Back to the couch... Tag: Brett on Pecari Commons

Irene Liddowe

April 06, 2008 9:36 PM

Back to the couch... Tag: Brett by Irene Liddowe

Irene lay down the last picture frame she had, finally finished with her unpacking. She was already missing home, which usually didn't occur until at least a week later into term, but now, she wanted to go outside and lay next to a pond that was many states away in Michigan. Irene put the reasoning behind her homesickness to the amount of time she had spent with just Uncle Mike and herself this summer. With the twins gone until July, and Laine prefering to paint and photograph by herself, they had plenty of time to reminisce over the many memories they had together. One night, when Irene was about to fall asleep, she suddely got a wave of memories, fully appreciating the magnitute of how much they had been through, including the death of Mom. Irene sighed and opened the door to the stairs. She would head down to the Common Room in hopes of lifting herself out of this suddenly depressed mood.

Irene curled up on the end of the couch, laying her head down on the armrest, her now longer dark brown hair, spilled into her face where she didn't bother to move it. She only closed her blue-green eyes for a moment, but in that moment she had yet another flashback to first year. This is the same spot she had sat when she recieved the letter telling her she was to live with Uncle Mike and informing her of the retraining order on Damon. Yeah, that worked out really well... Irene thought bitterly. She had moved on since Dad's last visit, but she still remembered the look on his face when he looked down at her...

Irene felt the cushions of the couch sink at the area near her feet and looked up. Even in her depressed mood she couldn't help but smile at seeing Brett again. She propped her head up on one arm and smiled over at him.

"Hey."

0 Irene Liddowe Back to the couch... Tag: Brett 106 Irene Liddowe 1 5

Brett Hodges

April 07, 2008 10:51 PM

Hiya! by Brett Hodges

Brett had been just wandering through the commons on the way out for a jaunt (which would hopefully involve food as he'd already sapped all the nutrients out of the opening "feast"--seriously, no amount of food could keep him full for more than thirty minutes) when he saw his girl snuggled against the arm of the couch with that look. He knew that look.

It was their one year anniversary. How could he have not said anything aloud about it? Maybe she was mad about it. He slumped down next to her and decided from her greeting that he was off the hook. His poor manners were not the topic of her melancholy tonight.

"Hey, Iris," he said, clasping his hands, slipping them over her head, and pulling her towards him. He loved his nickname for her because everytime he said it he noticed her eyes. Irene had nice eyes. Not like other girls with their mascara and all, but nice, honest, curious eyes that saw things others didn't notice. Unsheltered eyes that knew the world far better than he did.

The summer was so horribly long without her. On not one occasion, Zander had laughed at him and said, Dude, you're like a sad puppy. You are so whipped. Zand was right, but what could he do about it? Nothing. So he played his soccer. He hung out with the guys and went running five days out of seven. The picture of Irene in his room had to be hidden, though, because it was a wizarding photograph and his friends might see it. He wanted them to see it so they would understand. At night he took it out and missed her. Sometimes he wrote her letters. Occasionally one was interesting enough that he actually sent it.

The summer had finally ended and now here she was, but she wasn't happy. She was happy to see him, but there was something else.

"What's the swamp?" he asked her. Tyler, of all people, had come up with that phrase. What a freaking brilliant way to ask someone what they were moping about. "Not happy to be back on this glorious anniversary of our mutual voluntary imprisonment?" He kept his tone light-hearted. If she wanted to follow his little joke, she could. Or, she could say what was up. Her choice.

Maybe he was whipped, he worried. What did that mean anyway? Just that he'd do anything for her... was that so bad? Didn't that just mean he cared? What was the big deal? And anyway, the people who thought he was gay could shut up because he had Irene, and she had him. And on top of that, he was not metrosexual. He'd looked it up, and it pretty much just meant someone who was gay without the actual being gay. And, no, he didn't want to go Goth or be a pagan, he just happened to believe in magic and was drawn towards aspects of muggle culture that resembled what he was used to at Sonora. And no, he was not interested in screaming punk bands, he'd just asked about it because he wanted to get up on his muggle music so he could talk to the guys and they would stop calling Sonora a freak school that brainwashed kids and robbed them of their American culture. And so what if he was the sole caretaker of his little kitten and talked to her in silly voices and used her as a puppet sometimes for comical purposes? That did not make him girly. Furthermore, and this was really getting on his nerves, muggle culture was not the ONLY culture in the world and just because he wasn't "in the know" didn't mean he wasn't interested or that he couldn't UNDERSTAND them. Just because he couldn't tell anyone about his interests didn't mean he didn't have them.

Just thank God Echo lived in Sundance, too. He never felt so close to someone as he did ranting about this stuff to Echo, and with Echo ranting right back. He, at least, understood. He got it.

