And there she was... Swinging on the swing as if she was five years old. She looked peaceful, yet... irrated. Now, how did that work? Scorpio was sitting across from the Jungle Gum, contemplating once again why teenagers and young adults felt the constant need to act like they were toddlers and play in a playground area.

And, as always.... He had come up with nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch. Just great.

However, this time, he had someone that was going to... entertain. With that, Scorpio stood up from where he had been sitting on one of the many chairs that were around the area and went to stand behind her on the swing as she practised the motions of a charm and then suddenly she was surrounded by butterflies.

"They are beautiful, but they are no match for your gorgeous looks." He said with a soft smirk as he pushed her back gently to get her moving a little on the swing. After all, that was what a swing was designed for... Right? Right.

It was nice to have a break once in a while. Just sit there without thinking about classes... people... home... it's as if the whole world was just slipping away and all that was left of it was the swing that she was sitting on. Smiling gently, yet bitterly to herself, Livvy extended her leg and move it around on the ground, creating shapes of her own imagination.

Her eyes wandered back to the blue butterflies she had conjured and watched them thoughtfully. She wondered... where did they all go? Did they just go where their wings brought them? Or did they have an idea of where they wanted to go? Livvy had conjured them. Where had they come from? Had she taken them away from a family? Did they even have a family? So many questions and so many possible answers! Though... Livvy supposed that they were all nonsense. But that's what happened when it's such a beautiful day... yet you feel so bored out of your mind. Especially when it's a beautiful day and there's no one to spend it with.

She was in a complete daze, wondering WAY too much. Livvy hardly even noticed when a figure moved towards her and behind her. There was too much on her mind for her to be bothered with whoever it was. It was only until the person spoke did her head instinctively turn around to gaze at the person behind her.

That voice. EEP. Butterflies in her stomach again. That darn butterfly sickness thing. It was nothing. She had been dealing with this butterfly mania for quite some time already. And with that. Livvy pushed the feeling to the back of her mind and looked at Scorpio with a thoughtful look.

Ha.

Snorting, she rolled her eyes and shook her head. "How flattering. I'm touched." He surprised her when he took hold of the chains of the swings and pulled her back. But Livvy allowed a hint of a smile to linger on her lips.

As Scorpio had stood behind her, he was slightly shocked, appalled and intrigued by her utter lack of concern, notice and amazement by his appearance and presence. Hummmph. He thought, as he continued to watch her stare into... well space. Although he reconsidered that pretty quickly considering she seemed to be watching the blue butterflies she had just conjured. Silently, he seriously began to wonder how much of a pull he had on women if they could simply ignore him.

To test this theory out Scorpio had turned away from Olivia on the swing, just for a second, to wink at two younger females that had been passing by. When they instantly looked up at him, then turned away blushing and twittering, he grinned. See, I still have it. So... Olivia is simply out of it today. And that had been when he had spoken to her.

And, he had to admit the reaction had been funny. He smirked at her and winked playfully. “And so you should.” He told her, nodding his head. “I don’t just give anyone a compliment. They have to be pretty beautiful before I will even consider telling them.” He nodded a little more as he reached for the chains and then he was swinging her softly.

“Care to tell me why you are sitting out here by yourself? Don’t you have someone to be spending your time with? Someone that isn’t yourself, I mean.” Scorpio added, sincerely trying to have a polite conversation with the Head Girl for the first time in two months... He had tried (but not very hard) in the past do to such a thing... but now he was determined. And Scorpio, as both a Slytherin and a Zunther, didn’t fail at whatever he tried. No Sir.

Blink.

Seriously? Like. SERIOUSLY? Did he just WINK at those GIRLS?! Livvy shook her head and rolled her eyes once more. This guy was just unbelievable sometimes. When she thinks that he's changed into someone less self-centered and arrogant, he turns around and winks at females passing by. She honestly didn't know why she was feeling upset, but she did NOT like people with no sense of propriety. ESPECIALLY when they winked at girls.

Livvy made sure that whatever she had been feeling, wouldn't show and that Scorpio would NOT see it. He'd probably bring up something about her being jealous. And she was SO NOT jealous. Pfft. Far from it. ... Far from it.

