Chasing Dragons (Open)

[Merle Shepherdson]

M E R L E
s h e p h e r d s o n



[American Dragon][Total Nerd][I'm going to try SCIENCE]

Mescaline.

You'd never think that sweet, innocent Merle would have a stash.

He didn't talk about it much, and the only real sign of his ancestry he kept on him was a dream catcher he hung over his bed in the dorms made out of hide and teeth of a wolf, as well as a couple scales and claws from a dragon. He was in fact a half breed. Half irish, half Native American. He had learned quite a few things from his mother's side of the family, especially from his grandmother, who had made the dream catcher for him on the day of Nanto's hatching.

And that was part of the reason why he was out here. A small wooden box rested at his side as he sat in one of the open stone windows of the Astronomy tower. He watched the stars for a moment, using his hands to roll something. He didn't even have to watch what he was doing most of the time, he had done it so many times. Bringing the cigarette to his lips, he licked it and sealed it around the filter, tying off the other end. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a lighter and lit one end carefully pulling air through it to get it started.

He didn't smoke up peyote often, not at all. It was too slow growing of a cactus to make it a usual thing. But today, tonight was special. It was the anniversary of his grandmother's passing. It had been several years since she had succumbed to old age and dementia, but he still smoked peyote on her death date to remember her. It was a way to listen to your ancestors, she would always say. Of course, Merle was never one to believe in any of the fables, but peyote did have calming effects, if taken in small enough doses.

His first few tries were a bit too strong on him. He learned not to eat peyote buttons unless you were not going to busy for the rest of the day. Now, he only smoked it -- the drying helped the cactus lose a lot of the alkaloids. Smoking a drag, he held it in for a moment before exhaling out his nose, savoring the bitterness of the cactus. It reminded him of home. Staring out at the stars, he searched for the special mass of stars that would stretch across the night sky -- his grandmother called it the 'backbone of night'. Perhaps he was in the wrong part of the world at the right time to be able to see it. Taking another drag, he let it out with a sigh.

[Arianne Caroline Lane]

YOU WOULD NOT BELIEVE YOUR EYES

if ten million fireflies lit up
THE WORLD AS I FELL ASLEEP

It had been a bit of a long day, and Arianne was in the mood of peace and quiet - which her common room, though full of mostly quiet and calm people, did not actually give her. There was a lot of buzz as people discussed various things, and while it wasnt actually obtrusive, it was it was distracting and she wanted to just be alone for once. Especially since she had some really long potions homework that she really needed to finish off. She considered going up to the library, but that wasnt likely to be any quieter than her common room - in fact, it was more likely to be noisier. Same went for the study lounge. And after her rather embarrassing and odd day at the spare classroom a little while back, she wasnt so sure she wanted to go there, either.

When she stepped out of her common room (after a group of young first-year girls had started giggling really annoyingly, she hadnt thought she'd be able to tolerate it without telling them off anymore) with her books and her quill and parchment - all put neatly into her black bag, which was getting awfully heavy these days - she was completely unprepared as to where her next location was. That was right. Methodical Arianne, whose next location was generally planned a few weeks in advance, had no idea where she would go to finish off her homework and do a little studying for next class. So she trudged out into her tower, and then realized that there was one place where she could go - the astronomy tower. It was a little far, but it was likely to be quiet and there would be no one in it at that particular hour. Moreover, Arianne regretted not taking astronomy, and she knew it would be fun to just see what the room was like.

Soshe walked up there, and she realized that she was a little bit out of breath when she finished, because, well, it was a long flight of steps, and her bag was heavy, and Arianne was in pathetic shape from not doing any form of physical exercise (or even going out) which was any more strenuous than, well, walking up a flight of steps with a bag of books. She was glad when she finally did reach up, and she paused a moment, put down her books, and decided to catch her breath a little bit. That was when she smelled it - a strange smell that was almost certainly coming from the astronomy tower where she had been planning to go.