Man, Brett was SO glad to be away from muggleness right now. Those guys were really starting get in his swamp.

0 Brett Hodges Hiya! 0 Brett Hodges 0 5

Irene

April 08, 2008 9:49 PM

Miss me? by Irene

Irene really couldn't help but grin at the comfort of Brett's nickname for her as she gave into his pull towards him. Resting her head on his shoulder, Irene tried to clear her mind of the picture that was home. As normally happy as it was to think of it, she missed it... So much. She mostly missed the time she spent with Uncle Mike. At the moment though, sitting like this with Brett, she was very torn between her two homes. She wasn't even sure if she wanted to talk about it. She knew the feeling would go away eventually, so why bother? It would be nice to get it off her mind though...

"What's the swamp?" Brett asked her. Irene mentally smiled. Something as simple as asking 'What's up?' had Brett's own little twist on it. It was so much fun just talking to him, but she got to be his girlfriend too. "Not happy to be back on this glorious anniversary of our mutual voluntary imprisonment?" Irene's head shot up. Sweet Merlin. Had she actually forgotten? No... Irene had remembered just the previous day! Really. She had! But now that the day had approached, the day she needed to keep it on her mind, Irene, of course, allowed the thought to slip away. The reminder had lifted her spirits considerably however.

"I was thinking about that yesterday!" She said, "Can you believe that? It's been a year..." Irene placed her head back on his shoulder. She figured she should let him know what had been on her mind just a second ago. She didn't want him to worry.

"I was just missing home," she informed him, "It happens every year, but just not normally this soon. Uncle Mike and I have been through a lot, and I was just thinking about how I miss being around him during the year." She looked up at him, her chin still resting on his shoulder. "But once I get around you and everyone else I feel much better. I'm good now, really."

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Brett Hodges

April 09, 2008 11:01 PM

Naturally by Brett Hodges

She hadn't thought about it since yesterday? Geez, he'd been thinking of it most of the feast (trying to remember to not forget), but she was on the other end of the table, so he didn't get a chance to say anything before he forgot. Well, that was cool, anyway, that he picked a sane girl. Brandon had a girl break up with him once for forgetting a one month anniversary.

"Yeah, too cool. It's like whoa," he said outloud, about their anniversary.

That wasn't it, then. She confessed to missing home.

"I get that," he said, putting his feet up on a trunk someone had apparently decided not to keep now that the person's stuff was moved in. It made an excellent ottoman. "I miss my mugs a lot. Well, actually," he snickered, "I was sorta just thinking how they tick me off all the time, but, you know, usually."

He had known from the very beginning that Sonora was going to kill his relationship with the guys, and that was part of why he was so dead set against it. Still, he'd always figured it would him, not them, with his prospective learned wizarding prejudices that would do it. He never even considered it would be their treatment of him due to his increasing ignorance of muggle culture that would come between them. But there it was.

And he kept wondering... maybe it would have happened anyway. The only reason any of the guys hung out still was because his returning to town was an Event. Zander was a sort of hipster-goth (which should have been contradictory, from what Brett had read when he was trying to figure this out). Tyler, a jock. Brandon, a skater. The trio didn't associate with each other in school, but they still played soccer together and hung out all summer.

Though, tensions were high this August.

And then there was his sister.

"Oh! Dude," Brett said, straightening up suddenly and looking at her. This was like the most important news on the entire planet. "Did I tell you about my sister?!"

No, of course he hadn't. He hadn't gotten a chance to tell ANYONE about his sister. Except for Echo, but he hardly counted since he was there.

"Okay, well, first of all," he said scooting up on the couch and leaning forward, "I get back for summer, right, and she's like a foot taller. Not really, but like she looks a lot older because she's all like ten and stuff. And then all summer she's acting sort of weird, like talking to me and trying to hang out, and me and her... we don't do that. She does her thing. I do mine. That's how it goes. Like, in her letter's mom's all like 'your sister misses you' and I'm thinking, 'my sister doesn't know I exist.' So this in itself is weird."

That was just the introduction. He was coming on the good part now.

"But it gets weirder. Sunday. I go to her dance recital--mom made me--and weird part number one: she was awesome. No, that's not weird the way it sounds. She's dances like I play soccer, of course she was good. But I thought she was awesome. That's weird. Okay, weird part number two: after the show this other girl stole her shoes. Sis knew who it was and they start yelling at each other right in the middle of the auditorium. Most of the people were gone already, so it wasn't that big a deal. But they're like really going at it, right?"

This was the really good part.

"And this other girl comes up to my sister and punches her in the face, like fast, no nonsense punching. She dodges and the other girl falls over because she's got all that momentum, and sis sticks out her foot and trips her. This all happens in like a split second. After the other girl hits the ground, she says in the most nonchalant voice ever, 'Don't do that again, Kari.'"

