we don't need the headlines

Afonka stared downwards, the very reflection of the water shining in the boy's brown eyes. They darted back and forth, caught on a swimming fish before it disappeared out of view and he turned towards another one.

He sighed softly, rubbing at his face with his hands. When had life decided to turn upside down and make a mockery of him? He'd been happy, so very happy before fourth year. And then it'll all fallen apart. Phille had died, and then the mafia had decided to ruin his life.

There were moments, becoming more and more frequent as he grew up, where he wondered if Ophelia had had the right idea. Maybe the world just wasn't worth living in.

Would he do it? Could he do it? He didn't think so. Not with the firsthand knowledge of just how much being left behind hurt. But the fact he'd thought of it, even for a fraction of a moment, didn't that mean something?

Demetri couldn't remember how he got from some alley to the RiverSide, but that usually happened aftere he hunted. He'd hunt down some muggle into an alley and pounce. Then when he finished with the human, he'd usually just run away and end up somewhere and never remember how he got there.

People stared at him as he walked by but he ignored them before he realized that there was still blood on his face. Pulling out his wand, he syphoned away all the blood and kept walking. He stuck his wand and his hands in his pockets and stared at the water as he passed.

Taking a deep breath, he stopped and walked to edge and looked over at his reflection in the dark water. Red eyes, and pale skin looked back at him with the same sad expression as he remembered the life he just took. He hated hunting, and he hated what he was, but no matter how much he hated himself, he couldn't change himself, and he blamed his father.

Shaking his head and looking up and around he noticed another student not far down from him. He looked rather upset, just like he was, but probably for a more serious reason. Demetri straightened up and walked over. recognizing the boy as another Hrabrost student, he said, "You ok?"

He hadn't heard the boy walk up, so deep in his thoughts that he felt like a whole battle could go on around him and he'd hardly notice. Blinking up at the sound of the masculine voice, Afonka raised his head towards the younger boy. A flash of irritation darkened his eyes, but it only stayed for a moment before it was gone.

He didn't want to talk to him. The only person he wanted to talk to was long gone. A visit to her grave wouldn't be the same as a real conversation. Turning back to the river, the Hrabrost shrugged a shoulder, his voice unexpectantly bitter. "I'm by a river contemplating my existence. What do you think?"

((Just a friendly little reminder that students aren't allowed to kill.))

Demetri was a little taken aback by the boy's rude tone, but he had no idea what he was going through though he got the feeling that he was upset about a death.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to...never mind." he said looking away. He wasn't sure what to say to the boy, but he was thinking of a way to make him a little calmer. "Is there anything I can do?" he asked hoping that he could help the boy.

"I mean, I know we just met, and I don't mean to intrude, but, I'm here to listen as I am for any other student." he said turning around and leaning against the edge of the bridge.

He watched the boy look away, wondering for a fleeting moment if he was going to leave. But he didn't.Of course he wouldn't. That just wasn't the way the universe treated Afonka Rodion Alkaev. Whatever he wanted, he'd never get. Whatever he had, he'd lose it, one way or another.

"Can you turn back time? Can you raise the dead?" Afonka asked, his eyes blistering with anger. Why in the world was he trying to help? Did this kid go out of his way to do this? Because the Hrabrost hardly doubted it worked. "No. No, you can't. So don't act like you can solve the world's problems, everyone knows you can't."

He crossed his arms. "Maybe I don't want to talk. Thought about that? And why you? Why not my actual friends? If I wanted to talk, I would be."

Demetri frowned at the boy, still surprised at his rudeness, but with his new found gift, he knew why he was so upset, but he felt that if he said he knew, the boy would get angry and probably not believe him. However, Demetri could feel the boy's anger and it almost made him just as angry.

This was what Demetri was afraid of when he discovered his new power, the overwhelming amount of emotions that he would feel. "No, I can't turn back time, and I can't bring back the dead. I'm sorry." Demetri said angrily, but he knew it wasn't his real emotions. Normally Demetri wouldn't have replied so rudely.

Taking a deep breath, trying to calm himself down, Demetri finally said, "Look, if you don't want to talk about it then fine. I was just trying to be nice, because I know what it's like to lose someone close to you." he said looking up at the boy.

