Light and Shadows (Aiden/Trent)

[Aiden Shover]

Aiden glanced down at the cat to be sure of its gender before he spoke. "He's cute," he said, then leaned down to offer a hand to the furry body. "He's yours?" The cat was either Trent's, or the guy had managed to make a heck of an impression on someone else's pet. "What's his name?" He generally didn't mind animals, as long as they didn't mind him.

[Trent Frey]

Lyric's eyes, a little wider than usual, flickered up from the cat to Aiden. "Shadow," he said. "And yeah, he's mine. Part kneazle." And the cat seemed to like Aiden. It was weird, Shadow rarely left him to go to someone else, usually sitting guard like the other Shadow. Yet there he was, back arched, purring. "You like cats?"

[Aiden Shover]

"If they like me," Aidan said, chuckling softly as he found the one spot at the base of the tail that seemed like it was ecstasy for cats. "He's sweet. I have an aunt that has this cat, the cat's real pretty, but she'll bite a chunk out of your arm for no good reason." That was a cat he hated, he had quite a few marks on his arms from that thing.

[Trent Frey]

What was the point of a cat like that? The counselor had recommended Lyric get one to keep him calm, and to give him a little responsibility outside classwork and something positive to do, since he still refused to touch Melody. A mean cat would be pointless. "Can she take it to like, obedience classes?" Did they have those for cats?

[Aiden Shover]

"Nah, not really. Cats kind of do what they want. You can try to train them or whatever, but it doesn't always work. Generally when they're mean it's 'cause they were taken from their mums too early," Aiden said. He gave Shadow a last scratch on the ears and settled back in his chair again. Pets were too much of a hassle, he had always thought, but maybe it was time he got one. Eventually. Maybe.

[Trent Frey]

Shadow gave one last, long rub against Aiden's leg before turning away. His tail fluffed, then flicked, then the cat meandered his way back toward Lyric, whose nerves lowered noticeably.

"I don't think I ever knew anyone with pets," he said, keeping his legs down to wait for Shadow's return. "They weren't allowed at my old school." Not that anyone would've wanted to take care of anything besides themselves. Even the idea of friends was foreign.

[Aiden Shover]

"Well that sucks." Maybe it was because he was so used to the various pets running around the castle, but Aiden couldn't imagine going to school somewhere that didn't allow pets. "I mean, I don't have one, but it's great having them everywhere." He got enough attention from others' pets that he didn't need to get one of his own.

[Trent Frey]

"I don't know anyone else who has one," Lyric said, though he quickly looked away, back down to the cat who'd just jumped up and was kneading a tender spot in his thighs. "I thought I saw a dog one time, but they're not on the list." Cats, toads, rats, and owls were what he could remember. "I don't know, maybe it was a wolf." Not that he'd seen it up close.

[Aiden Shover]

"There are a lot of owls and cats wandering around," Aiden said. "I mean, I don't know a lot of people really well that do, but I see the cats all the time in the common room and that kind of thing. I haven't seen any dogs. I heard that the Blackwood-Hardt professors have one, though." Word spread fast in the castle.

[Trent Frey]

"I think I have one of them for Defense," Lyric said. They were the gay ones, weren't they? He didn't want to ask, didn't want conversation to go that way, and tried hard not to think. That part of his life was over. Kane told him it was okay to think about things, but he couldn't, and he didn't want to. "He's a lot nicer than the old teacher," he forced himself to say. Not that he'd ever really gone to class last term.

[Aiden Shover]

Aiden shrugged, he didn't pay much attention to the professors. He only knew these because he had been in school at the same time as them. "I don't know them, I know about Michael, though. He's got a hell of a reputation." He had been young during the whole Death Eater fiasco, but he hadn't been so young that he didn't know what was going on, at least a little. "Don't know too much about the other, though."

[Trent Frey]

Lyric shrugged and looked down at Shadow. He didn't care about the teachers' reputations, all he knew was whether they hovered over his shoulder glaring holes in the back of his neck or stayed up front, skipping the whole the Dark Arts are many, varied, ever-changing and eternal speech and offering to help. "I don't really care unless it's gonna be on a test," he admitted. And even then he only cared enough to keep out of trouble.

[Aiden Shover]

Aiden laughed and nodded. "You sound like my kind of guy," he said. He didn't care for classes too much, but if he got a bad grade his dad would be on him, so he didn't have much choice. "Only a year to go, though, right? Well, a year and a term, anyway." Then they would be free to go out and be on their own. He just hoped he could do what he wanted.

[Trent Frey]

"Yeah," Lyric said softly. That was another thing he didn't want to think about. He didn't want to leave school, didn't want to live under his mom's gaze, always feeling her hope that he'd suddenly make something of himself and the constant disappointment when he didn't. At least he knew what to expect at school.

[Aiden Shover]

"You don't want to get out of here?" Aiden asked. He brought up one leg to rest his ankle on his opposite knee. "Man, I'd love to get out, be some famous quidditch player or something." It would be perfect. "Or do you just want to be a professional student or whatever?" It didn't sound like Trent was that kind of guy, but there were always surprises.