always where I need to be

[ outfit. ]

Practice today was easier than it had been for the past few months, as the snow gave way to rain, to temporary clear skies. Kai knew better than to expect this to last, as fine weather simply did not exist in January, at least not in Scotland of all places. But, it was a breath of fresh air, and Kai even spent the majority of practice with his sweater off. He missed the sun very much, as if its warmth was what breathed life into him. But there was good in chilly days: snowboarding, sledding, warming oneself with cocoa and a hot fire. But summer would forever be his favorite, his not-so-secret paramour.

The team dispersed for a break, and Kai took this moment to slip underneath the bleachers; the high stands effectively blocked judging eyes. It was typical for someone to visit him for lunch, but Kai had a few minutes to spare, and whenever Kai had a few minutes to spare, he typically was looking to relax.

It was cooler underneath, and Kai breathed it in with closed eyes and a half smile. From his pocket, he procured two wrapped fairy cakes, tiny and glistening. Small enough to hide, and to prevent him from getting... too "cheerful". He popped one in his mouth before turning around and noticing he was not as alone as he thought he was, and he froze in place like a deer in headlights. A thick crunch came from within his mouth, as the cake snapped between his teeth.

"Oh shit, bruv. I didn't see you there," Kai snapped his head back, fluffy ponytail bobbing behind him cartoonishly, "T'fuck you doing, Lachlan? Thought ye' hated Quidditch?" He couldn't help but hope that the Slytherin was here for Kai, to watch him in action. Like friends did, as Kai always secretly loved. But knowing Lachlan, he severely doubted that.

Lachlan was fascinated as Kai ducked under the stands, too concerned with whatever he was holding to notice he wasn't alone. The other boy stopped still and Lachlan had a few precious seconds to unashamedly look him over... before Kai turned and Lachlan's gaze slid away.

"Aye," he agreed with the Hufflepuff's presumption. To be truthful, he didn't hate quidditch so much as the hype over quidditch.

"Thee and half the school know it, so where's the least likely place for anyone to come seeking me?"

He proffered a hand, before belatedly realising how that had sounded.

"Not that y' ain't welcome or nowt."

There was an awkward pause. Or, it was awkward for Lachlan.

"'sides can barely tell it's quidditch from down 'ere. You sharing or what?"

"Thee and half the school know it, so where's the least likely place for anyone to come seeking me?"

Ahhh, Kai could feel that. "Fair enough, my dude," He replied, followed by a light chuckle. He knew very well the need to escape sometimes. While Kai wasn't sure if it was fair to say he, himself, was introverted, but he needed a break as much as any other. Lachlan, however, always gave him vibes that could only be described as "really, really exasperated". He always figured it was because of his sister giving him a hard time, and he wouldn't be surprised if there were more to it. But that girl on her own seemed to give her brother a lot of grief.

If Kai were him, he would give up. Let her do her thang. But then again, not every sister was as self preserving as Daniyah.

He lingered, and there was a definite silence between the two of them that Kai did not notice. Instead, he simply bobbed his head to an imaginary beat, and he finished off the rest of his fairy cake with a few satisfying crunches.

"'sides can barely tell it's quidditch from down 'ere. You sharing or what?"

"Oh!" Bicolored eyes shot down into his open palm, a single cake left. Without skipping a beat, the Hufflepuff tossed his company the wrapped treat, fully content giving away the last of this batch. After all, it was much more enjoyable to share a trip than take it for a lone ride. Even if he hadn't eaten one himself, he would have likely given it to Lachlan. It was in Kai's nature to give, and he'd rather a friend have the access to The Good Stuff than shove it all into his mouth during a throe of munchies.

With that, Kai approached his friend closer, before swinging himself to the ground beside him with a haphazard drop. Completely unaffected, Kai stretched his long limbs out over the cool grass. "Whenever I'm feelin' like I needa, y'know, get away from everything, I go to this, like, thicket between the lake and the forest. No one can see ye' there, and it's relaxing as shit," He began, readily sharing his "secrets" because they truly weren't so secret, "Of course, if you knew about tha' place, ye' probs wouldn't be here, and it's pretty rad to run into a homie, f'real." He said this with his hand lifting up, devil horns in place to signify... Y'know. That friendship was awesome, or whatever. Kai wasn't sure why he did it, but he did it a lot.

"F'real," Lachlan nodded as he unwrapped the tiny, spangled cake. It was sugary-sweet with the texture of meringue, hell it probably was meringue. Mostly.

Settling back, he reached behind Kai to release his hair from that ridiculous pony-tail.

"If you're gonna summon demons, ye 'ave tae look suitably Byronic," he excused himself. "O'erwise, 'ow'd you spect 'em t' take any notice of you 't all?"

Lachlan frowned. That didn't sound right.

"Do I wanna know wha' I just et?" he asked.

