spring sun. (open)

[AYLMER AURELIUS]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=style, width: 450px; background-color: #282529; -moz-border-radius-topleft: 2em; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 10px; ;] who cares if you disagree? - - - - - YOU ARE NOT ME. WHO DIED AND MADE YOU KING OF ANYTHING? Argon had been shifting restlessly in his cage for the majority of the afternoon. Typically, Aylmer could ignore him or simply let him loose with a flip of the door latch, but the student himself was rather wound up today as well. The air, which had long threatened snow with its freezing bite, had turned warm and playful, and it drifted in his open window and mussed his already-rumpled hair. Spring sounds echoed through the halls; the shouts of excited fellow students who had plans for the evening, going out to do who knows what as they pranced up and down the hall. Birdsong was all around, louder even than he own thoughts. Somewhere, some ambitious student with the means had started up an impromptu barbecue, and the smell of it permeated his entire room, coiling up specifically around his nostrils in tantalizing waves. With a huff, the young man threw down his pen, shut his laptop, and turned to Argon's cage. The snowy owl gave him a reproachful glance and snapped his beak irritably. "Oh, don't be such a diva," he drawled, unhooking the latch to the cage and offering his companion his arm. Argon seemed to decide that his freedom was more important than his little grudge, and hopped out dutifully to perch on Aylmer's extended forearm. "Let's go...eat something. Or something." The owl gave a doleful hoot in response, blinking his pale blue eyes as Aylmer swept them out of his room and into the hall. As usual, people gave him the double-look, mostly due to the owl perched comfortably on his arm. He could see the cogs turning in their confused minds behind their wide eyes. Owls were nocturnal, weren't they? And then their eyes slid to the owner of the owl's perch, and were clouded with recognition. The cool thing about college was that it wasn't like high school at all. A lot of the kids here had their own problems to worry about, and didn't go around picking on others due to gender, race or origin. Most only knew him by his face - Aylmer was a quiet kid, after all. They offered cheerful greetings and a few waves, and he responded with a sort-of grimace. As he walked down to the lower halls, where the girls lived, they cooed predictably over Argon, who puffed himself up proudly under their affectionate hands. Oh brother, he thought in exasperation as the owl enjoyed the girls' affections. When they turned on him to try and playfully ruffle his hair, Aylmer quickly made some excuse and retreated to the outdoors. He didn't play those games. Argon squinted disdainfully as they stepped out into the courtyard, which was flooded with light from the spring sun. His head twisted around to stare into the comforting dark blue of Aylmer's jacket. The student gave his companion a few comforting strokes across his chest as he strode across the yard. Here and there, students lazed about, some with books in hand, but most had forgone their typical studying habits in favor of the fine weather. Aylmer's mismatched eyes swept over his surroundings, wondering if he should go join one of the groups and talk with them. Maybe he could have some social power for once. Under an ash tree in the front sat a gaggle of people from his linear systems class. Typically, they were one of the few who had lugged their books with them out into the sunshine. He decided against joining them; if he had wanted to study, he would have stayed in his room. Closer to where he stood, a pretty girl from his statistics class sat with a friend, perched on the edge of the marble fountain in the center of the courtyard. Aylmer felt his pale face grow warm as he thought of going to sit down next to her. No way. He continued past, keeping Argon close to him; few noticed the pale white owl in broad daylight until he was right next to them, and by the time they could say anything, they were already speaking to his back. He settled under the shade of the lone maple tree at the edge of the courtyard, whose shadow was dark enough for even Argon to relax in relative comfort. Aylmer leaned back against the bark of the tree and allowed his eyes to slide shut, for once appreciating the feel of the grass against his skin and the warmth of the sun on his face. He should probably try to do this more often. WORDS 774 ★ TAGS YOU! ★ NOTES first post with aylmer <3 ★ CREDITS TEMPLATE BY RIMY OF OTE ★

[KEAN GRANT]

✖✖
it doesn't matter if you're going mad

↝ ↝ ↝ ↝ it doesn't matter that this place is so, so sad

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Hello, birdie.
Polly want a cracker?
Whoosa cute featha brain, den?
No, I'm pretty sure saying any o' that will get me killed...

Kean wasn't really one to sit much indoors, mostly because he didn't have a place indoors. as far as he was concerned, spending a night or a day inside a house would be a wonderful luxury, reserved by the very lucky. Of course, it was a normal thing to have a home for most, so Kean often felt that none of them really appreciated the fact that they had a roof over their heads when it was raining and snowing outside, protecting them from most harms in the way only shelters can manage. Kean didn't dwell on it much, however. He was just glad it was no longer snowing or freezing anymore. At one point during winter, Kean had been so cold he'd been sure he wouldn't make it to the morning. But he'd survived it, and now the sun was lovely. And burning the top of his ears. He'd lost his hat again, and now he was walking around without being able to hide his ears so he didn't bother hiding his tail.

