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* Caius Ellwood-Luxe

    (05/02/2025 at 04:49)
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18 January 1974
A Friday,
Before dinner.

It was snowing.

It didn't often snow in Wales, so he didn't have many preconceptions about the stuff, though there was an amount that he could remember dusting the streets in London, when he was a child.

But that had been quite a time ago.

Finished with his coursework for the day and itching for an excuse to be elsewhere, Caius had decided that rather than returning down to the dungeons, as he ordinarily would, he'd travel up.

As he reached the exit to the rooftop, he paused at the threshold and took stock: a light powdering of white graced the landscape, flocking the further-off towers and spires of the castle. There was maybe a quarter of an inch on the ground, adding a lacy effect to the uneven stone-- paltry, but enough to satisfy something in him. The air was crisp, with that very particular taste that lingered in the throat, and Caius receded a little into his overcoat and scarf. It wasn't quite dark yet, and his breath puffed out around him

He stepped out onto the rooftop properly and was surprised to see footprints-- two or three pairs, maybe, though it was hard to say-- leading off to the one side. He followed the trail with his eyes but they disappeared around a corner, toward a rather more sheer part of the rooftop.

Caius decided he would walk along after them, letting his curiosity win.

A slight figure revealed himself around that corner, beneath an eave, removed from the edge by a few feet, that mostly shielded him from the falling and accumulating snow.

Benji Cuddrun.

For a moment, Caius debated doubling back. Their last one-on-one encounter had landed him in the hospital wing, though it was admittedly not by Benji's own action that Caius had been knocked unconscious--

He saw the ember glow and diminish as Benji lifted the cigarette to his lips and exhaled, expertly.

Caius lifted an eyebrow, his head tilting to one side.

"Cuddrun," he said. "Are you smoking?"
« Last Edit: 05/02/2025 at 04:50 by Caius Ellwood-Luxe »
"Be wary of my river's undertow,
it flows with water from the coldest source."

* Benji Cuddrun

    (05/02/2025 at 17:27)
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It was always snowing.

It wasn't that the boy really disliked the cold weather, but he was sick of it. The chill only served to make his head hurt worse than it already did, and with the pain potions not doing much to take the edge off, he should probably be indoors, where it was warm.

Benji, however, couldn't smoke indoors. Not without risking getting caught, and he'd rather risk sneaking around than Nabih's wrath over cigarettes again.

He brought the cigarette to his lips and took a long drag, sucking the smoke easily into his airways, relishing the warm, tingling sensation that traveled down his throat and into his chest and abdomen. Relaxation fell over the boy as he exhaled, and flicked the cigarette, relishing the quiet. He loved being here with his friends, but getting a quiet moment to himself was never something he'd turn his nose up at.

Benji didn't hear footsteps behind him, and almost jumped out of his skin at the utterance of his name breaking the silent snowfall.

"Cuddrun,"

Benji turned quickly, his heart racing at the startle, and found himself even more surprised at who it was. Ellwood-Luxe. Shit.

"Are you smoking?"

Benji glanced at the cigarette dangling between his fingers, and he pursed his lips, considering his next words carefully. Caius was a prefect, although that hadn't stopped the Hufflepuff from messing with him before. He could try and make a run for it, but that wouldn't keep Caius from ratting on him later. He could try for a snarky comment and see how well that fell.

Maybe as well as Caius had fell when Morgan hit him....no, Benji had to stop. He was trying to be better.

"Nope," Benji answered, as he brought the cigarette to his lips again and the corners of his mouth turned up in a sly grin. "I just like to hold it here," his index finger pointed to the cigarette as he murmured around it.

His eyes remained trained on the tree-like figure and he finally gave a little shrug. "Wanna sit?" he asked, pulling the pack he'd 'borrowed' from Nael out of his pocket and tossing it to Caius. "I won't push you off, honest."
Better Run
he's a cowboy kid, and he's coming for you

* Caius Ellwood-Luxe

    (08/02/2025 at 06:13)
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It was more benign surprise than it was an accusation. Benji was, after all, a second year, and a where a smoking habit was almost expected in a youth such as himself, at the tender age of twelve it was rather less common.

If there were rules about this sort of thing, Caius didn't particularly care. The harm that came from stealing a smoke on the roof was far eclipsed by more egregious actions taken by adults on a daily basis. Youth was for precisely this: controlling the concept of risk by cramming in as many potentially dangerous situations as you could while still remaining, undoubtedly, safe.

"Wanna sit?"

He caught the pack against his belly as it flew to him, and Caius looked down at it shortly. He flipped it open with a single movement of the hand that held it, revealing the last six or seven cigarettes within. He flitted up to get a read on Cuddrun, and the sincerity he found there was... reassuring.

But still, Caius hesitated, just not for long. He moved along the wall and, removing his bag and letting it drop, sat down beside Benji. Removing a cigarette from the pack, he placed it loose between his lips and pulled his wand up, lighting the thing with a muttered Incendio as he silently offered the pack back toward Benji. Breathing out the stream of smoke around the cigarette, he leaned to place his wand back in the pocket it lived in.

Then, he reached up and plucked the cigarette from his mouth.

"Thanks," Caius said, raising it vaguely.

This was really quite strange. He let the silence bloom for a moment, enjoying the streaks of color over the landscape before the sun disappeared for the evening.

He dragged on the cigarette.

"How're you, then?"
omnis amans militat