f r u s t r a t i o n s ((open))

[Noah Whitman]

It was overcast, gloomy but on the plus side it was the weekend, the first one of term to be exact and Noah had easily fallen back into his routine. All his school work for the week was done, and neatly and in order of subject and due date on his desk. A little OCD to some maybe but he'd been raised to believe in order, turning his back on anything that dared upset his carefully structured and ordered life. Structure was the only way he knew how to live, without it he had to wonder how chaotic his life would get.

Keeping his eyes on the watch on his wrist, he pressed his fingers to his wrist, quietly counting his pulse rate as he caught his breath. He'd just done 10 laps around the entire outer edge of the training grounds. Satisfied he stretched his arms backwards, before he threw a few punches forward into the air. Ducking, shielding his face as he punched forward, moving around slightly only keeping it up for a few minutes before he dropped down onto his back and began his sit ups. Exercise for him was satisfying, instead of lazing off in Hogsmeade, pigging out on sweets like his friends he was using his free time to work out.

This summer his Father had worked him hard, pressing onto him that this year was important. Not just because of N.E.W.T's but because of Quidditch. Apparently his Father would be attending every game this year, and not alone, no apparently his Father had managed to catch the interest of a few scouts. Quidditch scouts that was, for Professional teams. Noah was confused, his Father was bringing these scouts, to see Noah, so he'd have some kind of back up plan should things at the Military fall through. Noah knew what he'd prefer to be doing, but it was simply easier to nod and agree with whatever his Dad told him to do.

So you could say exercise was a good way of working through his frustration healthily, his frustration against his Dad and those traitorous thoughts he'd been having, surrounding an incident in the Quidditch Pitch locker room involving a certain blonde Hufflepuff. Try as he might, Noah had been unable to shake Liander from his mind as he was confused as to what that meant, and when he was confused, he liked to bury things and that's exactly what he was doing now. Standing up, Noah used his shirt what he'd discarded earlier to wipe his brow, sweat practically gleaming on his muscles as he moved.

Stretching out again he fell forward landing on his fists, not his hands and holding one arm behind his back and supporting his entire body weight with one arm on a closed fist, he began doing push ups. Some minutes later though, hearing movement behind him, pausing his muscles clenched he glanced over his shoulder to see...

[Liander Hughes]

Liander had a lot on his mind and he needed a way to try and clear his head, push the thoughts aside, and just forget. He'd been to the kitchens, but even sitting in there with a hot chocolate full of marshmallows wasn't doing the trick for him today. So, mug in hand, he'd headed outside.

He didn't have anywhere in particular that he was headed, he just found himself wandering slowly across the grounds, drink in hand. When he reached a point, he stopped and looked around, his eye catching on the entrance to the training grounds. It wasn't somewhere that he could say he'd been particularly many times, and what better way to take his mind off things than to go exploring somewhere new? So, Liander headed in that direction.

There were so many thoughts buzzing around his head that he didn't even know where to begin to clear them. He couldn't stop thinking about what his father had said over the holidays, and it had been playing over again and again in his mind since then. Now that he was back at Hogwarts though, that wasn't the only thing on his mind. There was a certain someone, a certain dark haired Ravenclaw that he hadn't been able to get out of his head ever since the time that they'd quite literally crashed into each other in the quidditch changing rooms. Liander hadn't had a chance to speak to him again, but he couldn't get him out of his head anyway.

Heading into the training grounds, Liander looked around, taking in the sight of the place and the size of it too. Then, his eyes were drawn to movement not too far away. It seemed as if someone was already here, and that someone was a little more active than Liander himself, considering he was standing there sipping hot chocolate and marshmallows.

The guy was doing push ups and Liander couldn't help but watch from a distance. Something niggled in his stomach, telling him that he knew who this person was. Noah?

The guy, whether it was Noah or not, didn't have his shirt on, and sweat gleamed off his skin from the workout he'd been doing Liander couldn't help but stare at the sight before him, and there was a little voice in his mind asking what it would feel like to reach out and touch him, all those muscles and - No! Don't even think like that! He pushed the thoughts from his mind and crept forward and angled to the side, hoping to get a better look and see if it was him, without being seen.

