Heat of the Sun [OPEN]

It was a very rare, moderately sunny Saturday - the weather was behaving for once, with a light cool breeze in the air and no hint of impending rain. While Kaito was not usually one for spending time outside, even he was drawn to the outdoors for once, wanting to spend a bit of time in the sunshine before it was gone again for who knows how long. The problem was - everyone else at Hogwarts seemed to have the same idea, and there was nothing he hated more than crowds. Usually the boy spent a lot of energy on trying to find places where he could be alone, which eliminated the usual hang-outs of the Ravenclaw Common Room or dorm, but both of those were uncharacteristically empty as everyone seemed to have headed outdoors. It was a long internal struggle where he debated making use of them for one of the first times...or going out.

After finding some resolve deep within him, Kaito decided he would go out - he just had to find somewhere away from everyone else.

The blonde boy wandered the grounds of the school for a long while, Advanced History of Magic book tucked under his arm, as he searched for the perfect place where he could read outside and take in a bit of sunshine without the risk of being bothered by anyone else. Finally, perhaps by chance, he wandered upon the stone circle sundial and it was miraculously empty. Kaito glanced around quickly, wondering if this was too good to be true, but upon seeing no one, he settled directly in the centre of it, laying on his stomach as he propped himself up on his elbows and began to read.

Kaito wasn't sure how long he had been there, happily reading and enjoying the warm feeling of the sun on his back, but he completely lost track of time.......and somewhere along the line, he fell asleep, face first in his book. He usually wasn't comfortable enough to ever fall asleep in any sort of public place but the combination of his good mood and the sun's heat had relaxed him to the point that the work from the past week finally had caught up with him, and he had fallen into a relatively deep sleep still laying on his stomach now using his textbook as a pillow in the middle of the stone circle.....

Julia was bored it was just one of those days that she was going to get herself into a lot of trouble. Being hyperactive and bored was and has been a bad mix in the past; normally she would go and hang out with Jason but her brother had been acting up lately. Julia tired to stay strong after all she was a brave Gryffindor but she was at a loss without her brother and even with all the friends she has she felt alone and broken. Shaking her head she quickly pushed those thoughts out of her head if she focused too much on them she would start crying again. Julia had this to a tee she only cried when no one was around so crying now was not something she was going to do; looking up she glanced around the library.

After about an hour she got up packed up her books and left the library she could no longer force focus on her homework she was just going to have to try to do it later maybe get Fred Weasley to help her. She knew Fred was the only one besides her brother that could help calm her down when something really needed to be done. Walking to the Gryffindor common room she didn’t stay there long just long enough to drop her bag on the floor in the corner she doubted anyone enough saw her. Julia was on a mission and that was to go for the longest walk she could think of because part of her felt off and she didn’t know why. Making her way through the school, she walked on the grounds only to stop walking to think about where she wanted to go.

Once she decided she was walking again. After a while she got to the stone circle one of her favorite places to hang out because not many students came here. Walking over to the gazebo she jumped up on the benches and started to balance on them as she walked around the whole gazebo before jumping off the bench and sat down on one. Closing her eyes to try to calm her mind she slowly re-opened them. That was when she noticed a student sleeping in the middle of the sundial. She knew who it was and smiled she had been trying for weeks to get this boy to be her friend because she felt he needed someone on his side and she was caring and friendly enough to do it. He seemed so reserved about making friends with her that only made her want to be his friend more. Standing up she walked over to Kaito and sighed before sitting down a few feet away from him she didn’t want to scare him when she woke him up by being so close. ”Hey Kaito!” she said semi loudly so he would wake up. She knew if it was anyone else that found him there would be a prank involved she had to wonder if he knew falling asleep in the open like this was not a good idea.

Kaito had been lost somewhere in some blurry dream, trapped between reality and imagination, when he suddenly heard someone say his name. He startled awake, physically jumping a bit as the whole world suddenly crashed back in around him - he was outside, in the grass, at Hogwarts, and his face had been buried into the Ancient Runes textbook he had been using as a pillow. He couldn't even remember falling asleep, how long had he been out? Sleeping in public was not only embarrassing, it was probably bit dangerous - the things people could do to you were not anything he wanted to imagine. As he tried to bring himself fully back to reality and re-orient himself, he remembered just what had brought him back. A voice. Someone had said his name. He wasn't alone. Someone else was here.

