[thd] miles and miles in my bare feet. [kęstutis]

"Does this one make my neck look too long?" She asked, turning and checking out more than just her neck in the mirror of the robes shop of Belyusha Guba. Usually Miki was with her when she went clothing shopping but things were different today. Mihaela had actually gone off alone and she qas quickly realizing that was a terrible idea. Her fashionable cousin kept her from having to ask questions like this to a complete stranger. Either way she was committed to finding a new pointed hat. Apparently if she didn't conform to the Durmstrang Uniform and Dress Code she would be put under review.

She'd gotten quite a few detentions already this term (of which she really only thought she deserved about 60%!) and she'd skipped more than once class. It wasn't like she had been a great student last year or the years prior but this year she seemed to be utterly distracted. She figured boys, or rather boy singular, had something to do with it but Mihaela wasn't exactly in a state of mind to realize it and correct the path she was on.

When a letter went home to her mother though she was put on to the right course and soon found herself buying a new hat in the shopping district.

"Be honest."

@Axel

Why was he even here? He could be back in his room at school sitting around doing nothing. How did he get dragged into shopping with that random girl from his house? Did she have something against him or did she like him? Kes didn’t much care, but forcing him into doing something he found stupid was annoying. He merely was her muscle which made things worse. This girl only wanted him there to carry his bags and after the fourth shop he was done. He waited for her to go try on some clothes and took her packages and emptied them out on the floor outside the dressing room and left the shop.

He wandered the streets of Belyusha Guba looking for something to do. “Where is Lev when you need him,” Kes muttered aggressively giving a couple whom walked by a sharp stare. They picked up their pace and gave him a disgusted look and he simple gave them an obscene gesture back as he continued down the road. He heard that familiar tone of voice though and he knew she was looking for him. He quickly made it into a near-by shop, one that she had already been to so she most likely wouldn’t look anyways, and made his way to the section with hats away from the door. He needed to stay hidden for a while just in case she decided to curse his face off.  He wouldn’t say he was being cowardly he would just say he was being smart. He knew her dueling capabilities so facing her would be quite unwise.

Kes looked around the store in boredom and came across a girl whom was in his year though in the opposing house. He smirked as she asked him if the hat made her neck look long and she asked for him to be honest. “Frankly you look like a damn giraffe,” Kes said crossing his arms before adding, “Who you trying to impress with that get-up?”

She laughed outright at the words that came from behind her, it was a roaring kind of laughter that simply could not be contained. Other girls might of taken the words offensively but Mihaela was not other girls. She thought it was hilarious. "But like, the good kind of giraffe right?" She rebutted before sticking out her tongue and stepping down from the platform to look at whoever had approached. "Oh you wouldn't know him." She winked even though she knew damn well that Kes was friends with Lev and Lev was the only person she was interested in impressing these days. Things with them were different now, she liked it, but she found herself thinking about things she hadn't before, it was an adjustment to say the least.

Not that Mihaela minded change.

She was flexible like fire.

"What are you doing here Kes?" She asked him pointedly, skipping to him and pulling the hat down from her head only to reach and set it on top of his. She crammed it down playfully and then bounced away giggling. "We gotta' keep that fire contained." She joked about his red hair before beginning to go through the racks of other hats. There were twisted ones, top hats, little bowl caps, all made of this soft felt material, Mihaela liked the way they felt.

Kes felt his eyebrow raise a bit as the girl laughed at his jest. That wasn’t the reaction he was expecting from them and was taken back a little by her. “Yes a midget giraffe is a good kind,” Kes rebutted before they turned around. Well this made much more sense now as to why she laughed. He had heard about Mihaela from other students and her sense of humor. She stuck her tongue out at him and he gave her a nice smirk with his head titled downward. When she said he wouldn’t know whom she was trying to impress he added, “I’m taking that as I do.” He could easily take a guess at who it was if he wanted, though if he was right was a different issue altogether, but he didn’t much care about who she was trying to impress.

She then asked him what he was doing here and his eyes shift towards the entrance as he saw a flick of blonde hair rush by. Was it her? He would certainly hope not, but he was not about to take any chances as he turned around to hide his face from view of the entrance. “What does it matter to you,” Kes said defiantly to her question. He had no reason to answer her and he didn’t want to as it was none of her business anyways. Then he felt the hat being pushed upon his head and he whipped around at her and gave her a glare. “What the hell is wrong with you,” he growled, taking off the hat, before catching his temper. He calmed himself down and continued, “Do you want to get burnt?” He knew her comment was about the color of his hair and he would play along with her games for now.

The way he reacted to her playfulness had her nearly doubled over laughing. Some people might of taken his words as an insult, or at the very least, as a warning to back off and not push the boundaries, but Mihaela lacked that good sense. Instead she shrugged at him. "I ain't scared." She told him with a reflected defiance that only people like they two of them could effectively pull off. They were both like fire, the two of them, and it wasn't like either one of them would quell the other. Instead she would continue to stoke his temper and likewise he was aptly in tune with exactly how to rile her own up.

"Seriously though, why are you hear?" She demanding, one hand falling on her hip as she rested her weight on that foot. She was tall and lean but that didn't mean her feminine figure was any least noticeable. Not to mention the fact that she had taken to wearing especially form fitting clothes in the last few years, understanding the different kind of tactical advantages they gave her.

"Apparently you ain't lookin' for a topper." She said as she placed another hat on top of her own head, this one had half of a stuffed bird sticking out of the front and was covered in spotted peacock feathers. It was an abomination, but she wasn't easily embarrassed.