Now for why that was the good part.

"She told me afterward that, to her, that split second had actually taken about twenty seconds. Dude, Irene. Do you know what this means?"

"My sister is gonna be here next year."

This was like the most shocking news in the universe. It was just too weird.

0 Brett Hodges Naturally 0 Brett Hodges 0 5

Irene

April 11, 2008 10:40 PM

Mutually by Irene

"I was sorta just thinking how they tick me off all the time, but, you know, usually." Irene grinned and let out a light laugh. She was actually feeling a lot better now, even in this short period of time. Coming back to Sonora was feeling so much more... routine. She knew she would get over that homesick feeling at some point, so why let it bother her so much right now? Irene was simply letting her emotions get to her, so she blocked out the picture of sunny Quidditch game by the pond, and replaced them with sunny soccer games in the Gardens. Irene was sure that Brett would want to get that started again. Soccer and Brett were sort of like the Twins and Beating.

Brett sat up suddenly, asking her whether she had heard about his sister. Irene shook her head, interested in what may have happened. She had never met his sister and didn't hear much about her, but nevertheless, she could tell from his tone that it was a whoa sort of news. Irene folded her legs underneath her Indian style and turned towards him, listening as he explained about the dance recital. When he got to the point about the almost-fight, Irene's eyes were wide. Wow. That was so weirdly cool...

"My sister is gonna be here next year."

"Cool!" Irene said, "Weird, but still kind of cool! Is she a Pecari or d'you think she'll be somewhere else?"

0 Irene Mutually 0 Irene 0 5

Brett Hodges

April 11, 2008 11:22 PM

Exclusively by Brett Hodges

Houses! Oh, God. He hadn't even thought about houses. This whole thing was boggling. Like, here he was from a Squib family that puts out maybe one wizard a generation, if it's lucky, and him and his sister are both magical. The genetics involved were... well the chances must be bad.

Well, they couldn't really be that bad. After all, it actually was only his mother's family that was all Squibs. His father was actually the first Squib in his family in generations. Maybe it wasn't the unprecedented event he was thinking it was.

"I don't know," he stammered, "Maybe. She's... I don't know, really. She's like... I don't know, she's...," he tried to think. Did he even know his sister? Their interactions were generally restricted to things like passing the ketchup and arguing over who's in the bigger hurry. She had a gaggle of friends who did sleepovers all the time. There was always lots of drama in that group. And giggling.

"She's... not Aladren. She's logical, though, so I don't know. Teppenpaw... no. She's not nice enough. But I don't know... there's a rulebook somewhere, you're not supposed to be nice to your siblings, right? Maybe Crotalus. It's possible. Image oriented, I could see. Pecari, maybe."

"But, like... I don't even know her, really. I'm always kinda surprised when I turn around and she's not three. I don't know. How is it you know Renaye and Josh so well?"

0 Brett Hodges Exclusively 0 Brett Hodges 0 5

Irene

April 12, 2008 5:57 PM

Apparently by Irene

"She's... not Aladren. She's logical, though, so I don't know. Teppenpaw... no. She's not nice enough. But I don't know... there's a rulebook somewhere, you're not supposed to be nice to your siblings, right? Maybe Crotalus. It's possible. Image oriented, I could see. Pecari, maybe." Irene's face turned to confusion, smiling all the same.

"I think you had a chain of contradictions in that statement," she said with a laugh. Irene wasn't sure how you could live in the same house as someone and not become close to them, or at least know them a little. But Brett and his sister were apparently distant. She assumed they both liked to their own thing at home. Maybe that was why they didn't spend a lot of time together. Brett with his soccer, and his sister with dance.

"What's her name?" She asked.

"But, like... I don't even know her, really. I'm always kinda surprised when I turn around and she's not three. I don't know. How is it you know Renaye and Josh so well?"

Irene opened her mouth, but closed it not too long after. How did she know the twins so well? She had only met them the summer before Sonora, after all. They had been traveling so much with Aunt Claera and Uncle Will, and they hadn't gotten along that well with Dad, so they never vistited. Irene and Renaye had just clicked. Irene loved her bubbly, exciting personality instantly. Josh was so quiet, but once she got him talking, it seemed like she could tell him anything and that he really trusted her. It was pretty much just the time she spent with them. The Quidditch thing helped too... It was something that they could all have fun with and share. The three of them could have so much fun together!

"I think..." she said, trying to put all of thoughts into words, "I think it was the time we spent together. We play Quidditch together, Renaye and have slumber parties, I talk to Josh a lot... We just sort of mesh. Even Elaina, their little sister, chills with me sometimes. She's the creative artistic one. I help her with her painting and stuff. The twins... They... I think..." She laughed at her confusion, "I don't know how I know them so well! Living together for the past year and a half might have something to do with it though." Irene grinned.