She immediately picked her book bag and started to make her way inside, and soon stumbled on a boy who was smoking, exactly what she'd expected. She recognized him, vaguely, as Lillith's friend - Merle - though she didnt actually know him very well. On the other hand, it didnt actually matter that he was friends with her best friend, Arianne did do her duty, no matter who it was. Once she'd worn the prefect badge (which, incidentally, she had on even now) she had to make sure that she did the work that had been assigned to her. Besides, she'd gone through the student handbook multiple times, and she knew the astronomy tower was not an appropriate place to smoke. Not appropriate at all. "Excuse me," she said to the tall boy. He looked older than her, which was intimidating in itself. She forced herself to be calm. "I believe that by section 2.43 of the student handbook, this is not an acceptable place to smoke." She was trying to keep her voice polite, gentle and yet firm - though mostly she was just succeeding in sounding gentle, and not the type of person to enforce rules at all. Who had made her prefect again? She took another breath, and let it out quickly. "What are you smoking?!" she asked the boy, sounding slightly agitated now - whatever it was - it didnt seem normal, even from the limited knowledge Arianne had about smoking.

And that was not a good thing at all.

- - - - - - - - - -

status: COMPLETE
tagged: MERLE
words: 693
outfit: CLICK
notes:
lyrics: FIREFLIES, OWL CITY
credit: TEMPLATE BY SHAZI ?! AT CAUTION 2.0 AND IMAGE BY LILLIAN PORTER

[Merle Shepherdson]

M E R L E
s h e p h e r d s o n



[American Dragon][Total Nerd][I'm going to try SCIENCE]

Merle had had a long day, too. Potions was easy, as always. Defense Against the Dark Arts? He had missed it because of a debacle regarding his grades. He had spent that classtime in one of the offices trying to get his schedule straightened out. Unfortunately for him he just couldn't resist signing up for more classes, which, because of the time he was spending signing up for them he had missed. Missing the first day was never a fun thing to do, especially for Merle, being Hufflepuff. Most of the teachers seemed, at least to him, either neutral or felt negatively towards his house. Not that he spited them for it.

No, he loved his house. It was a bit of a grab bag. It seemed people fell into Hufflepuff because they either had too much personality or too little personality for the other houses. Him? He supposed he ended up in Hufflepuff because he was so damned polite. Nothing like that southern hospitality, right? He inhaled another drag, blowing it out the window. See? He was polite. The Astronomy Tower would air out long before the morning and there would be no sign of his peyote habit by the time the sun rose over the eastern horizon.

Which he wasn't intending at all on watching. Not tonight.

Merle's day was also somewhat interesting. The day before he had spent the evening in the Common Room with Lucy, his best friend. She had injured herself practicing Quiddich and he walked with her to the Hospital Wing. One thing led to another and they ended up confessing their feelings for one another. It hadn't really had a chance to get around the school yet that they were dating, but a lot of people assumed that anyway since they were so close. That was also on his mind as he smoked. He was a little scared. This was his last year -- did he really want to get involved with a girl when he was almost done with school?

But what if it worked out? Fate was a hard thing to change, his grandmother would say, but it was possible, if you are strong enough. Merle never believed in things like fate, or destiny, but it was nice to think about. As he inhaled another long drag, the sound of footsteps hit his ears and he paniced just a little. He held it in, his emerald eyes turning to see Arianne walking up the steps. He looked a little bit like a deer in the headlights, watching her as she rattled off something about rulebooks.

Of course it wasn't an appropriate place to smoke. But he couldn't leave the castle at night. This was practically the safest place to smoke. No one would be up here. He simply stared at her for what seemed like the longest time as she spoke, finally letting it out as she asked what he was smoking. His voice was a little hoarse for a moment as he spoke, having held the smoke in for a little too long.

"Peyote." he managed to get out.

Would she even know what that was? It didn't exactly grow in the UK . . . It was mostly a Native American thing, smoking peyote, or peace-pipe as it was often called.

