PERFECT DENIAL [RORY/FRIENDS]

i'm still here

Brennan stood against the wall in the dungeons, one foot pressed against the wall behind him. His eyes lit up and darkened intermittently as he whispered, "Lumos," and "Nox." He was fixated on the tip of his wand as it illuminated the dark dungeon around him, looking quite strange all the while. Brennan may have done things that weren't exactly normal, but he wasn't normal, anyway. And, with that, who wanted to be normal? Brennan thought it was overrated to act like everyone else.

After a few more minutes of messing around, he shoved his wand into the back pocket of his jeans and headed towards the first floor. That Saturday offered plenty of opportunities for finding someone to snog with in an empty classroom and he was certain he could come across a fine woman to fill that role. Although he was just thirteen, Bren was very much into the female kind. He enjoyed company with them and was thoroughly entertained when he was with a girl. Most of the time, anyway. Sometimes his choice of female fell into a category of 'snog once, ignore later' that he'd made up in his mind, though he tried to be just as friendly after kissing someone as he was before. Being on good terms with everyone, including those one night stands he took enjoyment in, meant that his presence around the castle not only remained welcomed, but desired.

The third year found his way onto the grounds, where he found a lot of people were wandering about. There were students laid out under the spring sun on blankets, some who walked hand-in-hand around the lake, and others who simply goofed off with their friends. Brennan smirked and began walking down one of the various foot-made paths on the grounds, looking around every now and then. It was only after a few moments of walking that he spotted Rory Kirke. Brennan instantly felt a pang of annoyance, rolling his eyes at the Ravenclaw who he disliked. Somehow they had a few mutual friends, which was beyond Brennan, but they had never managed to get along. He was someone that Brennan simply couldn't tolerate.

"Trying to find your friends, Kirke? Or have they all realized the pathetic nature of your existence?" he sneered as he reached a few feet from the boy with whom he bumped heads. If Brennan wasn't so troublesome that he encouraged people to dislike him, there may be more who felt the opposite. But as he was a teenager, and didn't give any kind of thought to his actions, he simply didn't care about being liked. For the most part, he was liked anyway; he was humorous and loyal and overall a good guy - he just had an air of arrogance about him that some took for overconfidence. Brennan saw it as knowing his worth.

@rory/all their friends

TEMPLATE BY ELIZA @ BOTE

[googlefont="Oswald"][googlefont="Nothing You Could Do"]

BUT THE TIGERS COME AT NIGHT

with their voices soft as thunder

Spring was bringing everyone out of the woodwork at the castle, and Rory actually found himself outside with friends most days, spending their time sitting in the courtyard or out by the lake. It was fun, especially on weekends when everyone was in a better mood. Rory didn't let school work drag his mood down, he actually enjoyed getting it done and feeling accomplished, but he knew some of his friends found it a pain in the butt, and he was glad to help them forget about their week for a while, even if he did think they needed to try a bit harder in lessons. They were only thirteen, it was only going to get harder as they moved up through the school, he could name at least four of his friends who would have a hard time with it if they didn't get their head in the game. Speaking of games, Quidditch was proving to be a lot of fun, and people were even starting to want to be his friend because of his success on the pitch.

Rory wasn't lacking in friends, but he enjoyed the attention, and as he left his friends to head back to the castle, he met the admiring gazes of girls as he passed, flashing them a smile and maybe a wave. He was completely lost in his ego when an unwelcome voice pierced his happy bubble. Brennan Creevey, the Irish pratt with a chip on his shoulder. Rory didn't like him. He didn't know him, but what he knew of him so far was that he was arrogant, and thought he was Merlin's gift to girls, and he had a mouth on him that needed a smack. Not even considering that that description fitted himself perfectly, Rory immediately rose to the bait without any hesitation, or further invitation. He couldn't help himself, he lived for a good argument, and Creevey needed putting in his place, anyway. "Ran out of girls to accost, Creevey?" he sneered, coming to a halt and standing as tall as he could in the face of the Slytherin lad. "There are a few mermaids in the lake that look like your type, you should jump in for snog." And drown.


