let the games begin

Marianne stepped into the pub, every step one of uncertainty. In another time and place, she would've been enjoying herself and having a good time. But with the threat of Conner still very real, she wasn't going to risk it.

So why was she here? Merlin, she herself wasn't all that sure. She didn't feel that pressing urge to escape, run away from whatever problem she had. The woman was happy, something tbat she'd come to be very grateful for. The happy days outweighed all the unhappy ones by far, not by days but by sheer enjoyment.

Wallowing in her own self-pity was only so much fun.

Jerking her head up to the sound of smashing glass, the French women's gaze descended on a pair of newly graduated Prideuxes, one of which had dropped their shot glass and was now blaming the other. But whatever arguments the blonde posessed, they were clearly lost amid her slurred and broken speech patterns.

Stifling the urge to laugh, Marianne conceded to simply smile amusedly. Moving past them, she hopped up onto a stool, quite content with watching the individuals around her.

The pub had been staring him in the face everytime he walked past it year after year, when his parents used to take him near it. He had always wanted to go inside, but his parents had always said no, however, Edward was turning sixteen soon, and his parents weren't around a hell of a lot to pay much attention to what he did anymore.

Hell, he'd even died his hair, and had considered getting a tattoo, two things he had always wanted to do, but could never do without his parent's consent.

Strolling inside, his mind made up to just do what he wanted, he looked around, taking everything in. The smell, the people, and the decor. It was actually rather...cool, as he would put it. Across the bar, he saw some students, Prideuxs, and graduates as well, if he remembered correctly.

He was sure he knew them, having talked to a few of them to congratulate them on their passing of school. They were fooling around with some shots, and one had even managed to drop one, causing the glass to shatter into pieces. Shaking his head, Edward ran a hand through his hair as he leaned against the bar, and looked around.

He was surprised at how calm it seemed to be. Well, to some extent, there were a few people fighting over something across the room and barely a few feet away from him. Often times he himself wondered if maybe he would get so angry that he would start a fist fight, though he wasn't sure he could stoop so low to do such a thing.

Turning around he hopped up onto a stool, almost at the same time as another girl did. A girl he was sure was Professor Delancy. Yes, it was definitely her, he recognized her face and hair, it was positively her. "How has your summer been, Professor?" he asked looking over at her.

She grinned, leaning back on the bar. She should have started doing this years ago. People watching wasn't all that different from animal watching, she'd discovered. As long as you didn't look at them long enough for them to perceive a threat, you'd be fine.

Swinging her feet, she hummed softly. For a moment, her gaze was caught on a head of red hair, and a tiny grin flashed across her face, her heart suddenly beating faster before she really looked at the face belonging to the hair.

Marianne gave her head a small shake, frowning down at her feet. Why was she - well of course she'd be excited to see if Gwen. At least, if it had been Gwen. They were friends. She could hardly blame herself for it.

Letting out a deep breath, she chewed on her bottom lip. Glancing up at the sound of her name, she blinked up at the boy. A student, she guessed. And because she couldn't name him automatically, most likely not of her house.

"It's been alright," she inclined her head with a smile, though she tilted her head at him. "And how has yours been?" He looked about a fifth or sixth year. What was he doing here, in a pub? With a small frown, she glanced over at the bartender. Surely he wasn't planning on drinking?

"It has been fine. Thanks for asking." he said putting on his brave face, because in fact his summer had been complete shit.

But he wasn't going to think about that now. Now was his time to just relax and enjoy the company of people who weren't arguing and possibly considering getting a divorce.

Edward took notice of the Professor's frown, a look of concern as she glanced at the bartender. The Angelique shook his head, releasing a soft chuckle as he did so.

"Don't worry, Professor. I'm not here to drink, just to...think." he said grinning at how his words managed to rhyme. That had never happened to him before, and though it wasn't much of an accomplishment, he thought it was pretty great that he could come up with that.

Edward shrugged lightly as he looked at one of his professor. "I don't have any interest in alcohol, you can be assured." he said, looking across the bar table at the variety of drinks. He wasn't sure he would like the taste of some of the things there anyways. And besides, alcohol didn't always lead to good things.

He was lying. She didn't know how she knew it, but she did. Maybe it was because two of her close friends were both thieves or maybe she'd just become hypersensitive to these sort of things after the last few years. Whatever the reason, she was sure she was right. Nodding in reply, she said simply, "You're welcome."

There was no need to push the issue if he didn't want to talk about it.

"You're here to think," she repeated amusedly. "Of all the places, you come here? It's a little loud of a place." Right on cue, another verbal altercation broke out across the bar. Marianne grinned, shaking her head. "See? What'd I say?" Laughing to herself, the petite woman swung her feet lazily.

"Good," the woman nodded firmly. "You shouldn't, not at your age."

