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Post by Trent Frey on Feb 20, 2010 23:55:24 GMT -5
Someone had knocked on the door of the shop yesterday or Lyric would still be there. He didn't want to be bothered, didn't even want to acknowledge that there was life outside his own mind. Assuming what passed for thought there passed for life as well.
He'd wanted someplace quiet, and everyone knew the Shack wasn't haunted. It was an urban legend passed down from seventh years to first years to keep them in line. He'd never even seen people exploring here, aside from around Halloween. No one cared about some damn ramshackle building. It wasn't even dangerous enough to be interesting.
He was trembling as he opened his box, as he started pulling things out. He needed a fix, needed it now, and he didn't want to wait the walk across the grounds and to the Room of Requirement any more than he'd wanted to shell out money to stay at the Leaky Cauldron. He'd finally gotten enough money to buy what he needed, and he was going to save every knut. And if he saw Quinn again, he was raising his prices.
The anticipation was making him breathless, the time between fixes making him sweat, making his heart race so quickly he couldn't tell one beat from the next. Then some sound broke through his concentration and he was torn. He couldn't get caught, couldn't get caught and have his mother find out, but what if someone was coming? His brows drew tightly together, and trembling turned to shaking as he decided to hide it all. Just hide it. He could leave, he could go to the shop after all. It was so close. So close.
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Post by Ariel Logan Callahan on Feb 21, 2010 0:12:32 GMT -5
Ariel knew he shouldn't, but he wanted some time alone. He needed it. Though Markise may be the only person he was anywhere near close to, he didn't spend time alone like he was so used to. Just a little bit of time in the Shack would be enough. As he walked through the shack, for the first time in a long time, he expected the creaks of the old, settling house. What he didn't expect was to walk in on someone hurriedly hiding things, a couple of which were uncomfortably familiar.
His lips had parted to mumble a quick apology before rushing away, but now his eyes were focused on shaking hands connected to shaking arms, which were probably attached to a shaking body, that were scrambling with the items. He should run, just get away as soon as possible. His feet wouldn't move, though.
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Post by Trent Frey on Feb 21, 2010 0:27:51 GMT -5
Lyric snapped his box shut, a sharp noise that reverberated through the room. He didn't look up, but closed his duffel bag and shifted, trying to get his feet underneath him. If he didn't make eye contact, he didn't have to acknowledge this. He didn't care if he was recognized just as long as there wasn't a confrontation.
His pants were dusty when he stood, every muscle tense and ready for fight or flight, but he didn't want to pick a fight, not right now. Black-lined eyes narrowed suspiciously. "I'm leaving," he said. He could pretend this close call had never happened.
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Post by Ariel Logan Callahan on Feb 21, 2010 0:37:22 GMT -5
"Wait," Ariel said, jerked out of his stunned silence. "You don't have to, I'm not going to turn you in or anything." He had no right to do so, not when he had done so much for so long. His left hand moved to his right elbow and his thumb rubbed the inner part through his worn jacket. "How long have you..." No, he shouldn't be asking that. But asking that was a million times better than asking can I have some, right? He couldn't remember anyone at school that had done it.
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Post by Trent Frey on Feb 21, 2010 0:54:49 GMT -5
"I don't," Lyric lied, breaking his gaze away. "And it's none of your f~ing business if I do." Not unless the guy was buying something, and Lyric couldn't justify selling so close to school. He'd done it with Quinn, but he'd just started then, and he'd known that even if she'd wanted to tell someone, she wouldn't have known what to tell.
He bent to grab the pile that was his trench coat, withholding the bile that rose in his throat at the motion. He knew he'd lost weight, and he didn't need the guy looking or commenting. It wasn't like he was starving himself, he just didn't feel like eating. He straightened and started tugging it on with sharp motions.
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Post by Ariel Logan Callahan on Feb 21, 2010 1:10:00 GMT -5
"Hold on, mate," Ariel said, taking a step forward and barely thinking about letting that word, something he rarely said even before he had come to Hogwarts, slip. "Why don't you sit down?" He had seen guys like that, he had been like that a couple of times, and he knew that running off definitely wouldn't help. He wasn't exactly sure what he intended to do with this guy, but he couldn't just let him run off.