The smoke had a sort of bittersweet, almost flowery scent to it. Not at all like a cigarette, or marijuana. He swallowed heavily, turning his eyes back to the stars for a moment. "My apologies. I didn't think anyone would be up here at this time of night. And I've been good about blowing it out the window." He explained, looking back to her. Well, except for this last time, where she had surprised him and caused him to nearly choke on it. He leaned over a little, looking down the tower. It must not have been especially safe, sitting on the window like that. If he fell off, he'd certainly die as soon as he hit the ground. He didn't seem too afraid of heights, though. It was a pretty thick window ledge.

"It's a special occasion. " he said, a little solemnly. He flicked ashes out the window, where they slowly fluttered off, carried by the night's gentle wind.

[Arianne Caroline Lane]

YOU WOULD NOT BELIEVE YOUR EYES

if ten million fireflies lit up
THE WORLD AS I FELL ASLEEP

It was quite late in the night, but that did not really bother Arianne. Like she had been talking a few days ago with a few of her friends in her common room, the Ravenclaw animal should have been changed to something like a owl, something nocturnal. Everyone there seemed to be unwilling to sleep at all, and Arianne found herself sleeping less and less these days - what with prefect duties, and work, and reading. That no doubt accounted for the dark circles under her eyes - though Arianne had not really been very concerned about that. It was her OWL year, after all, and she did not really have much time to be concerned about vanity issues - especially as they had always been the last thing on her mind anyway. She'd had a phase in her third year when she'd to put on makeup and look all dolled up because of a childish crush - well, suffice to say, that had not ended all that well.

"Peyote."

She frowned at the boy, but it was more confused and mildly disapproving than actually angry. He also sounded a little hoarse, like he was not - well, Arianne would never accuse someone of trying to smoke drugs without having proof - but she couldnt smell any regular drug (or anything like it) that she'd seen some of the slytherin guys smoke near the forbidden forest. No, if she had to go the way her Potions Professor suggested, the smell was faintly woody, and flowery. Almost sweet, except that she found it cloying. She coughed, more because she was conscious she was inhaling smoke (which Arianne had never even wanted to go near) than because of any actual repulsion to the smoke.

But Peyote, well, she'd never heard of it - in fact, she had little or no idea what the hell that was. "Well, I dont know what that is - and I'm you're sure being cautious and everything," she started off, trying not to sound too horrible (yes, Arianne worried about things like this, she did not like to hurt people, even when it was someone that she was trying to prevent from doing something). "I couldn't possibly allow you to smoke within the school." She paused to think. The rules were there mostly because they did not want the elders to be bad influences for the first years and all, who were quite impressionable. But of course, for a first year to be out at that time would be quite unacceptable in itself. Still, rules were rules. "Whether or not the smoke would reach anyone-" she began by saying, before she bit her lip as his next statement. "Well, a special occasion? Do elaborate." She was not trying to sound probing, just calmly concerned. She was polite and gentle - she was not unreasonable. She did not actually want to stop him, or punish him, or anything of that sort. She just wanted a reasonable explanation so she could go back to her own work and let him go back to his own work.

She waited patiently, managing to ignore an objection at the littering by throwing out the ashes.

- - - - - - - - - -

status: COMPLETE
tagged: MERLE
words: 533
outfit: CLICK
notes: Not the best. Sorry.
lyrics: FIREFLIES, OWL CITY
credit: TEMPLATE BY SHAZI ?! AT CAUTION 2.0 AND IMAGE BY LILLIAN PORTER[/quote]

[Merle Shepherdson]

M E R L E
s h e p h e r d s o n



[American Dragon][Total Nerd][I'm going to try SCIENCE]

"Peyote is a cactus that grows in the deserts in North America and Mexico." he explained. He then picked the box up at his side and opened it, revealing among several things a small jar with sand in it, holding a cactus with a single pink blossom on it. Also inside the box were several green, disc-like raisins. Those were dried peyote buttons. The serious stuff. But she probably wouldn't know that. And honestly, Merle didn't really partake in those, either. He basically only smoked it. The hallucinogenic affect of just eating the buttons, not to mention the violent puking involved with actually eating them, was enough to turn him away from making it a usual thing.

