reckless & the brave

“Yeah. Did I ever thank you for that? For everything? I was a mess, and you kept me together. You were always there for me. I really lucked out having you as my friend.” She truly didn’t know how he put up with her. She wouldn’t have stood for it. She reached out for his hands to tug him over. “You’re a real gem, Levi,” Genevieve said, reaching up to press a kiss to his cheek.

“We could make a documentary. It would just be cuts between you doing normal everyday things and them freaking out.” She could joke about it, but she actually didn’t like it in the least. It annoyed her that she couldn’t go out with him without being bothered. She already had a reputation for not being the friendliest, and having to deal with his fans only furthered that negative image of her. She didn’t care if they liked her. “My mother’s birthday is next month. I’m going back for a few days. Think you could swing the vacation time?”

“I don’t need any thanks, Evie. I’m always going to be here whether you like it or not,” he grinned, flushing slightly at the kiss she had pressed to his cheek. It seemed to leave a burning sensation on the skin as she moved away. Every time her fingers ever brushed against his skin or she’d hug him, the place where she had touched him seemed to linger, waiting for her to meet them again. “You’re the gem, Gen,” he teased, winking at her playfully.

Lea laughed softly, not at all surprised by his confession. “You know what? I’m not mad, I’m just disappointed.” She grinned with a small shake of her heard, brown eyes moving over his face before returning to his own. “You aren’t the first one to say that to me, I’ve stopped taking it personally. No one has much time anymore to take a moment and look up. Probably because they’re there every night and people tend to assume it’s the same set up each time the sun goes down.” She sighed, wrapping one hand across her torso while lifting her tea to her lips. “That’s the frustrating part. The stars are alive, they change all the time. If they didn’t I wouldn’t have a job.”

“Aren’t the stars we see already dead or something like that?” he chuckled a little, remembering very little from what he had learned about the stars once. “But I guess you’re right. We take the world around us for granted these days. We don’t often stop to look at the world around us or think about how it was created. All we do is consume, consume, consume.”

“Thank you.” Lola paused, looking down at her sheet of questions. “What do you know about potions?” She asked, putting her quill near the page to start writing his answer. 

Alison shook her head as she looked at him, not believing him, even as he looked at her in the eyes. “I can’t believe you’d lie to me, to my face!” 

“Of course! I love to sleep, don’t get me wrong, I just love the stars a little more. Do you ever take the time to stargaze? It feels like a lost art these days.”

“I’m a little afraid you’ll kill me for admitting this, but I don’t stargaze all that much. I guess I never really give the stars much thought.”

“Who cares what they think? Most of what they write is trash. Remember last year after my breakup? They had a whole theory that it was because we were having a sordid affair. You can’t pay them any mind.” Genevieve almost wished that were true. Her ex deserved it after cheating on her. Levi was great. Anyone would be lucky to be with him. It just couldn’t be her. One day he’d stop seeing her flaws as endearing, and he’d break her heart. She couldn’t lose their friendship. It meant too much to her. He meant too much to her.

“I’m sure that you could find plenty of people to travel with you. I’m not your only friend and you have a legion of fans who would kill for some quality time,” Genevieve teased. She couldn’t deny the spike of joy she got from his enthusiastic reply. She easily picture showing him around the city, and relaxing at her family home. She could see exploring new cities with him. It was easy to picture spending her life with him. “You should come with me sometime to visit my parents. There is plenty of space in our family home, and I know they would love to have you.”

“Yeah, that was hard to forget,” he said with a soft chuckle. When he had heard what Genevieve’s ex had done, Levi had wanted to kill the guy. He’d do anything to protect his friends, but especially her. Genevieve was his kryptonite. “It’s kind of sad just how desperate the writers of Witch Weekly are. They’ll write anything to sell copies, huh?”

“Sometimes it seems that way but sleep isn’t completely allusive. Some weeks, when there are too many clouds and the stars are hidden, I feel like all I do is sleep.”

“I guess that’s a fair point. Don’t you enjoy getting some sleep?”

“yes, at least what i heard, the moment the conversation turns to quidditch i turn off” lily admitted with a light smile before nodding at his replied “okay, do you plan on being a quidditch player all your life?”

“I’m guessing you’re not a big fan?” At her question Levi sighed, “Um... I’m actually still figuring that out.”

“Please do,” Genevieve replied with a laugh. She was usually all for a man dressed up, and Levi did look great in a suit, but she’d always prefer him dressed casual. She couldn’t explain why. At the very least it matched with her own style today. She’d decided on casual and bohemian since she had no plans apart from spending time with Levi.

“I’d travel with you.” It was said without hesitation. It was the first thing that came to mind. Red colored her cheeks when she realized what she had blurted out. She stumbled over words for a moment before stopping to take a breath and starting again. “I mean that it would be nice to travel. It would be especially nice with a friend so if you want to travel then I’d love to go with you if you’d have me. I can write from anywhere after all. I could show you New York.”

“Now if I go around dressing like a hobo people are going to put me in all the headlines that I’m ‘slacking off’ or something,” Levi chuckled. Although he claimed he didn’t care what the Prophet and other papers wrote about him or his teammates, there had been times when the press had gotten to him. He secretly wondered why she thought that way, especially since he never considered her own style messy. Perhaps she was the type that liked rugged men? That also didn’t quite seem to be the case, but Levi decided he was never good at deciphering girls anyways. Genevieve especially.

“That actually sounds heavenly. It’s like you’re reading my mind. When I grow old and if I ever meet someone who could put up with me, I’ll want to move to the countryside. I think it’d be wonderful to live on a farm or something. With my dragons and my other creatures. If I don’t ever find a human, I’m going to adopt all of the magical creatures I can.” Knowing that the conversation had started off as a joke but has now taken a turn toward the serious side, Teddy unable to stop beaming like an idiot.

“I know! I already know they’re going to be beautiful. I sing them to sleep every night. Or maybe awake? Who knows what the sleeping schedule is like in an egg. When they hatch I’ll invite you over so you can meet them. I’ll even let you name one.” Whenever Teddy talked about his dragons he got excited and started babbling like an idiot. “Well I’ve only brought one dragon to a game and I’m sure I’ll have to get a license but I’m an engaged and proactive mother. I’ll have to bring the kids because obviously I’m not going to miss any of the games unless I’m touring. So there is really no other option. It’s not like I’m going to leave them at home with a dragon sitter!” He raises a curious brow, licking his lips as Levi leans forward, “I mean I know you’ve got skills on the field. Who knows what other skills you may have?” Teddy brushes his ankle up against Levi’s, ‘accidentally’ bumping his forearm against his as well, “I’m 100% confident that none of them will be able to satisfy you the way that I can.”

“A farm full of magical creatures? Sounds pretty incredible. I’m sure if you wanted to make some money out of that you could set it up as an attraction like muggles have zoos or whatever,” Levi chuckled. He could still tell that the countryside dream seemed like Teddy’s actual one. After all, it didn’t sound so bad.

“I would love to nap but unfortunately I think I’m incapable of napping. When the sun is up, so am I. It’s a curse.”

“So do you just... not sleep at all?”

“Okay then,” Lorcan smirked, “so what will it take, Wood?”

“I’ll think about it.”

“— i have heard that this particular dragon is quite the feisty one, but he may have a taste for…carrots.”