Happy Place (Silver)

[Druscilla Grace]

Dru needed to be outside, though she knew the possibility of meeting up with Chase was greater when she strayed from the common room. But she stayed away from the forest, she didn't think she had been there since that day when Storm had stabbed herself, and was careful about where she went by the lake. She stayed clear of the rock outcropping that had once been her favorite place, at least for the moment it held too many thoughts leading back to Chase.

So Dru settled on a place where not many people went, a darker area because it was in the shadow of a small cliff overhang by the castle walls. She had a book with her, but not the usual Sinner, instead she had the less intense The Soulforge, about twin brothers, one a mage and one a warrior. Her mind was almost forcefully focused in the book as she tried to tune everything else out and lose herself to the world fo Krynn, which had many times been her happy place.

[Silver Blackwood]

Silver had been walking for the sake of walking, exploring the grounds again after some weeks of having been settled in a couple favorite spots. He wanted to know the school, to feel comfortable enough to claim it as his own rather than a place he'd been dropped into as the end to a tragedy. He had his journal tucked under his arm, as usual, in case he should be struck by inspiration, but for now, his mind was on navigating an almost invisible path along a shadowy edge of the lake. Still, as lost as he might have been, he sensed her before he was in any danger of tripping over her. Silver stopped in the shadows, blinked, but the vision remained. It was Dru.

Suddenly Michael's words came back to him, the admonitions not to worry about Chase, his brother's reassurances that he only had to be himself, that he had to get Dru away from Chase. He was still unsure, even if they'd convinced him to do it. He didn't know what to do. So he watched her, and tried to decide.

[Druscilla Grace]

Dru was lost in the book, though she slowly started to feel eyes on her. At first it wasn't enough to distract her, the story was doing its job, taking her away from the world around her to the tall tower in the forest where the mages had to take their Test. But, after a few minutes, she couldn't keep her eyes from straying from the words, from losing focus and direction as her eyes slipped up over the edge of the book to the area around her. Finally, she gave up, putting her thumb in the book to keep her place and glancing around, finding the tall form in the shadows which she soon recognized as Silver. She smiled at him, pushing down thoughts of Chase as she did so, determined to not let him interfere, and then gestured for him to come closer.

[Silver Blackwood]

Silver didn't know what he'd expected, but it hadn't been that soft smile an welcoming gesture. They hadn't parted on the most comfortable terms, and he couldn't forget her reactions when he'd said they should be only friends. Still, he couldn't dwell on that when she was smiling at him, and he found himself smiling back, if hesitantly. Silver gathered his courage, took a deep breath, and crossed toward Dru, only pausing a moment before sitting as close as he could be comfortable with. "So, what are you reading?" he asked, glancing at the book in Dru's hands. Maybe he could do this, after all.

[Druscilla Grace]

Dru was glad for his company, basking for a moment in how easily his presence chased away the troubled thoughts of Chase that had been bothering her for the last few days. She glanced down at her book, then pulled the tiny sliver of paper that served as the bookmark and put it in place. "The Soulforge," she answered, looking down at the golden man in the red robes seated on the cover. "Muggle fantasy," she said, "He's a mage, and the gold skin is protection, the eyes a curse." He was one of her favorite characters of the widespread series.

[Silver Blackwood]

Silver looked at the cover curiously. "Muggles really do have a lot of imagination," he said. "You've read it before?" The book looked comfortable, like it had been read more than once, and seeing it, associating it with Dru, made Silver feel more comfortable. Somehow, they were back to where they'd been that first time they'd met, as though the meeting in the Common Room hadn't happened, though Silver couldn't help remembering it. What had been different that time? Whatever it was, he was immensely grateful that things were comfortable again.

[Druscilla Grace]

Dru was trying to pretend that the meeting in the Common Room hadn't happened, at least until they were securely in a good conversation where it couldn't mess up anything and create awkwardness. It hovered in the back of her mind, making her neck and lips tingle ever so slightly, though, so she couldn't completely push it away, nor did she want to. "Yeah," she answered, nodding, "Haven't read it in a while and didn't care to start a new series." She was reading too many as it was, she didn't need another one added to her shopping list.

[Silver Blackwood]

Silver nodded in understanding. "Some books are worth reading over and over," he said, then admitted, "I haven't read a lot of Muggle books, really. And lately I've been reading the classics. I know, I'm a huge nerd, but I figure they're famous for a reason." Silver gave a light shrug, maybe dismissing his own words, but he knew that Dru loved reading, too, so she'd probably be one of the very few who might understand.

[Druscilla Grace]

"Trust me, I'm one of the biggest nerds here. I've read some of the classics, they're not my favorite reading, but I feel almost obligated to read them," Dru said. Even if she had to struggle through them or force herself to read them, she felt rather accomplished after digging her way through one of the old stories. "Maybe it's so I can boost my ego by having it up on a shelf and say I've read it," she added, her eyes sparkling just the slightest amount in humor.

[Silver Blackwood]

Silver's head tilted slightly as he looked back up at Dru. "They're not all bad," he assured her. "Some of them, yeah, they're pretty boring and they probably got famous because of some message that doesn't even apply today, but there are a lot that I'm going to have to buy some day. Like, I just finished reading Catcher in the Fluxweed. Have you read it?" He'd save himself the time of describing it if she had.

[Druscilla Grace]

"I didn't say they're bad, just it's harder for me to get going on reading one than others, once I get started I'm good." If only because she needed to find out what happened. "But no, I haven't read it." Though if it was good, Dru thought she might have to pick up a copy. She'd heard of it, but never got the chance, or the motivation, to actually pick it up and read it.

[Silver Blackwood]

"It really is good," Silver assured her, then wondered if he should really be recommending it, considering the subject matter. His gaze dropped, then moved out over the lake. "It's one of those most-banned books," he explained. "There's a lot that could be considered vulgar, but I think the main issue is that the character is rebelling against pretty much everything. Hypocrisy, mostly, but then, it's the hypocrites that have the most problem with things like that, isn't it?" Silver went quiet, wondering if he'd gone too far by adding his views on, but it was too late to take back.

[Druscilla Grace]

It didn't bother Dru that the book was banned often, or that it had vulgar tendencies, that kind of thing didn't phase her, but she listened to his thoughts on the book, nodding slightly as he spoke. "Maybe I'll have to find it and read it," she said, tilting her head. "Watch, it'll end up being my favorite book." She smiled at him, that was known to happen. There had been that one series where she had refused to read, then ended up loving the most out of her old school's library once she had given in.

[Silver Blackwood]

"It's not really a long book," Silver warned. "The first time I read it in a couple sittings." Admittedly, they'd been hours long, but that was the usual way of things when he found something he was interested in. "The library has it. Well, it will have it, when I return it," he clarified. When he went in, he'd have to get Malecrit renewed; he'd only read part of that one so far.

[Druscilla Grace]

"Maybe I should go with you, I could check it out soon as it's in, that way I won't forget, because I always seem to." Dru did tend to forget which books she had promised to read, since she was constantly adding to her must read list. And, since it was a short book, apparently, it wouldn't take her long and she could turn her concentration on whatever else needed to be done without so much distraction that a longer one would give her.