That being said, he did often turn the buttons into smoke material. It lost much of its potency that way, leaving only a calming, peaceful effect.

But she didn't know that.

The prefect seemed unsure of herself. She wasn't exactly the type he'd pin for prefect duty. She was too nice, too... Polite? He didn't know. He wasn't the type to go around breaking rules all the time, but if he were, he probably wouldn't take her very seriously. But, she was being polite and nice, so he was already considering packing his things up without a word and leaving. He sort of tuned her out, taking another drag and blowing it out the window as he pondered this, when she asked him about the occasion.

He was silent for a moment, looking quite somber sitting in the window. It wasn't a happy occasion, really. But then again, it was sort of a happy one. His grandmother was free from the prison of her mind. Free to build campfires in the sky, to hunt the Great Game and become one with the earth and the Great Spirit. Of course, Merle never believed in all of that. She was dead, and that was it. It was good that she was finally free from her dementia, and out of her suffering, but there was no candy coating on it for Merle, no comforting fables to believe in. No, she was just dead.

"My grandmother died three years ago. It's how I remember her. Peyote is used as a spiritual aid, to connect with one's ancestors. " he said, taking another drag. "We used to . . . Well... It's hard to explain, it's like another culture, you know? But. . . it's how I remember her. Honor her, I guess." he said. He took another drag of the cigarette, nearly halfway done with it by now. Holding it in for a scarce few moments, he exhaled, watching the smoke float away into the night air, twisting and turning, like a chinese fireball dragon in flight. He could see the stars, and he would share with the girl stories he had been told by his grandmother about the stars if she stuck around long enough, but he had a feeling she was going to write him up, make him pack up his things and leave.

Which was fine by him, he was breaking the rules and all, but. . . she didn't seem like that heartless of a person.

[Arianne Caroline Lane]

YOU WOULD NOT BELIEVE YOUR EYES

if ten million fireflies lit up
THE WORLD AS I FELL ASLEEP

She put her bag down lightly, leaning on one of the walls. Of course, at that point she also had to make sure that it was aligned to the edge of the wall, but she hoped that her action was not all that obvious. It was not that she meant to stay there and continue studying - she definitely did not want to disturb the boy - but God, the bag had become fairly heavy since the time she had come into the room. She wondered why she lugged around so many books all the time, when no one else seemed to, but of course, the answer was simple enough - she'd simply taken a whole boatload of classes, more than you were permitted so expected to. Well, Arianne liked to learn. She was a classic overachiever, of course, but in the end she wasnt just doing it for the grades. She genuinely liked to learn.

"Peyote is a cactus that grows in the deserts in North America and Mexico."

She looked in curiously, at the cactus, and the flower, and the small discs. She took another breath, and was met with the heady smell of the...peyote. She had been wrong. It smelled more like flowers than like wood. That was when she realized she'd been looking inside the box for a while and stepped back, hastily. She did not want to look like she was prying. It was just...interesting. She paused, then narrowed her eyes. "This is..safe though, right? And...legal?" She sounded more concerned than accusatory - but then, she couldnt accuse. She didnt know enough. "Because, according to section 2.43 part 3 its a much more serious offense to smoke illegal sub..." She paused, realizing that she was rambling (and why did she know the student code by heart? she hadnt even TRIED to learn it), and hadnt even given the guy the time to reply yet. She had decided when she got the badge that the last thing she wanted to do was wrongly accuse - it would never do to make serious assumptions on people's character in that way. She was interested in explanations.


