It feels so right now [Sev]

Circe had come out with her friends to celebrate Jam and Janae's eighteenth birthday and had brought her summer guest, a friend from her time at Beauxbatons, along for the festivities. This friend, however, also happened to be the boy that she had told Janae that she fancied upon being reunited with her after the traumatic events involving the dome. So, naturally, Janae was incredibly helpful and had aided Circe in temporarily dyeing her hair a purple ombre and assisting with a more bold makeup look than she usually sported. As for attire, she was sporting a white tee underneath a black leather jacket paired with a purple plaid skirt. She wore fishnets underneath the skirt as well as black knee-high socks and a pair of green canvas sneakers. The birthday girl had assured her over and over again, already, that she looked amazing. Circe being Circe, however, was not feeling it.

Especially as Severin was not exactly the boy that she fancied anymore. That wasn't to say that she wasn't very fond of him: she was incredibly fond of him and she thoroughly enjoyed their conversations and letters. However, for quite a deal more time than she was ready to admit, she had developed her feelings for another male friend of hers: Ezra Cohen. It was awful, the feeling in the pit of her stomach, when she had seen Ezra singing a duet with Wini. She tried not to get that look on her face, forced up a smile, and had suggested to Sev that they step out for a breath of fresh air.

So, there they were, standing outside of the karaoke club. Circe couldn't help but think to herself that she was an incredibly stupid girl. However, it was important to her that Sev still had a good time. She turned to him with a smile. "How are you enjoying your stay so far?"

@Dylan (I'm dumb and can't figure out how to tag Sev but here you go)

Séverin had been happy to get away from the house, and in all honesty, anything was better than being at Beauxbatons another second longer. He hadn’t expected so much excitement, though. He thought they’d lounge around Circe’s house, maybe do some window shopping. He didn’t expect a big party full of people he had never met. He stuck close to Circe. Of course, her friends had been nice to him. Janae was very welcoming, in particular. The girls had taken a few hours to themselves, though, while Séverin had been in the living room of the apartment trying to figure out how to work the magical picture machine.  He had watched something about a very sad, very rich man, who took on the persona of a bat to fight crime. It was… interesting. He needed come context on the whole thing. Why wear masks? Why a cape? Why a bat?

Things were further complicated when the boys passed around a strange-smelling cigarette. He had watched it pass by him a few times before he decided that When in Rome, and took a bit for himself. He had felt strange, a little tingly, a little weird. His mouth a bit dry. He didn’t mind it, though. It felt a good deal like having drank too much, but simply lasted longer. It did make the film slightly more enjoyable, though. He would have to record those results and try again another day. It had mostly worn off by the time the girls were ready to go. Circe looked beautiful, of course, but Séverin completely missed the idea that it was to impress him. He didn’t need a girl to dress up to impress him.

“Oh thank god you’re back.” Séverin teased Circe. “I thought the boys were about to poison me.” He joked, as they had moved on to mixing cocktails. Séverin didn’t drink much either—had a bad experience when he had tried to test his own limits. He was sick for the whole next day. He let the girls indulge, though, and then took Circe’s hand on the way out the door.

Of course, upon reaching the place, Séverin didn’t know what to do at all. He wasn’t very social, and Circe seemed distracted watching her friend Ezra chat up a girl. Séverin was a little disappointed, but he knew that look too well. She had a crush. Well, that was nice. He swallowed, wishing he still had that tingly feeling from earlier.

When she invited him outside, he jumped at a chance to get out of there. “It’s a little stuffy in there, yes.” He started. He wondered if he smelled like the apartment now. “I’m having a great time. The boys showed me how to use the magic picture box to watch muggle films.” He shared. “They were very friendly, while you and Janae slipped away for whatever it is girls do.” He teased.

He thought of Ezra and got a little jealous. He had expected Circe to be fawning over him, and had been looking forward to it. He had wanted some attention, post-Elsa. “Your friends are very charming.” That wasn’t the right word, but it was kinder. “What’s got you down?” He asked, looking at her. “You’re too pretty to look so sad.”

Circe was glad to hear that Sid, Jam, and Ezra had behaved themselves while Janae had been dolling her up. She had been a little disappointed when Sev hadn't seemed to notice. Or at least she hadn't thought that he noticed. He was, however, very different from the boys that she was used to hanging around with. Jam, though not at all romantically interested in her, was always showering her and his sister both with compliments. She was glad that he was being nice to their guest, too.

"Oh, the telly?" That was great! They were bonding. Yes, bonding was good. Circe was especially proud of Sid, as he had the tendency to be a bit of an ass. "I'm glad that you're all getting along. They can be a bit of a handful, but they're mostly harmless. Only really a danger to themselves, honestly."