So much for that. "Hey..." He raised a hand in a guilty sort of wave, an apologetic sort of grimace on his face. "Sorry, didn't mean to interrupt... Noah."

Would he remember him?

[Noah Whitman]

Noah paused briefly as his eyes landed on the very same blonde Hufflepuff who'd been flittering into his mind ever since that day in the locker room. Noah didn't even want to begin deciphering what that meant, he already knew it'd lead to confusions he didn't need. Right now his life was perfect, structured, there was no room in it for confusion. Though he couldn't deny he did like Liander, the guy seemed alright, a little quieter and more reserved than most of the guys he had as friends but that didn't matter.

"Sorry, didn't mean to interrupt... Noah."

Noticing the slight apologetic grimace, Noah shook his head and smirked slightly, carrying on with his push ups but quickly changing hands, now curling his left fist into the ground and holding his right arm behind his back. "Don't worry about it, just let me finish up..." he said, not pausing or waiting for a response as he proceeded to finish his push ups. He could already feel that tightening in his muscles as they began to reach their limit but he was determined to finish. Always striving to beat his own record. Finally after finishing another 20 push ups with his left arm acting as a support, he pushed himself up off the ground and stood.

"No Hogsmeade today?" he asked Liander finally turning to face him, scooping down to pluck up his bottle of water and taking a large mouthful, forcefully swallowing it down as he focused on the blonde. There it was again, that rush of something unfamiliar, something strange and that he couldn't explain and for a moment, confusion flashed across his face. Quashing down the strange emotions now being emitted at the sight of this other guy Noah forced himself to be normal. "How was your Summer?" he asked, determined to do more of his work out but finding he wanted to talk to Liander some more.

[Liander Hughes]

Liander wasn't quite sure what to do or how to react. He'd been caught, which is exactly what he'd sort of been hoping wouldn't happen, yet it had happened. He didn't want to come across looking like some sort of creeper or something.

Even after noticing him there, Noah still continued his push ups, one hand behind his back. Liander couldn't help but stare. Heck... he could hardly managed normal push ups, never mind using only one hand to do them.

"Don't worry about it, just let me finish up..."

"I can just go if..." Could he? Probably not. He was happier just to stand there and stare, watching as muscles rippled as Noah counted out his push ups. Liander had to admit it, once again, this guy was seriously hot. He'd never admit it anywhere but in his own head, but he was allowed to think it so long as he kept his mouth shut.

Noah finished his push ups and picked up a bottle of water. "No, I usually don't bother going down." He would only go down if he really really needed to, but most of the time he'd just not bother if he could. He saw far too much of the place for it to seem like anything special to him. "How come you're not down there?"

"How was your Summer?"

Liander looked away, letting his eyes drift around the training grounds that they were stood in. He shrugged his shoulders in response. "Fine, I guess. Yours?" It hadn't been the best of summers by a long shot, but he didn't need to be starting a pity party for one right now, did he?

[Noah Whitman]

How come you're not down there?"

Noah shrugged his shoulders and pulled a face, "I don't like going down every weekend, things get too repetitive then," he said, shooting a smile at Liander, surprisingly glad he had in fact decided to stay today. Though again he felt confusion ripple through him, followed by slight concern as he observed Liander's reaction to his question about summer. Noah observed people enough to know when something was up, Liander didn't do much but the way he looked away before answering let Noah know his summer had been far from fine.

"Mine? Same old same old, my Father never lets up so most of it was spent training, studying, attending social events where I was the youngest there..." he said, pulling a face as he spoke before smiling at Liander and shrugging again. Sighing deeply he shook his head, letting his bottle drop back beside his bag as he picked up his t-shirt, pulling it on over his head and fixing it into place. It clung to his body due to the workout but he didn't care, since he'd stopped moving he'd began to feel the slight chill in the air. "Part of the reason I like school, only chance I get to actually relax,"

If that's what he was doing. Relaxing wasn't something he really ever allowed himself to indulge in doing, unless he was showering or sleeping. Yes, his Father had practically beat it into him that he had to strive every moment to be the best. Focusing on Liander again he tilted his head to the side slightly and began unwrapping the wraps from around his knuckles, "So yours was fine? That it...not gonna elaborate any?" he asked, smirking slightly hoping Liander understood he wasn't pressuring him into doing anything if he didn't want to talk that was fine, but for some reason Noah wanted him to confide in him.

