In Search (Naomi)

Now there were rare moments that Phillip got time to himself. He'd recently detached himself from Corienna Astrid, who'd wandered somewhere else to buy new 'rags' (what a weird word he thought), giving him to be a little thoughtful. Which was a rarity all on its own because he spent most of his life surrounded by pretty things, by fun things to keep him busy all the time. He loved the rush of never having spare time but when he did have it he had a sole passion he pursued. Persistently, he drew. He loved the feel of charcoals and pencils in his hands as he slid them in motions that varied like the wind in the air when he flew on his broomstick back and forth, fast and slow, all of them giving him a surge of joy every time he touched the art instrument to the paper of his sketchbook.

Lately he'd even been persuing dragon drawing. It started with a book from his mother's library, something from an old 'friend' (which Caelan told him was probably a boyfriend because of the wistful way she looked when she said it), and flipped through the pages. The pictures moved in brilliant synchronization with the real way dragons flew (which he'd begged his mother to take him to see in action) and he found himself itching to draw it. If there was one thing besides flying and football that Phil took pride in, it was his art. He wanted to get every little detail right, and he knew he'd take absolute pride in showing Orie-o his images.

So now he was rushing into Flourish & Blotts eagerly asking the cashier where the dragon books were. In his rush, he collided head to back with a blonde girl. To which he gasped and moved his arms out to her shoulders, worry detailing his face.

"Oh my gods, I'm so so sorry ma'am, are you alright, I swear I didn't mean to, I was just so very excited about these dragon books and I need - no I didn't need - I'm, are you okay?" He asked concernedly.

Naomi wandered around Flourish and Blotts by herself. Da was somewhere in the front, chatting with a friend from work, but she was happy to look at the books by herself. She knew Da would finish his conversation far before she would be ready to leave.

Arms already full of books on a variety of subjects, Naomi moved farther back into the store, towards the books on creatures. She wanted to see if they had anything on kelpies more detailed than her basic textbook, because she had the suspicion that a small one might have taken up residence in the small lake by her house, but she wanted to make sure before she told anyone.

Naomi was just slowing down to scan the titles on the shelves to her left when somebody ran into her from behind. He caught her in time to make sure she didn't fall, but her books scattered everywhere. She was almost mad, but he seemed so sorry, even calling her ma'am even though she could only be a year or two older than him, if that. So instead, she just ducked her head and knelt, picking up her books.

"I'm fine," she said quietly. "Just remember not to rush so much. Most of the books won't fly away if you get there in five minute instead of two. Although..." she paused. "Maybe one or two of the dragon ones will. I'm not sure." She thought she had seen a book on dragons go past on translucent wings a while ago when she was picking up a book on Seeing.

"It's alright." Naomi smiled at the boy, who really did seem flustered by knocking into her. "No harm, no foul." She grinned at his advice to her. "My da tries to tell me the same all the time," she told him, "But I can't help it. I love books a lot and I'm not sure I could bring myself to put any back. If that means I have to carry them, well, so be it. I've carried more." It was true; once, she'd actually almost fallen over from the weight of the books she was carrying.

"Naomi O'Hare," she returned politely. She frowned for a moment, trying to place the word sue, then remembered her Muggle cousins explaining it once. "Why in Merlin's name would I sue you?" she asked, honestly surprised. "It was just and accident, Phillip."

This boy was cute, especially the way he scrambled around for words, saying things, then backtracking as he realized he said something wrong. It put her more at ease than somebody who was completely confident in themselves. Plus, he did look rather nice, a thought that made her blush and look at the ground when she thought it. "W-would you mind if I came to look at the dragon books with you?" she asked, trying to cover her embarrassment.

Naomi grinned at his teasing, ducking her head. "But books are the best weapons, you know. Maybe I just carry them around to throw at people who annoy me." She stuck her tongue out, but she was still smiling to let him know she wasn't really annoyed. His teasing reminded her a bit of her cousins, putting her more at ease than she normally was with strangers.