Edward gave her a small smile again, but said nothing more. He had a feeling she knew that he wasn't being completely honest, but didn't push the matter further.

"I dunno why this place specifically," he said with a small laugh. "The past few weeks I've been exploring new places to think and to be...not alone, but isolated from..." but he stopped talking after that. He didn't want to talk about his parents, not here, not with a Professor, even though he had a feeling she could have helped if he asked.

It wasn't that he didn't trust her, he just didn't want to ramble on about something that meant nothing to her, and especially if she had other more important things on her own mind.

Laughing as he turned his head in the direction of the noise he merely shrugged. "It does seem odd to come here of all places." he agreed.

"I'm almost sixteen, then only another two years before I can drink anything." he said a hint of excitement in his voice. His whole life he had refrained from even taking a sip of his mother or father's champaigne glass at New Years, because he wanted to wait until he was old enough to actually drink and savour that day, that moment.

"Exploring's always fun," she commented, swinging her legs. "I've always loved ruins. I can never get my head out of the past anyway, so it seemed like a logical pastime." The woman let out a little laugh, drumming her fingers against the side of her leg.

She needed to get her head out of the past. She'd been telling herself since fifth year. So why hadn't it kicked in yet? A frustrated frown marring her face, she brushed her hand through her hair as if that could somehow fix all her problems.

She tilted her head at him, a muted curiousity shining in her eyes. "You can tell me, if you want." She shrugged her shoulders. "It's part of my job to be here when you need me." Her hands knotted together, her eyes squeezing shut, remembering words her own head of house had told her.

"Marianne, I know. I've lost people too, people I'd go to the end of the world for. I know what you're going through. And if you ever need anything, anything at all, just yell. Because I'll be there. It's my job, and most importantly it's because I care."

She jerked herself out her memories, shaking her head. "I'm here if you need me," she said simply, running her index finger along the lines on her other palm.

"If I wanted to think, I'd go horseback riding," she hummed, grinning. "Find something you really love. It's easiest to think when you're doing it."

She glanced sideways at him, tilting her head slightly. The only thing she'd ever found alcohol was good for was that it let her forget. She could pretend that her childhood friend wasn't dead, that she hadn't almost been beaten to death in London back in December, and that she wasn't being hunted by a monster who wanted her best friend dead.

She had so much she wanted to forget, somedays she wondered what she kept those memories around for. But she'd been told once that they'd make her stronger. She was still waiting for that day.

Edward nodded in agreement. Exploring was fun, as for ruins, it wasn't that he didn't like them, it was just that they weren't his favourite thing in the world.

He was a little surprised when she offered to listen to his problems, and it wasn't that he didn't want to tell her, he could have used someone to listen to him, but a part of him wasn't really sure he wanted to tell her just yet. "Thank you professor, but I think...I think I'm not ready just yet to talk about it." he said politely. Edward knew Professor Delancy meant well, but he really didn't want to talk about his home life for the time being.

"Thank you." he said with a smile, showing that he was grateful, but wasn't going to say anything more...at least, not yet.

That was true...Edward hadn't thought of doing something he loved in the longest time. There wasn't a lot of things he really liked to do, aside from talking or studying Dragons, and it wasn't like he could go out and find one. So doing what he loved was a fairly difficult thing, though maybe Edward would find a way to get himself engaged in the topic of the creatures he loved the most.

"I will see what I can do. Dragons aren't the easiest things you can do something with." he said with a small laugh as he looked over at the woman sitting next to him.

"I understand," she said softly, nodding her head. How many years had it been before she'd been able to talk about Destan without crying? She still couldn't. Chewing on her bottom lip, she let out a small sigh, resisting the urge to bury her head in her hands. She had to seem strong, even if she'd never been it.

"But if you ever do want to talk, you know where to find me. At least, once school starts up again. I can't exactly just tell you where I live, now can I?" An amused smirk flitted across her face.

Marianne dipped her head. "You're welcome."

She tilted her head at him, a slow grin spreading across her face. "Dragons? Oh, I love them. I spent my first year after graduation in Romania helping train them. If you want to get into that, I know people. I could help set you up."

Edward looked up at his professor once more, but he saw something in her expression, that looked like sadness. He knew she was trying to cover it up by being strong, and she was, she was strong, but he knew that look. The Angelique had had to do it many times, but even though he looked and sometimes even felt strong, he had to let the truth out and break down.

"Are you alright Professor?" he asked gently, reaching his hand out, but then pulling back slightly, knowing it was an odd action for a student, but he was only trying to be comforting.

Chuckling, Edward shook his head slightly. "Thank you, and no I don't think you can. It would be a little strange." he said smiling.