Ha. Yeah right. Snooort. "Well don't I feel special?" Though. The sense of jealousy weirdness had disappeared when he had said that. Still. This was Scorpio Zunther talking here. He was the one that could check out five girls at the same time.

Okay. Odd.

Usually their daily routine was a daily dispute filled with insults and smirky remarks about each other. What was this? Was he ACTUALLY being sincere? Wow. What was eating HIM? Totally off his meds.

But Livvy chose to ignore that and answer him appropriately. Head Girl had her responsibilities. And she couldn't really snap at him or make him tell her what he was up to in front of all these younger students. DEFINITELY NOT. The HORROR. She simply just shrugged at him and smiled gently. "No reason really. Just wanted to get away. And technically I'm alone no longer since I believe you... count as someone."

“Good. Then my job has been completed, and was successful.” He didn’t even bother retaliating the sarcasm that she knew had laced through her answer; but for once Scorpio had promised himself he would see if he could have a non-sarcastic conversation with the Ravenclaw and heck he would try and succeed.

So, the Slytherin continued to push her gently as she replied to him and he laughed; a deep baritone sound. “Why do I think I should be appalled by the pause in that sentence?” He asked her with a grin. “However, you are correct in the assumption that I am a ‘someone’.” He smirked again, although he didn’t think she could see his expressions now. “A Slytherin Seventh Year, who is definitely a someone.”

Oh, and he was. Scorpio was not only was a Slytherin seventh year, but a hot pureblood; a well sought after Man (just ask Celandine’s Grandmother!!!) with eloquence, taste, manners (when needed) good genes and good looks. He smirked. “Yeah, I’m someone.” He repeated to himself.

“However,” He added. “If I am going to keep you from being alone; I might as well do it properly.” The Seventh year told her with a nod of his head, as if he was agreeing to some voice inside his head; and since this is Scorpio we are talking about, he probably was. “Meet me outside the Great Hall, at ten am, the Saturday of the next Hogsmede Weekend.” He swung her a little more before he stopped her and looked down at her. “We’re going on a date.”

Okay. This was REALLY weird. And Livvy had half-expected, no... ENTIRELY expected Scorpio to say something back. He was a pro at detecting sarcasm, especially when it came from her. Surely he was able to know that she was being sarcastic. Was he sick? Maybe he should head over to Healer Ashford's. She would be able to set him straight. And normal. Though... as odd as it was, Livvy actually enjoyed it. It was casual and more carefree. Not as exhausting as it always seemed to be around him. Though, she couldn't deny that she didn't enjoy their little spats. No. It was QUITE enjoyable. But she would never admit that. Especially to his face. His ego didn't need any more boosting.

She swore that the ego was blown up enough. Sooner or later it was just gonna POP. There was really nothing else that defined the Slytherin boy. Egotistical pretty much summed it all up.

But he was her egotistical Slytherin boy. ... Did she... did she just think THAT? O______o On second thought, maybe Scorpio wasn't the person that needed a trip to the Hospital Wing.

SNIIIFFF.

"I don't know what you're talking about. Maybe you're just too paranoid," Livvy said, shrugging her shoulders and made an effort NOT to look at him. Even though she REALLY wanted to.

HA. She should've KNOWN that he would take whatever she said and turn it into something all about hiiiimm and about how amazing of a person he was and how loveable he was. "Whatever floats your boat, Mr. Zunther," was all Livvy said before she laughed and rolled her eyes once more.

... Did he really feel the need to repeat it to himself. Either he was slowly going crazy or was having self-esteem issues. Mhm. Tough choice.

Do it properly? Was this apparently improper? And here she thought that she was spending her time well! On a swing. With a Slytherin. A very shallow one too. Oh dear. She really should reacquaint herself with other people.

BLINK.

Wait. WHAT?

The swing suddenly stopped and it seemed like everything else had too. The world suddenly stopped spinning. The chattering ceased. The younger students stopped swinging back and forth as they hung from the monkey bars. Those that ran... ran to the back of Livvy's mind. Her heart seemed to have stopped beating too. "A DATE?! Since when did I agree to go out on a date with you?!" HELLOOOO? Never. Even though she was freaking out, her heart soared into the air in happiness.

Wait. No. She was NOT experiencing happiness. She should be ANGRY. Yes. ANGRY. ANGRY that he dare arrange a date without her consent. No. She was happy alright.