Though the explanation, when it came, left her unsure, completely, of how she was supposed to react to that. Arianne, though an unlikely choice for a prefect, was likely to let anyone do anything wrong once she actually caught them doing it. She could be very, very persistent (Arianne considered that her only strength) - and if he would have resisted she would have woken up a professor (Hopefully Fran, though she wouldnt even object to the smoking perhaps) at that time in the night to ensure that he did not get away with it. But despite all this, Arianne was not a complete monster either.

Her nervousness showed on her face, but perhaps he could also have seen her concern and sadness on her face. She had not know any of her grandparents - her father's grandparents were long dead and her mother's had died when she was a little child, and she couldnt even remember them. But she could imagine what the boy was going through, even if she didnt understand all of it - spiritual anscestors? Really? "Oh, I'm really, really sorry about that," she said, in her quiet voice. "About your grandmother, I mean," she said. "But why would you have to smoke that to connect with her? I mean, isnt it enough that you're remembering her, today?" She knew he'd said something about another culture, but Arianne was not generally content with things that she did not understand. She liked to know it all.

Though if there was any doubt in the matter - Arianne still did not intend to allow him to actually smoke. That would just be morally wrong. But she could at least wait and try to understand.

- - - - - - - - - -

status: COMPLETE
tagged: MERLE
words: 646
outfit: CLICK
notes: Merle is SO much fun to RP with.
lyrics: FIREFLIES, OWL CITY
credit: TEMPLATE BY SHAZI ?! AT CAUTION 2.0 AND IMAGE BY LILLIAN PORTER[/quote]

[Merle Shepherdson]

M E R L E
s h e p h e r d s o n



[American Dragon][Total Nerd][I'm going to try SCIENCE]

Merle watched as she set her bag down. What was she going to do, light up with him? He couldn't imagine it. No, she was too innocent to do something like that. Not that he wouldn't offer eventually, it was only polite, but he didn't expect her to smoke up with him. He was also even unsure of actually letting her smoke some of that, as it could cause bad stomache aches and nausea to those who have never had it before. And he certainly wasn't going to let her injest one of those Peyote buttons. She'd be throwing up and then on a hallucinogenic trip for a good twenty hours. And he didn't know of a magic spell to fix that.

He watched her looking at the little cactus plant in the tiny jar. She seemed quite interested, but on a scientific level. He didn't think she was prying, no. Plants fascinated him. What else could he be into if he was so bad at magic that he could hardly cast a spell without blowing the school up? No, he was good at plants, potions, astronomy and animals. Things that could be seen, felt, touched and quantified. Altogether, he was a pretty terrible wizard, but what he knew, he knew well. She asked if it was safe and legal and he thought over. What in the world could he tell her? How would he explain to her?

"Safe? The active chemical in peyote is mescaline. A pretty powerful hallucinogenic. Drying it for smoking gets rid of most of the alkoloids, so yes, the cigarette is pretty safe. But most of the time it's eaten. Those raisin looking things? If you can get past the vomiting, you'll be on a pretty crazy trip for about ten to twenty hours. So, I wouldn't do it. I only have those because they're not done drying for smoke. Tiny cactus takes a long time to grow and even longer to dry, you know. I'm surprised it's lived as long as it has. Scotland's not exactly it's native home." he said with a light laugh. It was a pun, get it? Native...home?

And now he was sad again. He took another drag, exhaling it out the window through his nose.

"Legal? It's legal for me. I'm cherokee. And I suppose it'd be legal for you to use if you're using it to treat a staph infection. Or fever, or something. " he said with a shrug. The Ministry of Magic definitely knew he had the peyote on him, since he had to come from America and jump through so many hoops, but they sort of brushed it under the rug, attributing it to his cultural heritage, warning him not to smoke up in public or end up tripping in public. No, that would be bad. Especially if he was tripping in public around Muggles, using magic all willy nilly.

She expressed condolences for his grandmothers death, to which he merely nodded and fell silent. He was terribly homesick. Lucy had made it better, sure, but there were still moments when he was all alone. Terribly alone. He was one of the few Americans at the school, and certainly the only one with a different culture -- his family, his entire extended family, lived in the smoky mountains. Well, at least on his mother's side. The tribesmen and women. Granted, he didn't live in a teepee, but he was certainly connected to them. How in the world was he supposed to explain all of his culture to this girl in a concise way?