At the mention of Dragons, and the fact that the woman sitting beside him, could actually set him up with Dragon experts, Edward could hardly sustain the excitement that coursed through him. "Wow, uh...just wow. I would really appreciate that, Professor." he said, resisting the urge to jump up and run around like a lunatic. Instead he merely smiled with a genuine happiness.

She snapped her head towards him, her lips slightly parted. Was she alright? The question made her want to laugh. Alright? She hadn't been alright since Destan had died.

It'd taken her entire world and flipped it upside down. Sure, there were moments - great moments - when the world righted itself. But that never happened for very long. Days, weeks - they weren't long enough.

"I'm fine," she said softly, her hands clasping together. "I'm fine." She would be. In the end, she always was.

"You're welcome." She tilted her head, an amused smirk flitting across her face.

Marianne grinned brightly. It wasn't hard to tell how excited she'd made him, even if he was restraining himself. "I'm glad you do," she said, laughing softly. "But ... I'm terrible with names, I'm sorry. So..." she tilted her head, an amused smile flickering across her face. "You're going to have to help me out here."

Edward had seen that look, the look in her eyes and facial expression, he had seen it in others before, even himself on occasion. Even when his Professor said she was fine, he believed her, but knew that there might have been a part of her, deep down that wasn't fine.

"Alright. Just making sure." he said with a small smile.

Still rather excited, Edward gripped the edge of his seat and then laughed a little as she asked his name. "It's Edward Raquin." he replied nodding slightly, still tempted to jump up and hug his professor, even thought it would have been very strange.

"Thank you, though." She offered a small smile. "There aren't enough students who care about how I'm doing." Marianne shrugged, laughing softly. "You guys are more prone to ignore me outside of school." She wouldn't deny it. When she'd been in their shoes, she would've and had done the same thing.

Remembering her days as a student made her think of Destan all over again. She frowned down at her lap, brushing strands of her hair out of her eyes. If she hadn't spent years after his death wallowing in her own pity and not trying to get over it, she would never have been in this position, still not over him six full years later.

She grinned widely. "Well then, Edward, I'll be putting in a good word or two about you. Trust me, they'll love to have you there once you graduate."

"That's too bad. I guess I'm not " he replied with a small shrug and little hint of a smile.

He knew that most kids his age wouldn't normally give a shit about how people were doing outside of school, but he wasn't most kids, at least he didn't think so. In fact he hoped he wasn't like everyone else, he hated the idea of being like everyone other than himself. Who would want to be exactly the same anyways?

Matching the professor's wide grin, though his being even wider, he said, "Thank you, thank you." he said still just as excited as he was when Professor Delancy first told him. He couldn't wait, couldn't believe that he might actually be able to work with Dragons after school. The very idea, made him excited.

"I can't blame you guys, though." She laughed, thinking back to when she'd been around his age, steadfastly ignoring every thought that brought back images of Destan. "I did the same thing." Marianne shrugged her shoulders. "Some things just don't ever change, don't they?"

She liked it better that way. When things stayed the same, it was harder to get hurt.

"You're very welcome. If you ever have any questions about dragons or any magical animal, it sort of is my job to know these things." She let out a soft laugh.

"I have to agree with that." He said sadly, thinking back to his parents at home, who were probably fighting again. He wished things had never changed between his family.

Maybe then he wouldn't have been here in the first place, and maybe he wouldn't have changed who he was because he felt that he would be stronger if he did. Sighing deeply, Edward tapped the bar table and tried hard to fight back tears that were threatening to reveal themselves.

"Thank you, so much, Professor." he said sniffling slightly, but smiling none the less. "I'm not sure I can thank you enough actually." he said with a short laugh. Edward was sure that he would owe Professor Delancy for the rest of his life if he managed to get into a profession involving Dragons. There was no way he would be able to thank her enough.

She tilted her head at him, unable to not notice the tone of his voice. "It's not always a bad thing, you know, when things don't change. Sometimes it's better." Sometimes? She was having a difficult time coming up with one time that change had ended disastrously in her life.

The thing that always ended in disaster was the change.

Frowning slightly, her expression softened. He looked like he was about to cry, and honesty, she couldn't blame him. If someone had come up to her and given her the chance to complete her life goal on a silver platter, she would have cried as well.

Reaching out, she placed a hand on his shoulder. "I know," she said softly. "Well," she leaned back against the bar, grinning, "you could always take my class. That'd be one way to thank me."

Edward merely shrugged. Change wasn't always good, not for him anyways. His parents are arguing all the time and he hasn't even seen Kat in the longest time. Change seemed to be screwing up his life.

He glanced over at the hand on his shoulder and smiled a little. "Aha, I suppose I could." he said chuckling.

Edward realized she must have mistaken his crying for happiness, which was fine, people make mistakes. However it still didn't make him feel much better.