(Untitled)
Week Name/Date/Time: "Lost and Found" / Wednesday, November 16th, 2005 / 1:03 pm
Location: Owlery
Open to: Adrien
Currently Involving: Jackie
( Hello, stranger. )
Location: Owlery
Open to: Adrien
Currently Involving: Jackie
( Hello, stranger. )
Jackie blinked at him, before widening her eyes at his statement. "I never said I was madly in love with him..." Was she? She didn't even know, so she asked him. "Am I? I... I've never been in love before... Actually, I never really liked a guy before either..." Oh, bugger. She was going to feel more depressed now. In love? That just sucked! But... wait a second. Adrien said he never felt that way either. "How would you know... if you've never felt it for yourself?" Now, she was just curious again.
"Well... if you were in love with a friend, would you tell them? Or try to get them to fall for you first before you told them? Or just ignore your feelings and hope they went away?" Yes, she was that curious. She looked at him. "I... tried the last part first... and when that didn't work, I told him." She sighed. "I think I should've just kept ignoring them... it would have made everything easier."
Jackie shrugged. "I guess... it's a gift. Or a curse. Depends on how you look at it." She sighed again. "And it all gets back to that caring thing again." She half-smiled. "It's easy to say 'don't care' but it's hard for me to actually not."
"I... I can't tell you who," she told him, and shook her head. "That's his secret... not mine. But I can say that she's practically perfect. And if and when they get together, they'll be so busy with each other that I'll just... fade into the background and neither of them will realize that they've... lost me." She nodded as if it was a fate already set, releasing another deep breath and putting on her brave face.
When he laughed, she chuckled along. "I'm not sure why either..." She pretended to think. "Hmm... psychotherapists?" She smiled wryly as well. "We're just... I don't know... weird."
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"Fine, you don't love him. You just really like him. Whatever helps you sleep at night. And I don't know. I was just throwing around a term." Besides, even if he did know what it was like, he really wouldn't be able to know how Jackie felt about Gabe. He hadn't heard too much about it from her so he wouldn't really have the best at judging the extent of her feelings.
"I don't plan to experience that at all, thank you very much." Not that he would have much say in the matter, of course, but he liked to think he did. "Why are you so interested anyway?" he asked, hoping that they could just drop the subject. "What, hoping that I'd fall for you?" he added flirtatiously. "Not that we're friends, of course."
And no such luck for she still seemed to expect an answer. Curses. He pursed his lips, holding back a sigh. "I'm a Slytherin, love; of course I'd try and get her to like me first," he responded, forcing a weak smile. "I wouldn't just go off and announce how I feel without trying to take control of the situation. That would be completely stupid. No, I'd either try to change how I feel or wait it out or else I'd try and seduce her or something." He just wouldn't feel right just coming out and saying how he felt. That just wasn't him, current conversation excluded. Besides, he had complete confidence that he would be able to get this hypothetical girl to like him.
Hey, there was a reason people labeled him as arrogant.
What? She wouldn't tell him? That was unfair! It was not like he would tell anyone. They both had plenty that they could say about the other and he knew that if he told everyone Gabe's little secret, she would have every right to share his. No, he had had no intention of telling anyone; he had merely been curious. He was half tempted to ask again but he was distracted as she went on and on about being forgotten. His eyes narrowed to almost a glare and he eyed her disapprovingly.
"You're wallowing and sounding like a martyr," he informed her, sounding rather irritated. "Stop. It's annoying. I know you're a Gryffindor so you're supposed to be all noble and heroic so you'll let them just stay in their happy little world without you and blah de blah de blah. That doesn't mean I want to hear about it." Just because he was a Slytherin didn't mean that he was subtle. Or even tempered. "You're the Gryffindor; stop being so damn passive. If you want to 'fade away,' then fine, so be it. But you obviously don't so do something about it."
A bit hypocritical, m'dear. First he was going on about not being friends and now he was saying the opposite? Well, he's a teenaged boy; let him be confused. And once you got him going, it seemed to be rather hard to get him to stop.
"And sweetheart, they're your friends; of course they'll notice. Hell, even if they don't end up dating, he'll notice if you just try to slip away from him. I don't think you'll have the subtlety or cunning to pull it off without him knowing that something's up. No, you're going to have to be able to be upfront about it."
He made some sound of disapproval and turned to stare fixatedly at the wall. This lasted only a moment before turned back to her. "Bugger. You know what? Forget what I just said. It can go have fun with itself in a corner for all I care.” How crude. “If you really care so much, just go up and snog him senseless. That'll be bound to get you somewhere."
