Better Off Alone (Open)

[TYNAN Ó SEIGHIN]

Summer 2024

Another year had come and gone, and it was no easier to watch the train chug off down the tracks while he stood at the platform and watched it disappear. One of the Orphanage staff had come to collect him, but as soon as they left with his things, he simply turned and walked a different direction. It was unlikely they would even notice he had gone, even less so that they would follow him. As always he would find his trunk sitting in the front hall to be dragged to the shared room he had.

Kicking a rock out into a grassy area, he spotted a stick that he quickly picked up. He held it behind two branch 'hilts' and lofted it up like a sword before letting the long end rest on his shoulder. Balancing on the train tracks for a bit he spotted an old gnarled tree with no leaves and hopped off to face it, the stick sword coming up and held out at it. "Ya can' ge' away!" Sloppily swinging the stick sword he hit a low branch that actually splintered and fell, joining the others already on the ground. "Ha! Ya ain'a match agains' me!"

[ORLA FLYNN]

Spending her summer in Scotland was almost like a punishment. She hadn't bothered with her classes, and her grades had suffered. Next term would be different. She planned on being the best. Her grandfather would send her anywhere she wanted if that happened. She deserved more than to be stuck close to home. 

Walking around, bored out of her mind, she saw a younger Slytherin fighting with a tree - a sorry-looking one at that. She couldn't understand why he would do something so ridiculous, but not everyone had the same education and breeding she had. Walking over to him she fought the urge to throw a rock, and instead just opened her mouth to get his attention. "You fighting something real, or have you finally lost it?"

TYNAN Ó SEIGHIN

[TYNAN Ó SEIGHIN]

The tree made for a pretty terrible playmate. Tynan smacked another treebranch that cracked off but its not like it moved to strike back or laughed at him. As he got older he just seemed to get angrier, unable to find a way to connect with kids his age or those in his house. And every full moon seemed to take a piece out of him too. It left him exhausted and surly which likely didn't help matters either. This led to him striking out at the tree again and snapping not just another branch but also the stick he was holding.

Go figure this was the very moment someone would choose to join him, in the middle of an angry outburst. Of all the voices, and people, who he had thought might find him this particular one had not been on the list. It was not hard to recognize the older Slytherin but he was still caught off guard. Whipping around to face her with his broken stick sword in hand still there was a moment where he clearly looked startled before he covered it. "Don' be'a idio'. 'Course I ain' fightin' anythin' real. If I was ya'd see i'clear as anythin' else. Wha're ya doin' 'ere anywa? An' wha' d'ya wan'?"

ORLA FLYNN

[ORLA FLYNN]

The boy whipped around. There was a moment she was sure he looked almost shocked, vulnerable. Whatever it was, it was gone as quickly as it appeared. At any other time, she would have jumped on the chance to tease him about it, but she wouldn’t. He was a fellow Slytherin, and a boy. Boys could be prideful about the stupidest things. She’d been surrounded by boys pretending to be men her whole life. They were predictable and boring. Calling them out wasn’t fun anymore.

She looked from the broken stick to his face wondering if something was actually wrong with him. She just couldn't be sure if that would make any difference to her. No one expected her to care about others. She'd never really had to before. Her entire life had been handed to her. Toys and horses were hers if she asked. She'd never had to play with branches or imaginary friends. Not like this kid.

"You're fighting a tree, and I'm an idiot?" How odd. His tone amused her. "Is there somewhere else I'm supposed to be?" There were a lot of places she would rather be. They just weren't an option at the moment. The truth was, she was bored. If this uncouth boy in front of her could change that, she would just have to enjoy it while she could. "What are you doing out here? Other than fighting your inner demons I mean."

TYNAN Ó SEIGHIN

[TYNAN Ó SEIGHIN]

"Ya asked if I was fightin' somethin' real, an' i's real obvious I ain'." Tynan shot back with, defending his earlier statement. Not that it mattered really, even if he had been fighting something actually there what would she have done about it? The only question now was whether or not she was going to blab to the whole school that he'd been pretending to have a fight with a stick against an old tree. He already got into a fair amount of trouble without having to fight people making fun of him too.

"I dunno, figured ya wouldn' be 'ere of all places." Honestly the only people he saw regularly here were those that lived in Hogsmeade and then suring school for the visits. Plus most people seemed to prefer Diagon Alley for their shopping as it had everything all in one convenient place. When she asked what he was doing he looked at her incredulously and lifted the broken stick before pointing it at the tree. "Ya saw wha' I was doin'. If ya askin' abou' Hogsmeade i's 'cause I live here. An' ya don' so t'real ques'ion is wha're ya all the way ou' 'ere for. No' exactly a rela grea' vacation spot."

ORLA FLYNN