Time Can Be Rewritten

The summer was proving to be too relaxing in Ksenia's opinion. The long days have turned into weeks and while the witch enjoyed spending time with her new family, there was just so many things that she could do within the walls of the house.

Settling down after so many years of searching for something was proving itself to be a task, one that she had never really thought of. Adjusting to the new life was like navigating around a room with no sight. Every step was new and the results were hard to predict. That part, like many of the others, was an enjoyable one. It was like a puzzle that needed to be solved.

Head still full of thoughts of Silas and Cordelia, the young witch wandered into the gold Threstal, seeking a cool beverage as a refreshment in the hot weather.

They were fighting...again. Not much to Edward's surprise in any case, but never the less they were fighting again and the Angelique could not...No, would not stay in the same house as them. Quite frankly he was getting tired of their bullshit.

Leaving his home and going some place he knew his parent's would never let him go, was the only peace he got. Walking down the many streets of Azorat, he was headed in one general direction of the one place he had heard so much about but had never been inside of.

When he neared the pub, he stood outside for a moment, unbuttoning a little of his white dress shirt, untucking it and then rustling his hair a little bit. Going into a place like this, he didn't want to look over dressed, or whatever it was the people called it.

Stepping inside, Edward took a moment to look around and take in the interior designs of the place. It was really quite remarkable to him. "Can I get you anything?" the barman asked as he neared the bar. "A butterbeer please." he requested, reaching into his pocket and pulling out the correct amount of money, and handing it to the man.

When the bartender returned with his drink, Edward turned to look around the pub, and as he did so, a small smirk appeared on his lips at the thought of what his parents might say or do if they ever knew or saw him here. Shrugging to himself, suddenly not caring or giving a shit about what they thought, he returned to looking about the room at the people.

That was when he noticed a girl across the bar, looking rather lost in thought. Not lonely, or sad, just lost in her own world, so to speak, something Edward himself had been almost forced to do since his parents had been getting into a lot of fights lately.

"You know it's not polite to stare at people for that long without saying anything," Ksenia noted calmly as she reached for the tall glass of lemonade that was given to her by the bartender. Her head nodded in thanks slightly before her eyes returned to the young man sitting several feet away from her. He was a handsome wizard, she noted, her age.

Her gaze left him once again as she took the first sip out of the glass, her eyes closing for the moment as she finally felt some relief from the unberable heat outside.

The witch turned to face the window again, the boy across from her almost forgotten. His presence has only been noted because he did seamed to think that she was unaware of him. That conclusion was logical to a normal person, though the events of the last few years made Ksenia more observant than she had been before.

Edward chuckled and grinned widely as he took a sip from his butterbeer. "Forgive me." he said turning back to looking across the pub. There were certainly a lot of people, none of them paying any attention to him.

Taking a deep breath, Edward glanced back at the witch, taking in how pretty she was while he was at it, and then decided he would walk over to her. Maybe make a new friend.

"It's hard not to stare when you're pretty and looking like you're in your own world." he said taking an empty seat beside her, while grinning. Sure it wasn't his best line, but he tried, he always tried. "Oo, lemonade. Why didn't I think of that?" he frowned looking into his glass of butterbeer.

Shrugging he took another long sip and sighed, feeling rather refreshed.

"Is it now?" her eyebrow and voice rose in amusement at his remark, gaze still not directed at him. She supposed it was entertaining in a way, when everything was going slower than usual, to witness first hand what normal people did to socialise. Were all males really that nervous and unsure of themselves when talking to someone they did not know? It was quite a start difference to the way Silas behaved.

"Lemonade has always been seen as the preferred drink in the hot summer days," she said, tilting her head slightly. It was simple logic, one that she gave with a relaxed demeanor.

"A little." Edward said, shrugging. He could tell by her tone that she wasn't really interested in his "flirting" or his attempt at it. Looking into his cup, he spun the glass, causing it's contents to stir around.

"Hmm...I've always preferred Butterbeer, oddly enough. Don't know why though." he said, not looking over at the girl beside him. "Maybe it's the taste."

Looking up from his glass now, he once again began to observe the people in the room. He watched as they drank and laughed. Not seeming to have any problems in their lives. Happy, and fulfilled. "I envy them." Edward muttered, not caring if the girl heard him or not.

"Perhaps that is because butterbeer is always a popular drink," Ksenia mused, only half of her mind concentrating on the conversation as she looked around. Boredom was very familiar to the girl. There was little value in this conversation apart from the fact that she was talking to someone other then a member of her future family.

She sat there quietly for a few moments, without acknowledging him before he spoke again. This time his statement sparked her interest that was reflected in her eyes. "And why is that?" she asked.

Edward merely shrugged at her response. Sure Butterbeer was popular, but Edward had had Lemonade, and always seemed to prefer the latter. Taking another long drink of the orange liquid, he closed his eyes and then took in a deep breath once he lowered his hand.

Raising an eyebrow, he glanced at the girl out of the corner of his eyes. "Their lives...they seem so happy, and carefree...what I wouldn't give for that."

