[thd] catharsis | • l i l o u

Prosper stepped gingerly over the line of flobberworms making trails from the front door to staff bathrooms. "I swear it wasn't like this last time I was here," he said over his shoulder, flashing a smile that was halfway from apologetic to cheeky. He hadn't seen Lilou for a long time. It must have been many months by now. In school he'd flirted with her and he'd dated a couple of her friends in younger years, but that was sort of normal - Prosper had flirted with a lot of girls in school. From about his fourth year on he'd been totally girl crazy, spouting Shakespeare at them and flourishing corny flowers and declarations of crushes all over the place. Nowadays, the nineteen year old liked to think he was a lot more mature. Prosper drank things like mulled wine now and was much smoother and less corny in his romancing of pretty people. He went to poetry slams and underground art exhibitions. He was an adult.

"Here," he said, holding out a hand for his friend to take as he helped her over the mountains of flobberworms on the floor. Prosper had seen Lilou at a party - he'd been doing a lot of that lately, partying - and they'd chatted for a bit and agreed to meet up for a drink. Unfortunately, the place they'd come to had ended up having a big flobberworm problem. It had happened suddenly - the things had just come squelching and wriggling out of nowhere. Prosper wondered if the whoel thing had been orchestrated by a rival restaurant or some kids pulling a prank or something. The pair came out of the restaurant and into the cool evening air. "There's a bar down the road?" Prosper offered with a light laugh.

For many boys, Lilou was both a mystery and a frustration. She always responded to advances, but never enough to go all the way, and definitely never more than a friendly kiss. She led them on, strung them up, and cut them loose. That was the way she liked her boys, but Prosper had never really been one of them. In that respect, they were quite similar, and it seemed dangerous to play a game with someone who knew the rules as well as she did. Still, there was no harm in being friendly now that they were both adults living separate lives; she doubted their paths would cross very often.

"It's fine," the girl said airily, brushing some of her hair away, "This isn't the slimiest date I've been on, or the most disgusting." Lilou smiled coyly back at him, taking his hand. She wasn't one of those girls who was easily disarmed by a charming smile and a flash of pearly whites. Shivering slightly once they got outside - she was properly dressed for partying, not for the weather - she pursed her lips at Prosper's suggestion. "How about a muggle bar that way?" She jerked her thumb in the opposite direction. "It's not much further. Down the corner in an alley, and they do the best fireball shots in the whole of France." That was a slight exaggeration, but he would have to rise to the challenge to find out. With a crook of her finger, Lilou turned on her heels and started off. If this was going to be fun, he'd have to catch up.

"Me neither," he replied with a crooked smile, distant memories playing in his head. He'd been on his fair share of bad dates. Maybe more than his fair share. Prosper knew that a lot of people didn't like dating. He had friends who didn't like the weird juxtaposition of trying to show your best face while simultaneously trying to figure out whether or not you liked the other person. Prosper had different opinions, though. He liked dates. He liked casual dates and dates that would lead to more dates and dates that wouldn't. He liked the idea that every time he spent time with someone new, he got to explore that person just a little. Got to get a tiny taste of who they were or what they believed. For Prosper, that was pretty magical. People were so fascinating.

There was something fun about being with a girl like Lilou. He liked the way they played around each other, like dancers twirling but never touching. Really, Prosper had a lot of relationships like this one. Lots of flirting, lots of games, but ultimately just fun. Some of them he'd dated, some he'd slept with and some were just friends. In the world of theatre, there were a lot of big personalities and Prosper liked them all. Playing his part, Prosper quickly peeled his jacked from his shoulders and took a couple of quick steps to fall in line with her. He flourished the jacket like a prop and wrapped it around her shoulders with expert ease.

"Can't say no to the best fireball shots in France," he quipped dramatically. Prosper playfully put a hand on the small of her back as they walked. "Quick question," he said in a low voice, "Do you think those girls are following us?"

"Aren't you the perfect gentleman?" Lilou smiled, her fingers lightly grazing Prosper's when he draped his jacket around her. It was warm, with faint vestiges of his scent. It smelled sharp and comforting at the same time, with a trace of cologne, and she pulled it closer around her. Lilou had been with a multitude of boys, but he was the second to pick up on something as slight as a shiver. The rumours that the Lachapelle boy had a way around girls wasn't an empty one after all. Luca had been like that to her as well, and she liked to think that she was special in his case, but it'd been ages since they've last met.

