A Mess (Ocean/Jory)

[Ocean Abbott]

"Fifteen. Almost sixteen. My birthday's in June." Maybe he was young to be this confident. Eva teased him for being so serious. But if he wanted to be in the Royal Ballet Company by nineteen he had to be serious. Know what he wanted. "But I'm an old fifteen. Maybe fifteen times two." Ocean's eyes sparkled in response. At Jory. At how old he was claiming his 'soul' was.

[Jory Addison]

Jory let out a short, light laugh. "I wish I was still sixteen, that way I could turn seventeen and actually go do something. I didn't get to do anything like I wanted. I wanted to get my belly button pierced." It was so easy to talk to Ocean, he was so nice and he had such amazing eyes. He was actually enjoying this, instead of stressing out about what was going to happen next.

[Ocean Abbott]

"Why wait for a special occasion? Do it whenever you want. Hold a late birthday party. Heck I says it's my birthday at least three times a year. It might be my birthday when we go clubbing." Ocean ran a hand through his hair. His eyes sparked at the thought. Personally he didn't want piercings. Or tattoos. They would distract in his dancing.

[Jory Addison]

"Well I still want to go get it done," Jory said. "But that doesn't make up for not being able to celebrate the most important birthday of my life." He had missed out on it, he hadn't even been able to see his family or anything like he had in the past, now he was just too far away for a quick trip home. He sighed and rubbed at the back of his neck. "Guess I have to make up for it somehow."

[Ocean Abbott]

"Of course not. Tell all of your friends you wanted to wait. For a big party. A wow party. Or some summer bash for your seventeenth. I'd come." What did you bring someone when they turned of age? A wand case? An inspirational poster for apparition? Or maybe just new earrings?

[Jory Addison]

Jory managed another soft laugh, though he shook his head. "It'd be a pretty pathetic party," he said. "I'm not exactly rich in the friend department." He could have been, there had always been the chance that he could build up a circle of friends at Hogwarts, but all of it had fallen through. Would Ocean think it was pathetic and decide he didn't want to be around him?

[Ocean Abbott]

“There's a secret to making friends. I'm not quite sure what it is.” Ocean laughed. “I just go out with friends. Hand out with people like me.” He shrugged. “I'm not sure that helps. But if I make more friends I'll invite them.” Whatever the secret was he'd never needed it. He made friends pretty easy. He liked himself. Not many people didn't like him. If they did he didn't care.

[Jory Addison]

"Well I definitely don't know the secret. The only friends I've ever managed to keep are the ones I knew my whole life because our parents knew each other." It was a dishearteningly small group of friends, but they had always been close. They didn't owl as much as they used to, but they still got together over breaks as much as possible.

[Ocean Abbott]

"Relax. You're doing fine with me. Right? I haven't even grown my second head." Ocean tossed his scarf around his neck. A chuckle escaped. "It's bright pink." Ocean actually thought that sounded funny. Maybe he would transfigure a pink second head on his shoulder for a day. After all he already missed his brightest friends. An inward cringe nixed the idea though. Humorous. But way to far to go.

[Jory Addison]

Jory laughed, "Well that'd get you some comments, that's for sure." An image popped into his head of another head sprouting from one of Ocean's shoulders, it was, to say the least, an amusing picture. He didn't know how he was doing fine with Ocean, but he wasn't going to question it right now. He wanted to put off the inevitable mental war as long as possible.

[Ocean Abbott]

"Ah well. Perhaps I should wait for my second day before I put a target on my back." Not that he minded a target. It only brought the poor marksmen anyways. "So. Have you lived in England all of your life? What's the best part of being British?" If he had. Ocean couldn't place an English accent from a Scottish. Or any other accent for that matter. He could tell the difference between Texans, Midwesterners, New Yorkers, even West Coasters. Foreign accents and he was lost.

[Jory Addison]

"Yeah, always," Jory said, but he was lost on how to answer the next question. "I don't know, I've never been anything else to compare it to." Unless he immersed himself in other countries and their cultures, then how could he decide what was best about it? "What about you being American?" he asked, turning the question back on Ocean.

[Ocean Abbott]

"Not sure about being an American. But a Virginian. I love Chesapeake Bay. Getting to go down there right off the shore. Fresh shellfish. If you're lucky Rockfish. Sit on the beach with friends. An ice cold butterbeer in hand." Ocean grinned. "Probably the best part of growing up. Aside from dancing. But dancing is part job. Part passion. The beach is just. Well it's the beach. I can't describe it."

[Jory Addison]

"I've been to the beach once a few years ago." It had been a short family vacation to a remote little cottage. "But I grew up, like, practically in the middle of a forest. It was a lot of fun." Especially with all of the animals there, he loved animals. Maybe he needed to get something, at least then he would have someone to talk to besides the counselor, even if it was an animal.

[Ocean Abbott]

"So. The forest is the best part of Britain?" Ocean knew there were forests in Virginia. He just hadn't had the desire to traipse through the forest. To much chance of breaking something. If you fell on the beach. You landed in soft sand. Plus the forest had bonus bugs. Ocean shuddered at the thought of spiders.