ria's elbows so that she can gently pull the Slytherin girl to her feet before many more eyes turn their way. She's just the picture of humble humility, no?
"We'll figure something out," she assures Ria once things have calmed down. Sadly, she could see Alphard doing just such a thing, if only to get at Lucian with little thought spared for Ria. "It might come down to keeping them apart as best we can, though it will be tricky now that Proudmore is Magijugend. I don't suppose either of us can try talking to them?" She sounded skeptical, but was willing to at least discuss the possibility. Slim as that might be.
Woop! Ria's bowing is stopped, much to her surprise. And noticing the girl's pink hue, she looks around to the one to two other people on the other side of the greenhouse who are now staring. She clears her throat and nods to them before returning back to her work. Trust a Ravenclaw to calm the prefect down a bit! Andromena's suggestion earns a snort at first, but after seriously considering she says, "Yes, well I know that I could ask Luc to try and be a bit less … sharp with his words for the good of us both. I know that you'd have your work cut out for you with Black though. I tried to talk to him about the importance of working well with others … but it came off all wrong wrong. I'll have to try some other time some other way." However the Magijugend name comes up again, and pursing her lips she side glances over to Andromena, "About that interview, by the way, if you ever have any questions about the Magijugend, what we do, what we believe. You can just ask me, you know? Contrary to popular belief, I'm not some blood thirsty monster ready to pounce on an unsuspecting mudblood." There's a tone of bitterness in that last statement.
Would she ever. Alphard was a man already set in his ways and he was only sixteen. Still, for Ria's sake, she would talk to him…she'd just need to think of the best way of going about it first. The two students that had been gawping at the pair them are given a very cold eyed squint from Andromena before she makes a great show of returning to her plant. Two very carefully administered drops of water are given the bonzai, which gives a small flutter of its uppermost limbs. "Lucian," because why keep calling him by his last name to his own girlfriend? "Has a greater reason to constrain himself, harsh as that may sound." And so what if she was a bookish Ravenclaw? At times, Andromena had a very coolly dissecting demeanor about her. Andromena made a small, 'hm,' before looking up. "I spoke to Alphard about the Magijugend as well. It was never my impression that you guys were anything so preposterous." Her tone gathered a bit of scorn. "I've been thinking a lot about it, but I don't intend to join yet. Everyone will think it's because I'm Black's girlfriend…" Another look towards the others, and then she had her quill out and was scribbling something down in a quick, short hand.
Ria blinks at the droplets of water. That's looks like a good idea. So she too attempts to feed her plant, but her gloved hands fumble with the dropper and she ends up giving a few drops too many, causing the plant to cower, as if it were drying to protect itself from a line of fire. Grimacing, she mutters, "Sorry," to the plant and it shakes itself off like a wet puppy. "Sometimes truth is harsh," she nods to Andromena, taking no offesnese. But her eyes casually wander to the paper to take a brief look, and saying nothing further she crushes the paper in her hand and throws it into her back. "No, I understand. Join on your own will, not just because your chums are into it." The answer it meant to respond to what was said aloud more than anything else. "But yes, both Lucian and I need to tread very carefully or else it could just be a disaster all over again." Ria sighs tiredly and frowns, "This whole situation just sucks, you know? I want my cake and I want to eat it too. It just aggravates me that people want to make me out to be the bad guy by having to abandon him last summer because of my father… I mean…forgive me if I have some consideration for a man who's provided and cared for me all my life."
Andromena nods as Ria, crumpling up the paper, agrees with her assessment of the situation. "I don't blame you," said in regards to the break up last summer. "I doubt I could ever say no to my father. Besides," Andromena takes a peek at Ria's plant, but since she doesn't intervene then the prefect can at least feel at ease over those few extra splashes of water. "A parent only wants what's best for their child. I doubt your father was actually sitting there and thought: how can I best destroy my daughter's life? Ah ha!" Of course…there was without a doubt miserable people out there that made even more miserable parents, but Andromena hadn't considered it. "I think you can make it work." Ria was smart, extremely determined, and unwilling to simply give up. Andromena cheered for her success, truth be told. "If it's any consolation, I have to write a letter home today stating that Alphard's parents will likely be interested in meeting over the break." To examine her, her family, and their living space to make sure their son was dating an acceptable pony for further breeding of the Black line. How was that for romance?
A grateful smile is given when Ria looks side-long at Andromena, and it keeps to her face even as she continues to tend to her poor plant. "Thank Merlin, someone understands. Always knew it would be a Ravenclaw," she smirks and gives the bonzai one last good trip, and she steps back for some artistic inspection. Ria's concentration is only broken, by the mention of meeting Alphard's family. And she automatically gives Mena a sympathetic wish. "Does it trouble you to know that I wouldn't really want to be in your shoes?" she jokes lightly and says, "The Blacks are certainly intense." And everyone says the Sykes' are bad! "But I'd be more than happy to assist you with any information I know and to put in a good word for you. I'm decent enough friends with his Aunt Dorea." And with an evil grin she adds, "You shouldn't have too much to worry about, I think you'd make an excpetional broodmare."
"You think so?" Andromena asks, stepping back from the table as well…if only because she motioned to her hips, looking down at them. "Here I always worried my hips were too small!" Her voice took on a preening, spoiled tone before she dropped her hands with a laugh. "I'll take all the help I can get." She knew not what to expect, really, except that his parents might look down on her own. But really, the Rowles were a pure blood family of the Twenty Eight, and her parents each had respectable jobs! It was not as if she were some filthy beggar child. "Anyway, I think these little guys look lovely. Let's get them into the sun, I can swing by after my next class to check on them."