People-Watching (Gavin/Andy)

[Gavin Kent]

"Neither do I, unless they hide it very well. Of course, I've only been in contact with tutors, more or less." Gavin had no idea how representative the tutors were of the general wizarding population. When he looked over at Andy again, his eyes caught his companion's, but he quickly pulled them away. Brown, Andy's eyes seemed brown. He shoved his hands deep into his pockets as he thought. Why were such ideas coming to his head now? Was it simply the change of environment? How different Andy looked from what he was used to?

[Andy Moreau]

Oh, Gavin's eyes were so blue. Andy loved blue eyes so much. His were stupid brown, like his stupid boring hair. But blue eyes... He forced himself to think of something else, like the gates and the path to Hogsmeade. He tried to think of anything he knew about the place, but couldn't. And he'd taken too long to speak again. He glanced aside to see if Gavin had noticed.

"Um, so do you have a girlfriend?" Oh my god, you did not just say that. His eyes widened, and he looked forward. "You don't have to answer that. I mean, I don't have one, I've never had one." Oh. My. God. He shut his mouth.

[Gavin Kent]

As they passed through the gates, Gavin's so blue eyes darted once again to Andy. Had the guy picked up on his silent thoughts? "Um, neither have I. I've never even been on a date." He should have forced himself to look away, but the path was smooth and he was curious. "I never even had the time to think about it, really. Hogwarts only has quidditch, though, so maybe I'll have time now."

[Andy Moreau]

Andy's eyes were caught on Gavin's, and he completely forgot to watch where he was going. He stumbled over a small dip in the packed-dirt path, let out a squeak of surprise, and just managed to catch himself. Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god. His cheeks were a vibrant rose when he straightened, trying to pull his book bag over his shoulder again. "I'm sorry, like, really sorry. Just clumsy, you know?" Oh. My. God.

[Gavin Kent]

Gavin reached out to offer Andy a helping hand, but the guy regained his balance so quickly he pulled it back a moment later. Then, his eyes were caught on Andy's cheeks, at that contrast that was much more noticeable now that he'd thought about it before. "It's okay, everyone trips sometimes," he said, only half aware of his words, before he pulled his gaze away for what felt like the hundredth time. He really shouldn't want to look so badly, but it was as though his eyes had a mind of their own. "You don't have to apologize for it."

[Andy Moreau]

Andy told himself not to look at Gavin, that he'd embarrassed himself enough without tormenting himself even more, but he couldn't help just one little glance. He couldn't tell Gavin that he was gay, or bi, or whatever he was, because then Gavin would think he'd only come with him to try to get with him or something, and he couldn't ask Gavin if he was gay, or bi, or whatever, because that was totally rude, but he was pretty sure he was just going to keep making an arse of himself unless he could really convince himself that he was just imagining things.

He bit his lip hard for a moment before making himself stop, then stuffed his fingers into his pockets to keep from messing with his hair. "I'm like... distracted or something," he said at last. "I can apologize for that, right?"

[Gavin Kent]

"It's okay, I'm...I'm kind of distracted, too," Gavin admitted. He forced himself to focus on something other than Andy, like an interesting blade of grass, but that lasted all of a second or two before he was once again looking at his incredibly nontraditional companion. "Can I ask you something that's really kind of odd?" It was nice that there was some space between Hogwarts and Hogsmeade.

[Andy Moreau]

Andy had looked at Gavin, wondering what his distraction might be and refusing to let himself think what he was hoping. Then that question, and his attempts to hold to reality flew out the window. Maybe he'd started to think that he should figure out how to ask, but he latched onto Gavin's question instead and nodded. Maybe Gavin's question would answer his question. Or maybe he was just crazy.

[Gavin Kent]

"Do you ever...look at guys?" Gavin asked. By that point, his walk had slowed to something closer to a snail's pace than casual strolling. "I mean, I know we're supposed to look at girls, and I do, and I like them, but sometimes..." He swallowed hard, immediately regretting that he'd mentioned it. This wasn't something he had ever talked to any of his friends with, so why was he suddenly bringing it up with a relative stranger?

[Andy Moreau]

Andy's breath caught, and though his mouth opened to form words, no sound came out. He closed it again and looked forward, then nodded, then looked at Gavin again. "Yeah," he managed. Gavin's eyes were so pretty. "Did you see me looking at you?" he asked. But Gavin had just admitted a sometimes, and so Andy wasn't afraid of rejection, not unless their whole conversation had been an elaborate joke, and he didn't think it had. Gavin looked a little nervous, too.

[Gavin Kent]

Abort, abort! A rather large part of him screamed that it would make things simpler to just remove himself from the situation, but Gavin didn't. Or perhaps he couldn't. "I don't know," he said truthfully, "I was too busy...looking at your blush." His voice dropped to little more than a mumble at that. He'd never so much as flirted, much less said right out that he'd been looking. His eyebrows drew close together. "This is so strange," he said in the same low murmur.

[Andy Moreau]

Andy reached up to push back a chunk of platinum blonde hair so he could see Gavin a little better. "So like... would it be okay if I said you had pretty eyes, or do you want me to pretend we didn't say anything?" Gavin didn't look relieved, he looked... disturbed, maybe?

"Is it because I look kind of girly?" Why else would some big prep school guy be looking at him? Maybe when Gavin had said sometimes he'd meant right now, because you're weird and you confuse me.

[Gavin Kent]

A sort of thrill rushed through Gavin at hearing he had pretty eyes, something he'd never heard aside from his mum and the odd great aunt, but Andy's final question jerked him out of it and his eyes darted up. "No. I mean...maybe...I don't know. No. I've looked at guys before, you aren't the first. I just...never thought about it." He wasn't used to being unable to speak properly, and that unnerved him almost as much as everything else. Somehow, however, he did manage to keep himself from rambling on.

[Andy Moreau]

"Oh. Well, that's okay, I mean... I'm not gonna make fun of you or anything. You're like, super nice. If you want to just think about it, that's okay." Andy gave Gavin a sidelong glance from beneath his fringe, totally unaware of the innocent hope in his eyes. As far as his conscious mind was concerned, he and Gavin could just be friends, and he could crush on the guy without feeling guilty.

[Gavin Kent]

Gavin remained silent as he all but shuffled one foot in front of the other. If he pushed his hands any further into his pockets, he would surely break the seams. He supposed he'd always thought it would be a decision. That at one point he would just decide that girls were for him, or that he'd be content with a girl. It would probably be one he found during his time at Oxford, and then the rest of life would fall into place. His interest in guys would be simply a passing fancy.

"I think you have lovely eyes, too," he said, chancing a glance toward Andy. "They stand out because of your hair." Or maybe the hair stood out because of the eyes, he couldn't quite be sure.