Leaning in to his touch, the petite girl risked a glance over her shoulder. "I don't know. Hang on." Quickly, or as quickly as her heels would allow, she backtracked to stand in front of the girls, who were now whispering excitedly. "Are you following us? I know he's cute and all, but isn't that a little creepy?" Lilou quirked an eyebrow, but a smile was playing on the corner of her lips. She wouldn't be surprised if they turned out to be Lachapelle fangirls.

Excuse me, but are you the singing duo "Moonbeam Prosthetic"? We're huge fans of yours and we saw you come out of that restaurant! What are your plans for your next release?

The amused quirk of her eyebrows turned into a surprised one. A singing duo? Her and Prosper? "Oh I don't know. I always thought we'd be in a Spanish mariachi band than a singing duo. Thoughts, partner?" She turned around and threw the question at her companion for the night, eager to see how he would respond.

"Oh, please." Prosper waved her compliment away with one flamboyant flick of his wrist. He was playing mock-humble. Prosper really was a gentleman and they both knew it. "Hmm?" suddenly she'd ducked out of his reach and he turned on the spot to see what she was doing. He quirked an eyebrow, then cracked a crooked smile at her words. Oh, the sass. Prosper started walking back too; he wanted in on whatever spontaneous little reaction this was. She was like a little firecracker, witty words at the ready.

"Yeah that's us," Prosper said coolly, sliding in beside Lilou, one arm finding its way around her waist, as if the dip below her ribs was the normal resting place for his hand to be. "Good job spotting us, you know no one has recognised us in Paris so far." He gave the pair a cool smile, adapting immediately to his new role. Prosper's grey eyes flicked from one eager face to the next as he thoughtlessly drew little circles on Lilou's waist with a gentle fingertip. The name of the band sounded familiar, but he wasn't entirely sure what songs they'd done or if he'd heard any of them. still, he was an actor at heart. He lived for moments like this. "The new album's gonna be about our last breakup," he said seriously, "but don't tell anyone. You guys want a photo?" Prosper motioned at the old looking polaroid camera in one of the girl's hands.

Lilou had to muffle a giggle when his arm found its way around her again. He was cool as a cucumber, but she just found this whole situation hilarious. Moonbeam Prosthetics, what a name for a band! As long as he was willing to play along though, so was she. She wasn't an actor or as into theatrics as he was, but she never turned down a bit of fun. "Yeah, we've been trying to keep that a secret. Publicity and all that, you know?" She added seriously, "But I'm sure it wouldn't hurt letting some of our best fans know." The group of girls, teenagers it looked like, let out a collective squeal, and Lilou had to smile at how starstruck they looked.

Prosper suggested a photo, which the girls ate up right away. It was almost like an out-of-body experience, posing with strangers, a smile stretched so widely across her face she couldn't possibly do it again for the next month. Then she stepped back, allowing the girls to have a one-on-one session with Prosper, and she became the photographer. Lilou laughed at the comments about how she was so easy-going for a celebrity, and she couldn't help but wonder how the real Moonbeam Prosthetics would react. They were probably helping them by being nice to their fans.

When the group was finally satisfied, they got ready to leave. "Hey, can you take a picture of us too? As a momento for our little trip to Paris." She smiled at a blonde girl who offered to do it, and twirled back into Prosper's arms. "Gotta have something for the public to talk about, right?" With a smirk, Lilou pulled him in for a quick kiss just as the shutter went off. "Consider it official." She smiled at the girls, who all looked awestruck. Without looking to see if Prosper was going to follow, she started to make her own way to the muggle bar. A drink sounded nice right about now.

Prosper raised his eyebrows as Lilou ducked in for a quick kiss, shutting his eyes just in time for the flash to go off on the polaroid camera. Click. He watched her as they pulled away, admitting internally that he was a little impressed. Lilou was a fun person to be around, he thought. Maybe they should see more of each other? The nineteen year old didn't bother connecting this newfound interest in the brunette with the way that she'd just kissed him, like loving lovers. "Thanks girls," Prosper said, turning back to the group and giving them what he hoped was a winning smile. Prosper took the polaroid picture from the blonde girl, giving her a little wink before he turned away. Something to remember him by, he thought. Prosper wasn't so into blondes, but hey, maybe the moonbeam guy was. Headcanon, he thought to himself.

Prosper easily caught up to and and fell into step with Lilou as they walked away from the pack of girls. He really did thrive under pressure. Pretending to be someone else had never been too hard for the nineteen year old and doing so with a partner, impromptu, was kind of thrilling. It was a piece of cake. Prosper watched the photograph develop; it showed the moment she'd gone in for the kiss, and the way they'd looked at each other as they'd pulled apart, like they were sharing a secret. He liked that. "We should sell this," he joked, shooting her a crooked smile as they walked off together.