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Post by Trent Frey on Feb 21, 2010 1:14:06 GMT -5
"Because I'm leaving," Lyric said, the words as slow and measured as he could get them without wanting to scream. He took a step backward and reached for the strap on his duffel bag, hefting it up off the dirty floor. He wasn't sitting down again, not with someone else here, and he didn't like the guy getting closer. He moved to the side, hoping to pass around him so he could go. Maybe he'd lock himself up in the second floor of the shop for a few days, but he'd be alone when he did it.
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Post by Ariel Logan Callahan on Feb 21, 2010 13:44:01 GMT -5
Ariel didn't want him to go just yet. Not that he intended to try anything, but he wasn't able to get away from that box the guy had. "I know what you're doing," he said, "I did it last year. It...it's no good by yourself." There had been very few times he had done it by himself, just the few times that cigarettes hadn't been enough to hold him over between weekends. No, saying that didn't mean he was going to try to get anything off this guy. The scarred skin at his elbow tingled.
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Post by Trent Frey on Feb 21, 2010 13:50:08 GMT -5
"It's fine by myself," Lyric said, "and if you're trying to bum something off me, I don't do freebies." He didn't always do it by himself, anyway. In London he found parties, and at Hogwarts, he had Quinn, though they'd only done it a few times. And with Quinn, he could get laid.
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Post by Ariel Logan Callahan on Feb 21, 2010 14:08:42 GMT -5
Ariel shook his head slowly, "I'm not...I...had to quit." It had always felt so good, though. Any bad things that might have been going on were forgotten for hour after hour of bliss. He wanted to get something, though. He didn't have any money, not more than pocket change, he couldn't get anything. He could pay the guy back later, if he really wanted to. His eyes gave him away, if the guy was able to look close enough.
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Post by Trent Frey on Feb 21, 2010 14:35:49 GMT -5
Lyric's eyes narrowed again at the look he got from the other guy. "I don't do freebies," he repeated. He didn't trust people to bring him their money later, not when they liked to disappear on him. He couldn't afford to get screwed over like that, and he hadn't started breaking legs. His own were shaking uncomfortably, so he moved again. Moving was better than trying to stand still. "I'm going now."
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Post by Ariel Logan Callahan on Feb 21, 2010 15:53:36 GMT -5
"You look like you'll barely make it down the front steps," Ariel argued in an attempt to keep the guy for just a moment longer. He wasn't going to ask for anything, he wasn't going to let himself do that. No matter how much e wanted he wouldn't. At least, he liked to think he wouldn't. Maybe he thought he needed to test himself, maybe if he walked away from this unscathed it would prove both to himself and to Markise that he was okay.
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Post by Trent Frey on Feb 21, 2010 16:00:17 GMT -5
"I made it here, I'll make it down the street," Lyric insisted. The restlessness was only getting worse, and he didn't know that he wanted to make it down the street at all. He wanted to set his bag down and do it here. With that thought, he dropped his bag and withdrew his wand from its place at his waistband. He held it up with shaking hands, knowing that the likelihood of missing an intentional shot was little greater than firing an accidental one. "You want to f~ with me, or get out of my way?"
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Post by Ariel Logan Callahan on Feb 21, 2010 16:10:03 GMT -5
Ariel had seen enough of what was in that bag to want it, and the guy was shaky enough that a weak spell had the potential to knock him down. He could take the bag and run, he could have everything in there for the price of a simple spell. His feet still wouldn't move, they were rooted to the floor, but somehow he became aware of his wand in his hand. "I'll only fire if you do."
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Post by Trent Frey on Feb 21, 2010 16:17:06 GMT -5
"Then I get first shot," Lyric said. "Or you can get the f~ out of my way." He'd make it a good one, too. A spell he would have had enough of a conscience not to use in everyday dueling. He suddenly became aware of the fact that he wasn't holding onto his bag, that dropping it for stability put the contents in danger, and shifted slightly toward it, his wand shifting wide as he bent to pick it up.
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