Circe intentionally brightened her smile a little for him. "Oh, nothing." Circe told a little white lie, but it was for the best. She really didn't want to get into the whole Ezra thing, and in fact she was sure that it was just a silly crush and she would be quite over it soon enough. Sev, himself, was a welcome distraction. He was, after all, very cute. And he had come to spend part of his summer with her. And he had just called her pretty. The accent helped.

"You think that I'm pretty?" Her cheeks turned a soft shade of pink and her smile became more genuine as she looked up at him. He was right in that she really hadn't ought to sulk. This was a party. Who cared if Ezra was singing a love song with some other girl? She was under the stars with a handsome Frenchman on summer holiday.

He eyed her up, a little skeptical of her response, but letting her have it. What was it with girls and compliments on their appearances? He had told her she was pretty because she was, not as a compliment. Was it supposed to be? He always thought acknowledging a girl’s appearance was neutral if not negative, regardless of it the acknowledgement was positive or negative. Didn’t girls hate being called beautiful? Wasn’t it insulting to their intelligence or value outside of objectification? He backtracked a little. He didn’t want to tell her that she wasn’t pretty, but he wanted her to know he thought more than that about her.

“Well of course you are. You’re also intelligent, witty, interesting…” He offered. That was a better compliment, yes? Was this how to flirt? He didn’t know what he was doing, but he did know that he had at least some intention of making Elsa jealous, from wherever it was she was now. He wanted to do with Circe what Elsa thought he did with all the other girls. Was he using her? He didn’t think of it that way. He wouldn’t want to use her. He just wanted this to be… well, he didn’t know what to call it.

He looked up at her, mouth dry again but this being nowhere near as pleasant as it was earlier. Perhaps it was nerves, now? “Why don’t we go for a little walk? It’s still loud here.” He offered. “I’d like a chance to catch up, just us.” He suggested.

Circe smiled. Sure, Janae complimented her. Jam complimented her. But it didn't feel like it didn't when Séverin did. He did not seem like the sort of person to frivolously give out compliments the way that her other friends did. She knew that they meant well and that they probably truly believed the things that they said, but at the same time she felt as if they felt obligated to say nice things to her. They had grown up together. Perhaps she was simply a pessimist and far too hard on herself, but that was how she felt.

"I'm glad that you think so." And she was. "I think that you're all of those things, too." And she did. The accent helped, but it felt inappropriate to say that. She was not that bold. In fact, Circe Sutcliffe was not known for being bold at all. Maybe that was her problem? Perhaps that was why she hadn't been able to maintain Oliver's interest? He didn't matter, now, and neither did any of the other stupid boys who she'd wasted tears on.

She nodded at his suggestion and her smile returned. Just the two of them? Well, it probably couldn't hurt for just a little while. The others wouldn't miss her.

"Yeah." She agreed as she shoved her hands into the pockets of her leather jacket. "That sounds nice. Let's go."

Séverin smiled at her compliment. It did sound nice to hear nice words from a girl. He couldn’t imagine hearing a nice word from Elsa. She wouldn’t dare allow it. It was an interesting relationship they had, one he had definitely ruined. He liked this with Circe, though. This… whatever it was. He liked flirting back and forth and smiling more than usual. Maybe he should have had a drink after-all.

“So tell me how things are holding up. Haven’t found a new boy since the last one, have you?” He wondered. No use in barking up the wrong tree. “You have a type, I’m sure of it.” He teased. Ezra seemed just the playboy type she seemed to attract, at least on surface-level. He was nice to Séverin, but that didn’t mean he was nice over-all. Maybe he was a jerk at the end of the day. “Though, I suppose what does that say about me?” He teased.

“You’re not my usual type at all.” He blurted, not realizing until after he’d said it that it was offensive. He backtracked. “I mean to say, I typically pick the worst possible people for me.” Well, the singular bad person. “You seem much nicer.” He offered, knowing that was probably not good enough. “Then again, I’m generally disagreeable and you seem eager to agree with me, you know. It’s nice to feel listened to.” Maybe that was a better save.

He felt awkward, very awkward. He caught her eye and smiled lightly, unsure of himself for a moment. He was usually good at fitting into whatever role he wanted to play, but he wanted to be himself tonight. He typically knew what to say to make people behave the way he wanted them to, but he had hoped that being himself would be enough to make things go well. He certainly didn’t want to hurt Circe’s feelings. The opposite, really.

“I’m very bad at this, as you can imagine.” He laughed at himself lightly. “I seem to only ever attract attention when I’m not trying. Perhaps I should be aloof and distant?”

"Oh. No. No, I'm afraid not." Circe shrugged. "I'm not... very popular with the male population at Hogwarts, actually. Well, at least not with anyone who'd treat me nicely." They were always either crude, had girlfriends, or were entirely deplorable people in general like Steffan Greene. Séverin seemed different. "I think that you're nice."

