the real me [tag; brennan]

Grey eyes stared down at the empty sheet on the table before her, melodies played themselves in her head as she considered how she wanted this song to sound. The smell of freshly baked chicken filled her apartment and the only sound other than the tapping of her quill that could be heard was that of her puppy playing in the corner. A sigh left full lips as her body dropped back to rest against the chair. A delicate hand rose to push her straightened hair from her face, taking a moment to pin it up quickly. Grey eyes shifted to land on the keys to the piano before her, shifting her body she moved a bit closer positioning her feet as she did so. Resting her quill down she lifted her hands lighting resting her fingers on the keys before they moved. The sound of Chopsticks filled the air around her, the melody soft almost as if her fingers whispered over the keys.

A slow deep breath was followed by the closing of her eyes, as if this was the cue she had needed the music grew just a bit louder. She could remember when she’d learned to play this song. The two weeks was torture, but she remembered the way she felt when she had finally played it from beginning to end perfectly. There was a sense of pride that she had done something on her own. Even though he had pushed her to perfection it had been her own hard work that had always showed in the end. Maybe it was this reason she had never grew to hate the piano, she realized that her true misery came from her father. It had just been an instrument in his agenda, and instrument she had fallen in love with. Rare was the feeling she felt in this moment. The light out of body experience, when music allowed one to truly relax. She had worked hard to be as skilled as she was with this but her mind even now was not on the music.

She thought of full lips, strong hands. Slowly the music came to an end as her eyes opened slowly, before she sighed softly. She was confused by these sudden emotions that seemed to overtake her half the day. Her hand rose to run along her neck as she worried at her bottom lip softly. These thoughts had never crossed her mind before, well that wasn’t actually true. There had been other fleeting moments in which such thoughts had crossed her mind. But then she ignored those because he was a friend. Memphis however was not, and it was for this reason she sent owl to her cousin. She needed someone to talk to, to help her understand exactly what she was experiencing. She knew what it was but to admit would cause the blush to rise in her cheeks.

Utterly innocent still, what she was feeling now seemed like a distant dream she was trying hard not to fall back into. But she would have time to ponder over this after he’d gotten there. She rose to walk to the kitchen, her usual heels replaced with black ankle high socks. Her entire wardrobe was that of a different person. Sweat pants and a tank top, the pants had only been put on out of respect or her cousin. As she quite liked to walk around her apartment half dressed, this allowing the cool air surrounding her to brush against her legs as well as her arms. What felt like the perfect room to her was bound to be cold to someone else, and for this reason she allowed her apartment to come to a reasonable temperature.

Opening the door to the refrigerator, grabbing a bottle of water in the process as she allowed the cool air to slide over the exposed parts of her sin, before he head snapped up at the sound of Domino barking. Closing the door she pressed the bottle against her neck and collarbone before walking from the kitchen. “One moment please..” Her voice was soft as she walked over to pull the door open. “Sorry…” came the soft apology as Domino jumped all over her visitor. “He loves company..” 

Brennan had gotten the owl from his cousin the day before she said she wanted to meet. Brennan was going out of his mind trying to figure out what she'd what to talk about. If she was hurt or if someone hurt her, he'd be devastated and then probably kill the person who hurt her. But he couldn't imagine that's what it was. She didn't sound to desperate to talk to him. If she had been hurt wouldn't her letter have been more insisting? As he dressed that morning he worked out what it was that she would want to talk to him about. There was no sense in trying to figure it out though, he just had no idea. He hadn't really spoken to his cousin in a few months and he felt horrible for not getting in contact with her sooner.

He made his way to her place and knocked gently on the door. He had brought her a bundle of flowers to make up for the time he'd been gone. He had been working a lot and he felt bad for not being there. They used to be together a lot and he knew that he owed her a lot more than flowers but he couldn't really think of anything else she wanted, or needed. She answered the door, she was looking well. He smiled and thrust the flowers toward her. "Here these are for..." He was cut short when Domino jumped on him. He grinned and reached down and patted the dog on the head. "It's okay Dae." He grinned and stepped inside gently pushing the dog down. "These are for you." He handed her the flowers before actually bending down and rubbing the dogs head.

