Where the Wild Things Are :: Rejects

14 July 1921
10:00pm

Summer didn’t look the same this time around. In years past there had been vacations to exotic locations, time spent in Sweden with her friends and possibly a short stint at camp. This year, there were no vacations. There were no friends coming to the family estate. And camp, she would be there all summer.

Was she angry? Not really, but she was bored out of her mind.

What made this summer borderline unmanageable, no Ren? No boyfriend at all in fact, which made her the proverbial third wheel in all social situations. Not that Benji and Rae were together… or were they? Tilly wasn’t sure to be honest. Granted, even if they weren’t together they were still together. It was a whole thing.

It was late, they should be back in their dorms, but where was the fun in that. She had her canvas messenger bag, snacks busting out of the top, as always. Just waiting for Rae and Benji to make their appearance. There wasn’t any big declaration or secret to discuss. No monumental revelation or sad sob story. She could get into her scar issues, but she honestly didn’t want to deal with that right now.

Nope. This was a simple hangout session with her friends. It wouldn’t be the same without Ren, but his absence was another reason she wanted her friends close. She missed him, but knew he was where he was supposed to be.

She heard the footsteps before she saw the faces. “It’s about fucking time. If you didn’t bring something to drink, turn around and come back with what I ordered.” She had sent the owl just before walking to the caves, instructing Benji and Rae to grab drinks and get their asses in gear. She needed gossip. She needed friend time. She needed a boyfriend. All things would need to be covered before heading to bed.

"Unless you're ready to break your neck, you gotta get down."

"But...but..."

Rae wrapped her legs tighter around her boyfriend, tightening her arms around his neck while she was at it. They'd already been together when they got Matilda's note--youthful shenanigans and all that--and the boy had graciously offered to carry her. It had been a mistake--for him, of course. Rae regretted nothing, but perhaps Benji was starting to see the issue, namely, she never wanted to let go. She buried her face in the crook of his neck, inhaling deeply by an area of bruised skin. "You smell good, and you're so warm." The night was, by no means, cold, but there was a crisp breeze blowing off the lake that made pressing into his back the most satisfying feeling she could allow in the moment.

"Maybe we just break our necks. I heard it's not so bad, you know? If we live, we can have hospital beds next to each other, and I could still be your nur--"

He dropped her.

Rae squeaked from the sudden letdown, staggering to her feet behind him before giving him a...somewhat gentle shove. "Jerk," she muttered, moving around him to get a look at the entrance. She'd never admit it, certainly not to him, but it was too small for them to have both crawled through, even if he had been keen to die with her.

“It’s about fucking time. If you didn’t bring something to drink, turn around and come back with what I ordered.”

Their friend's impatient words greeted her as she descended into the cave. She had to be careful. During the daytime, light poured down into the chasm, but it was a different world at night. Rae conjured them a pair of long torches stuck into the ground, lighting them to add a bit more illumination than what the pale moon had offered. Once Benji was down, she cast a simple illusion of darkness above the hole so they wouldn't have any curious wanderers guided through the night by strange lights.

If not the director himself--a nightmare scenario--they might end up with the sort that needed a bribe or a beating.

"Sheesh, Tilly. You act like it's easy waltzing into the kitchen for an early night shopping spree." They weren't allowed in there, in case the redhead forgot. She was lucky the note came after the kitchen staff had done cleaning for the night. Having their wands, unlocking the doors wasn't an issue, but they'd nearly been caught when one of the crew returned for something they'd left behind.

The pair had grabbed what they could and had bolted.

Rae nodded further in. "There are a ton of pretty gems if we follow the stream that way. Gets us away from the opening, too, so no one walks by and hears us."

This wasn't her first time exploring the chasm.

"But...but..."

Benji sighed, not out of exasperation or annoyance with his girlfriend, but with amusement as she clung tighter to him. He stood there, his rucksack strapped to the front of his chest, with Rae strapped to his back, a narrow cave entrance awaiting them. He couldn't very well crawl through it with either on him, less they wedged themselves into an uncomfortable predicament that would cause sudden claustrophobia. Benji had faced enough fears over June - namely ocean related - and would prefer to not discover he had more.

