twilight is keeping us close to the stars [freya]

It was well past sunset and Danny wasn't sure how long he'd been up on the rooftop, a blunt between his fingers and smoke hanging about his head as he tried and failed to pick out the stars in the light polluted sky over London. It was chilly and the warming charm he had cast before he lit up was wearing off, his hoodie not doing a great job at fending off the cold, but he didn't mind much. Or at least didn't mind enough to actually get up from where he was sprawled in the rickety lawn chair he was currently occupying.

He wasn't even sure why he was up here, but since Freya's birthday party last month, he had found himself gravitating up here more when his bedroom got too stifling. For some reason, it felt weird to hang out in Freya's bedroom (the nicest room in the house) like he usually did. Weird, but not weird. Everything seemed normal - jokes and teasing and movie nights and trivia -- but something still felt weird. And Danny knew but didn't want to dive too deep into the reason he suspected.

Maybe it was time to head back home for a few days, visit with his mum and hang out with Wendy and the rest of the gang when they were all home from spring break. His mum would probably like that..

@Freya Trickett

Freya pushed open the door to the roof, pleased to find him exactly where she’d been expecting him to be. He was staring up at the sky, and she glanced up briefly to see if there was anything to be seen tonight. She thought she could maybe see one star and it — oh. Nope, the star was blinking and moving slowly across the sky; it wasn’t a star at all. The blonde pushed her glasses up her nose with the back of her hand, trying not to bop herself on the forehead with the carton she was holding. She glanced back at the boy she’d come up here to see.

“Hey, Dan,” she said, a small smile appearing as he looked over at her. “Oh, it’s chilly, out here” she commented, grimacing a little as the cold air hit her bare legs. She shut the door behind her, shivering. Magical heating was easy enough, but she’d left her wand downstairs. “Um.” She hovered by the door for a moment, feeling goosebumps on her legs. “I was just wondering if I can have some of this?” she asked, holding the carton of chocolate milk up with two hands and giving it a little jiggle. Her smile was hopeful, and only a little tentative.

He heard the roof top door creak and swing open and he gave a half-turn to see who it was before he gave her a little salute and small smile in greeting as he settled back to face the 'view' -- which was mostly just smog and blinking lights of the city but whatever. "Hey Tricky," he said in greeting before he took another drag and held the joint out to her, offering to share like usual.

At her comment, he glanced at what she was wearing, seeing her bare legs and then made himself glance away. "Here," he said instead as he grabbed his wand from the rickety side table next to him and passed it to her. He could have done a heating charm for her, but she was usually better at it and his wand responded to her just as well, if not better, than it did to him. The carton of milk in her hands caught his attention and as if on cue, he licked his lips, his mouth feeling dry.

"What's that? Let me see," he asked as if he didn't know, reaching a hand out for the carton, a small smile playing about his lips.

"No thanks," Freya said, shaking her head a little. So, things were a little weird. Well, they were and/or weren't at the same time. Freya didn't really want to observe or study the feeling too closely because if she looked too hard and found that it was, in fact, kind of weird, then she didn't know what she'd do. Schrodinger's weirdness, or whatever (she couldn't remember what 'Schrodinger' meant, exactly — a guy had explained it once on a first date and she'd smiled and nodded — but it felt applicable, maybe). Freya could feel something tugging a little in the back of her mind now, as she noted that it took him a moment to respond. Just the weed, she hoped.

"Choccy milk," Freya answered with another hopeful jiggle of the carton. She went over to him, though, reaching for his wand. By now it felt comfortable for her to use, like it was her own. She swapped the milk for the wand, performing a quick warming charm as she sat down on the edge of the old seat they'd picked up from around the corner. The change in temperature made her shiver again, more goosebumps appearing at the change even though it was warmer. She dropped his wand down on the ground by her socked feet.

Danny brought the joint back to his lips when she declined and took another drag, it dangling from his lips as they swapped items - his wand for the carton of milk. He shook the carton in his hand to feel how much was left (about half) and gave her a nod, before setting the joint down on the arm of the loveseat. "Sure, just let me have a sip first," he said as he opened it.

He felt the cushion shift beneath him as she sat down next to him and he tilted the carton back to drink some. Danny wished he had some cookies to go with, but oh well. An errant memory of Frey stacking Greg's special cookies on her knew came back to mind which made him smile a bit as he held out the carton for her to take before he quick changed his mind and said, "Wait a little bit more." Then he took another sip and held it back out to her.

But he couldn't resist the temptation so he held up his index finger in a 'wait' gesture and slowly took another sip, glancing at her from the corner of his eye, holding back a laugh.