He finally shut up and managed to remain silent as he met her gaze with an odd intensity. He wasn’t really sure what had got him so worked up in the first place though he somehow managed to be fully convinced that his outburst was justifiable.
The silence was broken by her last words. “Weird?” he repeated, tasting the word on his lips. “I suppose that does us justice.” ‘Weird’ certainly was one way to describe them.
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"Me? And you?" Jackie shook her head at the thought and snorted. "That would be... interesting, not to mention dangerous for you considering my friends hate your guts. And I'm sure the feeling is quite mutual. And do I really want to play mediator between you and them? Besides, you have your relationship with Adriana. Are you already planning your next?"
His answer to her question was not unexpected though. She figured he would be the type to try to seduce his friend into liking him. "Well... like you said... we're completely different. And I'm the... what did you call me last time?... I'm the 'soddin' idiot', so I told him how I felt even though I pretty much knew he didn't feel the same way. I wanted to be honest with him. Much as I would hope my friends are honest with me." Jackie sighed. "And I... don't think I could do the seduction thing as well as you could."
Do something? Jackie blinked again at his irritation. Didn't she just say she was going to see less of him? "What? I'm supposed to go up to him and just say 'I don't want to be your friend anymore'? That's rather... crude and heartless. And I couldn't do that to him..."
But then Adrien had to suggest snogging Gabe. Jackie rolled her eyes, then rubbed the bridge of her nose and sighed. "Snogging isn't the answer to everything, Adrien. Despite all your experiences to the contrary."
"And why do you care what I do or don't do with him?" Now, she was a bit irritated with him as well, mainly because he just used the same tone with her. "I may not be as subtle or cunning as you, but I do have excuses. OWLs and Quidditch. And they have their NEWTs. And they're in different houses. So, it's not like we see each other every single day and every single minute. We might run into each other several times a week, but if the several times turn into once a week, then every other week, then once a month, and so on... well, we could drift apart... it's not completely implausible."
"Yes... we are definitely... weird." She sighed again.
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"Honestly is overrated," Adrien scoffed. "There are some things that simply should not be said." This was coming from the boy who was notoriously blunt? Well, he did have his moments where he kept his thoughts to himself. "Like telling someone you love- pardon, like- 'em when you're not sure if the feeling is returned." He had no problem with being honest. Who else could you confide in if not your friends? Still, there were things that he just wasn't comfortable talking about, no matter how close he was a person. "But no, I don't think you could." His mad skillz were mostly from the hair. He would be almost nothing without it.
...This obsession with his hair? It really needs to end. It's not entirely sane or healthy.
"Pick your poison: do you want to hurt him a lot once or a tad bit less over a longer period of time. Personally, I think the former is better," he snapped. And was she dissing snogging? Gaspshock! "Pfft, it helps. You forget that I'm the guy here so I think I'd be a better judge for what guys want." Granted, he and Gabe were very different, probably more different than he and Jackie. "And it'll help you get rid of that pent up sexual tension. Or something." Out of line? I think so. But did he care? I think not.
Now she was sounding annoyed. "See, you've got it wrong. I don't care." Hadn't they already established this earlier? He didn't even know any more. "I'm just giving you advice that you don't need to take. No one's forcing you to listen." Well, she didn't really seem to have too much other choice. They were the only ones there and he didn't think she'd be as rude as to just turn around and walk away. "But you know what? You're right. It could happen. You could just drift apart but if you're as close as you act like you are, it's not likely that that could happen without one or both of them noticing."
He sighed, running his fingers through his hair. Weird indeed.
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"I suppose if any bird were to come up to tell you that she fancied you, you would just use it to your advantage even if you didn't return her feelings, hmm?" It was a question that really didn't need an answer as Jackie could guess his response. "That would make you different from him as he didn't take advantage of me..."
"And a little over time would work for me... seeing as he's graduating at the end of the year and perhaps by then, my feelings would have changed." Jackie shrugged. Of course, she would have also preferred to be hit with the truth in one blow had their situations been reversed, but she didn't want to hurt Gabe at all, and she figured this would be better for him, even if it wasn't the best for her.
Oh, god, he didn't just say sexual tension, did he? If she really had that, she would have just grabbed him and kissed him right there. But that would be crazy, and her friends would kill her, and she didn't want to die today. So, she took a deep breath and refused to respond to that.
"Good." Jackie nodded. "We've got that established. You don't care about me, and I... just care about you as a human being. That works for whatever messed up thing this is." She waved her hand between 'them'. "Although usually people give advice to show their concern... not because they like the sound of their voice."
She sighed. This was crazy. Truly whacked.
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