Lachlan pulled the band from Kai's hair and the Hufflepuff blinked at him in confusion. His fingers ran through his fringe, releasing the tight strands, but overall he wasn't sure what he was supposed to say. However, he did appreciate someone who was also fond of his long hair being let down. Kai didn't really care much for how it looked in a pony tail, but it was necessary whenever he was trying to focus. One could find his hair tied up during tests as well; luckily no one was looking at him then, or at least he hoped so. Though, he couldn't help but feel a bit cool with his hair up and goggles on during a game, he felt like a real athlete.

"If you're gonna summon demons, ye 'ave tae look suitably Byronic, o'erwise, 'ow'd you spect 'em t' take any notice of you 't all?" Lachlan threw that gem at him, and Kai attempted to suppress a laugh, but that only made it explode in a booming "HA".

"The fuck are you on about?" Giggling now, Kai turned to his friend with wide eyes, before it dawned on him: His little hand gesture. "Oh, I geddit! You're a silly goose, you are," He snorted, "Yeah, I'm summoning Beelzebub for a hot date tonight, thanks, bruv."

"Do I wanna know wha' I just et?"

Oh, that explained it. "Have you never used fairy dust before?" Kai questioned, a bit more serious this time, "Powerful shit. Makes people act totally banan. It's kinda like a cheering charm, only, like... It's a bit more than that, y'feel? Getcha all comfy and relaxed, but, like? So happy, dawg. So, so happy." He was glad now that he had only brought small cakes with him, else Lachlan would've probably actually started summoning demons and been really giddy about it. It was funny, but Kai would feel so guilty.

Lachlan knew he could melt hearts with his own gaze, but as Kai turned to him, he wondered why there was not nearly as much kerfuffle over the other boy's eyes. It couldn't just be because he was a stoner. Maybe Lachlan just never heard about it. But fuck. While Kai spoke, Lachlan's mind raced, trying to find a way to make heterochromia sound like a compliment.

"Damn, Beelzebub gets all the luck," he responded.

Fairy dust. He'd heard of the stuff. Vaguely. Lachlan stayed away from magical substances. Until now, it seemed. Even then, fairy dust sounded like a broken promise. Lachlan knew there were things that could make you forget about, or simply not care about your troubles (hello morphine) but actually making you happy? He was sceptical.

"Aye, right," he said. "Nah, luv, I ne'er tried anything magical afore."

He giggled, maybe this stuff was okay.

"'asides, I don' need anyfink t' be happy if tha 'ere, right?"

"Damn, Beelzebub gets all the luck,"

Kai shrugged sheepishly, like he couldn't help his demonic preference. "Well, he is Lord of the Flies. The man knows how to eat, y'know I'm sayin'?" He gave a poorly executed wink, to overtly hone in the fact he as referring to The Booty, "Maybe if Belphegor could get his shit together, people would be summonin' him in, he got that cash flow." He laughed again, throwing his head back and running another hand through his hair to shake it out some more. The irony, of course, was that Kai did not have his shit together. But at least he could joke about it.

The Slytherin admitted to never trying magical substances before and Kai nodded along with his words. "Ay, that's aight. Fairy dust won't hurt ye' none, anyhow. If there's one thing ya' gotta try at least once, it's fairy dust. I know some bruvs that eat this shit all the time," Llewellyn seemingly being one of them, but Kai did not know, nor did he care. But it seemed a bit often that the two shared cakes together. Perhaps Kai simply wasn't great at time... That was actually rather factual, now that he thought about it.

"'asides, I don' need anyfink t' be happy if tha 'ere, right?"

Within seconds, Kai's already goofy grin spread into a full bloom smile. "My dude," He fell back once more, to show his agreement in a dramatic fashion. He turned to face the bleachers above them where unknowing people sat, "There's nothing better than trippin' with a friend, ya' got me there." There was nothing more warming to Kai than unbridled friendship, and he wondered if the people who sat above them were sharing the same level of understanding. In a way, he was happy to hear Lachlan say this. He knew very little about the goings-ons in his friend's head, but the implication that he didn't need drugs to be happy... Beautiful. Marvelous. Something a lot of people didn't feel, Kai almost being one of them, but he'd never admit that. Sometimes one forgets how things could once be.

He should not do this. He was being extremely bad. But you know, technically, he was not in control of his faculties. It wasn't his fault.

Lachlan rolled onto his side to continue watching Kai's antics.

"Oh?" he queried.

He was not completely sure of the other boy's preferences. Kai seemed to bob through life in his own little bubble of mellow and Lachlan envied him for it. He definitely gave off the vibe that a lot of what he did happened because it seemed a good idea at the time.

Lachlan shuffled close enough to let their arms touch.

"I c'n think 'f at least one thing better," he said.

