Syrupy Sketch .. finished

[Bryan Kelley]

"Yes, but wishing has that silly habit of not always coming true," he stated with a small smile as he looked at his fellow Gryffindor. "Sorry, but you may find me a bit of a pessimist at times. Most times I prefer to look on the darker side of things," he continued with a small smile. Bryan looked back at the lake for a moment as if he wasn't going to continue to speak. However, he soon turned his blue eye gaze back to her.

"I prefer to expect the worse," he then explained, "That way when something good happens it makes you feel good but when the good thing doesn't happen you're not quite as disappointed." Bryan smiled slightly. Not many people liked his philosophy, but he didn't mind. Even if he was a friendly person, even he looked on the dark side of things. It was easier to expect the worse because then the good that happened was all that much better when experienced.

He shrugged his shoulders lightly before saying, "Some people don't like that logic, but it works for me. Look there," he then stated as he saw from the corner of his eye a tentacle surface from the water. "The squid has made another appearance." And true to he fact, Bryan had not been watching it when it happened. Instead he had been looking at Susan. He was surprised he even saw it.

"But I suppose some wishes do come true," he said with a smile to the Gryffindor. It was just hard sometimes to keep wishing when each wish had continued not to come true.

If Bryan had turned to look over his shoulder, he probably would have been surprised to see the daffodils that were growing in a path behind him. He was at this point, unaware of his future as Elemental Master of Wind, and had no knowledge of the light fighters and their abilities. However, as it was, Bryan did not yet look over his shoulder.

[Susan Matthews]

Susan listened sadly to his logic. She kept her eyes on Bryan as he looked from the lake to her. It was confusing at first, the way he said only that he plainly called himself a pessimist. By any standards, Susan would have considered pessimist as an adjective, a terribly negative way to describe oneself. His gaze left her once more, and Susan was afraid he might not continue with his theory.

Before she could ask him to elaborate, thankfully he was already doing so. Although horribly depressing, his way of thinking, it all made sense, Susan realized. “As sick as that sounds,” Susan replied with her opinion, “it actually makes sense,” she finished matching his small smile. “I think I could try your philosophy,” Susan figured, “but I would probably fail miserably.”

She tried to imagine herself never hoping for the best. In her life she didn’t believe it to be possible. Everything would seem utterly impossible if she never wished or hoped or believed in the best outcome. The very reason she was still alive and breathing today, was due to her belief that in the end everything would be alright. She would be a very dismal person indeed, if she held Bryan’s philosophy.

Distracted by the sudden surge of conversation, Susan found herself no longer wishing for the squid to make its reappearance. Unbeknownst to her, the daffodils behind her ceased growing. Had she been aware of her current control over the winter flowers, she would have stopped herself a while back. Trying for a moment, to believe in Bryan’s philosophy, she forced herself to surrender to the obsolete thought that she wouldn’t see the squid at all.

Then suddenly Susan succumbed to Bryan’s command as he told her to look to the lake. Barely, she was able to catch sight of a single tentacle as it returned to the lake. She gasped lightly as she found she hadn’t expected to see the squid. “It worked,” Susan said surprised after the squid had completely disappeared. “But it was awfully despressing,” she said as she wrinkled her nose.

As Bryan supposed that some whishes do come true, Susan found the butterflies returning to her stomach. The one moment of Bryan’s philosophy was exciting only in the outcome. Unable to retain the pessimistic views Bryan was accustomed to, Susan dropped the philosophy as quickly as she had picked it up.

[Bryan Kelley]

Bryan laughed softly at her final conclusion to his logic. "Well, I don't exactly go around expecting the worse to happen all the time. I usually use this logic when waiting for an exam score or something similar, not on a daily basis," he stated with a smile. "I would be a rather depressing person if I lived it at every minute of the day, letting myself just dwell on it." There was no way the Gryffindor could continue to look on the bad side of things, rather he didn't really look at the bad or expect the bad. It was more that he didn't expect the good to happen.

"It's just something so you won't be extremely disappointed if you failed an exam or if you did well on the exam the good feeling is exemplified because you weren't expecting to do well," he stated as he shrugged his shoulders. It was not logic that many of the more chipper, happy-go-lucky people liked. Those people did not like to dwell on something bad. Those people didn't like to hear people saying I probably failed that exam. Instead they wanted to hear that person saying I aced that exam! He could not always look on the sunny side of things, but he didn't dwell on the negative too much either.

Bryan was silent for a moment before he continued. "Like anything, there is a time and place for it. Just like there is a time and place for wishing," he stated. There were times when one knew they could only wish for something, just as there were times when one knew that wishing would be a silly thing to be doing in that moment. One just had to know when it was time to do whatever they wanted to do. That was the key. Some people lived their entire lives doing something that should only be done for certain moments.

