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Post by Cillian Knight on May 6, 2018 17:44:32 GMT -6
Cillian liked to think that he was a relatively composed boy. Sure, he had his moments of anger and frustration – who didn’t – but for the most part, he was able to deal with the things which irritated him in a relatively neutral way, if not an altogether productive one. But sometimes things built up inside of him to the point where he simply could not contain himself any longer, and when that happened those feelings exploded out of him in ways that were neither productive, nor healthy, and not so occasionally wound up creating a bigger problem for him than the thing which had angered him in the first place. It was frustrating, not so much because of the situations they caused, but because of how little volition Cillian seemed to have over his emotional flare-ups. They made him feel like his emotions were completely outside of his control, and if there was one thing that Cillian hated most in the world, it was feeling as though he lacked control over a situation.
So perhaps the sensible thing to do when he saw that Slytherin boy snatch away Xanthus’ sketchbook would have been to get a professor. Maybe the levelheaded response to seeing him dance about and taunt him would have been to calmly intervene and try to make him stop. He probably could have taken the sketchbook out of his hands when he was loosely dangling it from his fingertips while staring at Xanthus. But none of those things properly occurred to Cillian in the moment. There seemed to be nobody else in this secluded corner of the grounds, where Xanthus must have slipped off alone to draw until he was interrupted, nobody else to act or intervene. As each successive step took him closer to the altercation, the amount of Cillian’s brain which was functioning on any level other than pure white-hot rage rapidly receded to a single point. Until, less than a meter away, what little restrain he had left vanished with a single cruel sentence.
“Why don’t you run crying to mommy? Oh wait! You can’t!”
The sound which escaped Cillian’s lips was not altogether human as he leapt at the older student, knocking him off his feet and thudding to the dust in a flurry of limbs and fists, the sketchbook falling lightly to the floor, quite forgotten. The world beyond vanished in a haze of indiscernible rage as they rolled in the dirt, fists flying in both directions. He didn’t know how long they’d been at one another when a flash of blue light separated them from one another, sending Cillian flying back in one direction and his adversary in the other. No one spoke, for a moment they stared at one another, their breaths heavy and ragged, as the girl whose spell had broken them apart picked up Cillian’s opponent by his underarm and pulling him back towards the castle. Leaving Cillian alone, delirious from the stew of rage-filled chemicals still bathing his brain, breathing heavily where he sat on the cold hard ground.
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Post by Xanthus Strong on May 6, 2018 18:26:39 GMT -6
Over the years he'd found a number of secluded places to slip off to when he wanted peace and quiet to read or draw. Today had been one such day. It was a pretty day with not a cloud in the sky and he'd been sitting outside with his sketchbook in his lap working slowly on getting down the grounds when suddenly a shadow fell over him. Slowly he glanced up hoping to see someone he knew and felt dread in his stomach at seeing one of the older students that had a bad habit of picking on him standing there with a smirk on his face. The Ravenclaw didn't even get the chance to try and protect his sketchbook as it was snatched away from him and the Slytherin started flipping through making noises and small comments about the pictures inside. Xanthus quickly climbed to his feet, chewing on his bottom lip as he tried to get up to courage to make the student give his sketchbook back.
Then the teasing started. He stared up at one of his most prized possessions as it was dangled over his head and just out of his reach. He knew he was supposed to jump for it. Make useless attempts to grab it so that he could be entertainment for the Slytherin, but he didn't. He wasn't going to demand it back, but he wasn't going to make an idiot out of himself trying to get it either...no matter how much he wanted it. Instead he just stared sadly up at the book as the taunts continued, tears starting to gather in his eyes at some of the crueler words.
"Why don't you run crying to mommy? Oh wait! You can't!"
A tear slipped from his eye at that and Xanthus was reaching up to wipe it away when suddenly someone very familiar was there knocking the older boy to the ground. The Ravenclaw was so shocked that he didn't even notice his sketchbook falling to the ground as he watched the fight going on in front of him with wide eyes. It wasn't until the girl who'd accompanied the Slytherin broke the duo apart and dragged her friend away that Xanthus shook himself out of his stupor.
"Cillian! Are you alright?!" He hurried over to the Gryffindor and fell to his knees as he began to check the angry sitting teen over.