Freya watched as he started sipping the drink, her hands on her thighs as she waited patiently for her turn. He smiled for some reason, as he held the carton out to her, but then pulled it away. Freya bounced a little, her patience slipping away as he took sip after sip, taunting her. “Dannyyyy,” She whined, her eyes flicking from him to the carton as she elongated the second syllable of his name. She wished it was see-through so she could see how much was left.

After a beat, she gave him a very small push, and he spilled a little milk down his face. She laughed at the sight, the whole thing made funnier by the fact that she’d barely touched him. “Oh!” Suddenly, Freya’s eyes widened and she leaned across Danny’s body, her hand swiping at the joint he’d placed on the arm of the chair. A little smoke wisped up from the material. Freya grabbed the joint, then tapped the back of her hand on the burny part of the chair, straightening up only when it was clear it wasn’t about to start a fire. “Sorry,” she said (a little unnecessary) as she pushed up off of him, holding the joint out.

Her whiny voice always made him laugh and this was no different. Except the laugh soon turned in choking as she pushed him, milk splashing over his face. He caved his shoulders in and leaned over spreading his knees, milk dripping down his cheeks and off his chin onto the floor between his feet. "Frey," he complained as he wiped at the chocolate milk on his chin and flicking the drops at her.. or where she had been.

Because now she was reaching across his lap, Danny leaning back into the cushion as he smelled the coconut scent of her shampoo while confusion played across his features before he realized what she was doing. His hand touching her shoulder lightly before she moved back and he stared at the little burn spot on the floral fabric. He rubbed at it with two fingers then gave her a shrug and an apologetic smile. "Oops," he said before taking the joint back and passing her the nearly empty carton of chocolate milk.

"Any update on the vacation planning?" he asked, thinking of the summer trip they had all decided to take together. Danny honestly didn't care where, he only wanted to not work for as many days as he was allowed to take (and maybe even try to slide in a few extra days off to see if anyone would notice). The planning bits was not something he was good at and he was glad that his friends knew enough about him not to even attempt to give him such a responsibility.

Freya straightened up, taking the milk back in between both of her hands. She had a happy little smile on her face but it was remporary, fading when she realised he’d almost drunk the whole thing. Freya sighed, jiggling it a bit before peering into the top with one eye shut. Yep, nearly empty. “Daaannn,” she said, drawing the word out in another complainy sort of whine. Quieter, this time. Well, it was probably her own fault. She should have just taken it to her room or something.

“Hmmm? Oh, well Jer’s still keen on Amsterdam,” Freya told him with a little smile. She shuffled back in the seat, pulling her legs up onto it and crossing them before taking a small sip of the chocolate milk. “I’m still into Italy,” she said nudging his shoulder with her own. “Beaches and boats and stuff, you know?” Not that she was against Amsterdam, though. “Both, maybe,” she added, glancing up at the sky. When it was cold like this, all she could imagine was going around in a little boat in the sun, eating pizza.

"What?" he asked innocently, staring at her with a lopsided smile, even though he knew exactly what she was complaining about. "I was thirsty," he said in way of explanation even thought it wasn't really true at all. It was kind of funny how he had guessed exactly how she would react, down to her complainy tone, and the way she stretched out his name. Dan, not Danny. "I'll get you more tomorrow," he added with a roll of his eyes.

He took another drag, feeling the smoke settle around him like a blanket, even his fingers feeling tingly, and nodded. Amsterdam. Of course. Italy seemed nice too. Honestly, Danny wasn't that picky as long as there was food (lots of it) and fun (obviously) and friends (duh, that's why he had suggested the idea in the first place, bonus points to him for not having to plan anything).

"Let's do Italy," he said, deciding easily with no real rhyme or reason behind it, nudging her back with his elbow. "Get one of those little gondola man hats. I'd look good in one, don't you think?" he asked with a smile as he glanced at her and then nodded at her idea. "Yeah, or that." He thought for a moment and then added. "The bloke in the portkey office owes me a favor so we could probably get our choice of date if we needed." Then he grinned at the memory and shook his head. There weren't many perks of working at the Ministry other than the paycheck, but the stories he had? Pure gold.

“Hmph,” Freya said, but there wasn’t much conviction there. It wasn’t weird, she thought. Right? No strange or uncomfortably vibes on the rooftop tonight. Freya glanced at Danny, then away. Either there was a strange vibe here, or there wasn’t, but it was too easy to convince herself of either thing from moment to moment.

“Right? Because of the pizza?” Freya asked emphatically, but it sounded more like she was agreeing with him than actually asking (because she was). “I’m gonna eat so much pasta and bread,” She added happily, leaning back against the seat with a pleased smile. She took another sip of the milk — just a teeny one so that she could save the last one for another minute from now. The blonde wiped her lips with the back of her hand, then glanced at Danny. “Oh, you’ve got some…” She motioned toward her mouth, smiling a little at the milk drop that lingered on Danny’s chin.

