Taryn wrinkled her nose and laughed, "I don't think so either. In fact, I don't think I'm fit for any other house." She wasn't stupidly brave, she wasn't a brain and she wasn't... well, a Hufflepuff. She'd stay a Slytherin, thanks.

Why was he asking her why? "Well, after what happened over the summer I wondered how long it would take you to hear from him again." She shrugged. She'd just been curious. She tilted her head and LOOKED at him. Was he going to tell her what his father had said, or was she going to be left to make it up herself?

Tryouts had been done. Indy had really enjoyed that. She loved flying so much. It was her favorite thing to do. The girl had a huge smile on her face as she was heading back to the castle. Her hair which was still a little damp was piled up onto a big messy bun on the top of her head. She would sort it out later. Right now she was kind of hungry. Batting bludgers around was hard work. She was trying to not hit her brother this time. Having knocked him out last time it wasn't the best to try and hit him again. His friend Finn had given her a couple of lessons too, so she was feeling quite confident about her batting skills now.

Wandering through the courtyard, she started to walk through the corridor back into the castle. As she was walking she was thinking about all the yummy food she was gonna eat. She hoped they would have some cheesecake for pudding. She loved cheesecake.

"Hey!" Vivi wasn't moving as quickly as she would have liked, not with the tender shoulder that seemed to be a favorite target of the two little punk Beater candidates. She'd square it with Ashby later, but since the Hutchinson one was here now, Vivi hurried to catch up with the girl.

Her body protested it the entire way.

"It's poor game play to disable a teammate, even in tryouts." She planted herself in the girl's path and gave her a stern look. Perhaps she'd been doing it for her brother, since Vivi and the Spike were going out for the same spot, but it was still bad form.

Indy frowned as she heard someone's voice behind her. Were they talking to her? She bit on her lip, turning her head slightly. Oh yes. Yes. They were talking to her, and Indiana knew exactly why. She'd sort of hit the seventh year with a bludger in tryouts. She did kind of feel bad, but it wasn't as bad as her brother. At least she hadn't actually knocked the girl out. Oh. So apparently the girl wanted to talk to her. Wow. She wasn't as tall as she expected. That was good. Indy didn't like being intimidated by big people. "Hey..." She mused, still biting down onto her lip. She had a feeling that this wasn't going to be your every day how are you doing friendly converation. Not with the stern look the girl was giving her.

"I was only doing my job..." She mused, with a little shrug. "And be glad it was just your shoulder..." Indy concluded, nodding towards the girl's shoulder. "I knocked my brother out by accident last year."

Okay, actually... that mollified Vivi a fair bit, and she settled back on her heels and stepped out of her tiger-about-to-pounce stance. No ripping off the heads of itty Ravenclaws.

It was also bad form.

"That does make me feel better," she admitted, finally. Regretfully. Because her shoulder still hurt and she couldn't even take it out on someone. "You didn't tip off Ashby to hit my shoulder too, by chance?"

Milton chuckled lightly in agreement. "Slytherin it is, then." Apparently Milton had a thing for Slytherins. He was just glad Taryn wasn't a redhead. Those were trouble.

"Oh..." Milton kept walking and saw that LOOK she was giving him. Did that mean she wanted to know what his dad said? Probably. "He just... wanted to know how school was going so far." Basically. At least one part of it, anyway. There was more, but Milton wasn't ever really one to talk about his dad because it was... confusing, and no one ever cared enough before to ask.

Well, Taryn DID care or else she wouldn't have asked. "Is that all?" She wondered in a roundabout way instead of directly asking. Maybe he didn't want to talk about it and she was certainly okay with that. It's not like she was going to try to force it out of him.

Then, in case he'd rather talk about something else, she added, "I've gotten five letters from my grandmother already." But, well, she couldn't expect anything less. Her grandmother definitely liked to keep in control, even when Taryn wasn't there. "She means well, but Merlin's beard, I've only gotten one letter from my father."

Indy just offered the girl a smile. She did feel bad for knocking her brother out. She was trying to not injure him again. Her mother wouldn't be too happy with that. "Yeah....it was bad..." She decided to not tell Vivi that it had meant her brother had missed the championship game. It hadn't been too much of a good thing. She was aiming to not injure people out of games before they had even happened this term.

Ashby? Indy shook her head. "I work alone in tryouts..." She mused with a little grin. She wanted to ensure that she had gotten her spot on the team. They she would work on teaming up with the other members of the team.

