<div class="floatleft">(https://i.imgur.com/MA22noE.jpg)</div><div class="floatright">(https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/harrypotter/images/a/ae/Hogwartscrest.png/revision/latest?cb=20110806202805)</div><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>NAME:</strong> Curtis "Curt" Roark (https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=299655.msg14654145#msg14654145)<br/><strong>YEAR:</strong> Hufflepuff 7th Year<br/><strong>BLOOD STATUS:</strong> Muggle Born<br/><strong>WAND:</strong> 10'', Dogwood, Unicorn Hair, very stiff and straight (https://pm1.narvii.com/6506/c464ab22ecb450fbb6fea0aab93986aa74e2fa00_hq.jpg)<br/><strong>WEARING:</strong> You ready for a freakshow? (https://i.imgur.com/fCUZfmu.jpg) Plus the sunglasses from avatar in his hair.<br/><strong>DATE | TIME:</strong> 6 September, 2019 | Evening<br/><strong>LOCATION:</strong> Stairs | Heading Towards Hufflepuff Common Room<br/><strong>CONTENT:</strong> Being a shitty friend.<br/><strong>MOOD MUSIC:</strong> Extraordinary Rendition - Sons of an Illustrious Father (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtigvvSPJxM)<br/><strong>TAGGING:</strong> Derek Darley | CLOSED </td></tr></tbody></table><br/><br/><hr/><br/>Mate. Curt used to hate how much Derek said that, but over the years it had grown on him. Only Derek was allowed to say it to him without him rolling his eyes. It was affectionate between them. It was a sign of their friendship that he tolerated it and even expected it. He'd feel weird if Derek didn't call him<em>mate</em>at least once during a conversation. He had kind of missed hearing it. It was outside his usual personality, but Curt lowered his head a little. He knew he was in the wrong. He had let his situation with someone else affect his friendship and that was wrong.<br/><br/>He didn't lift his head until he felt Derek hugging him. It was a little awkward, but not entirely so. Hell, Derek had seen him naked, pulled things out of his body, seen him bloodied up, and they had even fooled around once in an attempt to have sex that ended with both of them realizing it would be too weird. The hug only felt awkward because they were at some kind of impasse in their relationship. Curt was a physical person and it felt kind of nice to hug his friend. Even if they had never been big on hugging before. And why did Derek smell like bug slime?<br/><br/>Pulling out of the hug, he let Derek ask his questions, feeling the other wizard's hands on his shoulders. Keeping him grounded and keeping him from avoiding the situation anymore. Lie. His heart screamed at him to spar Derek from the drama and just lie. Tell him that it was work and it was starting to depress him. Tell him that his parents were refusing to support his future goals and it was stressing him out. Tell him that his brother was sick again and it was just hard. Luckily, Curt was capable of listening to his brain, "I know you want to help, cause you're the best mate a guy can have. I just...I didn't want to get you involved. I thought it might be hard on you..."<br/><br/>That was a terrible excuse and he knew it, "I didn't want to drag you into my shit with your sister. It's hard seeing you without her showing up sometimes," he finally admitted, "Your sister pulled some shitty stuff on me this summer and it was just easier to distance myself from the both of you than to deal with it," it felt like weight off his chest, but it didn't make him feel better, "If you weren't aware, your sister is a fucking bitch," he was sure most people couldn't get away with saying that to Derek, but he was sure his friend knew how Curt felt about his sister at this point. He was either madly in love with her or felt like she was Satan incarnate.<br/><br/>Sighing, he leaned back against the stone wall and crossed his arms, "I'll be fine. Really."