People-Watching (Gavin/Andy)

[Andy Moreau]

Andy worried his lip a moment before deciding to go ahead and talk. Gavin had been nothing but polite and nice to him, and that was weird enough to make actual deep conversation seem normal. "Our mom's in St. Mungo's," he said, watching the approach of grassy lawns as they descended the stairs. "My brother Tam is with a foster family. They seem really nice." And they were a gay couple, but Andy saw no reason to throw that in.

[Gavin Kent]

"Oh, I'm sorry about your mum, but it's good your brother's got someone nice to stay with." Gavin couldn't imagine being in foster care. People who lived with wealthy relatives was a completely different situation than living with strangers. Or maybe they weren't strangers, but Andy had said they seem, so he must not know them well. "Is it your foster family, too?" He seemed to remember that sometimes siblings were broken up.

[Andy Moreau]

Andy nodded. "Yeah, but I only spent a week with them before school started. They got me a wand and got me into Hogwarts and everything. And they own an ice cream shop on Diagon Alley." That was, Andy thought, an interesting fact. "They like, wanted us, or at least they wanted Tam and they took me too." He shrugged. It was all the same to him, since it meant he wouldn't lose his brother.

"Have you got like... a nice house and a family and stuff, Gavin?" Andy asked, giving the guy a sidelong look.

[Gavin Kent]

"I'm the oldest of three, I have a brother and a sister. I suppose I'm pretty lucky." Lucky wasn't a word Gavin would have normally used for himself, and he felt suddenly self-conscious about the success and jumpstart he'd been given in life. He looked down at the grass as it shifted around his shoes. "It's nice that your foster parents have an ice cream shop."

[Andy Moreau]

Andy nodded again. "They make waffle cones," he said. He didn't know much about them that he could really talk about. They'd talked to him because he had a cute kid brother and a skirt, hadn't thrown him out when he'd exploded their bathroom wanking, and he didn't expect to hear from them again unless they let him come home for winter holiday. Hopefully Tam wouldn't forget about him the way he'd forgotten their mom.

"I'd rather talk about good things," Andy said. "Like, did you have friends at home? Does anyone know?" Andy wasn't feeling jealous or bitter right now. He was in one of the best places he'd ever been and, prep school guy or not, Gavin hadn't acted for even a moment like he was better.

[Gavin Kent]

"No one knows about my magic except my family," Gavin said, shaking his head. "I've got some friends, and I'll miss them. I was on the cricket and rowing teams." His eyebrows came together all over again as he remembered he wouldn't be playing the games this year. If he decided he still wanted to go to Oxford, would a year gap hurt his chances of getting on the teams there? "Do you do any sports?"

[Andy Moreau]

Andy bit his lip, wishing he could say yes, and ended in shaking his head. "I kind of... didn't do much school stuff," he admitted. Should he say more? He kept his gaze carefully away from Gavin and on the path ahead of them. "Did you ever like... you know, when you were a kid and didn't have a wand yet... like, have accidents and stuff?" His face felt hot and flushed. "I didn't have a wand and it was Muggle school, so like... yeah." God it was humiliating to say, but Gavin was so nice and coming up with a lie or just shutting down didn't feel right.

[Gavin Kent]

Though he couldn't quite admit it, Gavin kind of liked the blush he saw when he looked over at Andy. Perhaps it was the way it contrasted with the guy's mostly-blond hair. He swallowed, blinked, and spoke. "I think everyone has accidents before they get their wand," he said. "I'm muggle-born, and my parents had no idea what was going on.

[Andy Moreau]

Andy looked aside at Gavin too late to see that reaction, but his chest constricted a little all the same. "I've been in Muggle homes for years," he admitted. "I knew what was going on, but they didn't and... it was hard having to keep things hidden." He'd did so much hiding that it felt like the way things would always be. Once in a while he wished he could still be innocent and trusting like Tam, but then he remembered how hard it had been to really understand simple truths like not trusting people and never getting too close, not getting attached to places, to people, or to whatever belongings happened to be his at any moment. He usually did a decent job.

[Gavin Kent]

"At least you knew what was going on," Gavin reasoned. Having some idea was better than no one in the family knowing anything. Personally, he hadn't really enjoyed making things change colors when he was angry as a kid. "Why were you put in muggle families if you're a wizard?" Andy had said his mum was in St. Mungo's, so he apparently wasn't muggle born.

[Andy Moreau]

Andy flicked a glance at Gavin, and the moment their eyes met, he looked forward again. "Um, this one family was a squib and a Muggle, I guess they thought it'd be good for my brother, since he's probably a squib too. But the guy, the squib, got like seriously pissed any time magic happened, so he broke my wand. When the magic didn't stop, he shoved us into the Muggle system." Andy shrugged. "The homes weren't really any worse there, and at least Tam could use everything. Gaming is fun."

[Gavin Kent]

"It is, but I never had much time to play." Between practice, tutors, homework, and the simple facts of boarding school life, there was little spare time for gaming. "I'm sorry he broke your wand, though," Gavin said, wondering why he was curious about the exact color of Andy's eyes. He'd never cared very much about what color anyone's eyes were. Perhaps it was simply how different the guy was from Gavin's prior peers.

"Will Tam be okay with the new family? I mean, if he's a squib and can't use magical things." He suddenly felt as though he was the one rambling, jumping from topic to topic from moment to moment. As he turned his attention forward, he lifted a hand to brush his hair just out of his eyes.

[Andy Moreau]

Andy's gaze lingered at that soft motion of fingers against sandy hair. It took him longer than it should have to look forward again and remeber what they'd been talking about. If he was going to lust after everyone he talked to, maybe it would be better just not to talk to anyone. But Gavin was so nice...

"One of the guys is a wizard, and the other's a Muggle," Andy said. He realized he'd just kind of outed the two. Well, they were out and married and stuff, but he didn't know if it was ok to talk about. Some people were very much into what happens at home stays at home and you may live here, but we're not your family.

[Gavin Kent]

Gavin glanced over at Andy again. The guy's foster parents were gay men? It wasn't that he'd never heard of that kind of thing, or even that he was against it. It just wasn't something he really thought about. Like gaming, Gavin didn't have time to consider other people's love lives. "That's good," he said instead of giving his mental musings voice. "I've heard that a lot of the time a magical person will marry a muggle."

Was he gay? Sure, he looked at guys sometimes; Gavin could appreciate when a guy looked good, but couldn't everyone else? He looked at girls the same way. He turned his eyes forward again, where the gate was drawing closer more quickly with every passing step. Even if he was, he was certain his parents wouldn't be very happy with it. His life plan involved a woman. "I guess it makes sense, since there are so few magical people in comparison."

[Andy Moreau]

Andy glanced cautiously at Gavin, but the guy still hadn't said anything that wasn't encouraging or, at the very least, polite. "I don't know how often it happens or anything," he said, looking forward again. "I know there's like, no problems with it, except for Purists, but I don't know any of those." He flicked another glance aside at Gavin. The guy didn't seem to be anti-anything. And yet it seemed so true that he was really as nice as he seemed. And probably straight, he reminded himself.