Who needs school when you have sun? (Leo)

[Guest]

The sun was borderline obnoxious with its incredibly bright rays reflecting off of the Black Lake. Adonis found the area to be rather interesting, at least moreso than sitting in a classroom all day. Thank Merlin for the end of the school day. As a Ravenclaw, he was passionate about learning, but he'd rather do so outside rather than pent up behind stone walls.
Another bonus to being outside, away from people, was that he could ignore how hungry he was. Sneaking something from the kitchens wouldn't sate this sort of hunger. Only being away from his fellow students could stifle it, unless he actually ate some(one)thing, but that was generally frowned upon in most societies, the wizarding one included.

[Guest]

"Hey!"

Upon seeing another student, Leo was a waving mess of relief, smiles, and hurried footsteps. Somewhere between switching from the inside of the school to the outside, the boy had been swallowed up by the castle grounds. At this point, even the idea of getting directions from a centaur was entertained by the eleven year old-- not that the Ravenclaw in his line of sight looked anything like a centaur.

[Guest]

"Um, hello," Adonis replied. Behold, the results of solitude, he sighed inwardly. He wiped his disappointed frown from his face before turning to face the new arrival.

"What brings you out here?" The question was more accusatory than Adonis had intended, and his frown returned. He felt somewhat guilty for it, but the Hufflepuff really had it coming.

[Guest]

"I got lost." Leo informed his peer with a shrug. Unlike most of the times he wound up losing his way somewhere, Leo had actually been a bit distressed. Maybe it was because he was supposed to be in class.

"Mind if I sit?" He asked, remembering the manners he so frequently forgot. Employing boundaries was a hassle in his mind, but it was one of the few societal rules his mom actually encouraged.

[Guest]

Adonis was entranced the moment he turned around. Perhaps it was because he was starving, but this boy just looked so... edible. His skin was so soft, and honestly it looked like he hardly worked a day in his life. There was no taut muscle to be seen, no callouses on his hands, or even sun scorches on his cheeks. Adonis had truly never seen someone so perfect, and all he could think about was how he was going to go about obtaining him.

"...sit?" He was so wound up in his thoughts that he completely missed what the boy was saying.

"Sorry, what? I must have zoned out..." Lying was uncomfortable, even if the reply was in part true.

[Guest]

"Oh, um. It's okay! I was just asking if you'd mind if I sat here..." He tapped the spot in question on the ground with his new school shoes, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. The blank look he'd gotten prior to the proposed question and apology had honestly been just a bit intense.

[Guest]

"Oh! Yes I suppose you may. I won't stop you anyhow."

Adonis shifted his bag to the other side of his body to make room for the boy. The grass was already a little flat due to the weight of the books, but that hardly impacted the texture of the tiny plants.

"What's your name?" 

[Guest]

Leo grinned and set himself down on the grass in a motion kin to flopping. The state of the grass after the presence of the stranger's things was of no significance to Leo, as it escaped his notice. He was mostly concerned with the placement of his bum...

"It's Leo! Er, well. Leo Donaghue. You?" He shifted as he asked it, looking for the right position which was evidently not his bum, but his belly.

[Guest]

Was it weird for an eleven year old to be scanning someone's body so hungrily? Adonis really wasn't sure, but Leo really did have a nice rear. Pity he couldn't have him alive and for dinner all at once... Things never worked well that way, as he'd learned before.

"Adonis Rift," the Ravenclaw replied. "I'm a first year. What about you?"

[Guest]

"Me too! Well, I mean my name isn't Adonis Rift....but I'm a first year, like you..." His answer was beginning to turn into a thought being spoken aloud, and his eyes rested on the boy he was talking to in a far east sort of way.

[Guest]

"I figured as much," Adonis chuckled. A dragonfly had its travels abruptly interrupted by the Ravenclaw's thin, delicate hands. With fingers curled like a cage, Adonis watched the bug trying to figure out how to get out.

"Do you like animals?" he asked Leo.