"It's... tradition." he explained, taking another drag. He hated that excuse, even himself, but how else was he to explain it. "It's... well, used for meditation, and communing with the ancestors. Now, I . . . don't exactly perscribe to those beliefs. I'm a man of science, you know but . . . It makes it hurt a little less, when I miss her. " he said, not looking at her, instead his eyes focused on the last few embers of the cigarette, burning like the far off stars in the sky.

[Arianne Caroline Lane]

YOU WOULD NOT BELIEVE YOUR EYES

if ten million fireflies lit up
THE WORLD AS I FELL ASLEEP

"Mescaline?!" she said, becoming slightly more disapproving - she was now on familiar territory, well, at least she knew a little more about it now. "I dont know that much about it. But I've read some pretty bad stuff-" His next words pretty much confirmed what she'd read. Why had she even read about Mescaline? She couldnt be sure but she read so many books that it was not so unlikely that she'd read up on it, and Arianne being Arianne, once she found herself a word she didnt know she would try to find out more on that too. She could remember vaguely reading a book on some pretty powerful drugs a few years back. It hadnt mentioned peyote though. "Its that powerful? I hope you know what you're doing." She sincerely did. There were enough accidental deaths in Hogwarts. To have a death by drug overdose, well, it was awful to even imagine.

"Well, at least you dont take the...tablet form then," she said, unsure of the correct usage and feeling somewhat queasy now, even though it was mostly a product of her imagination than the diluted drugs. She saw him laugh, but she hadnt actually understood the joke, so all she managed was a weak, somewhat confused smile. To hide her confusion, she looked again at the cactus, and wondered for a moment if her mother knew about it. She probably would have. Arianne's mother's obsession for plants was almost legendary. "I believe the weather's been warmer," she said, academically. "I saw some jasmine growing outside too, and it really, really shouldnt be right now." She'd noticed it quite by accident - Arianne barely even went out - but she'd picked it up almost immediately because of what she'd learned about it. Ah, now theory, Arianne was really good at that - and she'd picked up enough in her fifteen years with her mother. But when it came to actually battling the plants and dealing with the dirt, dust, and insects - well, it was safe to say that Arianne probably belonged more in writing about the curious cactus than in actually growing it...or smoking it.

It brought her to wondering about her own self. She'd read so much about drugs and cigarettes and alcohol, and she knew enough people her age had experimented and were regular abusers or even casually addicted to all of those. But it had somehow never struck her as even being in the options. It got her to thinking that maybe, just maybe, the girl who'd told her that she didnt know how to have fun (though she was pretty sure it had been said maliciously...not the way some of her friends occasionally told her to lighten up) - though she figured she would rather be too uptight rather than be addicted. She looked at the boy in front of her, frowned, and wondered if he was indeed addicted. If he was, well, she would feel sorry for him. Not be repulsed, but sad.

"Legal? It's legal for me. I'm cherokee. And I suppose it'd be legal for you to use if you're using it to treat a staph infection. Or fever, or something. "

She frowned at the statement, it seemed slightly dubious to her, but she had no reason or proof to accuse the boy of lying, so she let it be, with a simple. "Well, as long as you're sure you're allowed to smoke it at all, I guess you're okay." The student handbook definitely did not allow smoking in public areas, and specifically forbid smoking illegal things in all areas within the school - it even threatened expulsion for the same. That was why Arianne felt the need to warn (as opposed to threatening) the boy. "Because smoking something illegal in school can get you suspended, or even expelled..." she said, softly, hoping that if the boy was indeed illegally smoking the peyote then he'd be careful enough to not do it again in the school. Even though he was breaking the rules, and Arianne did not approve, she did not actually want him to get expelled.