The blonde boy quickly pushed himself up so that he was sitting on his knees, whirling around to see who was there a bit defensively. His gaze finally settled on a girl - Julia. Julia Wood, a Gryffindor sixth year. Kaito remembered her face because for whatever reason, she always seemed to insist on trying to get him to talk to her whenever she found him and was able to corner him or whatever it was she was doing. For a moment, a cold feeling spread through his gut - she was going to try to talk to him now, of that he was certain. But the feeling quickly dissipated when he considered the situation; it could have been worse. Julia had always been nice to him at least...someone considerably worse could have been the one to find him sleeping in the middle of the grass. This was definitely not a terrible situation. And that's what he kept telling himself as he took a few deep breaths to clear his mind.

"Uh, Julia, yes, hello," Kaito then stumbled a bit, rubbing the sleep from his eyes and quickly raking his fingers back through his blonde hair, making it look a bit ridiculous rather than typically tame and in place. "I was just...uh...studying a bit, that's all, just...didn't hear you coming. Yeah. You just startled me, sorry." He was completely unaware of the distinct lines crossing his face from the impression the textbook had made from his weight being pressed into it for so long, and hoped maybe she wouldn't have even noticed he was sleeping at all. That would be considerably less awkward of a conversation to negotiate his way through.

"So um, is there something you wanted?" he then asked her nervously, offering what he hoped was a reassuring smile even as his gaze dropped towards the ground. He absently pulled a bit of the grass up from the ground next to him, twirling it a bit between his fingers subconsciously as he waited for her to answer.

Julia was taken aback by his defensive movements she wasn’t sure why he would be so nervous about her she wasn’t mean and wasn’t strong to hurt anyone. She didn’t believe in violence and honestly just wanted to make friends. She knew that she wasn’t a good distance away so she couldn’t have scared him that much could she? The only reason she wanted to be his friend was that she saw that he wasn’t that social and many people didn’t really talk to him. Julia hated seeing anyone alone so she wanted let him know that she was nice and willing to be his friend. Closing her eyes for a moment she calmed her mind the last thing she needed was triggering a vision and ending up passing out next to Kaito.

Smiling she waved a small hello. She didn’t really know what to say she didn’t want him thinking she was stalking him but she also didn’t want a Slytherin to play a prank on him while he was sleeping. “I am sorry I didn’t mean to startle you. I just know how kids can be around here and the last thing I wanted was you to be pranked or snuck up on while you are sleeping.” She really doesn’t want to upset this Ravenclaw she just couldn’t help but try and be his friend, but she also couldn’t lie she knew he was sleeping and it wasn’t just the mark from his book on his face that told her that. She was really go at noticing someone was sleeping because she likes to watch people to see how they tick.

Dropping the sleeping thing she figured it was best if that was the only time she mention sleeping after all if someone was really smart her secret could be found out and the last thing she needed was someone knowing she was a seer. Julia didn’t understand why people were so nervous around her maybe it was that she was so hyper at times. On the other hand, maybe it was just the way she carried herself. She didn’t know but one day was going to ask someone. “There was nothing special I wanted to say I was just out here dancing and I saw you thought it be nice to just come and say Hi.” she wasn’t asking him to share his life story and she hoped that one day soon he would feel more comfortable with her because it made her feel bad that he seemed so nervous around her. ”Just wanted to hang out with someone who didn’t make me like I was crazy.”

There she was, being really nice to him again. Kaito couldn't figure out why Julia was always like this around him - always trying to talk to him while still giving him his space, and she never seemed to give up even when he felt like he messed up every social interaction they ever had. For a few long moments he simply stared at her silently, the look in his eyes one of very deep thought and concentration that he didn't think to hide as he considered her and why she did this for a while. He really just couldn't figure out what could possibly motivate her and yet she was persistent....

Maybe it was time to give in a little bit or something. She clearly wasn't going to just leave him alone.

Kaito then became aware of what she had actually said - that she wanted to be around someone that didn't think she was crazy. A look of confusion then crossed his typically guarded features, and he closed his textbook, pulling his knees up to his chest but turning to face her at least. "Why would anyone think you're crazy?" he then asked her softly, frowning slightly. She was nice - and though that confused him greatly, he still didn't think she was crazy. And he really couldn't figure out why anyone else would think that.

"I don't think you're crazy, Julia," Kaito then continued, not really sure how much hearing that from him would help at all, but it was true, and he wanted her to know it all the same. "And...." he then began, but paused, scratching his head for a few seconds while he thought about exactly what he wanted to say before continuing, "Thank you. For, uh...for being the one that found me and not letting anyone bother me." He knew what she said was true - someone else really could have taken advantage of him. And it was definitely for the best that she had shown up.

He really hoped he was doing better about talking to her like a normal person - he was trying pretty hard to at least, which wasn't something he usually made the effort to do.