"Umm... No." Maybe she really did want to hear about it? "He talked about summer and thanked me for working for him. He said I could work at his pub after graduation if I needed to." Which actually didn't sound too bad. And that was pretty much it... "Oh, and he asked about you..." Yeah, Milton had talked about her to his dad, believe it or not. Heh.

Milton raised an eyebrow. Five letters from just one person? "What does she want?" Or was she just needy? Thank Merlin Milton's mother wasn't like that. Quite the opposite, actually.

Taryn listened closely, "That's good!" YAY! She was glad to hear that there had been progress. She giggled a bit at the thought of Milton as part of a father and son business. It was cute. Though, she raised her eyebrow at the second part. "He asked about meeee?" Which meant that Milton had MENTIONED her to his father. HEHEHE.

She fluttered her eyelashes at him, "And what exactly does he know about me?" HEHE. She was flattered.

But, bleh. Her grandmother. "Everything and nothing. She thinks she's my mother AND my grandmother. She's been like that for as long as I can remember." Obvs Taryn didn't remember when her mother had died, but as far back as she could, her grandmother had always taken on both roles.

Hmph. Vivi rubbed her shoulder and tried scowling again at the girl, but it just wasn't in her. Sad. The little Claw broke Viv's scowl, and the older girl finally shrugged and gave in. No more crankypants.

"Just... be careful next time, okay? I don't have the chance of a snowball in the dessert if I'm injured, and I kinda want to make the Quidditch team if I can." Vivi gave the girl a stern look. Seriously. No more injuring the Vivi.

"I guess so." Milton shrugged a little with a small smile at her enthusiasm. "I just can't help but wonder... why he suddenly decided to be nice to me." Milton kicked away a stray leaf that had blown into the corridor. "He spent my whole life being a jerk and suddenly he wants to be my father again." It was hard for Milton to trust him. And he didn't, not quite yet.

He smiled a little again. "He knows you're a Slytherin and that you're an aspiring model..." He nudged her side lightly. "And that I like you." No big deal.

Milton was tempted to comment with something along the lines of... maybe her grandmother felt the need to take the place of Taryn's mother. But he didn't really want to bring that up. "Sounds fun," was all he said with a hint of amusement.

"Well..." Yeah. Taryn was sort of thinking along those lines as well. She thought about telling him to be careful with his father's sudden interest, but well, she didn't really know all of the comings and goings and she was pretty sure it wasn't her place, besides. "Maybe... he's just realized that he's been a jerk and he wants to make up for lost time." It WAS possible. The worst didn't have to be assumed all the time, right?

Though Milton seemed to be trusting his father pretty well if he had talked about her. She nudged him back. "You totally told your dad that you like me." She giggled. "That is so cute!"

She was still giggling when he commented on her grandmother situation, "Oh yes, loads." She rolled her eyes. At least grandmother wasn't at Hogwarts! Hehe.

Milton shrugged again. He did that a lot when it came to his dad because he just never knew what to think. Bleh. "Yeah, maybe." And that's all he could say for now.

But he did have to grin when Taryn got all cute and stuff. "Oh shut up, that is not cute," he said while grinning. Milton nudged her again and tried not to smile. He was NOT cute. He was studly, mean, and intimidating. Grrr.

"If it's not then why are you smiling?" She reached out and patted his cheek. Aha! There it was. He was grinning because he knew she was right. He KNEW. "It is! It's cuuuuute." She nudged him back and shifted away before he could reach for her. Bwahaha. Milton Shacklebolt was being CUTE. "Adorable is a good word too, you know."

Because you could only say CUTE so many times, you know.

.... HUH. Good point. "Because... You're cute." Couldn't a guy smile just because he wanted to? It didn't mean he was cute. Quidditch Captains weren't meant to be CUTE. Milton went to grab her arm when she nudged him again, but she got away. Adorable? "That's even worse," he said, going after her, still struggling to hide his smile.

And before she could run away, Milton wrapped an arm around her waist and slung her over his shoulder. She was STUCK. Bwahaha.

"Well we both know that I am cute." Taryn was pretty sure that everyone knew that, to be honest, but she decided not to voice that fact. Hehehe. When he failed to catch her before she twisted away, she stuck out her tongue at him and gave her best triumphant Slytherin smirk.