She removed a pin from her hair and set it back in again - one of her constant habits - it helped make sure her tightly tied up hair stayed in place, and it was also a nervous habit that showed when she was not exactly comfortable with the situation. And she wasnt. On one side, she really did want to comfort the guy, on the other side, she had a serious duty to perform. "Well, I can see how it might help," she started - meaning to tell him that he needed to stop, but then when she saw him looking out the window, she decided she just couldnt. She'd tell him...tomorrow. Some other day. She knew about memories - that was why she still wore the blue stone around her neck everyday, despite how annoyed dangling things (especially jewelery) made her. "Well," she said in a moment. "Its just going to be a day a year right? And you'll make sure it never gets near any younger children and they never see you smoking it and get unduly influenced..."

She trailed off, because she was feeling guilty and looking like it. Was she actually giving him permission to smoke? All because he was sad. She was awful as a prefect. She changed the topic, telling herself it was to distract him, but it was much more for herself than it was for him. "Well, I dont think we've been formally introduced," she said. Her voice sounded strained, trying-too-hard to sound happy, which she was. "I'm Arianne."

- - - - - - - - - -

status: COMPLETE
tagged: MERLE
words: 933
outfit: CLICK
notes: Little longer than I'd expected.
lyrics: FIREFLIES, OWL CITY
credit: TEMPLATE BY SHAZI ?! AT CAUTION 2.0 AND IMAGE BY LILLIAN PORTER[/quote]

[Merle Shepherdson]

M E R L E
s h e p h e r d s o n



[American Dragon][Total Nerd][I'm going to try SCIENCE]

Merle was certainly not addicted to the mescaline. It was a once, maybe twice a year thing for him to smoke up, and even less often did he ever eat the peyote buttons. The buttons were quite powerful and, while he was well versed in eating the buttons without puking, there just weren't a lot of times where he had the chance to be out of it for a good day or more to let the affects wear off. Those trips were certainly spiritual, in a way, but he had work he needed to do. Even the Ghost Dance festivals, where most of the peyote was consumed, required him to at least be somewhat sober. At least, he preferred being somewhat sober.

And the cigarettes he was smoking were not all that potent. Yes, everything was amplified quite a bit, but nothing was so distorted that he couldn't concentrate or function. He could probably go to class and do just fine, provided he didn't have to cast any spells. But then again, he was so naturally bad at casting spells that people probably wouldn't notice anything was the matter, if they disregarded that sweet, smoky smell that came off of him. Perhaps most would assume he had been burning incense, like always. But now Arianne knew that he had the stuff, and that he smoked.

But was he scared? Not especially. She didn't seem like the kind of person who would rat someone out, especially not in his situation. It wasn't like he was dealing, or smoking up very often, or even attempting to get blazed on it. No, he was just using it as a reminder of his family, of his traditions. Something in her eyes as he listened to her talk about pill forms, and legality, and all of that made him wonder. She was really fighting something inside of her, wasn't she? The compassion side and the justice side. But were they mutually exclusive? Merle didn't think so. She seemed to want to leave him be, for the most part, since he wasn't disturbing anyone but himself and maybe her.

"Jasmine?" he asked, tilting his head slightly. A small smile came to his lips and he turned his gaze out the window again, looking up at the stars. "That's... amazing! I'm happy. I planted that there some time last year! If it survived, then . . . Well, I guess I did something right, huh?" he said with another bright grin. He flicked the cigarette ashes out the window, watching them as they too flitted to the ground some hundred feet below. "I will have to go check in the morning -- maybe propogate some. I hope another cold snap doesn't come by. Maybe I can save some more and . . ." he said, trailing off into his own thoughts for a moment.

And there she had it. Yes, only one day a year. No, he wasn't going to be dealing. He nodded quietly in answer to her questions, murmuring quietly, "I understand. I tried to be inconspicuous about it. Wasn't expecting anyone to come up here, really." he said. As she fiddled with her pins, he watched her carefully, taking another drag of the cigarette which was by now nearly gone. She introduced himself, still standing a few feet away as he sat in the windowsill. Shifting slightly, he sat with his legs dangling off the windowsill (inside the castle!) before pushing himself onto the floor of the Astronomy Tower room.