"Besides, if you don't want to talk, why is your mouth still moving?" he snapped. Demetri groaned at his attitude again. "Sorry, I wouldn't usually respond like that. It's just, I can feel your anger and sadness, and it's sort of making me like that..." he said looking away.

Afonka frowned right back, raising his eyebrows at the younger boy. Running his fingers through his brown hair, his gaze dropped back to the water. He hated this, the bubbling senses of anger and frustration that never seemed to leave him these days. He'd always tried to ignore and push it away, but now he was becoming more frequent to outbursts like this.

Flexing his fingers, he tilted his head. "Exactly. Unless you can fix all of that, then I don't see what you have to say to me." He shrugged his shoulders, still looking pointedly away.

His eyes darkened, irritation shining in them. "There's a difference between confessing my problems to you and telling you that I don't want to." Giving his head a shake, his hands clenched on the rail. "Don't lie," he murmured. "You don't have to make excuses for being angry."

Demetri once again raised his eyebrows. "Umm. Hi I'm Demetri, and you are?" he said smirking. The boy said that Demetri had nothing to say, well in fact he did.

"I understand that. Look, I didn't mean to make you angrier than you already seem to be, I just thought I could help. Clearly I can't and I'm sorry, but you don't need to be so rude to someone you just met." he said as calmly as he could. Demetri turned to look at the older boy standing beside him.

He hadn't done this before and he wasn't sure he could control it, but he had to prove to this boy he wasn't lying, however, if he tried to use his powers on the boy without his recognition, he could lose his trust and gain an enemy.

"Look at all these people." Demetri said gesturing to everyone walking past. "I can feel everything they do. Anger, sadness, happiness and loss. Every single person is feeling something, and I can feel it too." he said turning back to the boy.

"I meant something that's at least important," Afonka snapped, crossing his arms. He didn't care who the boy was. And he wasn't important, was he? He was just an unimportant fifth year.

He was starting to wish that people would realize that.

The Hrabrost let out a little snort of laughter. When had that ever stopped people before? The world was full of heartless people. He personally knew one too many. Hell, he was related to some. "Trust me, I'm not the worst person you'll ever meet. Take it from someone who knows."

He flicked his brown gaze towards the passerby's, unimpressed. "You know, you don't need special magical powers to realize other people feel things. Is this how you introduce yourself to people? I don't see how it works, honestly." The boy shrugged his shoulders. "But that's just me."

Demetri finally just sighed and shrugged his shoulders. He was done, he had no idea what he could say or do to make the boy feel better. Turning back around he stared out at the water and looked down at his reflection. His gleaming red eyes suddenly turned sad.

He knew how the boy felt, at least when it came to losing someone. He thought of his mother then, a mixed feeling of happiness and sadness as he remembered her face. His eyes suddenly stung as tears began to fall, but he quickly wiped them away and started to think of happy memories.

'This boy...deserves to be happier...I wish he would be a little happier.' Demetri thought to himself as he turned to look at the older Hrabrost, who was slightly glaring at him when he didn't reply to what he had just said.

"You know, everything will get better. Nothing will be the same, but things will get better. I may not know anything about you, but at least realize that you have others around you that care about you." Demetri said, giving him a half smile.

"Maybe one day we can be friends, at least if you want to." he said
shrugging.

Demetri turned back and looked out at the buildings on the other side of the water, watching the lights.

Afonka inhaled deeply, turning his brown eyes back to the water below. His reflection stared back and suddenly, he hated it. He was sick of feeling sorry for himself. He'd spent years feeling sorry for himself and he was beginning to wonder how anyone put up with it.

Gripping the railing with a vice-like grip, he turned away from the water, not wanting to look himself in the face anymore.

"Everyone says that," he said, shoving his hands into his pockets, not sparing the boy another glance. "Sometimes that happens. Sometimes it doesn't. It doesn't always get better. It doesn't always get worse." The boy shrugged a shoulder.

Pushing himself off the railing, he gave the boy a glance. But he had nothing left to say to him. So he simply turned and walked away, blending in with the other Russians, almost as if he'd never been there.

Demetri sighed and watched as the boy walked away, not bothering to pursue him. There was no point, he thought, in pursuing a boy who was clearly upset and unsure of what to do now. Shrugging his shoulders, he turned around and headed back the way he came, just not towards the alley where he had been.