He would assume Lachlan was acting off, if he wasn't so certain that Lachlan just overall acted sort of... Off. A lot of drug use could do that to a person, and Kai wouldn't be surprised, as he'd seen his fair share. But off wasn't always a bad thing. Sometimes it made talking more comfortable. Sometimes people were too anxious to talk without a pick-me-up. His friend sort of seemed the type, but Kai was not the type to jump to conclusions. But silence was common between them it seemed, or maybe Kai was talking too much. He would simply have to enjoy the silence, too.

"I c'n think 'f at least one thing better,"

Scratching his chin, Kai mulled this over, before suddenly snapping his fingers. "Oh yeah!" He began, as if in epiphany, nodding enthusiastically and looking over at his friend, "I could totally go for a veggie burg right now. Now that would be bomb, I got the munchies like a motherfuck." A guffaw escaped Kai, somewhat reminiscent of a hyena, and he nudged Lachlan's shoulder with his (though, he was surprised that they were so close to each other, were they always so close to each other?)

"You think of everything, Lachlan. You're like a... A fuckin', uh... Wizard of Good Ideas," He snorted, squinting at himself, as he realized he was beginning to make very little sense.

Lachlan couldn't help but laugh as his attempt to be coy fell flat. Ordinarily, he'd have been vexed, but right now a veggie burger did sound a good idea. Like, a way better idea than eating usually did.

He nudged Kai back, a little harder than the Hufflepuff had done to him. Knowing that the shoves would either descend into friendly scuffling or that they'd pick themselves up and find their way back to the castle. Either way, it was good. Comfortable.

"Wizard o' Good Ideas," he repeated. "Sounds like a departmen' in the Ministry. Or a departmen' the Ministry needs t' ave."

He was giggling himself now.

"Maybe if they 'ad more good ideas, this place wouldnae be so..."

Lachlan waved his hand aimlessly to express all the problems of Hogwarts.

Lachlan nudged him back, and like a proper bro, Kai smacked the Slytherin's side with the back of his hand. It was simply a thing that all bros must do to show they enjoy each other's company, though he didn't fair well with the public rough housing. No, broing out Real Good required a private touch, to avoid the jealous eyes and the weird... shriveled ego thing that people probably assumed Kai had. Though, that wasn't inaccurate, but he affectionately rough housed, thanks.

That wasn't to say Kai was afraid to hold hands or hug his friends in public. They just seemed to dislike it. Hand holding was common practice with him, however. Walking and holding hands was a natural thing for him, thanks to living in a household that held hands, like, all the time. Initially taught to him in order to keep his siblings close by, of course.

"Sounds like a departmen' in the Ministry. Or a departmen' the Ministry needs t' ave."

"Oh my god, it does," Kai turned to his friend again, completely elated by this thought, resting up on his elbows, "Wizard of Good Ideas must be, like, the guy that the minister goes to for, um, ideas. 'Hey, O' Great Wizard of Good Ideas... What's up?' That's you, like, in the not-so-distant future." He stuck his tongue out a tad in jest, a rumbling laugh following suit.

The Slytherin implied that Hogwarts was kind of shit, and Kai shrugged a high shrug. "Bruv, yeah. This place is boring as fuuuuuck. I guess that's all schools, though, right?" He scratched his chin, "But, like, y'know? I guess havin' a good time for me is just chillin'. Bein' with other people. I'd get bored as shit back home, all I do is skate and watch bad tv."

Lachlan had been about to object that he'd never become the Wizard of Good Ideas so long as Ed was alive, when Kai continued with thoughts of home. He dropped back flat on the grass, throwing an arm across his eyes.

"There's always chores or sommat at ours," he said slowly.

It was a strange feeling to be talking about home at all, Lachlan realised, with someone who wasn't one of his siblings. He'd never noticed before that it was something he avoided, and only noticed now because of this weird sensation.

"Kai? You sure this stuff can't hurt?" he asked, lapsing into King's English. He'd noticed Kai was pretty good at keeping up, but when Lachlan wanted to be sure someone understood him, he didn't take chances.

There wasn't much surprise to Lachlan's family "having a lot of chores". Kai knew very little about them, but there was always a thin veil of escapism that came with attending Hogwarts. In their own ways, they both had reasons to enjoy their time at school, even if there was little to do. Then again, maybe Lachlan didn't think of Hogwarts with any less disdain. Almost everyday was nothing but work, after all. It was strange how, despite being able to do anything with magic, the two boys could still find the faults in it. It was no different than any other life, it seemed. Only, perhaps, more dangerous.

"Kai? You sure this stuff can't hurt?"

"Nah, this ain't muggle shit, bruv, it's cool," Maybe if he took a large dose of it? It was what it was, dust from fairies, so he wouldn't be surprised if the shit was toxic in some form. But he never heard of anyone getting hurt over it. Going bonkers? Yes. Actual harm? No. But he gave Lachlan a small amount...

A warm hand met Lachlan's cheek, as if to check his temperature (that's what you do, right? When someone feels ill?) "You seem fine to me," Kai shrugged, "Maybe you're just not used to feeling good?" He was joking, but he added, "Are you okay?" Just in case.