That smirk was quickly replaced and Taryn made an EEP sounding noise when she was suddenly lifted in the air. "Milton!" GASP. Had he seriously just slung her over his shoulder (like a caveman. hmpf.) with one arm...? Merlin's beard! "I am not a quaffle!" Though she wasn't exactly complaining, she was impressed.

Hehe.

Well, that was definitely true. He had a pretty cute girlfriend. Especially when she stuck out her tongue at him. Heh.

HAH. He was strong and powerful! And she wasn't a quaffle. That was cute, too. "If I thought you were a quaffle, I'd toss you through a goal hoop." But he wasn't going to do that, obviously. "What AM I going to do with you, though?" HMMM... Milton kept her on his shoulder and started to wander down the corridor some more. That's when he realized it had started raining. "Do you like rain, Taryn?" Hehehehe.

Taryn snorted "Right, like you'd really toss me through a goal hoop." Nope. "I dont think so. Even if I WOULD totally be worth a billion points." It would also be kind of exhilarating for about a second, the flying through the air (without a broom, duh) part, but not so much the landing. "If you drop me and break anything I will never be able to model ever again." Dramatic? Yes. A bit. Hehe. She was being a BIT dramatic. She seriously did not fancy a fall on her bottom, but she wasn't expecting Milton to drop her, either.

And actually. "I don't mind a little rain." Yes. That's right, Shacklebolt. You cant scare Taryn Hayden with some water. Though she wasn't quite sure how she felt about being an umbrella.

It was kind of funny how Taryn didn't really seem to mind being towed around on Milton's shoulder. Which was good because he thought it was kind of fun. He got to show off how BUFF he was. Heh. He just laughed a little bit. "I'm not going to drop you. Evolette McKenna wouldn't want a deformed model, now would she?" Yes, Milton cared about Taryn's modeling career. And yes, it was partially because he wanted to be able to say he was dating a model.

She didn't mind rain either? "Good." Neither did Milton. So he carried her outside and let the rain start to soak through their robes a little bit before carefully lowering her from his shoulder and setting her on the ground. "There. I was careful." Good boy, wasn't he?

"Who said anything about being deformed?" Taryn demanded suddenly, a bit worried NOW. "I just said breaking something. Like a leg. Not my face." GOSH. Now she really hoped that he didn't drop her. She'd never let him live it down, either. Never ever.

Luckily for Milton, he didn't drop her and he set her down in an upright position, of course that was after he walked around and now she was all wet. Usually when it started to rain, people went under cover and not out into the rain. Well, most people. Taryn didn't mind a little rain, obviously. Whew. She was just glad not to be upside down anymore, "Next time you decide to carry me around, let's not do that shoulder thing, I've got a blood rush."

He'd been a good boy? Well, she supposed so. He didn't break her or drop her. That was pretty good. "Good job." He got a cheek!kiss reward for his good job. Hehehe.

"I was teasing, love. I'm not going to let you get deformed." He liked her face too much.

He chuckled lightly and fixed her hair. It was a little wonky and the rain wasn't helping. "I'll just give you a piggy back ride next time." Milton shook his head a little and let some raindrops fly off. The only bad thing about not having much hair was that rain just kinda slid down onto his face. Lame.

Milton grinned at the cheek kiss. "Thanks," he said with a wink. So... Milton looked around at the rain. "Now what?"

Hmm... did that mean he technically had just called himself a pig? Hmmm. She decided not to comment on that. With a grin, Taryn motioned for him to bend closer so she could whisper in his ear. She had an idea. A super duper top secret assignment.

She whispered it to him and then held out her hand. Was he game? Bwahahahahaha.

When she motioned for him to get closer, he did so and listened to her whisper. Ahaaa. A super duper top secret assignment indeed. Milton stood straight again and took her hand. "Excellent idea," he said with a small grin before leading them back into the castle.

Indy frowned a little, suddenly feeling a little guiltier than she had been before. She hadn't intended to hurt Vivi. Of course not. The girl was her house mater. She twirled a little bit of her hair nervously. She hoped the older girl wouldn't tell her Mother, Indy didn't exactly want to get into trouble with the head of the board of governors. That would not be too good.

"I'm sure you'll get on..." She murmured, a small smile playing on her lips. "You were good." Indy thought everyone was good though, but she didn't tell the girl that. "I can't promise anything about Ashby though..." She mused with a little frown.