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Post by Cillian Knight on May 6, 2018 19:34:55 GMT -6
The sound of Xanthus’ voice softly calling his name floated through the haze to whatever corner of his being his sanity had taken refuge in, rousing the part of him which had retreated in the face of the uncontrollable maelstrom of his fury. Xanthus’ voice was like an antidote, purging the hatred that was pouring forth from Cillian’s soul, and banishing his rage with ease. Cillian’s eyes swiftly sought out the source of the inquiry, finding Xanthus and looking him over with concern. The telltale signs of the boy’s earlier tears were readily apparent, as was his concern for Cillian after what had just happened, but all in all he seemed to be in one piece, which was what really mattered at the end of the day.
“Hey Xan.” Cillian replied, feeling his cheeks burn as he realized how stupid the Ravenclaw boy must think he was. He had just jumped another student, he could have gotten into huge trouble – maybe even expelled – if a teacher had happened to walk by, and completely lost his mind all because of a few admittedly horrid insults. To someone like Xanthus, he must seem like an absolute sociopath. It wasn’t that he wanted to be so hot-headed about these things, it just happened before he could react, circumventing the thought process that was supposed to prevent him from doing anything this stupid. He knew the question that Xanthus surely wanted to ask, but which he left unsaid for purposes of politeness – ‘What the hell is wrong with you?’
So rather than answer the question which Xanthus posed to him, inquiring after his own health, Cillian muttered darkly “He shouldn’t treat you like that.” A moment later, as something of an afterthought, Cillian added “He shouldn’t treat anyone like that.” but the implications of his initial statement were not lost on Cillian. He was all too aware of his own shortcomings, including the fact that he had something of a short temper and tried to be the savior of every misfit and nerd who ever found themselves the target of a bully, but this was different. Cillian had never flown off the handle like this, and he didn’t know why he had this time, but he did have one clue. It definitely had something to do with the particular target of this particular act of cruelty.
“I’m fine.” Cillian insisted, the adrenaline pumping through his body making him oblivious to the mild damage his body had suffered. His arms and legs were covered in small scrapes of various sizes, and a small gash across his forehead was dripping blood down his cheek. “I’m just worried about you." he insisted. "That guy didn’t…do anything to you, did he?” he asked, appearing half ready to leap to his feet and go charging off to the castle should Xanthus indicate he had suffered physical harm.
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Post by Xanthus Strong on May 6, 2018 20:25:44 GMT -6
Xanthus was a little confused on why it mattered how he was treated. Then again he tended to be confused on why people wanted to interact with him to begin with most of the time so this wasn't unusual. It did feel a little like butterflies were fluttering around in his stomach at the darkly muttered words though and perhaps there was a little disappointment at the added thought, but as he always did he pushed such things from his mind to focus on more important things.
"No he didn't do anything to me," Xanthus assured as he watched the blood leaking from his friend's forehead, "and you aren't fine."
He pulled one of his long sleeves over his hand and reached up with the intention to wipe away the blood but paused just before doing so and glanced at the injured teen for permission.
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Post by Cillian Knight on May 6, 2018 20:59:50 GMT -6
Cillian blinked when Xanthus approached him, sleeve pulled over his palm like a rag, and looking at him for reassurance. Wordlessly, Cillian nodded his head, too stunned to react as he slowly came down from his adrenaline high. He still felt like he should be moving, running, doing something and just sitting still felt incredibly wrong in the current situation, but there wasn’t anything else to do but sit there, and allow Xanthus to tend to whatever injuries he seemed to believe Cillian was suffering from. He was still certain that he was fine, but if Xanthus wanted to fret over him…well, Cillian actually thought that sounded rather nice actually.
“Good.” Cillian muttered, venom leaking back into his voice at the thought of what he would have done to that Slytherin student if Xanthus had suffered physical harm, before realizing that he was letting himself slip down that path again. “Good.” He repeated, his tone more neutral as he brought himself somewhat more under control.
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Post by Xanthus Strong on May 8, 2018 14:52:33 GMT -6
Given permission Xanthus finished leaning forward to gently dab at the slowly bleeding cut on Cillian's head. It wasn't that it was a bad cut or even that it was bleeding terribly, but he needed to do something to help the Gryffindor.
"You shouldn't have risked yourself like that," he said quietly as he finished wiping the blood away from the other teen's face and leaned back to sit on his heels, "you could have gotten seriously hurt."
Just the idea of the Gryffindor getting hurt trying to stand up for him made something in his chest tighten and made him feel like he was going to be sick.