He extended his hand, the one not occupied by the cigarette. "Merle Shepherdson. Nice to meet you." he offered her a smile.

[Arianne Caroline Lane]

YOU WOULD NOT BELIEVE YOUR EYES

if ten million fireflies lit up
THE WORLD AS I FELL ASLEEP

She could smell the sweet, flowery smell as the boy continued, and she felt her gut clench up. It felt so wrong in so many ways to allow him to continue. It could easily be caught, and if, for example, some other prefect walked in here at that very moment they'd probably remove her from her position. And maybe they should. She just didnt have it in her to be a prefect. Nobody in the whole school was even scared of her - why should they be? She was the good girl, and they knew that she would hate to hurt them or get them into trouble - and moreover that she wouldnt be able to do it if she tried. What was she going to, take points off from their houses? She didnt even have the authority to do that. She could give them a detention but that would be way too drastic. There was absolutely no way she could actually enforce rules.


And she hadnt wanted to be a prefect anyway. Most of the time it meant that she went up into her room and pretended to sleep when Ravenclaw had their huge, mostly illegal parties after curfew. What was the point of being a prefect? It just meant you had to get your friends into trouble and that wasnt even worth it. At least she was sure they wouldnt make her a prefect again, she was pretty much too mild and too compassionate even when she tried to do her duty - and everyone practically knew that. Even the very people who she was supposed to stop. Though she did not let everyone go - certainly not chronic rule breakers like Jackson Micheals. That boy infuriated her. He simply had zero respect for rules - and that was just wrong. She did not think Merle was like that, and that was why she was considering just walking out of the room, closing the door, forgetting the incident and finishing her homework.

"That's... amazing! I'm happy. I planted that there some time last year! If it survived, then . . . Well, I guess I did something right, huh?"

Now that shocked her. She knew exactly how hard a feat it was, even though she was no longer taking herbology. How could she not? She'd grown up reading mostly herb lore, that were all the books that her mother kept in the house - and some of her fathers old muggle textbooks, too. Though that confused her a little. Because the concept gravity went against charms of levitation, and such inconsistencies were all over the books - over time, she'd just decided that they were two different worlds. She turned her attention back to Merle. "You grew that? Wow. I thought that had to be Professor Desdemona. Did you use magic or something? To keep the plants warm?" She nodded. "And you probably should. I'm pretty sure it won't last all the way till October." Already, the days were getting colder and the nights were getting longer, and some times she had to put on a sweater or pullover to ensure she did not freeze off early in the morning or late in the night.

She nodded. "This place is a good place for quietness," she agreed. "Thats why I came here too." At least it wasnt after curfew or anything, what with the dementors walking around those rules had really been tightened and she really couldnt have let that rule be broken. It was just dangerous. Not that dementors couldnt come around in the day, or in the early night, like just then. It was just rarer, she supposed. She wondered what she'd do if one came around right then and there, and then decided to hope that Merle was good at the patronus charm, because she had no idea how far her hummingbird would go against a dementor - and whether or not it would even be possible to make. After all, she'd had a few disasters in charms, and there hadnt even been a fear-inducing dementor around at that time.

"Merle," she repeated. "Uh yes. I've sort of heard of you. You're friends with Liberty, right?" She took his extended hand, a little surprised that he'd actually come down from the window sill. Her hand was tiny, and delicate, and her handshake probably was one of the weak ones that indicated that you didnt have a very strong personality.

- - - - - - - - - -

status: COMPLETE
tagged: MERLE
words: 739
outfit: CLICK
notes:
lyrics: FIREFLIES, OWL CITY
credit: TEMPLATE BY SHAZI ?! AT CAUTION 2.0 AND IMAGE BY LILLIAN PORTER