[Guest]

"Yeah. I've got lots back home. Do you?" Leo said, neglecting to specify whether or not he was asking if Adonis liked animals, or if he had any. Like the Ravenclaw, he watched the dragonfly flutter between the curled finger cage, his brow furrowing a bit. In his mind, he was encouraging the insect to find a way out.

[Guest]

"A dog. Frustrating creature. Dumb as a block of wood, and even the wood might be smarter." Adonis wasn't sure what kind of dog it was; it was one of those puppies a parent picked up off the side of the road for their daughter when they couldn't afford one from a real store. "I don't do well with animals. Small ones, at any rate," he mumbled, letting the dragonfly's corpse fall to the ground. Somehow, without him realizing it, his fingers had begun to close and he ended up crushing the poor creature.

[Guest]

"Maybe you should try to be a bit more gentle," Leo suggested softly, carefully plucking the tiny insect from the grass tendrils so it rested in his palm. He looked at the limp dragonfly with sad eyes, thinking of all the happy, living ones that swarmed the small pond in his yard. He couldn't help but think that this one had a pond of it's own, with a big dragonfly family and vibrant lily pads. 

"I think I'll bury it." He announced, voice just above a murmur.

[Guest]

"Why?" The creature was simply another dead thing, hardly an issue for anyone but nature, who had to decompose it. Even people didn't need to be buried, and Adonis still wasn't sure why they were.

[Guest]

Leo shrugged.

"That's what people do, isn't it? My mum says it's how mother nature tucks her children in once they've had enough..." His free hand wrapped around a nearby stone, "...but I think it's to keep the zombies from getting out."

The stone was plunged into the layer of grass, and then further, into the soil. With a digging motion, Leo began to carve out a shallow but adequate grave.

[Guest]

"That doesn't sound remotely appetizing. Zombies, I mean..." Adonis's voice trailed off towards the end of the sentence as he watched Leo meticulously dig the grave.

He moved closer to get a proper look at Leo's work, incidentally hanging over his shoulder to do so.

[Guest]

"...yeah..." Leo replied without thinking, still scraping away at the earth...that is until Adonis's last sentence had some time to sink in. "Wait, what!?" 

Leo's head turned a bit so he could see the face of the boy leaning over his shoulder. Did he hear right? Or did Adonis Rift just imply that he ate dragonflies?

[Guest]

"What?" Adonis piped, startled that Leo's nose was touching his cheek. He knew he'd been close, but he hadn't realized they were that close. He sort of stumbled backwards a little, but not very far. "Did I say something wrong?"

[Guest]

"You eat..." Leo started, wrinkling his nose, "...you eat...dragonflies!?"

[Guest]

"NO! When did I say I ate dragonflies?" Adonis nearly gagged at the prospect of eating insects. They were crunchy and gooey and just downright disgusting in all ways possible. Except butterflies. Butterflies were okay, but he still wouldn't eat them. "I eat what many people would consider strange, yes, but insects are not in that category."

[Guest]

"Strange? What kind of things do you eat?" Leo asked, curious. There wasn't much else that was stranger than eating bugs in his mind, even though his Aunt frequently told he and his sister about how good bugs really do taste.

[Guest]

"Can we just leave it at that I think you look delicious...?" There was no way to put that lightly, or easily, or any good way really. Cannibalism was cannibalism, no matter how it was viewed. Adonis couldn't think of how to explain it to the Hufflepuff without terrifying him, so he just said the first thing that came to mind. Being that Leo had been on his mind the entire time, the phrasing of his explanation didn't come out as well as it probably could have.

[Guest]

Leo turned bright red, and dropped the the dragonfly in it's final resting place. There was a forced laugh, and a weak smile before he brought himself to speak. 

"I um I...th...thanks? You're um handsome and stuff too."

[Guest]

"Oh, thank you, but... Nevermind." Adonis was going to tell Leo that that wasn't even remotely similar to what he'd meant, but thought better of it. A second thought popped into his mind as well. "You think I'm handsome?" No one had ever said that to him, except for his mother, which was sort of required... "And stuff," he added with a wink.

[Sponsored content]