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tag: @brennan /open | words: 406 | notes: yee-haaaa. | outfit: school uniform

SWANSKI

i'm still here

Brennan chuckled at Rory's response, rolling his eyes at him yet again. The guy was really someone that Brennan just didn't like, albeit that they were similar if Bren actually thought about it. Still, he didn't think about it, because all he could think about was how satisfying it would be to see blood drip down his nose and onto those lips of his. "Thanks for the tip and all, but you're the only one around here who snogs creatures," he combated, sneering. Brennan realized that the tension between them was quite obvious, but he really didn't care. If anyone went and got a professor, Bren would simply tell them it was Rory's fault it all started, anyway.

"I don't think anyone told you that you deserve to be this close to me so piss. off." Bren said sharply before taking a single finger and pushing it into Rory's shoulder, waiting to see if he would do anything about it. His lips turned down; there was no indication of fun in the way he approached Rory. "Oh, my apologies, did that hurt? Maybe you won't be able to perform on the pitch -" he said, then chuckled, just once, before saying, "- oh, that's, right, you never did."

Certainly, at that point, Brennan was tormenting him, attempting to see how far he could go before Rory tried to explode on him. He looked directly into Rory's eyes, unafraid and perfectly ready to fight right back should Rory have actually started swinging on him. He felt his heart fight within his chest, beating so hard it begged to be released from its cage of ribs. Brennan wasn't particularly calm as he'd gotten a bit worked up even upon seeing Rory, but now that they were confronting each other, he was thrilled. It would only take one move on Rory's part to prompt Brennan's fist to fall back behind his shoulder, winding up to throw a punch. His fingers almost ached in desire to show Rory who was the real boss.

@rory /all their friends

TEMPLATE BY ELIZA @ BOTE

[googlefont="Oswald"][googlefont="Nothing You Could Do"]

BUT THE TIGERS COME AT NIGHT

with their voices soft as thunder

Rory couldn't help himself. Brennan moved closer - they were already pretty close to begin with - and one bony finger stabbed itself into Rory's shoulder, accompanying a threat, or at least what was supposed to be a threat, but was more a puppy trying to assert it's authority by yapping pathetically at it's owner, tiny teeth snapping. Rory burst out laughing, glancing around to see who else was witnessing this hilarious moment. His head thrown back, he cackled at the sky. This was brilliant. Who the hell did this guy think he was? Rory had spent a couple of years now building up a reputation for himself as someone not to mess with. He was only young, but he was now known as someone who would hold his own against anyone, even older kids. He was no Jasper. He would not be pushed around. Creevey knew as much, but he obviously didn't care if he got his pretty face smashed in, which was a surprise, since he seemed to need it to survive the castle on a daily basis. What would he be without good looks? Pathetic, that's what.

Rory's laughter died as Brennan's next comment came at him. Poking him in the shoulder and telling him to piss off was one thing, insulting his Quidditch playing was another. Rory was serious about his sport. Like, really serious. His face changed, amusement vanishing in the blink of an eye to be replaced by a look of sheer menacing anger. He stepped forward, his chest slamming into Brennan's. "You better watch your mouth, Creevey. Unless you want to lose every tooth you own." Rory had once punched a kid so hard a tooth had flown out of his mouth. It was a complete fluke, but it had made him feel powerful, and he knew he could do it again if he really wanted to. He'd gotten detention for a week for that incident, but it was the other guy's fault and the professors that had found them had known that so his reputation with the staff remained pretty squeaky clean. If Creepey didn't back off, that would be at risk again today, because Rory wouldn't be able to hold back. "Now get out of my way before I move you myself." He pressed his chest a bit harder against Brennan's, an extra hint that he should move now while he still had the chance.


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tag: @brennan /open | words: 435 | notes: <33 | outfit: school uniform

SWANSKI