It had initially stung a little when Séverin had admitted that she wasn't his usual type, but when she thought about it she supposed that it was a compliment. Sot of. She smiled at him regardless and nodded along. "I try to listen and be understanding. I know how it is. You know?" Circe had always been a girl controlled by her emotions, but perhaps it would be more beneficial for her to try to be a little less sensitive? If people were going to mistreat her, regardless, what good did it do to give them the satisfaction of seeing her suffer? No good at all.

"I'd like it if you just.. felt comfortable enough to be yourself. I've always really liked you, Séverin. Sometimes I really miss Beauxbatons, honestly."

Hogwarts wasn't even going to be the same next school year. Jam, Janae, and Ezra had all graduated. She still had a few friends left, but only Sid from their core group. France sounded much, much more appealing. She wasn't sure that she could talk her mother into that, however. This had already required quite a bit of sucking-up both on her part and on the part of her friends'.

Sev flushed a little despite himself. “I’m really not a nice person.” He confessed. “In fact, I’m pretty deplorable. I’m constantly cross, contrary, and rude. I don’t care much for many people.” He admitted. “Though, I do like you. You’re interesting. Different.” The corners of his mouth turned up slightly. He meant that. He thought it was interesting that she was from the house of blood purists, yet cared little for it. That she was cunning and calculating but with a conscience. She was almost a curiosity in and of herself. He wanted to study her and get to know her. She was pretty too, and even Séverin wasn’t immune to a pretty face. He cared about the inside a lot more, but aesthetics helped a good deal. Was she part-veela, perhaps? Maybe that was what it was. She had the pretty blond hair for it…

“I think your friends are interesting.” He admitted. “Ezra seems a bit of a playboy type, though. I get the feeling he hops from girl to girl. Typical for guys, I suppose. I hate that type. He was nice enough to my face, but I get the feeling there’s a reason he can’t keep a girl. Do you think he loses interest or that he’s really just one-note?” He wondered. Was insulting her crush a bad or good thing? He supposed she said to be himself.

“Of course, I can’t very well keep a girl either. I don’t know what to do. If I be myself, she thinks I’m ignoring her. If I try, I try too hard.” He shrugged. “I don’t know what in the world I should do to get girls to pay attention to me, or if I even want to. Only a few girls have ever caught my attention. They can’t be just like the rest.” He sighed. He didn’t smoke, but thought he might like a cigarette in the night air. Maybe he ought to take it up?

"Well, you're always nice to me." Circe smiled at Sev again. He had been her first and truest friend at Beauxbatons and she was eternally grateful to him for that. It had been difficult, being the new girl, even if it had only been for one school year. She wondered if things might have turned out any better if she had simply continued the remainder of her education at Beauxbatons rather than Hogwarts. She certainly would have never fallen victim to Oliver's wicked charms then. She should have listened to her friends about him, but of course she hadn't.

She was glad that Severin seemed to like her friends, though she did note his criticism of Ezra. She supposed that it was a justified critique, however, though it was really more of an observation anyway. He did, in fact, have a bit of a reputation. She knew he wasn't as much of a jerk about it as Sid, but Sev posed a fair question. "I'm not sure, to be honest. He's always been nice enough and well-liked." But maybe Séverin would be the safer romantic choice? Besides, Ezra had seemed very into Wini back there anyway. Séverin was the one there paying attention to her.

"I have only ever had the one serious relationship, but... as you heard, it didn't go well. I suppose that I can relate to you in that there has to be something special about a boy for me to really like him." Her smile brightened a little. "But, I like you."

Séverin wasn’t sure what to do in this case. He was pretty sure they had just established they liked each other, but that wasn’t something he was used to. Elsa never really established that. They only ever established they didn’t want each other kissing other people, then went on a date to ‘go public’. They never discussed being boyfriend and girlfriend, and he wasn’t entirely sure that doing that with Circe was a good idea anyway. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn’t. Elsa would be mad, of course, despite being so terrible to him near the end of the previous year. Long-distance didn’t sound too good, though. He didn’t know.

He looked at her eyes, sparkling in the night, and her bright smile. He wet his lips a bit nervously, and led them off into an alcove, away from the crowds on the sidewalk. This wasn’t like shoving Elsa into a broom closet, and it felt different. He was very aware of the snakes in his belly this time, and didn’t know if he liked it or not. It didn’t feel as urgent, and he didn’t know what he should do. Should he ask?

“Can I kiss you?” He heard himself say, careful and almost shy. This was so unlike him. He didn’t know why he felt so strange, in a new country. “It’s okay if you don’t want me to, I can—” He cut himself off.