The birdsong making him hungry--an effect birdsong can often have on a cat.- Kean wandered out of the little ally way he'd been sitting in as he studied. There was something about ally ways that always attracted him. He couldn't tell if it was a cat thing or not, but the shade brought by two buildings side-by-side always seemed be more welcoming than any other. He stashed his books in a rather scruffy and worn out backpack and slung it over his shoulder, and fallowed the scent of the barbecue. On his way there, his swaying tail and cats' ears attracted some amount of attention, getting him a few teasing calls, "Here, kitty, kitty" being the most annoying of them. He ignored them pretty well, however, his ears twitching as he brushed them off.

Kean stood a distance away from the barbecue, looking hopeful. He had a cat's habit of being able to beg for food just by standing some ways away and staring. Eventually, one of the kinder girls approached him with a plain bun, telling him the meat had already been eaten and apologizing in the embarrassed tone of voice used mainly by people who were wondering to themselves "Just why am I doing this?". Kean accepted it joyfully enough, however, and the girl looked somewhat relieved. He then stalked off to find somewhere to eat his "catch".

Finding a well-distanced tree (Kean never could quite shake the feeling that if he ate within view of others, they might try and snatch his food from him.), he climbed up it and settled on one of the thicker branches that could support his weight, lounging on it as if it were his throne. He'd only taken a bite from the bun when a figure approached and settled under the tree. For a moment, his cat side doing the thinking, Kean suspiciously wondered if the stranger had scented the bread, but then Kean's more sensible, human train of thought told him not to be an idiot, and that the guy probably just wanted shade from the sun. A closer look made Kean realize the man was holding an owl, and his ears perked in interest. It was a cute one, too. That his eyes were each a different color. Owl and odd-eyed, not a combination you get every day. His tail swished from side to side, and his face got a grin. He pondered, for a few moments, on just what he should say. Kean had, it seemed, many an option, all of them either mildly annoying or very annoying indeed.

He decided to go with very annoying indeed. In a friendly, teasing manner, Kean spoke up from his spot in the tree. "Hogwarts," he said, matter-of-factly. "Is thataway." and he pointed in a random direction, smiling. His tail wagged behind him, and his ears were perked playfully. He knew it was probably a joke best left unsaid, but he couldn't quite help himself. Besides, his smile alone should show the fellow he was just kidding. Kean was a friendly cat. Perhaps, an obnoxious one, but he wouldn't admit that much to anyone but himself.

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On a nice day
     ↝ ↝ ↝ ↝ I don't care what they say

OOC: Rambled... >w>
Words: 700

[AYLMER AURELIUS]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=style, width: 450px; background-color: #282529; -moz-border-radius-topleft: 2em; padding-left: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-top: 10px; padding-bottom: 10px; ;] who cares if you disagree? - - - - - YOU ARE NOT ME. WHO DIED AND MADE YOU KING OF ANYTHING? Aylmer tended not to notice things. He paid strict attention in class whenever the professor (or anyone worth listening to, really) was speaking, but whenever he was studying, whenever he was off by himself, he tended to let his mind go a little bit. It was healthy, he supposed, to let himself relax once in a while. Too much studying drove people crazy. And he so he sat there, reclining against the tree, taking in the smell of the afternoon, and letting his mind unravel itself from the tangle of equations and statistics that wound so tightly around it. But Argon was a different story. Argon was a bird, with all of his animal senses firmly intact. They had not been sitting under the tree for very long when Argon began to flutter restlessly in Aylmer's lap, though not really able to go anywhere because the student had half-fallen asleep with his arms wrapped protectively around his companion. But the young man blinked the darkness back from his eyes as his owl struggled noticeably, hooting loudly. People were starting to stare. Bemused, Aylmer released his grip, and Argon fluttered away to a tree root sticking out from the ground, tilting his head to glower suspiciously up into the branches of the tree under which they sat. Frowning, the odd-eyed man turned around to follow the gaze of his bird, wondering what could have possibly caused him to put up such a ruckus. And he saw exactly what, perched a few branches above his head. A young man, looking about the same age as he was, a piece of bread in hand, was sitting calmly in the tree, looking for all the world as if this sort of thing happened every day. Aylmer was about to congratulate him on his climbing skills - the tree was rather high, after all - until he noticed the cat ears jutting up from his long hair, as well as the tail the wound from his body, flicking to and fro. Instinctively, he snatched Argon off the branch to cradle him closer to his body, ignoring the snowy owl's indignant shriek as he frowned up at the other male, who seemed to be content enough to sit there and eat his bread. But logic told Aylmer a happy cat couldn't very well sit pleased with bread when there was a large bird within easy leaping distance. Argon wriggled irritably in his uncomfortable position, but Aylmer didn't let him go. He opened his mouth to speak, but the other spoke first, a teasing sort of grin in place. "Hogwarts...is thataway." Aylmer felt his thin brows disappear into his hairline as he looked up at the cat, who was pointing randomly with a queer smile on his face, his tail twitching. His first thought was that the man was loony, and had half a mind to call the nearest asylum. But his logical side kicked that notion out of his mind; he was an experiment, and experiments were bred perfectly, usually suffering no disorders. It was much more likely that he was just trying to be annoying. Hogwarts? Everyone who wasn't culturally retarded knew a thing or two about Harry Potter, but Aylmer himself had never shown much interest in the books. At the age where most kids would have fawned over Harry's adventures in the wizarding world, he had been much more interested in say, Einstein's theory of relativity. "I doubt it," he responded coolly, staring up at the cat suspiciously, Argon still stuffed in his arms. "Who are you, and what do you want?" WORDS 600 ★ TAGS KEAN ★ NOTES :) ★ CREDITS TEMPLATE BY RIMY OF OTE ★

