Wednesday, December 3

’Oh December.... Bring on the cold, bring on the snow, bring on your ugly landscape.... Just don’t mess up my hair!’

Eli combed his hands through his blond hair, moving stray strands to their proper places  and smoothing them out.  When he finished, he took one last look in the mirror, flashed a snarky smile at his reflection and exited the boys restroom.  He jogged down one flight of stairs and skipped down another.  When he came to the last flight, Eli attempted to hopscotch down the steps, jumping down with one foot and then two, then one, then two, and so on.  However, do to the two (and a half) shoe lifts he had crammed underneath his feet, doing so was equivalent to hopscotching in women’s heels.  Whether he misjudged his foot placement or the shoe lifts threw his balance off, Eli ended up tumbling down the last couple of steps, rolling onto the landing with an annoyed grunt.

Picking himself off the ground and dusting off his clothes, Eli turned to see a giggling Ravenclaw boy, third or fourth year by the looks of him.  The boy had thin-rimmed glasses and was clutching a couple books in his left hand while using his right to cover his mouth as he laughed.  Nope, not quite Eli’s type but when had that ever stopped him? Time to leave this kiddo giggle-less.

“Glad you found that funny, honey,” Eli said as he walked right up to the Ravenclaw.  He smiled and tilted his head to the side as he took the boy’s hand from his mouth, “Wow, such smooth hands! So pretty.  Almost like a young girl’s.” Without hesitating, Eli placed a light kiss on the backside of the boy’s hand and let go.  When he heard the sound of books hitting the floor, it was his turn to giggle.

“I’ll see you around,” Eli winked and strolled confidently past the stunned Ravenclaw, whistling one of his favorite christmas tunes.

Eli zipped up his black jacket and put the hood up as he walked out into the courtyard.  It was snowing lightly outside and heaven forbid that white stuff touched his head. Eli hated rain, snow, and hail.  Anything falling from the sky was a no-no, no-go. 

He dusted off his favorite bench that was located conveniently right by a tree so that he could sit and lean up against the back.  It was very relaxing, just being outside and stuff.  Even though it was getting colder out, the need for fresh air and sanity still lingered in most students. 

Eli sighed, leaning his head back against the tree.

Wham!

Eyes widening, Eli lifted his hand to his fallen hood.  His hand touched his damp hair, quickly brushing off the excess snow.  His cheeks turned red, hands forming fists as he stood up to his feet and looked around.

“YAH! WHO THREW THAT?!”

impression

The closest one in sight was a blond boy, ankle-deep in the snow, his face flushed with the cold and his lips curved into a smile that Eli would be able to see even from his bench. "Sorry!" he called, not sounding very sorry at all. He looked like he'd been in the middle of a snowball fight, judging from the ice crusting his jeans and light jacket,  and the occasional yell or dark figure darting about behind him only furthered this assumption. Maybe he could have gotten away with protesting that the snowball that hit Eli was only an accident - a byproduct of the game the other students were playing - except that any snowball that could've hit Eli would have to be very out of the way indeed.

Of course, it had been no accident. Strolling into the courtyard with his hood over his head, lounging on the bench with just the right combination of unsuspecting ease and obvious preoccupation - come on, really?  Eli had just been begging to be hit. Erin moved his sparkling smile up another notch, the very picture of fresh-faced innocence as he stood in the snow and waited for Eli to grumble and move on, and wondered whether he should add this smooth-faced victim to his mental tally as a boy or a girl. So far, Erin had three girls, two boys, one professor, and it was still snowing.

"Sorry!"

"SORRY?! Sorry isn't going to fix my hair back to perfection, you br-" Eli stopped when his eyes found the source of the male voice who had fessed up to the crime.  It didn't take long before Eli changed his plan of action.  He was going to spare this boy a ear-slitting rant.  Why?  Two words: Tall and Blond.

Eli brushed off some more snow from the shoulder of his black jacket before crossing his arms and strolling over to the other.  'Damn, I need to try stuffing more shoe lifts in here...' He thought, seeing that he was about a good two inches shorter than boy.  But he wasn't going to let the other's height intimidate him, oh no, because Eli had other strengths working in his favor.

"That smile isn't fooling no one, pretty boy, least of all me," Eli's hands moved down to his sides as he smirked up at the other, "Now the way I see it, you owe me an apology.  And I'm not going to let you alone until I get one.... a sincere one.  If that doesn't happen, I'll kiss you.  Then we'll be even - fair and square!"