[Liander Hughes]

"Mine? Same old same old, my Father never lets up so most of it was spent training, studying, attending social events where I was the youngest there..."

Liander grimaced. "Social events are the worst. Especially when they come with overbearing mothers attempting to play matchmaker..." His family had ties in high places, so it wasn't exactly uncommon for his whole brood to end up at a social event either, and though Liander wasn't the youngest one, he was the best age for him mother to fuss like hell over. If only she knew...

Liander watched as Noah pulled his shirt over his head, his eyes dropped again to watch the ripple of muscles before material got in the way. Shame, Noah looked damn good without a top on... Which probably meant that it was a good idea that he was covered, or Lia risked giving away a whole lot more than he wanted to.

"Part of the reason I like school, only chance I get to actually relax,"

His eyes brows shot up and he looked at Noah. "You call this relaxing?" He laughed, shaking his head. He held up the cup of hot chocolate. "I'd consider this a much more... relaxing form of relaxing, you know?"

"So yours was fine? That it...not gonna elaborate any?"

He looked down into his cup of hot chocolate agian, swooshing it around a bit. How could he explain without giving it entirely away? "Refer to earlier mother comment, but apply to father." It seemed his parents wanted to set the ball in motion, and that was the one thing that Liander didn't want to happen right now, but there was no way that he could explain without giving Noah the full story, and that could never end well. Not considering... everything.

[Noah Whitman]

"Mothers playing matchmaker...I know that one, Mother's already trying to find me a wife and Father's pimping me out to every Quidditch recruiter he can...and if he's not doing that then I'm learning about what I could be doing in the Ministry if I let him down and don't go into Quidditch professionally." he frowned deeply, surprised at how bitter his tone sounded, he hadn't meant it to sound like that but maybe he was a little more pissed at what his Father was doing than he had realized. Shaking his head he looked at Liander smiling slightly, glad it the blonde Hufflepuff had some kind of idea of what he was talking about. Social events were indeed the worst.

"You call this relaxing?...I'd consider his a much more...relaxing form of relaxing, you know?"

Noah found himself laughing as he shrugged his shoulders lightly, glancing at the hot chocolate before returning his gaze up to Liander. "I enjoy working out. Well...I guess it's something I've gotten used to doing over the years, all part of the schedule I like to keep but yeah I can imagine there are better ways of chilling out but I haven't found them yet." he said, smiling. Well there were a few other ways but lately he'd found he wasn't even interested in spending time with girls, it was a mystery as to why.

"Refer to earlier mother comment, but apply to father."

Noah frowned, taking a moment to really look at Liander. Tossing the towel he'd been using over his shoulder he crossed his arms over his chest, "Want to talk about it? Believe it or not I am a good listener...just not so good at the advice side of things..." he admitted, smiling lightly but finding he wanted to fix whatever was up with Liander.

[Liander Hughes]

"Mothers playing matchmaker...I know that one, Mother's already trying to find me a wife and Father's pimping me out to every Quidditch recruiter he can...and if he's not doing that then I'm learning about what I could be doing in the Ministry if I let him down and don't go into Quidditch professionally."

There was a definite hint of bitterness in Noah voice as he spoke, but Liander didn't want to pick out on it. It didn't seem like he even intended for that bitterness to come across. "Ah, I don't have to worry about the job side of things. They think because I'm in Hufflepuff I'll never get a decent job anyway, so why bother." Liander wasn't going to attempt to hide the bitterness in his own voice. Ever since he'd been sorted into Hufflepuff things at home had gone downhill, and they just kept getting worse. If his parents ever found out the truth, then worse would turn to it's superlative form.

Liander hadn't really thought about it before, but if he had been in Ravenclaw instead of Hufflepuff, he'd have been roommates with Noah for these past 6 years... interesting thought... but how different would things have been? Would they even have been friends?