[KEAN GRANT]

✖✖
it doesn't matter if you're going mad

↝ ↝ ↝ ↝ it doesn't matter that this place is so, so sad

♬ ♪ ♫ ♬ ♪ ♫ ♬ ♪ ♫ ♬ ♪ ♫ ♬ ♪ ♫ ♬ ♪ ♫ ♬ ♪ ♫ ♬ ♪ ♫ ♬ ♪ ♫ ♬ ♪ ♫

Woah, this guy sure likes his bird.
Shifter?
Owls don't stay up at this time, do they?
......Shifter?

Kean loved the sound of the owl's nervous hooting. It was strangely satisfying to see the bird's discomfort, watching it hop and fidget. Some small part of Kean relished in the thought that all the other animal's feared him. Even the tom-cats in the allies backed down when he hissed at them. He'd half a mind to wave tauntingly at the bird, just to rile it more. Or maybe snap his teeth, but that'd be a bit creepy even for Kean. Besides, owls had way too many feathers--more than the usual bird, and that made them difficult to eat indeed. Not pointing out the fact that its talons were far sharper than those of the sparrows and pigeon's Kean sometimes caught, and could probably cause him more than just a bit of damage, which was not something he wanted to risk.

Kean's grin broadened when the other man snatched up his owl, as if he was about to spring. The owl's indignant screech was pretty funny, and his ears straightened on his head to better catch the sound, perking and twitching. Kean looked more closely at the bird and its owner, taking in their faces. The bird looked ordinary enough.... Well, as ordinary as an owl could be. Owls themselves weren't something seen often, after all. The man, however, was handsome and while being odd-eyed was normally considered a flaw in appearance, they just lent him a more mysterious air which the owl also went to intensify. Even Kean, with his cat ears and tail, felt almost plain beside them. Or some ways above them, as it was.

Still, as the man said he doubted it, Kean couldn't help laughing. He clapped a hand over his heart, as if the words had shot him, his tail twisting around a branch to keep him balanced. This guy seemed a stick in the mud. Or maybe he just didn't know Hogwarts, though Kean would be surprised if that was the case. Was it even possible not to know Harry Potter in this day and age? Kean's feline ears twisted to point backwards in a miffed at the man's question, but they didn't actually flatten, showing just mild annoyance at the suspicion-laden tones the man was using. It's not like he was sitting in the tree to do anything but finish off the bun. But then, the man didn't know that.

"Sorry," he said, his tone light and humorous. "I'll make sure to bring my ID next time I choose to sit in a tree. Kean Grant, until proven otherwise." Kean shrugged, laughingly. "As for what I want, I could spend weeks tellin' yeh. I'll say this much, though, what I don't want is that owl in your arms, so you can stop clutching it like a granny with a handbag. You'll suffocate the little buzzard." he didn't say it insultingly, being genuinely sympathetic for the owl squirming in the guy's arms, just somewhat indignantly. Kean'd had that reaction often. Especially when someone was holding a pet mouse. No one seemed to understand that even cats weren't stupid enough to attack pets when the owner was around and clearly standing watch over it. They knew they'd get kicked in the tail if they made a move.

Kean then perked, his head tilting and his eyes filling with kittenish curiousity as he asked, "And how about you, Mr. Interrogator? I haven't seen you around, and I spend a lotta time around here lemme tell ya." that was true enough. Being homeless, Kean spent much of his time lurking in parks and trees. When the conditions were a bit much, he tried braking into empty apartments, but he never quite succeeded in actually doing so. He'd even been considering getting a set of ever-illegal lock picks.

♬ ♪ ♫ ♬ ♪ ♫ ♬ ♪ ♫ ♬ ♪ ♫ ♬ ♪ ♫ ♬ ♪ ♫ ♬ ♪ ♫ ♬ ♪ ♫ ♬ ♪ ♫ ♬ ♪ ♫

On a nice day
     ↝ ↝ ↝ ↝ I don't care what they say

Words: 631