"Oh, you don't have to-" But Phillip was already swooping more books off her pile and carrying them for her. She had to admit, it was a nice bit of relief on her arms. "Thank you," she said instead.

Giggling, Naomi nodded. "My cousins are Muggles. My Da was a Muggleborn, so his entire family is, and I was around them enough to see Disney movies. Except Gaston dies in the end and he was a jerk anyway. Maybe you should be the Beast instead." It was polite of him to think of explaining himself.

"I draw too!" she said happily, glad to see they had something in common. "Not animals or people though. I mostly draw landscapes or still life of the flowers in my garden. I also like flying, but I don't play Quidditch." She shuddered. "Far too many people." Not only was Naomi shy, but large crowds made her extremely nervous. "Sometimes I kick a football around with my cousins. What sports do you play?"

Phil was a social person by nature, and talkative. Very talkative. He wasn't scared of people, maybe because he was a bit tall for his age (his father said that he had the same problem whereas his mother never had, but his mother had hit her growthspurt really early in life making her a tall pre-teen). However for all his abrasive nature, Phil could sense when he was annoying someone or if he was stepping over any glaring boundaries (now small boundaries and phyiscal space bubbles those he was a little less aware of). Yet in this current moment he could tell he had yet to step over any big boundaries that might make he her pull away from communication with him. Phillip found himself in slight adoration of the blonde girl, it was cute the fact that she was shy around him in her body language but not so much her words.

He blinked in surprise at her words before laughing because the idea of her throwing books at people was hilarious. "It would be an honor to see that sometimes if that's true," he said excitedly before adding, "not that watching you throw books at people would be the only reason for me to hang out with you, your company has proven to be quite interesting." Sincerity seeped into that last statement because it was true, Phil found Naomi to be fascinating and hoped they'd stay friends.

"With the books you carry around, " he looked pointedly at the ones in his arms and then the ones in hers, "you must have quite the arms. In fact I'm sure you'll never need to work out or hit the gym in your life if you keep carrying books like these," he jokingly lifted one of his arms to his forehead to wipe off a pretend bead of sweat over exaggeratedly to make a point.

"Your Da? Is that like a cool way of saying dad?" He asked curiously tilting his head. He couldn't help but laugh again because yes, Gaston was a jerk and yes he did die in the end (score!). "Then the Beast I shall be!" He tried to let out a roar, but it came out more like a strangled squaw- and he winced. "Oops." He smiled impishly his cheeks flushed in embarrasment, but recovered quickly. "Have you seen any other muggle movies? Do you have a favorite Disney movie?" He asked with wide eyes, excited at the prospect of a friend to talk about these things. Yeah Corienna did watch those movies with him, but he was always looking for more perspectives to see.

"Naomi that's awesome! I could never capture landscapes or flowers, I bet you're great," he said earnestly, "where'd you learn? Or are you self taught? Either way is totally cool with me, I don't know that many artists." He confessed and it was true. Caelan could draw pie charts and ven diagrams (*cough* NERD *cough*, his mind chided), and Ellie could faintly draw people but always got bored and gave it up within moments.

"I can see why if you're shy Quidditch might not be your cup of tea," he said sagely before pausing, "my dad plays professionally so it's kind of a family thing," he added a little nervously because sometimes people did know his father and would just cant about statistics and stuff to an eleven-year-old and expect him to care. But Naomi wasn't a Quidditch fan so he'd nothing to fear, he thought confidently. His eyes widened and he grinned enthusastically.

"Football is my favorite muggle sport! I played it when I was young before my parents found out if I was magical or not. I'm pretty good at it myself," he added proudly puffing his chest before pausing, "besides that I run around a lot, I play American football which is like a guarded rugby, do you fly maybe?" He wondered before adding, "or if not what other kind of things to do you to keep yourself busy?"

{{OOC: I'M SORRY THIS IS SO LONG, CASEY, PHIL IS JUST REALLY REALLY TALKATIVE OMGGG}}

Naomi giggled as Phillip blurted something and then backtracked, almost talking over himself in an attempt to make sure she wasn't offended or upset. It was something she herself did a lot with new people and it made her like Phillip even more. "Maybe you can even help me," she told him with a smile. "And I knew what you meant. I- I think you're interesting too." She blushed.

