Bloody Teenagers → Tiffany Lestrange

[Tiffany Lestrange]

She followed him, huffing softly in frustration, though it wasn't directed at him - it was more of a general feeling.

"Suppose I should start sneaking out of my dorms at night, then?" she pouted a little, managing to catch up to him & standing in front of him, looking up at him with eyes desperate for an answer. She tossed aside all of her pride & gave him a seriously questioning look, wanting nothing more than solid advice to work from. It was obvious that this was different from the other things they talked about, at least to her. This was something that she was sincerely wanting to work on to the best of her ability. 

She kept her wand held at her side, not as a sign of not trusting him, but not trusting the forest around them as much. 

[Brent Yaxley]

Chuckling softly under his breath, he shoved branches out of his way as he walked. "Mmm, yeah, because that's a great plan." He answered sarcastically as he shoved his way through the branches, moving further into the forest.

"Boggarts." He started, glancing over his shoulder to check she was still following him. "If you take on your biggest fear with a boggart and don't use the riddikulus spell then it'll still come at you and you're going to have to fight it until you have no strength to anymore."

[Tiffany Lestrange]

"Where do you suggest I find one?" she asked, not even wavering. She inwardly felt her mind screaming in protest at the idea, but the rest of her was too curious to pass it up. She'd never seen her boggart before - she had no idea what it could be. Kevin? A dead family member? She tried to picture it, but none of those things seemed deep enough. 

She couldn't help but reach for him, now, grabbing his wrist softly with her much smaller hand & looking up at him with wide eyes. Wait!"

 There was no childish impatience or irritation left to her, no sign of contempt toward him. If anything, she looked eager, brows furrowing as she commited everything to memory. "Can you please just talk to me for a second?" she never said 'please', at least not with him. Not seriously, at least. It was obvious she took this seriously. 

[Brent Yaxley]

"Where there's a will, Tiffany." He started, shrugging, "think Borgin and Burkes is selling a wardrobe with one already in it." He added it in, so simply as he picked up pace, moving further into the forest, not seeming even slightly scared, his wand still tucked into his hoodie as he picked up stride.

As he felt her hand on his wrist, he stopped, his head turning to look at her. "What?" He questioned, looking down at her, his movement stopping.

Cocking his eyebrows, Brent took a step backwards, closer to her. "Then talk."

[Tiffany Lestrange]

She looked up at him, lost for a moment, then shook her head, breaking eye contact.

"I want to do better." she said after a moment. "Really." she promised, looking up at him, desperately willing him to see that in her. It was something she refused to get cocky over, never letting herself dwell on a job well done for too long, knowing it would make her vulnerable. Instead she just rode out the high of a good kill, a good raid, then moved on to the next task. 

[Brent Yaxley]

"Then try harder." He hissed quietly as he looked further into the forest, the darkening of the path as the sun set more and the trees grew denser. "You have to try harder, you shouldn't be wanting to get better, you need to get better." He emphasises the word need as he started walking again, moving further into the forest.

[Tiffany Lestrange]

Her heart thumped in her chest so loudly so was sure he'd be able to hear it, but when he continued walking she felt a little wave of relief pass over her, following him quickly. Entering the next clearing up, she froze in place at the edge of it. She never came in here, though she'd passed it before. It was too familiar looking & she didn't want any part of it. The sound of the stream nearby was too much like the one near the Forbidden Forest. Her hands shook a little at her sides as her body tried to distinguish the difference between the two places, trying to remind herself that she was safe, here. With Brent, near her home, near her family. 

[Brent Yaxley]

Brent stopped walking once he entered the clearing, his gaze moving to flick around, listening to the noises around them. He wasn't scared, at all, sure he could take on anything the woods could throw at him. Turning to look at her, he sighed heavily, his head shaking. "You're scared." He said, sounding somewhat bored, like he was close to giving up on this little outing.

[Tiffany Lestrange]

Tiff turned sharply to him, 100% pouting as she snapped, "I am not!" she blushed visibly, even in the dim light seeping through the branches that seemed to reach the sky. She was seconds away from balling her hands up into fists & stomping a foot into the dirt. 

"What am I so apparently scared of?" she asked sarcastically. "The trees?" she glanced around, not really seeing much else. Her eyes drifted back up to his face & she immediately cleared her mind, not wanting to give him anything to go on if he tried to use occlumency. She wasn't very good at diving into the minds of others, but when it came to protecting her own she was nearly perfect - a necessary survival trait, not just for herself but for the safety of her parents.

[Brent Yaxley]

"Oh yeah?" He snapped back before eying her a little annoyedly.

Sighing, he shook his head before turning his back on her, turning to walk back towards the house, his stride picking up, almost threatening to walk off without her. "I'm not doing this, if you're going to throw a childish hissy fit, I'm not helping you."

[Tiffany Lestrange]

She grabbed his arm by the bicep, barely able to wrap her fingers around it properly, but got a good enough grip to hold on. "I'm not - I just - you don't get to insult me & then walk away because I don't take it." she said, finding herself almost giddy in sudden relief. Her momentary irritation with him seemed to mask the nervous fear that had been building up in her only a moment ago. 

"I'm just frustrated, okay? There's nothing here. It's useless target practice, like you said." she slowly loosened her grip on his arm as she spoke, eyes traveling up bravely to meet his own. Her fingers absentmindedly fixed his sleeve where she'd crinkled it, brushing against the material almost feather-light to feel at the muscle underneath. 

[Brent Yaxley]

"Because I could practically hear you panting you were breathing that hard, you need to get a grip of yourself if you're going to survive." He spoke, angrily, his arm tugging from her hold.

"It's not target practice you need right now, it's the understanding of not letting your emotions get ahead of you." He said, dampening his lower lip as he shoved his hands in his hoodie pocket, fingers slipping loosely around his own wand.

[Tiffany Lestrange]

"And how exactly am I supposed to 'practice' that, other than experience?" she asked, stepping back from him a little when he went to shake her off, looking up at him with a serious & intent expression. She wanted to know - there was not an ounce of sarcasm or mocking in her tone when she spoke, now. More than anything, she wanted to get out of that clearing. If it was 'emotional control' he was looking for, shoving him up against a tree & having him take her wouldn't be what he was looking for - even though it seemed like it would be a good distraction from her thoughts at the moment.

"I want to get better at this & you're just telling me to 'be' better, but you're dancing around what I have to do." she said, keeping her tone calm & careful, now, focusing on delivering each word calmly & not raising her voice or letting herself grow too frustrated. 

[Brent Yaxley]

"If you were listening to me I already told you where to start." He hissed, looking somewhat pissed off again as he pulled his hands from his pockets and folded his arms, his gaze flickering around the clearing. "You're not going to get much experience if you get killed, are you?" He spoke seriously, his neck craning to look at her properly.

[Tiffany Lestrange]

"Right now." she asked, though her tone was more of a statement. 

"Are you just going to stand here all I night while I try to track one down, if they still even have one in Knockturn?" she looked up at him pitifully, "And what if it's something totally symbolic or stupid like that? What if it's not something I can physically fight with, then what?" she hadn't wanted to admit that she'd never been exposed to one before, but she had to in order to explain her concern for the whole idea. Her words grew a little quicker & tighter together as she spoke, but she forced herself to keep a steady volume & remain under control of herself.