Comfort Food (-open-)

[Adara Snow]

"Ah, I think I understand," Adara breathed. After speaking with Ryan, she thought that she must know much about how most boys filled their time. "Do you play many sports?" she asked. Ryan played more than she had ever known existed, and Emilian seemed so capable that he likely knew of even more.

[Emilian Sota]

Was what he did considered a sport? He supposed it could be considered one. "I like to hunt," he said, grinning. It was true, in a way. Soon he would have to force himsel to leave or else he would just have to give in. Why, why?

[Adara Snow]

Adara tilted her head as she looked at Emilian, trying to put together that grin with his words. She knew that men enjoyed hunting; her father had, at least, but he had never seemed to enjoy it quite that much. "What do you hunt?" she asked. Perhaps he simply had access to a more sporting quarry.

[Emilian Sota]

How to answer that question. "Big game," he said. Humans weren't exactly small game. "So you never answered my question about your writing." He tried to move away from talking about his 'hunting,' it was getting into very dangerous ground.

[Adara Snow]

Adara did not miss the sudden change of subject, but she made no comment. She would not risk rudeness and alienating their new friendship. She took a moment to recall precisely what his question had been. "Mostly I write when I am alone," she said, "but it is only a release of sorts." There was nothing false in her modesty. She had often been told by tutors that what she wrote on her own was abfall.

[Emilian Sota]

"Do you write anything in particular?" Emilian asked, not particularly interested, but it sure was a better conversation topic than their previous discussion. In just a few days he'd be allowed to pursue his thoughts, to let them take over.

[Adara Snow]

Adara blushed furiously and returned her attention to her fingers, which were now plucking at a fold in her robes. "Thoughts, dreams," she confessed. "Little fantasies." She chewed her lip warily, waiting for judgment or derision.

[Emilian Sota]

"So it's like a journal?" he asked, averting his eyes from the color in her cheeks to the wooden table. What would she write in that little book when he was finally able to get his hands on her? He smirked, imagining it.

[Adara Snow]

"At times," Adara said. It felt wrong talking about it. It had been a guilty secret, the things she tucked between entries, but Emilian asked, and she could not stop herself. "I sometimes write stories as well, but they are terrible. I cannot help myself." She had been chastised, certainly, and punished, and so she had stopped, but Hogwarts seemed a different world, and she had begun again.

Adara began to search her mind for a change of subject, even the thought of doing so bringing a ripple of guilt. "Do you have trophies, from your hunts, I mean?" she asked. Her father had always been especially proud of a large rack of antlers or an especially fine pelt. Perhaps Emilian would enjoy sharing tales of his own?

[Emilian Sota]

"I have a few back home," Emilian said. He had a lot of things back home, necklaces, scarves, anything that could be taken without them knowing, or with them knowing most of the time. "I always go away with a couple, but they disappear after a couple of days." He grinned, the dark marks on various parts of his body could be considered trophies.

[Adara Snow]

"Oh, that's too bad," Adara said. She could not imagine how a pair of antlers would simply disappear, but did not want to seem unknowing. Instead, she turned her attention to what she did know, and to furthering her friendship with Emilian. "Might I see the others some day?" she asked, her eyes bright and hopeful.

[Emilian Sota]

"Maybe you'll be able to give me one," he accidentally let slip. Then cursed lightly under his breath, he was really losing his control now. "Perhaps someday you'll be able to see one." Maybe she'd just ignore what he'd said before. Doubtful.

[Adara Snow]

Adara's eyes sparkled with laughter, and her hands left the book at last, coming to rest against Emilian's. "Why would I have one of your trophies?" she asked, enjoying the tease. "And what was it you whispered just now? I could not make it out, and I am sure that it was something clever." She beamed at Emilian, her face glowing with unbridled happiness.

[Emilian Sota]

Emilian smiled, choosing not to answer her first question, "I didn't say anything, just realized I'll have to go soon." It would be best for him to leave, he could recoup, get his self control back.

[Adara Snow]

"Oh," Adara breathed, disappointment clear in her eyes and the soft set of her lips. She squeezed Emilian's hands lightly, then inhaled, letting her breath out with a smile. "I will look forward to seeing you again," she said. "I have had great fun speaking with you." She wished that he didn't have to go, and didn't realize that it showed in her eyes.