Nikki walked up to the playground area, her shoulder sore from carrying her book. She needed a break. After all the homework, and all the classes today, she needed to relax. She dropped her bag down on the woodchips and climbed onto the playground. She moved over towards the monkey bars and climbed onto them, sitting down. Once she was sure she wouldn't fall off, Nikki relaxed.

Cadence just needed some time to think and relax and take in the last bit of warm sunshine. She climbed to the top of monkey bars and looked around at the world. Turning to her left she suddenly saw Nikki. Be nice? Yes. "Hi Nikki! How are you?"

Nikki was swinging her legs back and forth, observing her 'kingdom' in the process. In her mind she was the queen of the playground. hehe! Looking around Nikki noticed that someone was climbing up onto the monkey bars as well. And then she heard them say something to her. Hello! Did they not understand that she wanted to be alone! She would just ignore them.

I don't think your gonna like it when you see who it is.
Why?
Just look...

Nikki turned towards the person, her side ponytail falling off her shoulder. "Oh, it's you. She said sweeping her ponytail back across her shoulder. "What'd you want Candy?" Nikki asked as she flicked a piece of dirt off her jeans. Eww...how did that get there?

Hmmm.... the girl was still refusing to call her by her real name. Just... stand up for yourself Cady. "It's Cadence, actually, but if you prefer names that end en the long "e" sound, feel free to call me Cady." she replied, smiling at the girl, trying to play nice. "And I didn't really want anything except to know how you are. I just climbed up here to... think. You don't have to talk to me if you don't want to." Was that standing up for yourself? She wasn't crying, complaining about her past, or using her wand, so she had to be closer to standing up for herself than she had been before.

Nikki lifted her eyebrow as Cadence began to correct Nikki...again, on what her name actually was. Nikki knew what her name was, she just preferred to call her Candy. Why? Because apparently it annoyed her...a lot! "Yeah, I think I'm going stick with Candy." She said smirking. Oh my god! This girl could just not stop talking! When she finished Nikki said, "Stop with the nice girl act, it's not going to work on me." It wasn't going to change her mind.

Cadence shrugged. "Whatever floats your boat." She hadn't really planned on talking to Nikki anyways, but she wasn't going to leave either. She tucker her hair behind her ear, Nate's ring glinting in the sunlight. Then she pulled out her poetry journal and began writing, without another look at Nikki. Tyler had told her there were also times when she should know when to be quiet. So, now she would just... be quiet. If Nikki didn't want Cadence around, then she should leave. Cadence wasn't going to be scared away anymore.

Nikki rolled her eyes. Why was she still here? Nikki looked down at the ground a sighed quietly. She looked over at what Cadence was doing from the corner of her eye. She was writing something? Probably her diary, expressing her feelings on what a witch Nikki was.

Well news flash, I.Dont.CARE!

Unluckily, Cadence wasn't able to keep up the not talking thing very long, as she was in the habit of reading her writings aloud. She perused over the verses she had written, considering them for a moment, before she spoke it aloud as quietly as possible,

Cadence looked up, smiling, toward the castle, thinking about Nate and how sweet and good he had been to her the past month. She was so lucky to have him, no matter what people had to say about him or about their relationship. She ducked her head down again, and continued scribbling, now completely oblivious to Nikki's presence.

Aaron had way too much energy today. Actually, who was he kidding? The young first year had pent up energy like EVERY DAY, but today was different in some regards. Mostly because pretty much all his homework was done, except for like charms and now there was lots of adrenaline pumping through his small frame from lack of use of his limbs. Sitting cross-legged at the desk in the common room or even in a classroom is not for young boys with lots of energy. Nope, he needed to MOVE.

Which is exactly why the young boy headed for the grounds; only he didn't expect AT ALL to find a playground. Jumping up to attempt to reach the monkey bars, Aaron pouted slightly when he could barely touch it with his fingertips. No chances of him doing those, he headed for the swings . . .

Higherrrr........ Higher........

Quote:

Originally Posted by Orchideae

Aaron had way too much energy today. Actually, who was he kidding? The young first year had pent up energy like EVERY DAY, but today was different in some regards. Mostly because pretty much all his homework was done, except for like charms and now there was lots of adrenaline pumping through his small frame from lack of use of his limbs. Sitting cross-legged at the desk in the common room or even in a classroom is not for young boys with lots of energy. Nope, he needed to MOVE.