Laughing, Naomi nodded. "It certainly helps me climb. I do that a lot. There's a little patch of woods near my house and I climb the trees a lot. Do you like heights?" She loved them, always preferring to be somewhere up high.

"It's an Irish thing," Naomi told him, shrugging. "I'm from County Cavan." She would have thought he would get that from her accent, but maybe he just hadn't really thought about it. She squeaked, then covered her mouth to hide her grin when Phillip attempted to roar. Finally managing a straight face, she took her hand down to answer his question. "I like Brave. And Tangled. And a lot of Disney movies, actually. What's your favorite?"

Naomi blushed at his praise. "My Nana taught me. She's much better at it than me, but I'm getting better. What about you? Did someone teach you to draw?" Maybe she'd show him her sketches when she saw him next, if she had her sketchbook on her.

"Oh? What team is he on?" Naomi might have heard of him, but beyond that one question, she wouldn't pester Phillip about it. He probably got harassed enough without her adding to it.

Naomi grinned. "No one else I've met plays football! Maybe we can play together, at school sometime?" It would be fun to kick the ball around at school. She missed it when she was away from her cousins. "I do fly. I'm not the best, but I'm not bad either. Just ok. Mostly, when I'm home, I climb or work in my garden or read."

{{OOC: NO, DON'T WORRY, I AM DYING FROM THE CUTE.}}

Chuckling, Naomi nodded. "I promise," she told him. "Wouldn't want to dent your head or anything drastic like that." She kind of doubted she would ever want to throw anything at Phillip. He was too... kind. Too earnest.

Naomi tried to repress he grin and failed. "I know what you meant, Phillip," she told him patiently. "I am kind of like a monkey sometimes. I think Da's called me one more than once." It was true; she was as comfortable in the trees as she was on the ground and she high in the air with little effort.

"I've never rock climbed either," Naomi said thoughtfully. "M-Maybe we can go together sometime, if we can find a place." She immediately blushed. "I mean, only if you want to, you know. You don't have to if you don't want to, of course. I just think it would be really fun." Stupid. She cursed her awkward, bumbling words.

Blushing when Phillip complimented her accent, Naomi mumbled a thank you. "It's in the north of Ireland, right on the border on Northern Ireland and Ireland. The town I'm from is called Manragh Upper, but it's so small, no one's ever heard of it. Where do you live?"

"I can't ever really pick a favorite," Naomi admitted. "I love all of those movies, although the last time I saw Shrek was a LONG time ago. I barely remember it anymore. I remember liking Fiona though."

Yet again, Naomi blushed at the compliment, this time to her drawings. "Well they're nothing special," she mumbled. "I've always wished I could draw people and animals, but it's so hard for me. It's awesome that you were able to teach yourself." She was shocked that he only read to help him draw. "I love reading! I can't imagine not doing it." Actually, she could. Her life would be a lot lonelier without books.

Naomi nodded. "That's really cool Phillip!" He seemed uncomfortable, though, so she let the subject drop. "My da works at the Ministry, bouncing between the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad and the Muggle-Worthy Excuse Committee." What with being a Muggleborn and a troublemaker when he was younger, Da had great fun coming up with cover stories for Wizarding accidents. Sometimes, she helped him, which was fun.

Naomi's eyes lit up. "I have some vegetables, but it's mostly flowers. Snapdragons and tiger lilies, except they're always fighting, and sunflowers, and marigolds, and blue bells, but not a lot, otherwise the ringing gets too loud, and some daisies and freesia and petunias and one rosebush. I had some Jack-in-the-Pulpits, but all they did was preach at the other flowers and the sage kept getting in arguments with them, so I had to take them out." Suddenly realizing that she had been rambling, Naomi stared at the ground. "Sorry, I get kind of excited about my garden sometimes."