He grinned and stood back up and made eye contact with his cousin. "I got your owl. What's wrong...What's going on? Do I need to hurt someone?" He knew that she was going to ask about his life as well. How things were going, if they were going well. Who he was seeing now, he'd only had a few girlfriends and of course she was the first person he told. He couldn't tell her now, could he? He was technically seeing someone but it wasn't a female. His name was Pike, and they really had only seen each other once. But there was something there, and he had been invited to see him again. He would have to tell her about it. He hoped that she wasn't freaked about by the fact that he was with a man now...But why would she be? She didn't seem the type to be judgmental, After all he had known her, her whole life and she'd never done something like that before.

He looked up at her and smiled. "Okay...so what's up?" He already asked her but he had gotten lost in his own head and he was really concerned about what was going on with her. He wanted to know and he had gotten distracted with his own stuff. Bad Brennan, he was here for her not himself.

It had been a long time since they had truly spent any time together. There had been a time when they would see each other every week, but that became something of the past after she graduated. Her life had gotten busy and she had learned a lot about herself. A lot she couldn't tell him or anyone. It was hard to have such a secret and feeling alone in everything that came with it. She wouldn't worry about that. He was there now and they would enjoy the day. She gave a grin as the flowers were held out for her. Her hand paused as he bent to rub the excited puppy. "Thank you." She gave another grin as she reached out to take the flowers as they were held out again, instinctively pressing them to her nose to smell. "They're beautiful."

She gave a chuckle as she turned to walk the hall towards the kitchen. "Nothing is wrong. I don't think you need to hurt anyone." As she spoke she reached into a cabinet to get a vase for the flowers. She took a moment to put water in before placing the flowers inside, walking from the kitchen to put them on her dinning room table. Grey eyes washed over him before she walked over to hug him properly. "I missed you." She missed the long talks about nothing and everything all at the same time. She missed the laughter. She missed him and all that came with him. At one point he had been her only friend. He had always been someone she could count on and she only feared now that who she was would strain their relationship.

Stepping back her hand rose to push her hair from her face as the blush rose in her cheeks. "I...well...." Her brows came together as she tried to figure a way to put her thoughts into words. "I've been spending time with a guy..." The former Ravenclaw paused as she worried her bottom lip for a moment before speaking again. "His name is Memphis..." She couldn't help the smile that crossed her lips. "...and he's an amazing guy. Really sweet and kind and he makes me laugh." He made her feel like she belonged, like being her wasn't a bad thing. Being different had never been something that the young Elemental wanted but sometimes things happened for a reason.

"I've never felt this way about a person before...this is all new and I just wanted to talk to you about what was going on and hopefully get some advice in the process."

Brennan missed his cousin, Dae. It had become part of his routine, to meet with her in Hogsmead, while she was still in school. But now that she was an adult and had a life beyond Hogwarts, it became increasingly hard to get together. His schedule was hectic and he was sure hers was too. But now they were together and it was nice to see her. They could not see each for a long time and when they do finally get back together, it can feel like they never missed a day. They were close and had always been close. Brennan being an only child sort of clung to Phridae like a sister. "You're welcome. I wanted to get you something, and flowers just seemed...I don't know, appropriate?" He walked into her place before shutting the door behind him.

His heart stopped beating so quickly when she assured him nothing was wrong and that no one needed their neck broken. "Well that's a relief." He grinned and leaned against the counter as she tried to find a vase for the flowers he had brought her. When her arms wrapped around him, he returned the hug and took in a deep breath. "I have missed you too, Dae." He loved his cousin and they had always made it a point to tell each other pretty much everything that was going on in their lives. But it had been a little bit more difficult, so when he had received her owl, was both worried and excited. He should have known it was just to meet for the regular meetings. "I'm glad you sent me an owl. We need to catch up on things." He smiled and pulled back from the hug.

When he pulled back from the hug, Dae's cheeks were flushed and she became nervous. He watched her and waited for her to bring up what she really wanted to talk about. After she finished talking about the new man in her life, he sort of chuckled. "Is that what you wanted to meet me about? Phridae, that's wonderful news! I'm glad you found someone that makes you feel like you belong, that makes you feel like you could take over the world." He brought her in for a hug again. He didn't think about a man in her life, but in all reality it was the best possible news he could have heard. She needed someone to love, and someone to love her. "You deserve nothing but happiness in your life Dae." He pulled back and looked her over again. "What kind of advice are you looking for?"