His smile gained the lazy edge of a grin as his victim started to yell at him. Erin thrived on confrontation, and although he was mildly disappointed when Eli stopped, he didn't have to be so for long. Not when Eli followed this up by crossing his arms over his chest and coming over. As he got closer, the issue of his sex was resolved - Erin's eyes flicked over the flat chest, the adam's apple, and the more masculine hands, ignoring the darkly lashed eyes, pretty lips, and shorter stature. Male, then, and his voice confirmed it. A prissy little bloke, too, if his concern for his hair was any indication.

He looked a tiny bit familiar, a little closer up - hang on, hadn't Erin seen him hanging around with Beatrix? But as soon as he made the association, he dismissed it, or tried to, concentrating fiercely on the situation at hand. Erin didn't want to think about Beatrix. Now, or ever.

"That smile isn't fooling no one, pretty boy, least of all me."

Immediately Erin's smile lost its dazzling kilowatt glow as he dropped the "innocent interloper" angle, instead picking up a smirk as indicative of his House as the Slytherin colors around his neck. "Ah, it rarely does," he said with a what can you do? sort of shrug.  There was still a sense of anticipation to him, though he'd dropped the act, still an eagerness, and an exuberance. The same restless abandon that had him outside throwing snowballs at strangers was in him, itching for a fight. Erin loved fighting, and he was certain there was no way this confrontation could end without one. The boy in front of him didn't have his wand out yet, and he was short, really kind of delicate looking, and Erin was certain he could take him -

"Now the way I see it, you owe me an apology.  And I'm not going to let you alone until I get one.... a sincere one.  If that doesn't happen, I'll kiss you.  Then we'll be even - fair and square!"

This time even the smirk disappeared.

"What?" he asked blankly, looking puzzled, uncertain, and picking up immediately on what this implied about Eli. No straight guy would ever threaten with a kiss over a punch or a good old hex. But Erin only filed this information away and moved on. None of this bothered Erin unduly. He was friends with Fergie, after all, who surely would've had his head off for messing up his hair or outfit or no-doubt strenuous beauty regime at any time of year - not, after all, that this would stop Erin from doing so. The only problem Erin had with Fergie's sexuality was his horrible taste in certain blond-haired prefects. (Erin could see wrapping an arm around Schalgenweit's waist or murmuring into his ear to make him flush, uncomfortable and unhappy, but the idea of doing it with good will or out of affection escaped him completely. Amherst was ridiculous.)

And right now, the only problem that Erin had with Eli's sexuality was that it involved him. If it'd been a girl offering - the slightest thought of Beatrix, which Erin immediately and mercilessly squashed - well, he would have been all ready to deny any possibility of an apology. But a boy was another matter entirely...

A sincere apology was out of the question, any way one looked at it. Erin wouldn't have been able to muster up the regret for a real apology if one of his victims had been Headmistress Snark herself, and only an apology stood between him and being suspended. Fake apologies, now, that was another thing, he could do one of those real good. Of course, Eli hadn't been fooled before, but Erin had been laying it on particularly thick then, not caring if his chosen splattered-with-snow saw through the brilliant smile to the malicious intent below.

Should he even bother to try - was the other boy bluffing? Erin was used to being threatened with thumpings, not kisses; this all seemed rather surreal to him.

"...Very frightening," he drawled, after a suitably long pause.

Eli's eyes narrowed the slightest bit.  It was now that the alarm bells in his head were signaling to him that this guy was trouble.  Of course, well, he wasn't all that great at acting with his head on straight when angry.  It was one of Eli's shortcomings that often got him into situations, like these, where he figured he was in over his head.  But unlike other people who would apologize and try to run from the situation, Eli chose to confront it.  It was his hot head and raging hormones that had him standing in front of the taller Slytherin boy.  And, as terribly attractive as he was, Eli wasn't so hot on the guy's attitude.  Definitely one of those 'bad boy' types.  Hot, yes, but they always meant trouble.

"What?"

The Slytherin's response to Eli's threat of a kiss had worked a bit of its magic - slightly throwing the other off guard.  Eli suppressed an amused smile.  So there was ways of throwing the guy off-balance.  Well, he'd have to find more chinks in that armor of his.  From the way the other was hesitating, Eli could assume he wasn't going to get an apology and neither was he expecting one.  No, he just wanted to play with this guy, see how far he could push him without getting his butt hexed in to the next century.

"...Very frightening,"

Eli nodded, "Indeed. These lips are lethal and precious."  He gently ran his pointer finger along the bottom of his lower lip, "Who knows where they've been and who they've kissed?  It would be a shame to waste such a lips on a person like you...." 