"They like you," she said matter-of-factly, leaning back into him, picking at the sleeve of her turquoise long-sleeve. "Josh might pretend he's all protective, but it's just because we're close like that. He likes you and Renaye likes everyone... almost."

0 Irene Apparently 0 Irene 0 5

Brett Hodges

April 13, 2008 9:12 PM

Thankfully by Brett Hodges

[OOC: I see you noticed that she didn't have a name. I was being all clever to avoid that little snag. Sigh. Well, now, thanks to you, Little Miss Elusive finally has a name.]

"What's her name?" Irene asked.

"Margo," Brett informed her. Her name was Margo Ellen Hodges. She was a sixth grader at Sundance Middle School, and, come January, she would be eleven. Brett had barely noticed her existence when they lived together. He'd had little use for little girls who spent all their time dressing up Barbies, braiding their hair, and and twirling around in tutus with their friends. It wasn't always tutus. Oh, no, that would have been bad enough. Sometimes there were bright pink feather boas and sequins. Lots and lots of sequins.

There had been an unspoken truce: Brett didn't berate her for being a girly girl, and she didn't cut his hair while he was sleeping or leave pink feathers where his friends would see them. Part of the deal was that she and her friends did all of their music oriented frolicking in the basement and he kept his friends in the living room or his bedroom.

They hadn't fought much over the television either. She knew better than to interrupt his soccer games. He knew better than to ever insinuate that figure skating was less than any other sport. Mostly, they were too busy for cartoons, and when they weren't, Brett had half a dozen friends within biking distance, three of whom had televisions in their rooms.

But then he had gone to Sonora, and when he returned, little Margo had put her dolls away. More and more each time he visited, she knew more about muggle culture than he did. She was listening to interesting music. Her choreography with her friends had gone from random bouncing, spinning, and leaping, to practicing hip hop isolations with her friends (the liquidity of which she was very keen on showing off when she perfected a new move). Her dance recitals changed from a group of silly children clumsily following the movements of two or three instructors on stage, to intricate instructor-less dances with only eight girls and one boy (whose name she had been known to draw hearts around with some frequency).

And somehow, Brett didn't notice how cool she was getting until about a week and a half before when she pulled him into her room and said, What do you think of this? and played him a pretty cool song. Not the most amazing thing he'd ever heard, but it had a good beat. We're dancing to it on Sunday, she'd said. You are coming. I saved you a ticket.

Then she'd drilled him on Irene, the Ball, his dancing skills (which she laughed at), and his extracurricular activities until he found a way to escape. In truth, they may have actually had a conversation.

And it dawned on him: Margo was not a little girl anymore. As if the fact that the picture of teddy bears in tutus had been replaced by pictures of boys and teenybopper band logos hadn't told him that.

So maybe it was true what Irene said, that she'd gotten to Josh and Renaye just by living with them. He probably would have gotten to know Margo a lot more if he'd paid her more mind... or if he'd actually been living with her the past couple of years.

"Renaye likes everyone...almost," Irene finished her explanation of Renaye and Josh's feeling about people (and him in particular) oddly.

"Almost?" Brett frowned in surprise, "What's this almost?"

0 Brett Hodges Thankfully 0 Brett Hodges 0 5

Irene

April 16, 2008 3:53 PM

Gladly by Irene

OOC: Glad I could help! xP

Margo. That was a nice name. Irene had always thought that Brett's sister would be someone a little like Renaye, bubbly and happy, but with dance instead of Quidditch. Irene figured taht she could get along with her well enough, at least from what she had heard about her. Irene, being an only child, never had a sister or a brother. The closest she had were her cousins, which was still great, but she wouldn't have minded a sibling growing up... Though it may have made it harder those two years with Dad. It was hard enough getting food for herself, but two people? They would have had to alternate days to eat. Maybe everything happened for a reason?

"Almost? What's this almost?"

Irene's eyes widened. "Oh no no no!" she said with a laugh. "Not you, I meant with other people. Her roommates are the ultra pureblood type. She hates them. It's a mutual feeling. Do you know Laurie Cider?" She asked. "She's Renaye's roommate too, but she's really nice. I think the twins and her are like a trio or something. Renaye is such a fun girl! I really don't understand how they can hate her..." Irene drifted off. Renaye was honestly her best friend. She persuaded her to go out of her comfort zone and try to be more adventurous, making the experience thoroughly enjoyable at the same time! Only people like her roommates wouldn't like Renaye. Irene was truly grateful that Renaye had Laurie to talk to when she wasn't there...

0 Irene Gladly 0 Irene 0 5