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Post by Cillian Knight on May 8, 2018 17:00:41 GMT -6
Cillian flinched when Xanthus wiped at his forehead with a corner of his sleeve, the mild pressure serving as Cillian’s first realization of the fact that there seemed to be something wrong up there. Up until this moment, his lingering adrenaline had blotted out any pain which might have been radiating from the cut which Xanthus was so concerned over, but his attentions combined with the passage of time were enough to start to bring Cillian’s attention to the injury. “Okay, maybe he got me just a little bit.” Cillian admitted ruefully, the first time he had conceded that he had indeed suffered any form of injury from the altercation.
Still, Cillian was determined to maintain a tough façade, and that meant not showing any signs of pain, so he gritted his teeth and planted his heels a bit more firmly as Xanthus continued to look him over. “Wouldn’t ‘a done anything if he hadn’t treated you so rotten.” Cillian protested, when Xanthus insisted that he shouldn’t have put himself at risk, though the two of them would have to disagree as to just how ‘at risk’ Cillian’s health had been. “Besides,” Cillian added, a touch of his old bravado returning, “You don’t think that guy could have hurt me, do you?” This question was punctuated by an involuntary wince from Cillian as Xanthus finished his clean-up job, causing Cillian to grudgingly add “Well, seriously hurt me anyways.” A few nicks were nothing to be concerned about, Cillian got more beat up every time he got on a Quidditch Pitch. The idea that Xanthus’ gutless attacker could have seriously harmed him was an idea Cillian wouldn’t even entertain.
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Post by Xanthus Strong on May 8, 2018 17:39:55 GMT -6
Xanthus felt his gut twist at Cillian's flinch. It was his fault that his friend was hurt. It didn't matter that it was a small cut or that it had already stopped bleeding. The other teen had been hurting helping him and there was no way he could possibly repay him for it. "A little bit that is probably going to hurt in the morning," he mumbled more to himself than to the other teen.
"It wasn't so bad. I mean...it wasn't good but you know he could have done much worse-" He chewed his bottom lip to stop himself from rambling more because his point had been more than made and he was sure that Cillian was well aware of how things could have went down.
A reluctant smile pulled at the corners of Xanthus' lips at the tone of Cillian's question and he shrugged after taking one more glance over his friend. "Of course I think he could have hurt you worse." He gave a moment's pause before adding with a small grin, "if you'd given him a chance to anyways."
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Post by Cillian Knight on May 8, 2018 18:44:57 GMT -6
Cillian shrugged noncommittally when Xanthus pointed out that he was probably going to be hurting in the morning. “Worth it.” he replied with a loose grin, flashing a wide smile at the Ravenclaw. Rather than dissuade him from making such choices that Xanthus would no doubt deem to be reckless and foolhardy in the future, Xanthus’ fussing only seemed to make Cillian all the more pleased with himself, and with the decisions he had made – go figure. Cillian could be exceedingly obstinate when he wanted to be, but he usually had the common courtesy not to be so damn pleased with himself about it.
“He better not’ve.” Cillian interjected, when Xanthus suggested that the older boy could have done much worse. “Do people do worse to you?” he asked, looking at Xanthus as he reminded him “I told you to tell me if people treat you like that!” Cillian had managed to thoroughly dissuade most of their Year from messing with Xanthus at this point – if only because they didn’t want to deal with the trouble that would no doubt come their way when Cillian heard about it, rather than because they had developed a respect for Xanthus – but there were far too many students in the castle for Cillian to chase down every random Fifth and Sixth Year and threaten them.
Cillian shook his head, pushing himself up off the ground and offering a hand to help Xanthus up. “Right stinking git the lot of them." he muttered.
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Post by Xanthus Strong on May 8, 2018 19:33:28 GMT -6
He really didn't think it was worth it. Not if it was because of him. Still he couldn't stop himself from returning the grin with a smile of his own even as he shook his head.
Xanthus hadn't forgotten that Cillian had wanted to know when someone messed with him, but he had put it out of his mind. He was so used to dealing with it alone (or you know just taking it until they got bored) that he never saw the reason to bring it up in conversation. It was what had led to Cillian normally walking up on the situation and Xanthus almost never having to say a thing.
"No," he glanced off to the side with a small frown. "I mean there was that one time, but Gethin took care of it." It had been one of the few times his best friend had stepped in and actually used violence instead of just threatening to and it'd had Xanthus fretting for a week afterwards about the bully coming back for revenge.