He had changed, he wouldn't deny it. He was different, more in control of his life. However he wasn't carefree, or happy. There wasn't a day that went by now where he wasn't worried about whether his parents would get so angry that they would decide to get a divorce.

Maybe then they would pay attention to him, but then they would realize he had been sneaking out, dying his hair and considered getting a tattoo. Edward knew that if his mother and father discovered he had done any of those things, they would most likely disown him.

It frightened him, but he couldn't help but laugh at the thought.

Ksenia had to hold back a snort at his words. She seemed to be doing that quite a lot lately and snorting was not a becoming behaviour. "They are ignorant at best," she said dryly, looking over the occupants of the room once again before her eyes settled on the boy finally. "Sooner or later they will all have to live through a tragedy, perhaps it will be another war or an unsuccessful relationship that will end in heartbreak. Really, it's only a matter of time when they will have to realise that what they were living in was simply an illusion." It was a fact that was engraved deeply into her mind that facilitated a slight chill to accompany her words.

"But you are not like them are you?" she asked, her head tilted to the side, finally showing some signs of curiosity.

Edward frowned at her words. There was truth behind them, no doubt, however it was the way she said them that sent a chill through his body and even his mind. He had never really thought about it the way the girl seemed to, then again he hadn't thought of much lately.

"No, no I don't think I am. And neither are you, by the sounds of it." he said seriously, looking over at her, meeting her gaze. His expression was completely serious now, but he wasn't trying to make it a threat or an expression of anger. It was just seriousness and even a hint of curiousity.

After a long moment of staring into her eyes, Edward snapped his head back to look out across the room, only this time he wasn't paying attention to them. He was awaiting to see what she would say next.

"No I am not," she said, her voice as quiet as it was before. The girl took a small sip of her drink as her steady gaze remained on him. Amusement flickered across her orbs as he looked away from her.

"I take that you did not come here to join these people in their revelry," she continued as she placed her drink on the bar, her eyes leaving him for the moment. The Slushatel turned to look at the boy once again, this time her gaze being much more openly analytical then it was before. Head tilted to the side slightly as she thought, Ksenia paused for a few moments before speaking again. "Running away from something?" her eyebrow rose in question.

Managing a small smile, Edward shook his head. "No, that's not why I'm here." he said, fidgeting with the strap of his bag that was slung across his back. The bag had everything he needed in there. It was his life now.

Sighing, Edward glanced sidelong at the girl beside him. Was he so obviously sad and isolated from the world that she could see right through him? Or was it just a lucky guess? He raised the glass to his lips and took a long drink, draining the cup, before answering.

"Not something, everything." he replied, tapping his fingers on his lap.

Ksenia had to suppress a sigh as he fidgeted with his strap, yet there was a frown that still appearing on her forehead despite the Slushatel's self-control. Perhaps she was judging people too harshly now. Since coming to know Silas and spending so much time with him, the young witch's expectations when it came to other people have changed apparently. it was much harder for her interest to be held in a conversation and much more chance for the surrounding environment to become the main focus of her thoughts.

This time, however, the boy presented a small point of interest. Ksenia's eyebrows rose at his answer. "Everything?" she repeated calmly. "I'm quite curious to hear what is this 'everything' you are running away from," she asked softly, head tilted to the side once again as she waited for his answer.

Edward let out a long sigh. He was internally debating whether or not to tell this girl about why he ran away. After all he had only just met her, and he didn't even know her name, but she did show some interest as to why he was running away.

"Well, by everything, I mean my life at home. Parents and what not." he said slowly, glancing over at the girl. "Let's just say things changed between us once the two of them started to argue over everything and decided to throw the news of their divorce on me." he explained.

He wasn't sure if he should go into to detail about the reasons why he ran away, but he decided maybe if he talked about it, he'd feel a little better.

"If you don't mind me rambling for a bit...My father had an affair with this woman and once my mother found out the two fought over everything, and once that started to happen, I barely existed." he began. Edward decided to sum things up more than go into full detail.

"I changed my attitude, did things I would never have done before, but only because they payed no attention to things I did anymore. I dyed my hair, got new clothes, and I realized that this new me was who I really was, but never had the chance to be because my parent's had this expectation of who I was supposed to be." Edward explained. He ran a hand through his hair and looked down at the ground, taking in a few deep breaths.

He hadn't really told anyone about this before now, and it was kind of nice to have someone listen, even if they didn't care.

"Once they found out, they were furious and my dad even broke my arm for it." he said, holding out his arm. He had long since put the bone back in place but the bruise was still there and it hurt to move. "They were angry, and they hated me. Practically disowned me, more or less. Now they're getting a divorce and I haven't seen them since they decided to throw that on me too."

Finally, he finished his story, and though it felt nice to let it out, he felt sort of awkward about it. He got the feeling that even though the girl did ask about what he meant by everything, she didn't actually care. 'I'd be surprised if she did.' Edward thought to himself.