Eli sighed and took a step forward slowly.

"But what to do?  You won't apologize and, even though I'm sure it would be a waste, I still really want to kiss you."

"These lips are lethal and precious."

Erin gave him a dubious look, obviously not believing that said lips were particularly lethal or precious. While Eli's way of running his finger over them was oddly distracting, his wording made Erin immediately wonder whether the other boy had some sort of horrible disease. The wizarding version of mono left the affected with features glowing the cherry-red of a hot furnace and the propensity to drop asleep at random moments, and it would make a lot more sense if that was what Eli was referring to. If Erin had mono,  he'd go around kissing everyone he didn't like, too.

But while the kissing disease was embarrassing, it didn't tend to kill. Erin didn't think he was talking about mono, anyways. Eli looked perfectly healthy and not likely to drop asleep at this highly convenient moment, damn him.

Eli blabbered on, something about wasting his lips on Erin - yeah, right - and how he still wanted to kiss him - really quite strange, this one - and Erin got the definite impression that he wasn't the only one who'd been in this situation before. Stuck between a pair of lips and a hard place... Erin bet this guy was some sort of serial kisser. It was horrifying, really. He wondered if he could make a case for molestation. Since he'd been the one to throw the snowball, probably not.

He was lost in thoughts of how he would explain this to someone when Eli stepped forward. Automatically, Erin took a step back. But he caught himself in the middle of the motion, cursed inwardly at the unintended reaction, and turned it into a low bow.

"I'm sorry," he said, without preamble. "So, so sorry to have besmirched that - " obviously dyed - "blonde hair, the very visage of which I am not worthy to see, much less smother in snow. Please accept my most humble of apologies." He looked up from his bowed position with mournful blue eyes, the very picture of regret that he ruined immediately after by batting his eyelashes outrageously at Eli. Then, without even waiting to see Eli's reaction to his "apology,"  he took off over the snow, cackling to himself - the best thing about bowing? It gave a good starting position to bolt. Let's see Eli catch him now!

Playing with other people was always amusing.  Putting them in uncomfortable situations and watching them try to work their way out... struggling with words, thoughts, and actions... It was fun.  Of course, Eli would never do anything terribly cruel.  He had friends who took care of that.  He just liked using his 'talents' to stir up a little trouble now and then.  There were no rules against that, was there?  And besides, it wasn't entirely his fault that the other party complied with these games of his.  They always had the choice of just ignoring Eli all together.  But, they never did.  Which made Eli think he was irresistible and gave his ego even more of a elephant-like boost.

In a way, Eli was just playing around with Erin.  He was also trying to get payback for being hit with a snowball.  And if there had to be another reason, okay, Eli couldn't deny the fact that the younger Slytherin was incredibly attractive.  He was using a lot of self-restraint to keep himself from pouncing. Not quite an easy thing, mind you.  Eli lacked both patience and self-control.

When Erin bowed, Eli was honest-to-goodness thrown off guard.  No one had ever bowed to him before.  Not even in apology.  Slightly flustered, his mouth dropped open the slightest bit as he listened to the buttery words coming from Erin's mouth.  The strange thing was Eli was almost buying it...  Almost.  But it was then that Erin batted his lashes and dashed away. 

Eli's bewilderment quickly turned into annoyance and frustration.  Oh, heck no!  That boy wasn't going to get away like that!  He was going to get exactly what Eli had promised...

Taking out his wand, Eli started off after Erin and sent the tripping jinx after the other.  This was his opportunity, his open window.  Eli reached the point where Erin was on the floor and hopped on top of him, pinning his arms down.

"Not so fast there, mate... You forgot something," Eli smirked as he quickly pressed his lips on the unsuspecting boy underneath him.

Just when Erin thought he was home free, that bloody prat went and jinxed him.

"Unfair!" he howled as he went down, his cheeks flushing an unattractive shade of red. He didn't even have time to get up before Eli pounced; nevertheless, he gave a good attempt to squirm away, his shoulder blades digging into the stone of the floor. "I didn't forget anything! I apologi- mmf."

Before he had the chance to cajole, threaten, finish his sentence, or even protest that his wand - previously in his back pocket - was becoming far too uncomfortably familiar with certain parts of his anatomy, the bloke kissed him.

It was surprisingly not awful. It was, if Erin had been forced to admit it, actually kind of okay. Kissing was kissing, after all. And Eli was petite like a girl and he smelled bizarrely good, the implications of which were going to make Erin's head hurt later. It was over a moment or two, but it took Erin an extra one to realize Eli had stopped.

