[saé] escaping time. [léon]

Jaspar seemed a little confused by his joke but Léon didn’t take the time to explain it, figuring that in the end, it didn’t really matter much anyway. Plus once someone went through the trouble of explaining a joke it seemed to lose its edge. He figured Jaspar also wouldn’t find his obsessed with skincare cool at all, though in a roundabout way it was related to science. Sort of. “I wouldn’t say belong,” he corrected. It was an incredibly complicated thought, though, that he figured Jaspar was not interested in hearing. Léon didn’t have the face or personality of someone that didn’t just belong anywhere.

He had everything most people his age probably wanted: popularity, the star position on the Quidditch team, he was in with some of the prettiest girls at school and yet he always felt that something was missing, more of himself. Maybe that also attributed to his feelings about science. Jaspar always had the answer, Léon, on the other hand, was desperately trying to find an answer that pleased him creatively. It was difficult.

Léon smiled a little as Jaspar went on to explain the science school, finding his excitement over the issue child-like and…pure? Though the boy had hardly been hardened by a few uncomfortable circumstances, in comparison to Jaspar he was considerably jaded. “That actually sounds fun,” he noted, shrugging lightly as he considered what Jaspar was talking about, tried to wrap his head around it, and concluded that it wasn’t as boring as he thought that would be. If they could put that science into a broom it’d be pretty handy. But then again, he supposed that was what science was about.

“I mostly paint,” he explained, Léon normally didn’t like to show off much of his work, it was incredibly personal to him, after all. “But I really love composing music, I’ve written some pieces on the piano, nothing fancy or anything, sometimes I write ballads too,” he explained, though his lyrics were full of notions of romance rather than actual experience. “Lately I like to put happy music to sad lyrics,” he offered, “you ought to come by the music room and I’ll play something for you,” he continued. “You paint or anything like that?”

Jaspar wished he was more creative, maybe not as creative as Léon seemed to be, but he could do with a little more out of the box thinking. Science was sort of like art; even though it had rules and boundaries, it still took a lot of guesswork to get things done. And if he was less grounded and a little more artistic, it might have made things easier. And it wouldn't have sucked to be popular, play Quidditch, and have a girlfriend who didn't live several countries away, either...

 "I don't know if I've ever even played the piano, to be honest," Six and a half years and Jaspar had managed to dodge music class almost entirely. It was an accomplishment in itself, but he felt like he was doing the world a favor, really. No one needed to hear his excuse for singing. Not if they ever wanted to hear anything else again, anyway.

"Maybe I will stop by sometime, that sounds weird, but in a good way," Sad lyrics to happy music, what a strange concept. Chuckling, Jaspar shook his head, "Oh no, you think I'm a menace with science materials. Don't even try putting a paintbrush in my hand," On more than one occasion, Jaspar had managed to blow up his ink well in class. He couldn't imagine the fall out from a jar of paint. "Does doodling on my homework count as art?" He joked, pushing the gate to the gardens that led up to the palace open with a bit of effort and let out a laugh.

"You've been at Beauxbatons and never played the piano?" Léon retorted incredulously, surprised that the boy had gotten this far without doing at least that. But in the Papillonlisse’s opinion, anyone refusing the opportunity to experience the power of music, as he liked to put it, was truly missing out and no matter how much Jaspar raved about science school, there was no excuse for it. “You’ve gotta do something about that, even if you’re not into the theory aspect, music is pretty cool, I bet there’s a connection between music and science too, as long as you don’t go around breaking and exploding stuff,” he offered with a chuckle.

Now he felt invested in Jaspar’s musical education though Léon couldn’t quite understand why he cared, maybe because he thought Jaspar would be receptive to it, or maybe, because he’d really been wanting to share more of himself to others and this felt like a good, mild introduction into it. They hadn’t bonded and become life long friends at the center or anything but Léon felt that the boy’s company would probably be very different to his experience with any of his usual friends.

“Well I’ll keep you away from the brushes for sure,” he smiled, “and maybe you can show me how to blow stuff up sometime? Feels like a good way to make an entrance on the Quidditch pitch, like with an exploding quaffle,” he continued, gesturing with his hands what he felt an explosion would be like, “Boom!” he said for emphasis, “and then the crowd can go wild Léon, Léon, Léon,” he was a self-hype team right now and some of the girls they passed by were giving them weird looks but he couldn’t be bothered.

"Well, I've played the violin?" Jaspar replied with a shrug; he didn't think whatever noise he made could technically be called 'playing the violin,' but he had already said it, and it would be weird to take it back. After the professor had corrected how he held the instrument four different times, Jaspar had called it a day. Shrugging for the millionth time this afternoon, Jaspar's gesture slowly turned into a nod and was even accompanied by a friendly smile, as he agreed to what Léon was suggesting. "I guess I could try it, but no promises," The teenager joked, chuckling nervously, and hoped his humor didn't fall flat.