He motioned to his hot chocolate. If it ever got to a chilly day or something, then a nice warm mug of hot choc would always top the list of relaxing things, and for him, a physical workout would probably be pretty high on the list of stressful things. "I think working out would just be stressful, especially on a strict schedule... I mean, trying to find enough hours in the day for everything; class, workout, homework, meals, sleep... it doesn't sound possible." He'd rather skip the work out one and replace it with 'relax time in between the rest' which made it nice and flexible. "Maybe you should attempt a hot choc and a stroll. It doesn't get much more relaxing than that."

"Want to talk about it? Believe it or not I am a good listener...just not so good at the advice side of things..."

Liander couldn't help but smile at Noah comment. Coming from him, it sounded kind of cute, and that only served to make that weird sensation he'd felt in his stomach on seeing Noah spring to life again. What was it about this guy? Well... except that he was smoking hot, mega fit, and generally just a really nice guy to talk to...

"It's complicated. I don't think I can explain without all the back story, which might take a while." He partly hoped that would be enough of a deterrent that Noah wouldn't ask, since Liander really didn't have the answers. But then, he hoped that it didn't make Noah suddenly realize he had to go and do X, Y, Z scheduled things either...

[Noah Whitman]

"Ah, I don't have to worry about the job side of things. They think because I'm in Hufflepuff I'll never get a decent job anyway, so why bother."

Noah frowned, not liking the sound of that at all. There was a bitterness in Liander's tone that he didn't even bother try to hide and Noah couldn't really blame him, with parents who thought like that he had every right. "Sorry man...sounds like a pretty sh*tty deal...they're wrong though. Houses mean squat, you shouldn't let them make you feel bad..." he said, feeling extremely defensive for some reason in regards to Liander. There was an almost protective instinct there and he couldn't pinpoint where it was coming from, he almost wanted to go confront Liander's parents, his were harsh and put a lot of pressure on him but they didn't make him feel ashamed over his house.

Though truth be told his Father hadn't even wanted to talk to him for the first few years, having wanted his son to be sorted into Gryffindor as was family tradition. Noah though had broken tradition and been sorted into Ravenclaw which at first hadn't been good enough for his Dad and chances were if Noah hadn't gone into Quidditch and become as talented in it as he was his Dad would still be ignoring him.

Noah chuckled at Liander and shrugged his shoulders, "Well believe it or not it is possible, my entire day is scheduled from homework, working out to dinner and classes and I only sleep a strict 7 hours a night...Dad's kind of made an impression over the years. Scheduling everything is all I know..." he said, smiling a little sheepishly. Many of his friends considered it weird and made no secrets of what they thought, and he had to admit it was extreme but it was all he knew, it had been that beat into him he didn't know any other way to live. "Though I will admit a hot chocolate and a stroll does sound like something enjoyable...who knows maybe I'll give it a shot one day," he said with a smile though he doubted it, he was too uptight, even by his own standards.

"It's complicated. I don't think I can explain without all the back story, which might take a while."

Noah frowned slightly but nodded, not wanting to pressure Liander, though he was still curious of course. He wanted to help this boy anyway he could, "Well if you ever do figure out how to explain, just remember I'm a good listener and I won't judge, trust me I'm the last person alive who should be doing that..." he said with a small kind smile.

[Liander Hughes]

"Well believe it or not it is possible, my entire day is scheduled from homework, working out to dinner and classes and I only sleep a strict 7 hours a night...Dad's kind of made an impression over the years. Scheduling everything is all I know..."

Liander raised an eyebrow. "So...what happens when something comes up? I dunno... More homework that usual, a girlfriend's birthday... something like that. Where's the room for 'everything else'?" He threw in the girlfriend part without really thinking about it, but once he'd said it he really was curious to see what Noah would say about it. He'd probably have a ready prepared answer about said girl, and it'd only prove to Liander how stupid he was for even letting certain thoughts enter his mind.

He was glad when Noah didn't press the point, not wanting to have to go into any detail that'd complicate things in some unnecessary way. It wasn't something that could be easily explained. Liander smiled and nodded, not too sure what to say. "Thanks, I'll remember that." Chances were, he'd never spill that bag of beans though.

Liander looked around. "So...What's next in the schedule?"