Circe, despite being a generic Good Girl™, had historically only caught the attention of Bad Boys™. Séverin, however, didn't seem anything like that at all. She had really meant it when she had said that she thought he was nice. No other boy had ever taken the time to pen such beautiful letters to her as he had-- even in a platonic sense! It also helped that he was actually there, with her, and not serenading some other girl. He was smart and funny and charming and cute. She had let herself think about kissing him a couple of times.

So, why not, right? She liked him, obviously well enough to at least invite him to spend time in England with her and to sneak off with him during a party, and he apparently liked her. The idea of a long-distance relationship seemed a little foreboding but there was plenty of time to think on that and talk about it later.

"Yes." Circe gave a little nod and her smile grew as her cheeks filled with color. "You may."

Having established that she did, indeed, want a kiss, only seemed to make Séverin feel more nervous. He didn’t know what he was doing and felt like he just playing at having social skills. He was always a jerk in his letters, as eloquent as they sometimes were. He was whiny, entitled, and self-obsessed, as he always was. How in the world she thought he was nice was beyond him, and he wasn’t sure he like the label. Of course, it seemed to be working for him regardless.

He leaned in, pressing her back against the brick wall of the alcove, before pressing their lips together. He lingered, not necessarily savoring the contact as much as deciding what he was going to do. Should he pull away, coy and shy? Should he kiss her more, harder? He only knew one way to do this and wasn’t sure which way was the right way.

Instead, he took a middle route. He kissed her again, with a bit more urgency, but didn’t quite slam their faces together like he might have with Elsa. This wasn’t anger and lust fueled for once. This was nice.

Circe had kissed other boys before, but this felt different. For once, it felt sort of romantic and spontaneous-- like one of those muggle movies or teen novels. She smiled into the kiss as he pressed her against the brick wall behind her and she kissed him back. She couldn't wait to tell Janae that their plan had worked! Circe had, in fact, had her doubts about their chances of success but her friend had really pulled through.

She took a moment to breathe when he pulled away but eagerly returned his kiss once he'd leaned in again. She was nervous, but found comfort in the fact that he seemed nervous too. Kissing in such a public place made it all the more nerve-wracking. The more that she thought about it, the more that she really did not want to go back to the party anyway. They'd know where to find her.

Circe pulled away from the kiss, but smiled at him. "I'm all partied-out, I think. Would you like to go back to the apartment instead?"

Séverin had closed his eyes into the contact, but they opened slowly as she pulled away. He looked at her with half-lidded eyes, feeling the eyes dilate as he looked at her. He knew he liked this, knew he liked her, but it all felt so different and foreign. He didn’t know what to do or say here. Usually, with Elsa, he would come up with some mean thing to make it seem like he felt nothing, but he wanted to maintain his “nice guy” persona with Circe. He liked that she liked him, that she thought he was a good person—worth kissing, and publicly at that. Elsa never kissed him where people could see. She hid him like a dirty little secret, at least that’s how he felt. They had “come out” as a couple, but that hadn’t lasted very long, and it was mostly Séverin’s fault. He didn’t know how he had managed to mess everything up so badly.

Even so, he was here now, in this moment, with a different girl. A girl who liked him and wanted to kiss him. A girl who thought he was sweet and nice. He wanted to be good for her. That was all he ever really wanted with Elsa anyway—to be good to her. He had simply tried too hard. He swallowed and smiled, a blush forming on his cheeks. “Back to the apartment, just us?” He asked, clarifying. This seemed to excite a part of him that wasn’t his conscious brain. Some time private and alone was scary but exhilarating.

“Okay. Lead the way. I don’t think I could find my way back on my own.” He admitted. He offered a hard to her. “Did you want to say goodbye to your friends?”

"Yeah, we can watch a movie or something. They'll understand." Though he was right, Circe realized, and she really had ought to say something to someone. Maybe they'd see Sid having a smoke on their way back by? He smoked like a chimney, and he had for as long as she'd known him. She really wished that he would quit. He was like a brother to her and she had read all about the damaging effects of tobacco.

Circe nodded and took Sev's hand. This was nice, though if she was being realistic a part of her knew that it probably couldn't last. She didn't really have the emotional stability to seriously maintain a long-distance relationship. It wasn't as if she could just spend her last year at Beauxbaons, though the idea sounded wonderful-- it was just a fantasy.

Just as she'd assumed that she would, Circe spotted Sid out polluting his lungs and she briefly indicated to him that they were leaving and to pass the word. She felt a little annoyed at the expression on his face, but knew that he'd pass the message along. Hopefully the jokes would be minimal, though she very much doubted it. She loved him, truly, but he was so obnoxious.

"I wish you didn't have to go back to France." She confessed quietly as they walked. "This has been nice."