[mp][gravesend] graveyard girls | senna

She shook her head lightly even as she smiled brightly. "We wouldn't need a pool. Mr. H's is still my favorite room in your house. Plus I hear famous quidditch players swim around in there all the time," she added impishly, her teeth flashing in the dark as she winked at Rhey. The fact that she had swum around in Rhey's pool with captain of the Griffins wasn't a secret between them, but Sen did look back on that with a smile. He was still so intriguing to her. "Then again, maybe we should so we can skinny dip more often," she added as an afterthought with a tinkle of a laugh as she pulled Rheya further down the path even though she had no idea where she was going. She knew Rhey would guide her.

As they came closer, Senna's eyes widened at the strength of the structure. The stone seemed unyielding and the iron door unwelcoming, and still she wanted to go inside. She ran a finger over the carved sigils on the door frame, wondering what they meant, before she slipped inside, her heart beating faster.

It was dark and cool inside, smelling of wet earth and the kind of staleness you would expect. Moonlight shone through the one small window high at the end and Senna could just barely make out the names of past Hawkinses. She whispered the illumination charm and her wand glowed faintly with white light as she walked around, her footsteps light. She turned and faced Rhey, her wand just below her chin, casting dark shadows. "Creepy," she said ominously but couldn't help the happy smile that came with it. This place was amazing.

"I like how you think," Rheya said with a grin, beaming at the advantages of having their own pool with a bit more privacy. Skinny dipping at her dad's wasn't on the top of Rheya's to-do list, cute professional Quidditch players or not. They moved through the graveyard as if they had been here a million times before. Rheya following a half step behind Senna and appreciating her best friend as she pulled her toward something.

Rheya loved how Senna lit up everything around her like energy thrummed off her and brought everything else to life. She was sure Senna had never been here before, but the other witch behaved as if it was as familiar as her own home. The blonde witch moved through life with such grace, and it made Rheya feel more at ease too. Like she could feel at home wherever they were, so long as she had Senna's hand to hold.

Bringing the other witch into the mausoleum, Rheya was excited to see her reaction. It was like giving gifts or surprising someone, it was less about the thing and more about the response, and Rheya was eager to make her best friend smile. "Isn't it?" She added, agreeing that it was indeed quite creepy. "Wyatt Sr. was pretty excited about it..." Rheya's fingertips brushed over the chiseled stones, one of them had her name on it, but the end date was left blank for now. It was eerie, honestly.

"Do you know where you will be buried?" Rheya asked, spinning around and leaning her upper back against JR's future crypt.

"He was?" Senna asked with the familiar tilt of her head as she glanced at her best friend, a small smile playing about her lips as she tried to imagine Mr. H excited about his burial location. Every time she had talked to him about ghosts and her varied interests, he seemed tolerant but maybe not someone who would seem 'excited' by this like she was. Still, Mr. H was cute in that fatherly kind of way, but his aura was too orange for her liking. She wondered if that would bother her in death if she managed to convince Rhey and her family to let her be laid to rest in a wicked place like this.

Something to think about at least. She watched as Rhey's fingers traced over the stone and came to stand closer, her gaze on Rheya's name etched there forever, coming closer enough to stand behind Rhey so she could lean her chin on her friend's shoulder. It felt so natural to be close with her even in a place like this.

As Rhey asked about where she would be buried, she shook her head and laughed. "No clue," she answered easily. "Edan and Cath tell me not to be so morbid whenever I bring it up to them," she added, mentioning her parents who had always felt more like an older aunt and uncle than a mom and dad. A distant relative you couldn't really claim as your own.

"Speaking of.." she added as she moved further around the room, tracing names of Rhey's younger siblings and the years of their births with a blank spot for their death year. Staring at that blank in stone made it feel like there wasn't enough time, even if it was eighty years (she hoped) from now. "Want to go to Dublin this weekend? Feeling a craving for some Gallagher's if you're in the mood?" she asked, thinking of a hole-in-the-wall family-owned restaurant that was a staple for Senna's variety of favorite restaurants around the globe.

“Yeah, but like, not in the way you would be excited about a cemetery… if that makes sense,” Rheya smiled at her best friend, her head tilting to the side as she continued to explain the difference. “I think he was just really proud of this monument with his name on it. You know how he gets.” The doorway to the indoor pool in the Gravesend house had ‘Hawkins Natatorium’ engraved over the top. Half the towels in the house had a monogram on them; the man had even ordered a custom welcome mat (which Mrs. Hawkins removed after an adoring fan had come to the door three times in one week).

Rheya smiled at the casual way Senna spoke of her parents and then followed her as she moved around the crypt. Being with Senna was always like being in a dream; time was fluid, and her anxieties slipped away; it was like they were the only two people in the world, and Rheya loved the feeling. It was more than a vibe or close friendship. “Always in the mood,” she replied as she took two quick steps and reached for Senna’s hand. Rheya intertwined their fingers effortlessly; they fit just right, and she squeezed.

“We should get some food tonight, too,” Rheya offered, “Feelin' the deli?”

Senna smiled, biting her bottom lip. "Know what you mean. I don't think he'll be joining me for seances in the cemetery anytime soon," she said playfully. Mr. H was so odd in some respects, but he was so interesting too. She still hadn't quite figured out what it was about him except the vibe was mostly good. She nodded as Rhey mentioned how he gets. She had lots of custom clothes, but she had always found it odd to have your initials embroidered into your undies. Then again, Senna wasn't much a fan of wearing undies in the first place so maybe she didn't have any room to speak.

Her silvery blonde hair shone in a beam of moonlight coming in through the one window high above them and Senna smiled warmly as Rheya took her hand, twining her fingers around hers. She had always liked that Rheya seemed to be just as touchy as she was and it always felt so natural. Senna squeezed back gently as she nodded.

"I'm hungryyy," she said drawing out the word, belatedly realizing she was actually starving. The concert and the surprise of the cemetery and the ghosts had distracted her enough but now she could feel the edges of her stomach pulling in and she nodded toward the door. As much as she didn't want to go, she needed food, stat. "Let's go see what Frankie is up to," she said with an impish smile, walking side by side as they emerged from the mausoleum and Senna pulled her wand from her boot, apparating them a moment after giving Rhey a moment of pause to steady herself. She knew her friend hated the feeling and she wasn't fond of it either.

One moment they were there in the cemetery and the next, gone like ghosts, vanishing into nothing.

/end

Rheya chuckled, shaking her head as Senna brought up seances and tucked a braid behind her ear. Though Rheya wasn't lining up to be first to join Senna in calling upon the dead, she knew if the other witch invited her, she'd show up smiling. And even if she didn't exactly believe in the negative energy of avocados, it didn't matter; if it was important to Senna, then it was important to Rheya. That was just the way it was.

That and so many other things about her relationship with Senna were so unequivocally clear. Easy to understand, like two puzzle pieces that just fit together, regardless of what puzzle they had come from. Rheya and Senna just meshed; it was natural and comfortable, and yet also exciting. Linking her hand with Senna, Rheya nodded at the elongated word and pulled Senna a little closer. Senna reached for her wand, and Rhey took a deep breath, waiting for the unnerving feeling of being ripped apart and put back together to descend upon them.

She hated to apparate, but with her hand locked with Senna's, the witch felt like she could handle just about anything.

/end