Misery Loves Chocolate (Eros/Jory)

[Jory Addison]

Somehow, Jory had found himself down to the candy shop he had heard so much about in, of all places, Diagon Alley. It had meant another ride on the Knight Bus, which meant he only had a very small amount of money he could spend unless he wanted to walk back to Hogwarts. Still, he wanted some chocolate. Even his divination and astronomy things hadn't been enough to keep him occupied for more than an hour or two and his mind had gone straight back to worrying.

He very rarely got like this, but when he did, the only thing that fixed it was raiding the sweets cabinet his mum kept locked up in the kitchen or a forbidden trip to the shop in the nearest town by way of Floo. His bag was slung low against his back, something his parents probably would have nagged him about, as he came into the shop. He had a hood pulled up and it clung to the front edge of his hairline. His attention focused on the nearest display.

[Eros d'Avonderre]

Eros was in the shop proper again, and more than ready to give up and have Orenda close, when the door chimed. It was pathetic how his heart leapt at the relief to the silence, and he decided quite firmly that he'd gone through his collection of literature too many times since he'd begun this ridiculous experiment. He would have Orenda order more tonight, or possibly run by a bookstore to pick something up.

His interest tempered at the sight of a lone teenage boy, complete with bag and hoodie. He hated watching them, waiting for the moment when they would try to slide two handfuls of candy into their pockets, but he had little choice. He wouldn't be robbed blind when the shop was making little enough money as it was. For now, he said nothing, but made no effort to disguise the path of his gaze.

[Jory Addison]

Jory felt the eyes of the man at the counter on him, but for the moment he didn't care. Of course, it didn't take long for the gaze to start burning and for Jory to start feeling uncomfortable. He took in a deep breath, then let it out in a long sigh before pulling out his money and counting out the sickles for the ride back to school. That part of the money was slid safely into his jeans pocket and the rest was clutched in his hand.

He thought about heading up to the counter immediately, but spent a couple more minutes looking, letting the scents and the bright colors sink in. Somehow, even that helped, and by the time he came up to the counter he was willing to put down his hood. "Excuse me," he said, putting his hands on the counter to fiddle with his money. "What's the best chocolate I can get for this?" He spread out what he had, sickles and knuts equaling about a galleon and a half. It wasn't much, but he hoped he could get enough to hold him over.

[Eros d'Avonderre]

Eros's gaze slid almost curiously over the boy, now that he had a face, then glanced down at the coins on the counter, mentally adding them up in an instant. "The best, or the most?" he asked. "With that, you could buy a chip of Richart chocolate, or a few bars of something more typical." He paused a moment, evaluating the obvious air of dejection around the boy, before his voice softened a bit. "Is this a gift of apology?" he asked.

[Jory Addison]

Jory shook his head, pretending he hadn't felt the man's gaze again. "Burying sorrows, maybe." He couldn't exactly drown his sorrows, at least not for another three months, but burying them sounded just as good. "What about something in the middle?" he asked, eyes moving over the displays. "I don't want crap, but I don't want it to be gone in five minutes."

[Eros d'Avonderre]

Eros inclined his head and moved from the counter to the displays, mentally calculating. For such a cause he wouldn't pick at knuts, but a boy who knew what he wanted would know if he was given a great deal more than he expected.

"If you don't mind my asking, what sorrows might you be burying? I'm afraid I have many chocolates, and they all suit different purposes." They would all do fine, actually, but Eros was dreadfully bored, and if he could entertain himself a bit and cheer the boy in the bargain then perhaps he could talk himself into staying in this godforsaken place a bit longer.

As it was, he pulled his wand and sent a piece of tissue-paper hovering, awaiting his decision. He looked back at the boy, his violet eyes evaluating again, yes, but also imploring the boy's confidence. He gestured at a large block of chocolate behind the glass.

"This one, for instance, is best for headaches and the rare Dementor attack." He looked back at the displays and gestured to another. "These are more suited for romantic troubles, and those for ennui." Nonsense, of course, though his tone was quite serious.

[Jory Addison]

Jory sighed and rolled his eyes, but settled his forearms against the counter and rested his weight on one leg, causing one hip to cock up. "I doubt you want to hear about some weird guy's romance troubles," he said, playing absently with his thumb ring. Still, he had to pull his eyes away from those strange violet ones that seemed to look straight through him.

[Eros d'Avonderre]

Eros smiled gently, though he could scarce control the spark in his eyes. "My darling boy," he said, flicking his wand to open the display case, "you underestimate the sheer boredom and isolation of operating a candy shop. It is quite rare that I receive visitors over the age of twelve, and you are what, seventeen?" It was in the way the boy stood, the mannerisms...the rainbow jewelery? Well, that was rather obvious. Eros didn't comment for now, but sent three rich chocolate truffles wrapped in violet and gold foil floating into the waiting grasp of the tissue paper.

[Jory Addison]

"Not for another three months," Jory said, eyes catching on the truffles. What would it hurt to tell the man? Well, except for the fact that he probably wasn't supposed to talk about Lyric, but he had already told Layne and Markise and Ariel knew. What was one more person? "If I said it was a guy would you still want to listen?"

[Eros d'Avonderre]

Well, the boy was nearly legal, though apparently lacking in discretion. It seemed everyone was these days. "If you said it was a guy, I would hardly blink," Eros stated. He closed the display and turned to a nearby shelf, his fingers hovering for a moment before he caught up two of his better chocolate bars. "The world, it seems, is coming out, and, well, I do claim friendship with several of those who have." In fact, he'd heard rumour that Markise and his Ariel had done so quite recently. He turned back to the young man now, his easiest smile gracing his lips.

[Jory Addison]

"Really?" Jory asked, looking from the candy to the man. "Like...Dare? Or Markise?" How was it that he had managed to find them, anyway? Well, it wasn't really that hard, they both stood out quite well. Both of them had that colored hair that was so different from everyone else at the school. But maybe there were even more, maybe there was an entire underground at Hogwarts that he just hadn't found.

[Eros d'Avonderre]

It seemed that Eros needed to force his company upon Michael and his pet, as much as he disliked doing so. It was bad enough being out of the Society loop, but when he wasn't aware of what was happening nearby, there was a terrible problem. Still, he retained his smile.

"Both," Eros replied. I was, in fact, best man for Michael Blackwood-Hardt at the infamous partnership ceremony I'm sure you've heard of. I've known Michael forever, though his Dare and Markise are more recent acquaintances. I do hope your romantic troubles aren't related to the Blackwood-Hardts." Though Mano would likely be quite amused to hear of it.

[Jory Addison]

Jory shook his head, "No, but I've met Dare, and Markise and Ariel." He eyed the man, wondering. Was he, or did he just happen to spend time with others that were gay? "I've only talked to them once apiece, anyway. It's really weird knowing others, though." He had even just recently gotten a letter from Sean talking about his new girlfriend.

[Eros d'Avonderre]

"Weird," Eros repeated, tucking all but one of the truffles into a small bag with a sturdy bottom. "Have you been homeschooled?" he asked, "or are you simply a country boy?" By the accent, he'd guess the latter, though it never did hurt to ask. The boy certainly was an attractive thing. He couldn't imagine he'd been exposed to many people for no one to have at least approached him.

[Jory Addison]

"I live out in the country," Jory said, only now beginning to understand how little he knew of the world outside of his comfort zone. "And I never really talked to anyone at MI." The first person he had ever really talked to there had been Lyric, who had led to him moving to Hogwarts, and then to him coming to this shop to talk about this with this man. "Why?"