"Of course because of the pizza," he said mocking her tone lightly, playful. That was his motto these days: light and playful, nothing heavy, nothing too deep. It seemed to be working for the most part. Except when he got those feelings like he did in the moments he had been by himself before she had joined him up here, where he felt like he wanted to be somewhere else. Maybe someone else. Danny wasn't used to thoughts like that and he didn't know quite what to do with him.

So he focused on pizza and pasta and Italy instead. "I would gain ten kilos just in pasta and you'll have to roll me away from every table, but it'd be worth it," he said with a smile as he touched the little burn spot with the tips of his fingers, feeling the floral fabric that was now stiff and a little frayed.

Danny glanced at her, looking at her mouth as she told him something, and belatedly realizing what she was trying to tell him. "Oh," he said dumbly as he reached up and patted one side of his face, not feeling anything. "Did I get it?"

Freya shook her head, an amused smile on her lips. “No, other—” she paused, hand half raised to just wipe it herself. It was dumb of her to hesitate; since when had it been awkward to touch him?? A layer down, she knew that it was only awkward now because she was making it awkward. If she stopped overthinking and just behaved normally then there probably wouldn’t be an odd vibe here, anyway. A layer deeper than that, though, she knew it wasn’t a one-sided thing.

“Here,” she said, reaching out and wiping the droplet of chocolate milk with one thumb. She didn’t linger, even if the moment felt a touch more tension-laden than it should have. Freya turned away and wiped her thumb on the couch on her other side. She turned back with an easier smile. Don’t overthink it! “I just wanna come back with a tan,” Freya told her friend. “You’ll have to help me with Jem.” Not that she thought he'd argue.

It hadn't been obviously weird until he saw her hesitate, her hand hanging between them as his hazel eyes met her honey ones, and it just made him wonder at how and when things had gotten so awkward. It was like they were always half a beat off, almost synced up and on tempo, but also.. not. And it only felt really weird because this felt brand new and not in the good-new sort of way. New like they had lost something and couldn't quite find a way back.

He smiled a close-lipped smile as she wiped off his face and Danny touched the spot after she did, swiping away more nonexistent choco milk. Her own carefree smile a few seconds later tipped him off that he should be categorizing this in the 'not a big deal' area so he tried to be nonchalant about it and he was glad he was already smoking a joint, taking another drag, happy for the pending float away feeling he knew he would get. "Sure," he agreed easily again. "Not that he'd argue too much with you," he added with a knowing smile. The two boys could argue like brothers at times, but Jere seemed softer around Freya somehow. Even her nickname for him had a nice roundedness to it. Jem. "Actually, just mention Italian topless beaches and he'd agree in a heartbeat," Danny added with a grin. Or wait.. did that apply more to him than Jere..

Danny repeated the same thought she’d just had. Direct channel from her brain to his mouth, or something. “Yeah,” she agreed with a bit of a smile. No point denying it; Jeremy rarely ever said no to her. “Oh,” she added, raising her eyebrows. “Probably true,” she conceded with a distant, agreeing nod. Freya shifted in her seat again, her legs curled up to one side now. She looked down into the carton of chocolate milk, closing one eye to peep inside. Of course, it was too dark to see anything.

Well, she’d been putting it off but she might as well finish it. Freya tipped the container all the way up and savoured the last mouthful. She leaned forward to drop the empty carton on the floor, then wiped her own lips with the back of her hand. “Need to get some more of that,” she commented vaguely, straightening up. Freya didn’t look at Danny for a moment, glancing up at the sky instead. Her hair was gonna smell like weed tomorrow if she didn’t spell it when she got back to her room, or wash it later, she thought. Was her warming charm wearing off already? She plucked at the edges of her shorts absentmindedly.

Danny nodded as she nodded, pursing his lips a little as they felt tingly. Buzzy. Somewhere in his mind he knew it was the weed, but he couldn't quite help thinking about lips and how they felt when a cute girl puts hers on his and how it was so weirdly interesting how lips became so sought after, how they were used to show affection rather than like.. elbows or something. Danny slunk down further on the couch, his long legs stretching out before him, crossed at the ankle as he blew smoke up towards the stars.

"Hmm?" he asked, his thoughts slowly trailing away from thoughts on lips, his lips, Freya's lips, Freya's lips on Aiden's, nope don't like lips for that before he glanced at the carton she set on the floor and belatedly realized what she meant. "Oh, yeah, sure. Jere ate all my beef jerky so need some o' that too," he said, his best attempt at a shopping list. Usually he and Jere just rode up and down the aisles and loaded in whatever looked good and then had to put half of it back because of 'budget'.

"Sure you don't want?" he asked again, holding the joint out to her. Then added, "My lips are buzzy" for no particular reason. And then "Lips are weird" with a little shrug and no explanation. It all made sense in his head.