| Details for Cross Purposes |
| Summary: | Gage and Fiona are at cross purposes and cannot seem to understand what the other is trying to say. |
| Date: | 28 November 1938 |
| Location: | Ravenclaw Common Room |
| Related: | — |
| Characters |
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Fiona is curled up on a chair with an opened book on her lap. She is twiddling her hair as she reads, her eyes moving rapidly over the pages, her lips silently forming a word here or there.
An energetic feline romps playfully around the common room, following after a soft ball that rolls away from her over the floor. She skids, swats it, and pursues it again. Gage is crouched somewhere near the sofas and a table, his dark blue eyes watching the cat frolicking after the toy. Occasionally when the ball rolls relatively near to him, he'll lean and reach out, play a bit of keep away from the cat, and then roll it out for her to chase. The ball rolls just underneath the girl's chair, and Shadow Mist pursues it only to stop in front as her ears flicker, inclining her head as Fiona catches her attention. A loud meow escapes her, announcing her presence - and expecting attention in return, of course. You can never have enough. She leaps up onto the armrest 'mrrrow,' her tail flicking as she stares at the young girl. Gage's eyes follow the grey cat as she finds a target for potential pets. He starts to inch over, still in his crouch, until his eyes lift to the face of the girl. He frowns, eyes flicking down slightly to the pendant as he stops, and simply watches Shadow Mist and Fiona as he ponders, biting his lower lip.
Without thinking anything of it Fiona lowers her hand from her hair and strokes Shadow Mist. There are a lot of cats in the tower, it might be that the girl isn't sure who this one belongs to or it might be that she figures animals don't care about politics. Fiona lets Shadow Mist step from the armrest onto her lap and even laughs a little when she gets nuzzled. She gets the hint and closes the book around her finger so that she can give all of her attention to the cat for a few minutes.
The soft squeaky meow that escapes the cat trails off into a purr, arching her back as she nuzzles her side up against the girl.Gage stays silent for a while, drawn into his thoughts as he watches the cat and the girl. His eyebrows furrow as he thinks, and the fourth year just stares wordlessly. He eyes the book as she closes it, and after a moment, asks nervously, "Are yer al' roi'?"
When Fiona becomes away of Gage she freezes. "Sorry, I didn't realise you were there." The girl doesn't push the cat away, but lets Shadow Mist stay on her lap despite the frightened way she is looking at the cat's owner. "I didn't do anything to her. She just came up to me." When he asks her if she is alright it surprises her. "Why?"
Gage takes his time to respond. He doesn't move from his position, but his gaze does drop to lock on the cat instead of the girl. His eyebrows knit in confusion, and his shoulders very slightly lift. "She's alwus friendly," he explains in a low voice. Then he's silent as he pulls himself back into thinking first, a hand lifting to scratch at the side of his head. He swallows, looking down to the floor for a second before he forces himself to look up at her. "Yer were angry when yer left de other day."
The other day has been over a week but still Fiona knows what Gage means. "I don't like being told I am a bully or a dark wizard. Nor do I like being bullied either." As Shadow Mist hops down from the chair and makes her way over to Gage Fiona holds her book protectively in front of her chest, as if it were a shield. Her fear of him is obvious, she knows he was keen on the idea of using magic against people he and his friends labelled as bullies.
Gage shifts, flopping off his feet to simply sit on the floor, and pulling Shadow Mist into his lap almost unconsciously. He focuses on Shadow Mist as he strokes a hand along her back, frowning as his eyebrows crinkle. He shakes his head slowly and blows out a breath, curling his fingers in to make a fist. "Do yer nehd 'elp?" he finally blurts out, lifting his eyes to Fiona. It might help if he explained his self, but Gage doesn't think of that, or that he needs to.
They might speak the same language but Gage's body language is confusing Fiona. She eyes his fist and meets his outburst with one of her own, "Don't hit me, I've not done anything wrong." The idea of her needing help doesn't really compute when it is him she is scared of. All she can do is think perhaps he is one of those type of bullies who make their victim think they are going to get help before they get a kick in the stomach.
And Gage lifts his eyes to Fiona with a wide eyed look of surprise. It doesn't last long because he's quickly looking down to the cat, and scooping her up into his arms as he shifts. One hand moving behind him to push himself up, only into a crouch first as he turns his eyes to look at the fire. He glowers at the flickering flames as he pulls himself into his thoughts again, and his jaw sets. His mind veers onto one thought, and Gage snorts, finally pushing himself to his full height. "Roigh'," he mutters, and steps over to the back of the sofa, kisses her furry head before setting the feline on the back. Then he moves around to the front of the sofa where he flops onto the cushion.
When Gage moves away Fiona slowly unfolds herself from the chair and runs up into the girl's tower, her robes and hair fluttering behind her as she flees from the strange older boy and his fist.