All around me are familiar places (con't)... tag Alexandra

"Right it depends on the animal's personality." He nodded, heading to the corridor. "But I'm rubbish at names, when I was 9 I got a goldfish that liked to stop swimming, so I named it the french word for 'stop', arreter. My mom called it Artie." He shook his head. "How did you name Talia?"

((true story about the fish, except I wasn't 9.))

Alex laughed. Timothy was funny - the way he spoke didn't sound forced, so the jokes he made were... close to perfect. "Um. Talia means dew from God in Hebrew," she explained, following him out. "And well - dew is something I associate with the morning - like morning dew, you know?" she glanced quickly at him before hiding her face again by shaking her head so that hair covered her face. She did this subtly though, praying he wouldn't notice. "And Talia doesn't seem to stay awake at night - instead, she awakes very early in the morning when the sun rises - I don't know why - so... Talia it is!"

She laughed at his stupid little story, then explained naming Talia. "Oh, that's neat." Timothy smiled. "Makes sense, too." Hebrew sounded nicer than French. Her hair fell in her face but she didn't push it away. Shielding behaviour? Or did her hair just not bother her? If it was a shielding behaviour, what was she trying to hide from him? She had no reason to lie about pet names. Could she be trying to hide that she fancied him? He was fairly certain she fancied him...

Alex grinned. "Names should make sense." She could feel the older boy looking at her, and despite her small frame, she suddenly felt far too big - she wished that she was smaller so she could hide, because all she felt right now was... very self-conscious. She racked her brains, looking for something to say to fill the silence that had descended over them.
"Have you had any other pets?"

Timothy noted Alexandra seeming to shrink into herself, lowered head, slouched shoulders. Why all the hiding behaviours? Did she not want to talk to him?
"Eh, I've had fish. I'm utter rubbish, though. Killed four fish before I convinced my parents to stop buying me them... Maybe I shouldn't get an owl..." He was only half joking about not getting an owl. He ran a hand through his hair. He couldn't remember to feed fish, how was he going to take care of an owl? But owls could feed themselves...

Alex giggled. "Fish are very easy to care for," she said, still laughing. "I'm sure an owl would be able to look after itself though... I reckon you could get an owl." She shrugged. "It's your choice, really."

He was studying her again, and she could feel it. She wondered why - why did she keep finding him studying her? At first, she had harboured the thought that it might be because he was interested in her - which was probably what sparked her stupid crush on him - but now, she found it disconcerting. She felt like a rat in a lab, stuck in a maze, her movements being monitored by scientists. She didn't know what he was studying about her exactly - but he was definitely looking at her and thinking about something... she didn't like it.

She laughed easily, her words weren't hesitant, yet her body language was still full of anxious, shielding behaviours. Timothy couldn't quite figure it out. She couldn't lie with her body language, not at that age, but was she lying with her words? Or was she conflicted?
Or was she lying with her body? She was in Ravenclaw, could she be studying body language like him? If so, why lie? It belatedly occurred to him she'd stopped talking and was waiting for a response.
"...Er, maybe." He hoped that fit whatever she'd said last.

He hadn't yet been able to get her completely calm, even when syncing his breathing with hers. It was unlikely she was purposely acting anxious, so she was likely lying with her words.
"Look, er, you don't seem completely comfortable, is there something else you need to do? Did you remember you had homework or something?" He gave her an out, an easy way to leave the conversation. The question was if she would take it and go, or stay and continue with the anxiety behaviours.

Alex shook her head. "No - I finished all my homework," she said. "I'd never forget to do my homework - that'd be my worst nightmare." She knew she sounded swotty and nerdy, but - she didn't feel the need to lie. Was that odd? She wasn't sure.

She was playing with the sleeves of her jumper, pulling them over her hands, making the sleeves longer. "I'm just... distracted," she shrugged, trying to explain her odd behaviour. She was beginning to question herself - why was she spending time with Timothy? He was studying her, as if he was above her, better than her, yet somehow she didn't want to leave... she didn't understand herself.

"Mmm." Timothy nodded. Distracted. Could distracted explain her anxiety behaviours? If she was distracted about something that worried her, and he added it to the theory that she fancied him, it completely explained all of her behaviours. "I wish I never forgot to do my homework." He smiled. "If you want to talk about what's distracting you, you can. You don't have to, but sometimes it can help to talk it over with a stranger and get a new perspective. But you don't have to." She seemed to be a naturally nervous person, he didn't want to make her feel like she had to tell him. It was probably something boring.

Alex laughed, and ignored Timothy's second comment. How could she talk to him about her... confusion about her feelings? It'd just freak him out if she said, Oh Timothy... I MIGHT have a crush on you. Instead, she focused on his first comment, saying: "It's not hard to remember homework - just write it down on a piece of paper and leave it on your door.

Timothy laughed. "You'd think, in 5 years at Hogwarts, I'd have figured that out." He shook his head, smiling. It wasn't so much that he forgot to do his homework, more that he put it off until he didn't have any time left and went to class cussing himself. But Alex the Ravenclaw wouldn't be able to help with that. She seemed more loose and confident now, though. If only slightly. She didn't comment on his offer to listen to her distractions, so apparently she wanted to keep it to herself. Good.

Alex giggled. She didn't understand it really. She had always been great at remembering all the things she had to do - even without leaving notes for herself. That was just for just-in-case, or worst case scenarios. Usually, her mind was like the most effective filing cabinet - everything was in place, everything about her head was organized. She had never ever forgotten to do a piece of homework, and the work she did was always top-notch.
She bit her lip as they descended into silence, still looking away from Timothy.

Timothy frowned as they lapsed into silence. It wasn't a very comfortable silence, either.
"So, er, see you around?" He asked, unable to think of anything to talk about.

Alex nodded. She didn't want to leave, but what could she do? What could she say? There was no way she would tell him any of this, so she just nodded.
"Yup... see you around."

Timothy nodded and walked off. He'd have to remember Alex the Ravenclaw, he was fairly certain she fancied him. And it would give him more opportunity to observe her idiosyncrasies and set a baseline for her normal behaviors.

((This was fun, feel free to PM if you want RP again!))