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 Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2012 4:30 pm
 The pale First-Year did not usually enjoy going outside in the daytime. Not only did he sunburn easily, but due to his colorblindness, he often didn't realize it until he was in pain. However, it was a fairly overcast day when Jeri decided to take a rare trip outside and lay down in the shade beneath a tree in the castle courtyard. Birds twittered to one another and students chatted among small groups scattered here and there across the grounds.
Jericho found the atmosphere pleasant and the weather cool, so it wasn't long before he was engaging in his favorite pastime of napping. There hadn't been enough talk near enough to disturb the serenity of his surroundings and the boy was a heavy sleeper, so once he was unconscious, he wasn't likely to wake up until much later.
Little did he realize that the sun had only been delaying its debut that day until later in the afternoon when the shadows the Hufflepuff had fallen asleep in grew long and thin. Pretty soon there wasn't enough shade to protect the light-skinned boy at all. His dark clothing only made him an even more inviting target for the heat and ultraviolet rays of the afternoon sunshine.
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Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2012 5:08 pm
 It was near impossible to focus on lessons when the sun shone so brightly. After being cooped up all morning in Charms Louis took the first opportunity to get out into the sun. Sleeves rolled up and wand out, he casually floated his lunch ahead of him, a bottle of pumpkin juice and a couple apples. It wasn't the charm he was supposed to be practicing but he could still claim he was 'studying' if anyone asked.
While not terribly in the mood to be around a large group of people, Louis was still feeling somewhat social. At least, he didn't want to be alone. Nero was off with a letter to his grandparents and hadn't returned yet so he was denied even the pleasure of her simple company. So the lone boy under a tree made the perfect target. Upon closer inspection Louis was surprised by his pale hair, and even more so by his red skin.
"Hey!" He stood above the sleeping Hufflepuff. "You're turning quite red you know."
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Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2012 5:27 pm
"Wha...?" The boy yawned as he heard someone speaking very close by, rubbing the drowsiness from his gray eyes as he wearily looked up. He turned on his side to push himself up on one arm. All at once a sharp pain shot up through his hand as his reddened skin seared.
Breathing out sharply, he winced, bringing the affected limb up to his face for closer inspection and touching it lightly. Instantly his other hand caused him to have an almost identical sensation. Even awake it was hard for him to tell how bad the burns were, though he didn't dare test them by the degree of agony they caused.
It was strange, though - the sun wasn't shining on him. Turning his now wide-awake gaze to the student standing above him, he shaded his sensitive eyes with a sore arm in order to glimpse the face that was blocking the sun from view. It was pretty difficult with the brightest light source illuminating his target from behind rather than the front.
"Sorry," he apologized, wondering if his new, ruddy complexion had offended the student for whatever reason. Another downside to his colorblindness was his inability to tell a student's house colors from another's, but that was alright to him. The Hufflepuff, like others in his house, believed in fairness and was actually glad that he couldn't discriminate, be biased, or be prejudiced simply by a student's house. He then realized that the boy was carrying a bottle of some beverage and a couple of apples.
"...Meeting someone?" Jeri asked meekly, wondering if he should get out of the way. For all he knew, this could have been this student's meeting spot with their best friend and he was occupying it. "I can move."
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Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2012 7:14 pm
Louis settled himself underneath the tree casually, watching the boy inspect his burnt skin. Louis had never really experienced such a burn, his naturally swarthy complexion only darkened gradually in sunlight. It shocked him though that even someone as pale as Jericho could burn in what he considered a sunless country. "Quite the talent there, to burn in the shade that is." The words weren't necessarily harsh, just a comment. His apology was noted and then ignored. He'd done nothing to warrant an apology so far, but politeness was a good trait. Instead Louis cracked open his juice and took a deep mouthful, wiping the condensation from the cold juice off his hand and onto his pants.
While Slytherin's tended to look down on the other houses, Hufflepuffs were the closest they'd consider to be natural allies. The Badgers loyalty and work ethic tended to meld well with a Snakes ambitious nature.
"Only you." With that he granted the child a grin. "I've had enough of crowds for one day. You don't mind do you? Louis Auria's my name." He extended the now dry hand to Jericho.
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Posted: Wed Aug 08, 2012 2:52 pm
Lips parting slightly in bewilderment, Jeri seemed confused by the reference to sunburning as a talent. It took a moment for him to realize that the other student really didn't believe it was a positive thing. He nodded sedately, not really sure himself how he'd managed the unintentional feat.
"Oh..." he murmured faintly, again caught off-guard by the other boy's reply to his question and the accompanying grin. He shook his head absently at the inquiry as to whether or not he minded, picking bits of grass of his clothes and out of his unruly hair.
At first his new 'hair style' hadn't bothered him, but if, like Jai said, students got docked points for not having a neat appearance, perhaps he'd better look into the matter. It would be nice if in Charms class they learned a simple spell that would undo the damage his siblings had done to his hair. The bushy, curly mess was entangling all sorts of things wherever he went.
"Jericho Gibbon," the Hufflepuff stated, accepting the offered hand to shake with a faint smile. "Loner?" He couldn't really see how such an outgoing and friendly-seeming student might get tired of crowds. Maybe he was constantly surrounded by friends and fans and thus wanted to get away from his popularity once in a while. Jeri wouldn't have been surprised if this Louis was the popular sort.
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Posted: Fri Aug 10, 2012 11:29 pm
"Pleasure to meet you Jericho." Louis gave the Hufflepuff boys hand a quick shake before taking up one of his apples and rolling it between his hands. "No. I'm not a loner." He bit into the apple, taking the time to chew and think before he elaborated further. "Just sometimes they get annoying you know? Too much stupid chatter all at once. No if I was a loner I wouldn't have come over here by you now would I?" The apple crunched loudly as he bit into it again, head tilted at Jericho.
"Nah." He said again with a shake of his head. "I'm just tired of the people in that class and didn't want them spoiling my lunch." He scooched around to face Jericho full on, taking in the boys oddly white mass of hair with a raised eyebrow but withholding any comments for now. "What about you? Out here all by yourself asleep in the grass. Are you a loner?"
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Posted: Sun Aug 19, 2012 3:50 pm
Jeri smiled a little as Louis mentioned how people tended to get annoying. He wasn't sure if 'they' referenced a particular group of people - perhaps his closest fans, friends, or housemates - or if he just meant people in general. Still, the Hufflepuff felt he understood enough to relate.
Though he loved his two siblings dearly, they had so often been pains in his sides. It seemed it was true about the saying 'familiarity breeds contempt', but so was 'distance makes the heart grow fonder'. After such an abnormally long time spent away from them, Jericho was even starting to miss his bothersome younger brother and sister. Not that they chatted all that much - their actions were usually enough to drive anyone up a wall.
Nodding as he looked down at his shoes, the pale First Year pushed himself back against the tree and carefully propped his back up against its trunk, grateful, at least, that the skin there had been spared since he'd been lying on it. Now the searing sensation had dulled and he discovered the burns weren't as bad as they'd initially seemed. Once he was in the shade again, the reddened skin lightened a little and the burns looked minimal for now. It was probably because, as Louis had pointed out, England wasn't really known for its especially sunny weather.
'In that class'? What did the other student mean by that? "Your house?" Jeri ventured, not certain what other 'class' a student might be expected to eat with. He followed Louis' gaze up to his nest of bushy hair and smirked. "Siblings," he stated, as if that explained everything. At the question of whether or not he was a loner, however, he shrugged good-naturedly. He wasn't sure if he would have been considered one or not, but he didn't mind either way. Could a quiet person qualify as a non-loner even if he didn't really contribute much in the way of conversation with company?
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