Glancing over his shoulder, to check their progress around the lake, Bryan arched his brow to see some daffodils a few meters back. "Strange," he mused. "I didn't see those as we passed back there..." he continued with a slightly confused expression. "Did you notice them?" he asked Susan, turning his gaze to her as he referenced the flowers. He found the appearance of the flowers odd, but he could not really account for them. He had not expected to see any flowers in the February weather but nature was a funny thing and did as it wanted.

[Susan Matthews]

Bryan seemed to find her reaction to his theory amusing, as he tried to explain more in depth. This second time around, made more sense. Susan found it easier to believe when applied to the situation of exam grades. Easier to believe, but not to accept. Although it may do the trick for Bryan, Susan still couldn’t help but know she’d always hope for the best. It was just the person she was, no matter how it conflicted with Bryan’s easy-going personality.

Happy to have something to discuss, Susan was prepared to respond back on the subject of wishes, when Bryan looked back. Curious, Susan followed his gaze to a line of Daffodils a while back. It was strange that she hadn’t noticed them. Although she didn’t know Bryan all that well yet, as far as she knew, he might have been indifferent to the particular flower, but Susan immediately recognized them as daffodils. Surprised, Susan stopped walking completely to turn around. Without backtracking, she was able to see that they were indeed daffodils.

“No I didn’t,” Susan said with some surprise. “What is it, February?” Susan asked and answered her own question as she looked to the yellow and orange daffodils poking out of the snow. “Poor flowers are about a month early,” Susan frowned, “They won’t last long in this weather.” Unaware that it was she who actually produced the flowers, she continued saying, “Daffodils are my favorite, you’d think I’d notice them!”

Laughing lightly to herself, still confused as to how she would have missed them, it never occurred to her that it was she who caused the flowers to appear. She turned around to continue on their way and nearly stepped on another bloom that had sprouted up behind her in the excitement of seeing her favorite flower. “Oh,” she said quietly, as she removed her foot from harming the lone flower. Suddenly she realized that it was she who produced the flowers with what little elemental abilities she held.

There wasn’t much Susan could say without giving away her identity as a Shadow Warrior. Bryan didn’t seem like one to follow the Mage, but it was hard to tell these days. Better safe than sorry. The cliché echoed in her head as she searched for something to say other than what was obvious to her. “Wow, those flowers sure grow quick,” Susan said awkwardly as she messed her hair lightly with a hand and carefully stepped around the single daffodil to continue walking.

[Bryan Kelley]

Bryan looked at the flowers. "Maybe you were too busy thinking depressing thoughts?" he suggested when she stated she didn't know how she missed them. That was the only thing Bryan could think of. That the two of them had been too engrossed in their conversation to notice them as they passed. "But I'm still surprised I didn't notice them as we past ... flowers in winter; it's not exactly something you see every day." Bryan shook his head. It was confusing to say the least.

At her small exclamation, Bryan followed her gaze to the ground by her feet. His brows raised to see a lone flower there. "Now, I'm pretty sure that wasn't there before," he pointed out with a frown. "Weird." He looked back to the Gryffindor when she stated that they must grow pretty fast. The statement was a bit lame in Bryan's opinion. He arched a brow at her.

"Yeah, right..." he stated, feeling that there was probably something she wasn't saying, as he watched her start to continue forward. He had known her long enough that she probably would have come up with something better in response if she had not known the cause of the flowers popping up in winter. Her comment had not only sounded lame but had been spoken in an awkward tone of voice. However, Bryan wasn't normally one to dig so he let it go, but it was still apparent that he didn't believe her.

He looked at the castle for a moment; they had come a good distance. "Maybe we should start heading back," he stated turning back to look at her. Bryan had not yet moved to follow her forwards but stood by the single flower. He felt sorry for the flowers. There was a reason they didn't normally grow in winter; they would not last long in this weather.

It was odd to see the flowers and it made Bryan want to go inside the castle. He wasn't really freaked out by their appearance, it was just strange. He didn't know what to make of them or the girl he was with. However, Bryan didn't know his life was about to get stranger in the coming days.

[Susan Matthews]

Susan refused to make eye contact with Bryan as she told her lies. She shoved her hands deep into the pockets of her windbreaker, hoping he would just forget the flowers, and they could continue what little conversation they had going previously. She flinched slightly as Bryan openly didn’t trust in her response. Honestly, she couldn’t blame him though. It wasn’t like she was telling the truth.

She wasn’t exactly surprised when Bryan suggested they return to the castle. “Uh-huh,” Susan nodded furiously, afraid to disagree with Bryan, afraid he would see through her. Realizing the quickest way to the castle was back the way they had come, Susan completed her circle around the daffodil and began walking hastily back to the castle.

