<div class="floatleft">(https://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/f/f6/DU3TpeFXUAAkBHq.jpg)</div><div class="floatright">(https://i.imgur.com/A5xScp0.png)</div><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>NAME:</strong> Cairon Hildebrondus (https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=299655.msg14674976#msg14674976)<br/><strong>HOUSE | YEAR:</strong> Ravenclaw, 7th year<br/><strong>BLOOD STATUS:</strong> Half-blood<br/><strong>WAND:</strong> 10 9/16" | pine | dragon heartstring | inflexible <br/><strong>WEARING:</strong> Forest green hoodie, jeans, trainers<br/><strong>DATE | TIME:</strong> September 1st, late morning<br/><strong>LOCATION:</strong> On the train to Hogwarts<br/><strong>CONTENT:</strong> Musing out loud<br/><strong>MOOD MUSIC:</strong> I'm Not In Love (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STugQ0X1NoI)<br/><strong>TAGGING:</strong> Addison Snow</td></tr></tbody></table><br/><hr/><br/>The Icelander settled herself even more snugly against him, her obvious contentedness seeping into him through their points of contact.  Her words, like his own, were comforting in more ways than one.  It was meant to be a convenient and comfortable relationship...agreed on by both of them to be so.<br/><br/>His eyes rose from her after she fell asleep, his own mind awake but wandering through a plethora of thoughts.  This was, indeed, the end of their time at Hogwarts.  The beginning of the end, at least.  But those words she'd spoken, it seemed, had stirred some deeper thoughts within his mind.<br/><br/><em>“Whatever happens, Cai, we won’t lose touch.” </em><br/><br/>Funny, the sensations one could have when relaxed and at peace...even with a storm of uncertainty just outside the vicinity of your present life.  It was the beginning of an epiphany for the young man, so used to tension over his own place in his tiny family and the world in general.  Here, on the Express, with Addison curled up against him...it was the most serene he'd felt since...<br/><br/>...ever.<br/><br/>He let go his intellectual thread then, on an impulse, and followed his emotions...let slip his ties to his fathers, to Rohesia, even Janus.  Cai knew there were other ways of knowing than pure logic, and in that moment sensed a need to walk a different path.  Brown eyes glided down again to the pleasantly settled Miss Snow, and observed her for several moments.  He noticed how serene she herself looked; as if some weight was lifted from her in sleep.  Innocent, too, surprisingly.  Trusting.<br/><br/>He had no reason to doubt either her words or his own, on the convenience and practicality of their simple connection.  It hardly ever needed to be mentioned, so easily and thoroughly had they taken to it.  But looking at her there, in a moment of sublime peace, he felt a surge of protectiveness over her.  She wasn't getting on well at home, regardless of the lack of details he had.  He knew her well enough, and was a good read of body language and tone.  Addison was a strong woman; she'd shown it enough times.  But right now...<br/><br/>Cai traced over her features with his gaze, guided by his softened consciousness, picking up details he'd not have noticed before: a lack of tension in her upper cheeks and around her eyes; the same relaxation allowing her lips to part somewhat in her slumber.  Normally, her eyes were her most arresting feature, but with them shuttered, he noticed for the first time just how fetching her lips were, especially in such repose...<br/><br/>And he caught himself.  Actually, he was surprised how easily he recognized the emotions.  He wasn't the most successful at relationships, and he could admit that to himself, but he still knew well enough how to recognize growing feelings for someone.  He didn't chastise himself, however, nor try to bury what he felt.  It may have partly been the zone he was in, and partly his own utter acceptance of irrefutable facts; in either case, he simply sat there, and allowed himself to feel what he was feeling, sans inner editor.  It was a wise choice for so young a man, and it offered him quite a novel and different experience than he'd had with any other girl before.  Confronting those budding feelings gave him a simple, rare, and invaluable peek into his own inner workings--that not only did he hide his true self from others...but also from himself.  It was an insight that troubled him, and would trouble him moreso as he digested the discovery.<br/><br/>For now, though, he only added a sigh to the constant, drowse-producing sounds of the train and its carriages, and allowed himself to follow his beautiful, pale-haired compartment-mate into peaceful slumber.