Jaspar listened to Léon as he carried the conversation toward Quidditch, cheering himself on, and Jaspar laughed. He wished he was good at sports like the other wizard seemed to be. He couldn't imagine what it must have been like to be on the House Team, let alone Captain, but he figured it was pretty awesome. Jaspar had never been very skilled when it came to Quidditch, but he also hadn't put even half as much effort into trying as he did with science. He supposed you had to be both gifted and invested for something like that.

"But wouldn't it be against the rules, you know, to blow up the quaffle before the match started?" Jaspar felt awkward the second he was finished with the sentence, knowing he sounded like a lame stickler for the rules and tried to cover it up with more rushed thoughts. "I mean, that would be pretty cool; I'll bet the other team didn't even try to bludger the snitch at you after that," Jaspar showed his ignorance about the game by using the wrong words and nodded. He was clueless about his own mistake.

While Jaspar had said that he had played the violin before, Léon had a growing suspicion that it wasn’t playing in the capacity that he played the piano but rather just a one-time looked at the instrument and decided it wasn’t for him after trying to pluck a few of its strings sort of playing. “Music makes no demands,” he offered the little piece of advice he had been given by one of his previous music teachers, “it is simply a vehicle for self-expression,” he continued. While Léon believed himself brimming with talent, he often felt preoccupied by the talents and abilities of others, so much so that it usually held him back. Léon wondered if Jaspar had ever felt that way with his science.

“Eh, that Ombrelune punched someone and he’s still on the pitch, I’d say the rules are pretty loose and I’m sure they’ve got extra quaffles, anyway,” Léon wasn’t even sure if he had gotten the story right but after he had gotten into that altercation at the end of the previous year, he had decided that whatever negative things he heard about the boy were probably true.

“Don’t be such a girl I thought you liked exploding things for fun. What’s the point if you’re only using your power for boredom,” he nudged him with his elbow. “Plus I’m sure your girlfriend would be impressed,” he didn’t know if he had one but he was intent on finding out.

Léon either hadn't noticed or had graciously overlooked Jaspar's misstep with Quidditch Terminology and if the Bellefeuille had realized it, he would have been endlessly appreciative. "Yeah, I suppose that's true," The way that Léon had mentioned the Ombrelune that punched someone made Jaspar feel like it was something he was supposed to know about. Like common knowledge, and he was fairly certain he'd heard others talking about it last year, but he didn't know who it was. Jaspar was far from the inner circle when it came to the goings-on of the House Quidditch teams. It was like they lived in another reality.

Jaspar opened his mouth to protest; he didn't blow things up for fun, it just always happened, but he closed it just as quickly. Léon thought his penchant for destruction was cool, and Jaspar didn't want to blow up the one thing he had going for him. "We could add some fireworks to it, maybe purple or something," He said quickly, instead of sticking to his idea about the rules, and then blushed a deep red. His girlfriend.

Blinking a few times and shrugging, Jaspar's mind went a mile a minute as he struggled to decide the answers to about six questions. 1. Could he call @Eilís Healey his girlfriend? 2. Would she mind if he did? 3. Should he ask her first? 4. Would she want him telling people at school about her? 5. Would she think it was weird that he had all these questions in the first place? And especially 6. Would Léon even believe it if he did tell him? "Have to get someone to take a picture of it, you know, one of those moving ones, so I can owl it back to her," Jaspar finally said, revealing very little information about Eilís and being unintentionally secretive.

Léon thought it was pretty funny that all he had to do to get Jaspar on board was to call him boring, but then realized he was just like any one of the other guys in his own house, always looking for a reason to out-do or show that they were capable that their counterparts. “Fireworks sound cool, you think the fireworks can spell out my name? I’ve seen something like it at Quidditch games before, though it was nice too.

And I’m practically pro right now so it only seems right,” he added with a shrug at his shoulders, smirking as he saw how he struggled with the question about a girlfriend. Léon had pretty much decided that he probably didn’t have one then and there because no one with a girlfriend hesitated like that (unless she was ugly or something) but when he responded to the contrary, Léon got suspicious.

“Is this imaginary girlfriend of yours living abroad? I’ve got a couple of girl friends that are in the running for the title but they’re all real,” he emphasized with a malicious smirk. He really didn’t want to get back into bully mode with him but it was hard not to fall into old habits, especially where Jaspar was concerned. “So who is this mystery girl? Or is she an older woman? Are you into that? Tell me everything,” he demanded. Details or it didn’t happen.

"Yeah, it could spell out your name," Jaspar had no idea how to make letters, but he had mastered the fountain and sparklers chemical compositions two years ago, so he was fairly certain he could make it happen. And figured Léon would like him more if he said yes, rather than reasons why not, so he took the plunge and committed. Jaspar was hesitant about many things, but when it came to science and what it could and couldn't create, he was far more reckless. It was probably why things tended to go boom in his orbit.

The nuance of what Léon said about his real girlfriends caught in Jaspar's throat, and he coughed to clear it. Covering his mouth awkwardly as the blush deepened, and tried to act nonchalant about the whole thing in a way that would make the other teenager believe him. He tried to stand up taller, to be more confident, but ended up slouching again before words passed his lips.

