Hidden in the Bushes

...

Tristan pulled his guitar case through the branches of the bushes. Sitting down, he pulled out his lovely guitar, fingering the neck lightly and strumming the strings reverently. His father's guitar...before the condition had taken over. Trying to calm himself down, he started to strum softly, and sang into the air.

"Whither where'er goest
Wander with the light of the moon.
Silver silent travels,
Please come home to me soon..."

In his mind's eye, he was singing under a night's sky, spreckled with stars. It was a Fey moment, and he lost himself in it.

Raksha decided to sleep he had to sleep outside, so he left the bushes and ran to the forest.

Tristan ran through the grounds, and then down to the clumps of bushes he had hidden in before. He didn't have his guitar this time, but a book. It was called How to Cast Illusions, and it was very interesting. He started casting illusion spell after illusion spell...soon, the bushes weren't just a canopy of green with light shining through, they were a copy of his home: Undermoon. The hollowed out hill had one hole in the roof, letting the moonlight in. Roots became houses, and then the place directly in the moon(sun)light was a rock which became the Temple. Tristan sighed and banished it, to start again. A happy place was what he needed...

Caradoc, throwing on the vest he'd removed about an hour ago with George, tripped over a rock-- wait, that's not a rock. Rocks don't wear pants. It's not a rock, it's a Raksha! "Oh! Sorry about that, didn't see you down there," he said, looking around to see Tristan. "Hey there, buddy! What's up?" he asked, smiling down at him.

Tristan rubbed the sore spot on his leg, where Rad tripped over him. "Nothing much. Practicing on illusion spells, they're the only one's i'm any good at." He waved his wand and a Muggle-version pixie floated into view, to disappear in a puff of smoke.

"I'm sure that's not true, you just need to practice whatever it is you're weaker at," he said, taking a seat in the grass beside him, still in a fantastic mood after getting laid. "You okay?" he asked, referring to his leg.

Tristan was under the influence of Raksha today, and so he smirked. "No, a great gallumphing man came and tripped on me. And practice never helps...for instance, the only way i'd live through a duel is through a few illusions and my senses."

"A great galumphing man? I'm offended! I do not galumph. I walk! I do. I do not galumph. Do I galumph? I apologize greatly, if I galumph, though I suppose it's a lot better than strutting or sauntering, or even worse, swaggering," he joked, looking at Raksha. "Well, this great galumphing man is very, very sorry Tristan, do allow me to kiss it all better," he said with a wink, kissing Raksha's boo boo better with a chortle. "Dueling? I like dueling, though I've never thought much about illusionment charms in dueling, I prefer direct combat, by far."

Ralsha turned deep red. "Th-thanks. Umm. I couldn't cast an expelliarmus to save my life. But i can do this." he waved his wand and muttered a few words, and a perfect copy of him was sitting next to him. "See? One to stay." Said one. "And one to fight." says the other, and they both giggle.

"That's no good, I'll need to teach you. Someone like you should learn how to defend themselves," he said firmly, not at all pleased. "I wouldn't want you to get hurt, ever. But I must admit-- the illusions, they're beautiful, and they're genius. To confuse multiple opponents, I can see the advantages there! You'll need to teach me, you're good at this," he said brightly.

Tristan and Raksha both nodded, separated in illusion form for a moment. "I think that's a great idea. I hate fighting..but i'd love to learn." Tristan said. Raksha, however, decided to announce. "You smell funny." as he climbed into Rad's lap to smell him better. Tristan looked on horrified.

"I would be teaching you defensive spells, nothing more. I don't see you as the type to fight, more just to stand your ground, and keep yourself from getting hurt. It would be fun, I promise-- excuse me? I smell delicious. Old Spice is delicious, Tristan Number Two, and if you have any objections, you can suck it," he laughed.

Tristan started waving his wand frantically to dispel the illusion Raksha had inhabited...with good reason, as his clone was grinning demonically and reaching for Rad's pants. "Suck it, hmm?" he purred. "Well-" "RAKSHA STOP IT!" Waving his wand even harder, Tristan managed to banish the illusion...to face Rad with horror and tear filled eyes.