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Post by Cillian Knight on May 9, 2018 22:51:54 GMT -6
Cillian’s easy grin slipped somewhat when Xanthus mentioned Gethin. It was barely perceptible, something you might not notice unless you were specifically looking for it, but the corners of his lips twitched ever so slightly downwards, and the playful spark in his eyes became something strangely darker. “Oh, well that’s nice.” Cillian replied tightly, of course Gethin had taken care of things – because that was what Gethin did, wasn’t it? He fancied himself a magic Mr. Fixit for all of Xanthus’ problems, because he thought that Xanthus was completely incapable of taking care of himself. At least when Cillian stepped in to help he did it out of a sense of fairness and a mantra of today you, tomorrow me. Cillian believed that Xanthus could take care of himself, if only he had the confidence to realize he could do anything. Gethin, it seemed, thought Xanthus wholly incapable of tying his own shoelaces without supervision.
Cillian hadn’t exactly made his disdain of Gethin a secret, and the two had feuded frequently through their time at Hogwarts – both over Xanthus and on a host of wholly unrelated matters. Still, Xanthus was smiling, and as Cillian helped the Ravenclaw boy to his feet he supposed that was the only thing that really mattered. “Were you just heading out, or were you getting ready to come back to the castle?” he asked.
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Post by Xanthus Strong on May 10, 2018 10:11:15 GMT -6
Xanthus didn't notice the change in Cillian's smile, but he did pick up on the tone the other teen used. The Ravenclaw chewed on his bottom lip as he tried to decide if he was going to say something about them getting along (again) or to just leave it as he was helped to his feet. He took a moment to dust himself off before wandering over to pick up his sketchbook that had laid forgotten where the bully had dropped it when Cillian had come to his rescue.
"I was just finishing up a picture," he said quietly as he inspected his book to ensure it wasn't damaged. Satisfied that his item wasn't in any worse condition than it had been before it was taken he turned his attention back to the Gryffindor. "What brought you so far out?"
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Post by Cillian Knight on May 10, 2018 11:41:34 GMT -6
Cillian glanced at Xanthus out of the corner of his eye, curious if the boy might begin flipping through its contents and – perhaps inadvertently – offer him a glimpse of what was inside. For someone who drew so often Xanthus was insanely secretive of his art, and in three years at Hogwarts together Cillian had yet to so much as glimpse more than the merest doodle. It wasn’t that he was expecting the next Mona Lisa to be tucked between the pages of Xanthus’ notebook or anything silly like that, but Cillian was by nature a curious boy -and Xanthus’ obsessive secrecy served only to make him more curious about what he was withholding.
But alas, today was not that day, and Cillian was left disappointed when Xanthus’ superficial examination of his sketchbook did not go beyond the cover, leaving him once again wondering what the Ravenclaw boy was keeping so secret. “I like to come down here sometimes.” Cillian replied with a shrug. “It’s nice and out of the way, nobody ever really passes by here, so it’s a good place if you want a little bit of peace.” Sometimes Cillian just wanted to get away from other people and have some time all to himself. This quiet little corner of the grounds, surrounded by nothing but bushes and trees, usually fit the bill pretty well.
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Post by Xanthus Strong on May 10, 2018 14:13:01 GMT -6
Xanthus felt bad at hearing that Cillian had come out here for peace. It had definitely not been peaceful when the Gryffindor had arrived and even now it wasn't very peaceful with Xanthus' fretting and continued standing there talking to him. "Right...uhm...sorry about...you know," he waved his hand in the direction the bully had disappeared, "all of that. I know it isn't peaceful to deal with...or hear or watch or...well...just...sorry."
By the end of his apology he was mumbling towards the ground as his face burned with embarrassment at his inept apology.
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Post by Cillian Knight on May 10, 2018 18:47:03 GMT -6
Cillian crooked an eyebrow in confusion when Xanthus began stammering apologies, as though he had personally been the one to ruin his afternoon. It wasn't a particularly surprising reaction coming from Xanthus, the boy had a habit of taking far too much onto his own shoulders even when he was far more a bystander - or even a victim - than the perpetrator, but it was the particular fervor of his apologies which surprised Cillian. It was quite a lot, even for Xanthus, and it didn't quite square with Cillian's recollections of prior incidents. It ignited a powerful feeling in his stomach which he couldn't quite place. The sight of Xanthus so despondent filled him with a uniquely powerful desire to ensure the Ravenclaw boy never looked at him that way again. "Xanthus, it's fine. Why are you apologizing?" Cillian interjected, pushing the boy's chin up and offering a reassuring smile. "That guy started with you, it's his fault, not yours."
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