"No, she's real, I mean, no, yeah, she is one hundred percent a real, living, witch, but I don't know if she is technically my girlfriend, I guess," He was backpedaling before he even started. Something inside urged him to keep his mouth shut the rest of the walk back to Beauxbatons, but Jaspar ignored it. "We kissed over the summer; I went to see her in England, her name is Eilís," Jaspar's hands ran through his long blond hair again, he was nervous, and it was showing.

"And then I came home, and we still write a lot, but we've never talked about it...." Jaspar was really hoping that Léon would take pity on him, leave the teasing for later, and have some sage wisdom to offer.

What had initially started off as a joke was slowly being worked into reality and Léon had to admit that he wasn’t completely opposed to the idea of coming onto the pitch with a trick so cool all the girls in the pitch would just have to swoon in his presence. Even his ice princess who he suspected intended to play hard to get all year even though they had had a moment over the summer. Probably would have had much more if he hadn’t let his nerves get the best of him but he was prepared for next time, should it ever happen.

“Oh, I see,” Léon concluded, that sounded much more believable to him somehow, sort of what had happened between him and Gabrielle, “yeah, I mean, I get where you’re coming from. Me too, had this thing over the summer one time and it got confusing, I mean we don’t write or anything just, yeah, I get it,” he explained vaguely. It was the first time he had talked about what had happened withy Gabrielle with someone at school and though he hadn’t given much information, it was obvious that he felt a certain way about the whole ordeal.

“I mean, you two should figure things out,” he offered, again it was a vague thing to say because he had not tried it himself, he was too much of a coward even though he had wanted to desperately talk to Gabrielle about it. “Are you planning to meet up over winter break? Maybe if it happens again it means something.”

At first, Jaspar thought Léon might ridicule him, but instead, something even better happened. He could relate! The teenager let out a breath, feeling less tense than he had a second ago about the whole Girlfriend topic, and listened closely to the other teen's story. It might not have been the same experience, but it was enough that it definitely made Jaspar feel a little better. Because Léon was the total opposite of himself, Jaspar knew the other wizard was social and charismatic; he was popular and probably had all sorts of luck with witches. If someone like Léon could deal with the same insecurities, then maybe there was hope for Jaspar yet.

"It is so confusing," Jaspar admitted, sighing and sticking his hands into his pockets as they approached the castle. The winter blossoms had bloomed, and he made sure to walk far enough inside the sidewalk so that he didn't accidentally brush against any of them. The gardener already had it out for him; the last thing he needed was to destroy some rare flowers and negate all of the credits he had earned being bitten by bingo balls and run over by rogue grannies on wheels.

"Yeah, I think we are gonna' meet up over the break, I mean, I hope," They hadn't specifically made plans, but Jaspar had sort of assumed they would now that he was old enough to apparate and could visit without needing someone to bring him around. "I hope it happens again," He said, grinning stupidly and then blushing when he realized how he must have looked. "What about the girl you're maybe dating, then? What is your plan?"

Jaspar was startled by the sound of another group of wizards gaining on them, they must have been headed back from the village as well, and almost immediately he grew tense again. Jaspar was fine one on one, but around crowds, or anyone he wasn't sort of friends with, he was back to being the shy kid. They called out for Léon and Jaspar couldn't say that he was surprised that they were friends with the Papilonlisse captain. Jaspar knew what was coming before it even happened.

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“Girls, in general, are just…confusing, you know?” Léon offered as a way to remedy the fact that he had no solution to either of their problems, but it was nice feeling this solidarity between them, even if the situation wasn’t exactly the same. Had he told one of his friends they’d just shrug and tell him to stop being a wimp and seal the deal but it wasn’t that easy and though he didn’t know much about Jaspar’s situation, he suspected the boy probably felt the same way.

“Yeah, that’d be cool,” he shrugged, not really sure if that was a solution either but figured it would be good if Léon got something out of it in the process. “Having a long-distance girlfriend would be cool,” he added, probably less pressure too, and then he’d be much more willing and excited to spend time with her during the breaks as well. Léon suspected he’d have to give up on Beauxbatons girls altogether, but the jury was still out. “No, she’s not my girlfriend just a…girl I’ve liked for a while I guess,” he shrugged again, he didn’t really like talking about his feelings, assumed he’d get judged for it but he was trying. “She’s way out of my league though, I think she just gets lonely sometimes and needs someone’s heart to play with,” he added with a smirk, he was starting to sound desperate and that was not a good look on Léon Lachapelle. “No plans,” he concluded.

He heard someone calling his name and almost immediately his demeanor changed, much more confident as he smiled and waved at some of his friends on the opposite side of the road. “Anyway, I better get going,” he added, nodding in the dire3ction of his friends, it was time to get back to real life after all. “This was fun, let’s hang out or whatever again,” he added, patting his back before crossing over to meet his friends. In the end, it was not that bad after all. Jaspar was a good kid, he liked him.

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