 ...That was it? Erin relaxed. That'd been nothing! If Erin was going to kiss someone as punishment, it wasn't going to be some tender little kiss - he'd have gone for a snog, definitely. NOT THAT HE WANTED A SNOG FROM ELI, his mind was quick to chime in. But Eli still had his arms pinned, so Erin raised an eyebrow at him and hoped he looked lofty and imperious enough that Eli would get the hint and let go. He also hoped his face had stopped being so red, as that was unlikely to make him look either lofty or imperious.

Eli hardly ever thought rationally in times where his emotions were in control.  Act first, think later - he was one of those people.  And because of it he had had his share of detentions and furious lectures from professors and adults alike, but none of that ever seemed to change how he acted.  Eli was perfectly okay with acting on impulse since most of the time that was how he got what he wanted. 

At the moment, Eli was stuck in a strange place.  His head was telling him that he'd kissed Erin, therefore getting what he wanted, and should just let him go with maybe.... a warning or something.  But another part of him felt disappointed.  As far as kisses went, that hadn't been anything.  Just a touch of lips.  Sure, it was nice.  Erin had nice, soft lips but... Eli wanted more.  That other part of him was telling him to damn it all to hell and just kiss him again, but this time really kiss him.

Eli looked down at Erin's face, biting his bottom lip as he debated with himself.  The other's face was noticeably red, somewhat to Eli's satisfaction, and he seemed to be looking at Eli, waiting for his next move.  Ugh, this guy... Eli couldn't make up his mind whether he didn't like Erin or... did... kinda, maybe.  He was definitely intrigued, that was certain. 

And, okay, when would he get a chance like this again?....

"Fine, okay, whatever," Eli muttered out loud as he finally made a decision, "To heck with it, I guess this means I owe you now..."

This time when Eli's lips met Erin's, it was with more force, with more feeling.  His eyes closed as he savored the sensation of the other's lips.  Yeah, Eli definitely liked this much better.  Definitely worth it and blah blah..... did it really matter?  He didn't want the kiss to end, but of course it had to.  They couldn't stay on the stone floor all day.

When Eli's lips disconnected, he smiled, very pleased with himself.  He rolled off of Erin to the side and leaned back on his arms.

"Mmm, much better."

The imperious eyebrow was not working. This guy was just kinda staring at him, and chewing on his lip looking deep in thought. He looked, in fact, like he was torn in some inner debate, but despite this his eyes never left Erin's face, and Erin could feel himself flushing again.

Usually, he would have said something, anything - probably insulting. It would've helped maybe get Eli off of him, which lying there all quiet would not accomplish. But Erin felt like he'd already exhausted himself with the eyebrow raising, and oddly enough, the longer Eli looked at him the less capable of speech he felt. Erin diverted his gaze, hoping that would help, but the only thing he realized in his very careful study of the stones just to the right of his head was that Eli was very warm, and he very definitely wasn't moving.

Erin swallowed. It was the loudest sound in the world.

He pressed his cheek against the stone for a second or two longer, letting it cool his hot face, but at the sound of Eli's voice his head turned back toward the other boy.

Just in time for another kiss. A much longer kiss. Erin wondered briefly if the other boy had read his mind - about snogging people for punishment, obviously not about how he didn't want to snog Eli - but then after that he didn't think anything for a while. This time, Eli wasn't the only one with his eyes closed, nor was he the only one doing the kissing.

After all, Erin figured, what the hell. He and Eli weren't too different in their impulsiveness or irrationality; Erin also tended to go with what felt good rather than what felt right. Someone was kissing him, so why not? He might as well enjoy himself.

And he did enjoy himself, so much so that when Eli rolled off him for one blind moment Erin almost followed him. Then he checked himself, blinking the dazed look out of his eyes in a hurry when the cold air hit his abandoned front. And once that sensation had hit, Erin realised that he could in fact no longer feel his backside at all, much less the wand that had at one point been pressing into him very uncomfortably. But he didn't let being half-frozen dissuade him, although he did sit up very hurridly; at least he couldn't feel the effects of his wand placement yet, and sitting up lent him an intriguing view of his molester.

Who was propped up on his arms and looking as satisfied as a well-fed cat, and still watching him. 

"Mmm, much better."

Hesitantly, Erin licked his lips. This made no difference to their general... wetness, so he pressed them to the back of his sleeve. "Agreed," he said after a long, long pause.