"You smell good, and you're so warm."

Where Benji may have considered it a mistake before, letting her hang off of him and grace his neck with more bite marks than he cared to display, he only grinned now, nuzzling the side of his face against hers. "I get it," he said patiently, understanding that after everything that had happened, they both were a little clingier than usual, "but Ging is waiting for us and -"

"Maybe we just break our necks. I heard it's not so bad, you know? If we live, we can have hospital beds next to each other, and I could still be your nur--"

He dropped her. As much as his patience with Rae had grown over the past several weeks, he still had his limits, and he knew better than to test Matilda when she was waiting on him. How Benji had wound up with the two most unhinged girls at Hogwarts as his inner circle was beyond him, but he wasn't complaining.

He was a magnet for the girls that could kick his ass, apparently.

He grinned at her insult, shrugging his rucksack off and kicking it swiftly through the opening of the cave before following Rae down the tunnel.

“It’s about fucking time. If you didn’t bring something to drink, turn around and come back with what I ordered.”

As Benji straightened, his face dropped, staring at his redheaded friend with a deadpan expression. He crooked an eyebrow at her, a light smirk spreading across his lips. "Watch your tone, peasant, your king has arrived, gifts pending.” His smirk widened into a bright smile as he scooped up his bag, and unzipped it to behest upon her, a pumpkin juice.

He tossed it to her, before sliding his bag back over his shoulders and nodded to Rae, taking her by the hand and nudging Matilda a little with his elbow. "Lead the way ladies. I'll make sure you don't die."

He'd done fairly well at not dying thus far in life, and he was pretty confident he could get them through a crystal cave in one piece.

Finally, she was thirsty and wanted friend time. Rae came in first, "Sheesh, Tilly. You act like it's easy waltzing into the kitchen for an early night shopping spree." Tilly rolled her eyes, not that Rae could see it with how dark it was. Once they got past the entrance she was planning to start a small bonfire, that would help immensely.

“Are you telling me that was difficult for you? Because if you are, I don't believe you for a second.” Tilly stood up, prepared to help stabilize her friend or offer to hold something, if they actually brought what she wanted.

"There are a ton of pretty gems if we follow the stream that way. Gets us away from the opening, too, so no one walks by and hears us." Nodding, not that Rae would see it, “Yeah, I was thinking once we get more hidden we can start a small bonfire, I have my flint and steel from muggle studies.” Thankfully that class came in handy for something.

Then Benji ducked into the cave, holding a bag, so maybe he hadn’t failed his mission. “Watch your tone, peasant, your king has arrived, gifts pending.”

Oh for fucks sake. He had to be kidding. “Your Grace, please,” she said with an exaggerated bow and overly formal upper-class English accent, almost falling over on the slippery ground. “Try not to trip over your own ego on the way in.”

She loved Benji, he was her best friend from the minute they saw each other on the train to Hogwarts first year, but the boy could be a lot to handle. More power to Rae, she did a fantastic job. "Lead the way ladies. I'll make sure you don't die."

At this rate, her eyes would roll right out of her head. Making their way through the cave, following the stream, she decided to question the king on his royal court, maybe she could be a duchess. “So Benji, I MEAN YOU GRACE,” she said with mock seriousness. “If you’re the king, does that make Rae the one actually running this kingdom? Because that I could believe.”

She wasn’t lying, Rae would run circles around anyone in power, past present and future, which is why she stayed on her good side. She didn’t wear blue, but Tilly wasn’t an idiot.

Finally reaching the area beyond the opening to the cave, surrounded by crystals and gems to sparkle in the moonlight, Tilly sat on a nearby rock and started pulling stuff out of her pack. Tossing snacks on the ground for all to take, she took a few pieces of wood and some paper to make a small fire. Nothing elaborate, just enough to give them more light.