She felt bad for leading Bryan to want to return, she was also ashamed of herself for not being able to control her abilities. “I’m sorry,” Susan whispered as they approached the first line of flowers. Only after she uttered the phrase, did she realize it had applied to both Bryan and the flowers. Thinking about it, she couldn’t recall for whom she had intended the small sentence in the first place.

[Bryan Kelley]

Bryan was aware that the atmosphere between the two of them had changed after the flowers had been brought to their attention. However, he didn't think it was possible for them to stay on their previous footing when both of them knew that one of them had lied. Bryan could understand why she would not trust him. She had only just really met him after all, but it still hurt to be lied to ones face and being aware of it.

He waited for Susan to come up to him before he started walking back towards the castle. He looked at the flowers when they had come to the line of them. He frowned looking at the bright little flowers. They stood out painfully against the dead of winter. Already one could see the little flowers suffering from the cold air and deep snow that was packed against their green stems.

"Poor things," he muttered, missing Susan's whispered apology. He didn't even know what he would have stated in response if he had heard it. As the passed the flowers, Bryan turned his attention back to the castle before them. He forgot about the lake and their earlier conversation of trying to see the squid. As it was, the squid had surfaced during the start of their trek back to the castle. However, the Gryffindor lad paid it no mind.

It seemed that the mood around them now seemed to fit that of what winter usually symbolized. Death and coldness. Bryan merely hoped this would not be a permanent standing between the two of them. He liked Susan, but he just couldn't think of anything to say.

[Susan Matthews]

Walking past the daffodils, Susan tried to think of a spell that would protect them until their regulated blooming time in March. But the line was short, and soon they were past the flowers and it was too late. Looking over her shoulder, she attempted to create the environment herself, attempting to use her abilities to warm the soil. Nothing happened. Maybe she could ask Caitlin to melt the snow the next time they were both at the lake. Slowly Susan came to realize it probably wouldn’t work in the end. She couldn’t control her abilities yet either.

“Poor things,” Susan heard Bryan mutter. The phrase only filled her with more embarrassment and guilt. It wasn’t enough that it hurt her to see the flowers suffering, but it was upsetting to Bryan as well now. As the squid began to resurface, Susan did see it. She even turned her head slightly to watch for a moment before returning her gaze ahead. The sight of the squid was no longer exciting, to either of them it seemed.

Past the flowers and mutually ignoring the squid, now that they had both stopped waiting and watching for it, had chosen to resurface, they had fallen quiet. Susan had half a mind to try to pick up where they had left off speaking. There was the other half that knew it wouldn’t be the same, and that Bryan probably wouldn’t take the bait in the first place. Going in a different direction, Susan told some truth.

“A lot of things that can’t be explained seem to happen here,” Susan said vaguely, referring to Hogwarts in general. At the pace they were traveling, which was faster than the way they had come, she knew they would soon have to part ways. She hoped Bryan wouldn’t hold the flowers against her. It was, after all, only their first time meeting each other. For the first time since seeing the single daffodil in front of them, Susan carefully looked to Bryan, wondering what his response would be, if he had one at all.

[Bryan Kelley]

The Gryffindor lad was just ready to get back into the castle and sit down and sketch something. It seemed that he and Susan had pressed their luck with hanging out more than the time they had spent in the Great Hall. Now it felt as if their budding relationship was on rocky ground, neither quite sure where it was heading or how the next meeting would be.

As Susan spoke, Bryan glanced briefly at her. He shrugged his shoulders slightly and stated, "The worlds a strange place." The phrase was the best he could come up with in that moment. The world was truly a strange place if problems and the people in them to be caused. If flowers could some how grow in the middle of winter and so many odd things that people did not really have an answer to.

The castle was soon coming into view and the path to the front doors coming even quicker. Bryan slowed his steps before saying, "I'm gonna head to the Library and get some studying in," he stated. "Perhaps I'll catch you later," he then stated, offering her a smile. The smile did not hold any malice or falsehood. It just showed that he did not really think any less of her. From his stance, it just showed he would greet her as a friend the next time they met.

[Susan Matthews]

Susan nodded in agreement with Bryan’s reply, which seemed to close the conversation. If she had tried she could have come up with another response, but there was an extent to what could be said without calling it overkill. Feeling his phrase was the perfect ending to a particularly lame explanation, Susan made no response.

The front doors to the castle came faster than she’d expected and soon Bryan was making his good-bye. “Yeah, I’ll see you around,” Susan said attempting a smile to match the one he gave her. The smile was warm and offered friendship. From his smile she felt that although her flowers had royally screwed things up today, that tomorrow would be another day with new chances.

As Bryan mentioned he’d be heading toward the library for some studying, Susan was reminded of her own forgotten homework. She’d already retrieved the texts and research needed for the majority of the work. Now it was just a matter of actually writing the essays. Although she didn’t specifically say so, she would be heading to their common room. There was a particularly uncomfortable chair in the corner that her name on it.