Eli's head was swimming with thoughts of the boy he had just kissed... twice.  The first kiss was, what? Sweet? Short? Short and sweet and not enough and it was all Eli.  But the second kiss.  Man, the second kiss...  How could he describe it?  It was exhilarating, wonderful, addicting, and to make things better, Eli hadn't been the only one putting in all the effort.  That was the part that got him the most, and that was why he couldn't stop thinking about Erin.  Was this guy...?  Oh, please, Lord if he was, please let Eli be the first to find out, please please please! Damn he knew how to use those lips.

"Agreed,"

'Aren't you glad I kissed you? hehehe...' Eli chuckled as he thought to himself.  He smiled.  The thought of dragging Erin to the nearest broom closet was oh so tempting.  And the only thing that probably stopped him was the fact he was still prancing around on cloud nine.

"Yeah, I definitely owe you for that one.  Definitely worth it, though......" Eli's eyes went wide and a mischievous grin graced his feminine lips, "Can we do it again?"

It seemed to be the pity of Erin's young life that his last two kisses had been either from people completely unattainable or the same gender, both issues which were sure to cause some problems. Worse still was that those two kisses were the only ones that, to him, mattered. Beatrix had been... well, let's face it, Erin was still chasing her now, and she had a devoted boyfriend (HIS DORMMATE, THE WENCH), a steady, happy relationship, and a profound distaste for certain blonde-haired Slytherins which she apparently suspended long enough to snog and/or break their hearts. On the other hand, Eli seemed more than willing to continue, but while Erin had no problem with people who chose that kind of thing, those other people had never before been himself. It was one thing to enjoy a good snog, regardless of the person one was snogging, and quite another to want to do it again, or to want possibly even more than that.

"Can we do it again?"

Erin glanced up, eyes wide and startled. Whatta smile, his treacherous mind supplied, and completely against his wishes he found his gaze going to Eli's mouth again. It was a particularly pretty one. "What? Uh, no, I - I gotta go." He reined in the insistent urge to jump Eli and scrambled to his feet instead, conflicting thoughts running through his head. On one hand, it would be so easy to just sit down again, and lean over ... but on the other hand, Eli was a boy. A really, really (his mental tone turned wistful) really good kisser, but still a boy. It was a fact that had seemed so much less important a few minutes ago when the choice came down to a simple "kiss back" or "pull away," but much like the realization that his back was entirely frozen, there were some things Erin hadn't had the presence of mind to consider until they'd stopped.

He turned to leave, keeping his steps casual and unhurried by sheer will power alone, but paused to turn back for a moment with an odd look on his face. "What's your name?' he asked.

"What? Uh, no, I - I gotta go."

The smile on Eli's face fell.  He turned his gaze to the ground as Erin stood up from the ground.  Okay, so maybe he was hoping for more.  Yeah, he knew it was silly to.  It was obvious Erin wasn't used to snogging members of the same sex, so Eli shouldn't have expected more.  But just because he shouldn't didn't mean that he wanted to and hoped for it any way. 

Of course, Eli couldn't keep his eyes off the other for much longer.  As soon as he looked back up, he regretted doing so.  Eli had the sudden urge to jump on the taller guy's back and hang from his neck. 'Hey, I don't like that you messed up my hair but I sure do like your lips... especially when they're on mine,' He thought as the other turned to walk away. 

Eli, too, stood himself off from the cold, stone floor.   Oh sure, he would have stayed down there for awhile longer, but from this height he had a better view of Erin's backside.  And a nice backside it was. 

"What's your name?'

'The person who could show you paradise and a half...' Eli mused to himself as his eyes flew upwards to Erin's face.  "Eli. Eli Park," He replied, "Look me up sometime, y'know, if you have anything else you want to 'apologize' for."

"Eli," Erin repeated to himself, as if committing the name to memory. Pity he and Sellaphix didn't get along - the Hufflepuff boy was the noisiest gossip monger Erin knew, and right now he wouldn't mind hearing some gossip about this Eli Park. Ah, well. Someone was bound to know something.

As tempting as it was to leave Eli without his name, that wasn't exactly fair. He inclined his head in deliberate, faint mimicry of his earlier bow and said only, "Erin Harper."

"Look me up sometime, y'know, if you have anything else you want to 'apologize' for."

Erin's brow rumpled as if he meant to scowl, but despite himself the corners of his lips quirked up in an small, bemused smile. "We'll see," he said, and now he left, his steps only casual until he turned the corner, at which point he broke into a run for the Slytherin dorms. Middle of the afternoon, no one'd be there, and right now Erin was rather inclined to a spot of solitude.