counting stars

“No. Good ol’ fashioned muggle hard work. Why? Do you like it?”

“Yeah, it’s cool. But what is it?”

“You are strong enough. The human spirit is incredibly resilient, you see. It doesn’t go down without a fight. You may think you are not strong enough to fight your demons, but you are. No doubt about it.”

"But I don’t feel like fighting. Something happens and all I want to do is quiver in a corner. I turn to Amma too much to have her try and fix it. I mean, I appreciate the confidence, I do, but some days I wish I could stand up to my parents too.”

@lukeaverys.

“Fears are fears. Slay your demons when you’re awake, they won’t be there to get you in your sleep.”

"But what if the demons are something that you can’t take down on your own? What if you’re not strong enough to do that? What then?”

‘ elizabeth bennet and mr. darcy are fictional, ‘ esperanza replied, folding her arms over her chest. she HATED muggle studies for having to read jane austen. ‘ fictional love works out great and well, yes, but name one real life example. ‘

"I can’t name one,” Luke admitted, his arms shrugging. “History has a love for tragedy, so I’m sure that all the real life examples, those that have made it, are overlooked because they aren’t considered worthy of note.”

‘ i clearly lack in both of those things, ‘ esperanza drawled out dramatically. clearly, she needed to find her chill. she didn’t have any at the moment and she doubted an accio would do much to help that problem. ‘ love leads to all sorts of tragedies. haven’t you ever heard of orpheus and eurydice ? ‘

He wasn’t sure if he should agree or disagree. Neither would likely work in his favor. This was a whole different animal than knowing how to navigate Lucy in her moods. “Can’t it lead to good things too though?” He struggled to think of a historical example. “Like, um, um, Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy?”

‘ who even cares about LOVE ? honestly, it’s such an outdated concept, ‘ esperanza huffed, folding her arms over her chest to keep from gesticulating wildly. ‘ – you aren’t really good at being helpful, are you ? ‘

Luke took a step back as a reflex. “Isn’t it love that brings us humanity, compassion?” He hadn’t ever been in love but he was an artist. He had it in him to romanticize the world, the concept of love included. “Um, no. Not typically. Sorry. I just don’t see how it’s so bad.”

‘ does anyone else smell – you know what, that’s besides the point. you know what is the point ? valentine’s day is a holiday built on capitalizing on love and so what if you don’t believe in love or capitalism, hmm ? what then ? ‘

"Um, I don’t know? I mean, I guess you don’t have to celebrate it. The school does make that a little bit hard though. We even had a heart-themed art club meeting and everything, so they do make it hard to...avoid.”

“I’ve grown up with Lucy for too many years now, and the only thing that calms her is a family sworn secret that no one talks about.” Kendra tried to keep a straight face, but the joke was up when she smiled a devilish grin. “Lucy’s a great girl, just a bit, well, determined I guess is the right word. As for the portrait, I was thinking of maybe doing our patronus’. His is a Romanian Longhorn and mine is a Antipodean Opaleye. Mum’s a muggle, but if I had to give her one she’d most likely be a Chinese Fireball. If you need pictures I have plenty! Tons actually.”

"Why would you keep that a secret? Seems a bit mean of you,” Luke jested, “I think determined works well. She’s very well-meaning and she’s a good friend of mine.” As he listened over Kendra’s description of what she was looking for, Luke gave a nod. “I think I coul dmanage something like that. So you want all three dragons to be flying in the air or in some kind of other pose? References pictures would be great though, honestly, since I have never really seen dragons in real life, let alone close enough to get the details I want.”

“Sort of a bubbly feeling.” Orpheus offered on the subject of gillyweed toking. Actually, he’d rolled before arriving at Hogwarts and had it hidden in his cigarette box. Muggle culture was fun, but adding magic to it was even better. He shook his head at the boy, he didn’t write stories or poetry. “Music.” He said. It was funny to Orpheus that he was so into it, considering his namesake. Orpheus the myth was a tragic hero who played music sympathetic to the Gods. But this kid couldn’t know his name. “No skill required.”

Bubbly sounded nice. But he wasn’t the type to smoke anything and even if he had the thought to, Amma or Lucy would just know he was considering it before he even could. Wasn’t worth it. “I think music does require skill,” he protested gently. “I certainly couldn’t write music. I wouldn’t even know where to start.” Music was still art. It required patience, diligence, and a lot of creativity to come up with pieces that didn’t already exist. And one had to know how to write music as well as be able to play it in most cases. “What instruments do you play?”

“Lucy can calm herself.” Kendra laughed to herself thinking of her cousin’s reaction to that statement. “I would actually like to commission you for a painting, if you do that kind of thing. My dad’s brithday is coming up and every year I always get him new dragon stuff so I really wanted to think out of the box. Would you be up for it?”

Lucy and calm didn’t typically go together. A smile curved onto Luke’s lip. “Even after she’s had her tea, she’s still...Lucy. So.” He didn’t want to say she was high-strung or didn’t know how to chill, but, well. he adored her all the same anyway. “Would you want the painting to be of a dragon? I could probably work something out. Portraits tend to be what I’m best at but obviously I wouldn’t have a model to go on here. I still think I could manage it though if it’s what you wanted.”

“Out of everyone in my family you should trust me the most. Now I heard you like to paint. Is this true?”

"Lucy might fight you for that position.” Though Kendra did seem rather nice. He was never sure what to make of the Weasley clan. His parents discouraged hanging around them. “Uh, yeah, that’s true. Why? Do you need help with a project for something?”

@lukeaverys

❝Trust me.❞

“Usually, when someone says that, we’re about to do something that’ll get us in trouble.”

Orpheus nodded. “I feel that. Sometimes it happens to me when I write, you know?” He shrugged. “Take a break. Smoke some gillyweed.” Cracking a small smile at the calm painter boy, Orpheus felt a genuine peaceful confidence from him. “Your mind’ll sort itself out.”

"Writing is another form of art, so that makes sense. We all hit blocks.” It just frustrated Luke when he did. Art was his escape. Scrunching up his nose, Luke repeated, “Gillyweed? I’ve never heard of anyone smoking that before.” But then again, he tended to not know much about that kind of thing. He was hoping the kind stranger was right though. “What kind of things do you like to write most? Stories, poetry?”

“Dull eyes make for dull work, although I doubt your work could ever be dull” He stood quickly, grabbing at Lukes hand, a habit he’d picked up after years of leaving friends behind in his hurry. “C’mon, there should be some leftover apple pie from dinner.”

“Thanks.” Luke scratched at his cheek modestly. The snatch of his hand was slightly startling, but nothing that worried Luke too much. He merely wasn’t used to someone doing it unless he was close to them, unless they were someone like Amma or Lucy. “Apple pie sounds excellent. Hopefully they have some whip cream hanging around too. Or ice cream, that would be even better. Butter Pecan.”