Which is exactly why the young boy headed for the grounds; only he didn't expect AT ALL to find a playground. Jumping up to attempt to reach the monkey bars, Aaron pouted slightly when he could barely touch it with his fingertips. No chances of him doing those, he headed for the swings . . .

Higherrrr........ Higher........

Ugh. Men.

How dare he arrange a date for the two of them without her consent? The audacity! Livvy decided that the older boys got the more ignorant they became. How about little boys? At least they didn't spend their entire time with you, examining your anatomy. Heck. Most of them still believed in cooties and that was PERFECTLY fine with her.

And just as she approached the jungle gym... what should she see but a boy perfectly in the stage that probably still believed in cooties. YES. Score!!! Livvy believed that if she were to make friends, she might as well make friends with a kid who wouldn't end up crushing on her... or getting to her... to get close to a friend. Not that it had ever happened before. Ahem. COUGH. Barry. COUGH. What just happened?

"Need a push?!"

Nikki had decided that she would do some homework as was working on her Charms homework when she heard mumbling. She looked up from her essay and at Cadence. Oh god, she was mumbling! Nikki sat there, and listened to hear what it was.

Muttering curses I bet!

But no, it was a...a poem? About Nate, who else! "Could you keep it quiet? Some of us are actually trying to do our homework!" She snapped before turing back to the essay.

Okay, where did I leave off...

It had been awhile since Carter had been down to the jungle gym. He looked over at the sand. There were still remnants of the castle he, Ella, and Mina had built together. He smiled recalling the memory. Then he looked around for someone he knew.

Cadence flipped her hair and turned to look at Nikki as she spoke to her. "If you want quiet, then go to the library. This is a playground. It's not really supposed to be quiet." Then she looked away from Nikki again and continued writing. This girl was not a very nice person. Why was Nate even friends with her? Whatever.

Awww...she was standing up for herself, how cute........NOT! "I'll stay here if I want to. And I don't see anyone else here making noise, except you." She said looking around the slightly empty playground. She looked down at her essay and wrote down the last sentence. Rolling her parchment up, Nikki placed it safely in her bag. Boy was she hungry. Grabbing her bag, Nikki jumped off the monkey bars, landing on the ground. "Bye Candy." Nikki said as she walked back towards the castle.

Cadence simply rolled her eyes at the girls reply and then heard her hit the ground. She looked up to make sure the girl hadn't fallen and was hurt, and when she said bye, Cadence replied, "See you are, Nikki." Then she returned to her writing.

"You say goodbye, I say hello.."

The Beatles was one of the few things he knew about the United Kingdom. That, and soccer being called football. Zachary felt like he was in a magical land of tea and crumpets, as he dangled by his legs from the monkey bars. Maybe it was the blood rushing to his head, but he couldn't help but wonder if Mary Poppins was a witch.

Surprisingly enough, that big top hat somehow stayed fixed atop his head, while he hung upside down.

Iris watched Zachary with curiosity in her pale lavender eyes. "Why is it you are dangling from this gym? Should you not be working on upper body strength? Or is this some sort of American exercise?" She leaned over turning her head slightly so that she could make proper eye contact with her new acquaintance. "Oh I am sorry if I startled you Zachary... it's just that you seem so willing to answer my questions." She smiled and blushed as she stood upright once more.

"Hello hello!"

Zachary was so startled by Iris' sudden appearence, that his hat jumped from his head. In his surprise, his hands reached down and stuck his hat back atop, or under depending on your point of view, his head. "We call this "hanging out". You can hang by yourself. You can hang with your friends. You can also say that you're "just hangin'." Whatever works for you."

His lips did something that sat on the edge between being a smile or a grin as he watched the girls face. It wasn't below him to have a little fun with a clash of cultures.

Iris crinkled her brow at him. "I think that you are having fun with me Zachary..." She sat on a nearby bench and crossed her legs politely at the ankles. "I have never seen such work out equipment before... tell me what are those dangling things? How do they help strengthen your body?" She pointed to the swings. Never had she considered there were things to life other than education, politics, and physical training... well there was love, marriage and Children... but not for Iris, she didn't believe in such nonesense.