Caradoc stared wide eyed at the illusion, burst out laughing hysterically, then stopped, when he saw the actually upset look on Tristan's face, and immediately quieted, moving over to sit beside him and smiled lightly. "Hey now, don't be so upset, cutie," he said, suppressing his laughter to pat him on the shoulder consolingly. "It was funny, really, it's just an illusion, I know how they work too, you didn't have control over what it was saying. Don't get so worked up about it, really," he chuckled, reaching up to wipe away an escaping tear from Raksha's eye.

Raksha murmured apologies but Tristan ignored him. Instead he just tried to keep from crying. "It's not just an illusion anymore..." he whispered, and stood up to bolt out of the small clearing made in the bushes, to trip over Rad's legs. "God dammit!"

"Huh-- wait, where're you goin-- careful there!" he said, catching Tristan in his arms as he leaped to his feet to run after him. "Easy, boy," he said softly, lowering him gently onto the ground. "Don't run, what's going on? Something going on? You can tell me, Tristan," he murmured softly, looking rather saddened by the look in Tristan's eyes.

Tristan crumpled in on himself, his eyes dead. For a moment, it looked like he was dead, he was just sitting there. "It's all Raksha's fault. He keeps d-doing things like that. Or saying i should. He really likes you I do too and keeps..wanting to do things." he clung at Rad's arms. "I'm sorry he did that. I knew i shouldn't have done that illusion."

Caradoc blinked, and if he wasn't Rad, he might've even blushed, but that's just unheard of for him. He probably can't physically blush, just like he can't cry. "Er-- I don't mean to sound odd, maybe I missed something, but who's Raksha?" he asked confusedly, patting Tristan consolingly. "And hey, it's alright, it isn't as if I mind at all," he added, hoping it would be of some comfort to the boy.

"I can't talk about it." Tristan shivered. "I can't. I have to go." He jumped up and ran, this time not tripping on anything, towards the forest to spend another night comfortably and safely secured between the roots of one of the ancient trees.

Caradoc sighed as Tristan ran off, shaking his head. Had he said something wrong, or done something, without knowing it? He hadn't meant to upset the poor kid. He silently walked back into the castle, rather worried about Tristan, but knowing it would do no good to go looking for him now.

Hermione is here, in a little clearing hidden from the view of the castle by a nice clump of bushes, waiting for Luna to show. She has a nice blanket spread out and has a picnic basket full of cheese and crackers, mini quiches and little sammiches as well as some pumpkin juice. She has one of her books spread across her lap while she waits, though she's really too excited to be reading and she's just sort of looking at the page because the presence of a book is comforting to her.

Luna skips over after picking flowers again. Yes, she's been doing that a lot now. She greams when she sees Hermione already at the spot they decided to meet at and sits down next to her, leaning over to put a red daisy in her girlfriend's, oh that's still exciting for Luna to think, hair. "Hello there. This all looks nice," she says softly as she runs her hand over the blanket they're sitting on, still smiling like a loon on loon tablets because Hermione Granger asked her on a date.

Hermione holds still as Luna places the flower in her hair, running her hand down the girl's arm as she pulls away. "Thank you. And so do you," she says, blushing a little with happiness because she feels like this date is getting off to a much better start than her previous one and Luna does indeed look much nicer than the picnic spread. "We've got little sammiches, mini quiches and cheese and crackers," she smiles, handing Luna a little plate to choose her own because she feels like it would be just a bit too cheesy to feed her at this early stage of the relationship. She sets her book aside on the blanket and picks up a plate for herself, happy just to be here with the one person she really wants to be with. "I'm glad the weather has held - I was afraid we would get a little cold!"

Luna smiles and fills up her little plate with a little bit of everything, assuming Hermione prepared this all on her own because she highly doubts that she would have gone to the house elves and asked them to do it. She glances up at the sky and smiles again because it is a nice day, and she probably would have killed someone if it would have rained. "It is a nice day," she comments though she wouldn't have minded snuggling up with Hermione to keep warm. "Lucky us," she smiles as she looks back at Hermione and takes bite of one of the small sammiches.