“So, your majesties, how has your summer been so far? Mine has been utterly boring. Let me live vicariously through you. Give me all the details, no bit of gossip should go untold. And hand over the bottle Benji, I know you have it.”

The torch lights cast long shadows across the walls of the cave, the dark figures dancing with each flicker of the flames. They created deep grooves of darkness in places where the rocks jutted out and reflected off the few precious stones that littered the walls by the entrance. They illuminated the path they were taking along the stream, creating a shimmering effect across the surface of the stream as the warm light reflected off the ripples in the glassy surface.

Equally important, the lights illuminated Matilda's scepticism. Rae caught the roll of the girl's eyes as she dismissed her earlier protest.

"Glad to hear it. Means you'll be the one risking summer privileges to fetch us drinks next time--you know, since it's so easy." Rae didn't stand to lose much by being caught in the kitchens back at Hogwarts, but the same rules didn't apply at the facility. In some ways, Matilda wasn't wrong. It hadn't been difficult per se, but it had been a needless risk all the same, and Rae had never been a Gryffindor.

She wasn't scared; she was concerned for her self-interests and what it might mean for her for the sake of a midnight walk through a cave when she'd already been having quite the brilliant--risk-free--night to begin with.

Rae let the pair bicker for the moment, understanding they had a strange way of communicating when they really got into it. Something about peasants and kings. Tilly even went as far as bowing. Rae could never. The boy never needed his ego stroked like that, not even as a joke. Instead, she started down the path her flames illuminated, tugging at Benji's hand that held hers and encouraging them to do the same.

“If you’re the king, does that make Rae the one actually running this kingdom? Because that I could believe.”

She smirked. "Since day one," came her simple answer, and she dared him to deny it. If she remembered correctly, their first meeting had involved her having a plan and him allowing her to punch him in the gut to achieve it.

When they got to the clearing, Rae found herself...honestly...stunned? Dark eyes blinked a few times in the lower lighting, her torches having been left behind near the entrance. Earlier, when Tilly had mentioned flint and muggle studies, she'd thought the girl had only been joking. Now she was rummaging through her backpack, pulling out materials--where'd she even get them--and fully prepared to do it all like muggle caveman. "Circe, Tilly. If you'd told us you had that much energy to burn, we'd have just taken you to the pitch." Rae waved her wand, conjuring them a bonfire while she looked on at the girl with incredulity. The Slytherin liked muggle studies, but not enough to become one.

She conjured herself a blanket and some cushions before tugging Benji down to join her. Tilly was welcome too, but the girl seemed content to rough it on the jagged rock for now.

“So, your majesties, how has your summer been so far? Mine has been utterly boring. Let me live vicariously through you. Give me all the details, no bit of gossip should go untold. And hand over the bottle Benji, I know you have it.”

With a flick of her wand, she accioed herself one of the snacks the Gryffindor had thrown out. "You've already got your drink over there, don't you?" Rae pondered, remembering Benji had tossed it to her shortly after entering. "I get the feeling you don't believe me when I say we grabbed what we could and booked it out of there. Only had time to grab three, so you'll have to make it last." That was the problem with impromptu meetings, especially ones that interrupted something else. It didn't leave enough time for the sort of careful planning that would yield big rewards.

Rae took her bottle from Benji's bag, setting it down by her on the blanket. She pulled up one knee, her fingers clasping to steeple over it. "Anyway, my summer hasn't been anything to write home about. Certainly nothing I'd consider exciting. Benji came with me to New York but..." Her shoulders rose in a shrug as her words trailed off. New York hadn't been good either. "Oh! My birthday's in a week!" she enthused, willing to move past any talk of their dreadful summer thus far.

"I don't think my father knows that, which means I'll finally get some peace. Billie's coming by this Saturday so I can have a cake. We're gonna have a picnic if you'd both like to join us." Her birthday didn't fall on a visitation day, and she didn't need to be gone an entire week. It worked out better this way.