Just Desserts Of Sorts (Josh)

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It had been a week since her encounter with Josh Murray, and Lisa had not spoken about it to anybody. If it had been a game (and she was pretty sure he had found some amusement in all of that, which meant in a way, it had) she lost - badly - and Lisabeth was not one to graciously lose. In fact, she was pretty much the definition of sore loser when it came to serious things boardgames with good friends never really counted).

She had not bothered to try the sweets, never having been one to enjoy anything sour, but instead emptied the box and took the individually wrapped candy and placed a few in each of her hand bags, unsure of which she would be using the next time she met Josh. There were just enough to place in them all, which was good, for she had many, many bags for different occasions.

But a week had passed and she was growing restless of waiting to accidentally bump into him while in Hogsmeade, and so she made it a point to go out as much as possible, actively seeking him without making it seems as though she was. As a cover, she visited multiple shops and bought things for either herself or her friends.

And, finally, on Saturday, she saw him, casually walking down the road. Opening that day's bag, she noted with some pleasure that it was the one with three of the sweets instead of two, and palmed them, taking a few deep breaths to work up the courage to do so.

What she wanted to do was crazy, insane, and could possibly ruin her, but for everything that had been done, she had to. It wasn't just about winning - it was her pride on the line. Clearing her mind of any doubts, she lifted her head higher a little and straightened as much as she could (she never slouched anyway, so there wasn't much to straighten) and marched straight over to Josh.

Stepping right in front of him, she waited till he had stopped walking before holding out her hand and opening it so that her palm - and the sweets - faced upwards. The entire time, she kept her eyes firmly locked on his. "Here, I saved some for you," she said, calmly, evenly, and then just smiled a polite, gentle smile and waited.

Guest

With University kicking out at the end of May, Josh was left to his own devices for the summer. His first year at university had been a breeze, and as expected he had come out on top of his class with minimal effort. It wasn't that he was trying to be the best, it just happened.

His uncle had made some comment on how his father would have been proud of his achievements had he have seen them, and Josh had merely nodded it off. Layton Murray had never shown an interest in his only son, so an achievement that would have been expected would not have been anything of interest either.

With the running of the Murray family came decisions that Josh had made, thus far, with ease. Their estates had been poorly managed, but now he was optimising their use to pull in the most amount of wealth, and power, that he could find. His parents had been lax, and Joshua simply wasn't going to stand for it now, his mind was too calculative to be wasting the potential of his power, and he was making the most of it now.

Even if it did include mundane decisions such as farm land, or making houses. Everything mattered, and thus it took him time to get things in order. After that, it was his usual trip to the Hogsmeade Post Office to pick up the post he didn't wish his mother to intercept. He'd just collected his post, and after putting it in to his jacket pocket, Josh was making his way out of the village.

Except, what he wanted was taken from him when a Slytherin witch stepped across his path, her hand held out to him with three sweets inside. Since the day a week ago when he'd seen the witch, Josh had thought of her for not a second more. Why? She was insignificant to him. She'd passed no more than five minutes of his time.

And yet here she was.

"Here, I saved some for you,"

Josh did not answer her statement, instead cocking an eyebrow at the witch as his hands moved across his chest. It was evident to absolutely anyone who was looking that he was neither going to say a word, nor accept the sweets. It was apparent he was waiting for an explanation, and he knew he would be given one.

Guest

Watching his movements, she had expected him to say something, or reply her rudeness with a sarcastic statement or brush her off. She was not, however, expecting him to fold his arms and just stare at her. The silence echoed, and she couldn't help but feel slightly less sure of her plan - and she did not like it one bit.

She was not used to feeling inferior or inadequate; even among other Purebloods she had some sense of power. Josh, however, radiated authority that she could not deny, telling her subconscious that it would always come in second, and that just served as something that irked her even more.

But she tried not to show anything as she stared into his eyes, and maintained her kindly smile. "The sweets you suggested," she said a moment later, knowing she was explaining the obvious. Lisa was very sure he knew exactly what they were, and if he didn't, then she was starting something that would be initiated not by the rudeness of someone else, but her own doing.

And that simply would not do.

But from what she had seen and heard (she had found ways to subtly bring up Josh to her friends to gauge their reactions) and remembered from her earlier days at Hogwarts, when Josh was there, he was not one to miss much. She did not know, however, just to what extent this observation skill existed, only that he was quite sharp.

A few moments passed, and she blinked, smiling just a little wider. "Don't you want them?" she asked, politely, friendly-like, as though chatting with a close friend or someone she knew, and not a stranger that could very easily end her family name and her status.

Guest

As the obvious was stated, Josh contained the roll of his eyes that he felt was almost, almost necessary. But, of course, Josh had complete control of his body, and the eye roll never came in to existence, instead his eyes remained on the witch before him. Unnecessary words were the most pointless use of the human language and Josh disliked people who felt the need to use them.

Well, perhaps not dislike, but he looked down on them for doing so.

But the question on wanting them made Josh shake his head only once. "I don't eat sweets." He told the witch simply. She didn't need to know why he didn't eat them, or how he was not a man to take kindly to food given by just anyone. Whilst poisoning him would almost be as difficult as poisoning his late father, Josh would not give the witch the opportunity.

Besides, his palate was much more sophisticated than sugar filled foods.

Most people might have insisted the other enjoy the sweets for them, or something of similar meaning. But Josh was not most people. "Is that all?" He asked, evidently not in the mood to be played with.

Guest

And finally, she got a reply. Four words, but they were enough to let her know that, in a way, she had gotten what she wanted - a response, even though it was not much. There were a few things she wanted to say - many, actually, none of which were polite - but she kept silent, instead keeping her smile the same, not allowing herself to do anything else.

His question almost made her reply rudely, but this was not what she had planned. No, she had imagined this scene a few different ways, preparing herself for different approaches. Lisa has not accounted for this one - absolute silence for so long - but it was better than some of the others she had thought off. At least, this way, she was able to get in the line she had practised and perfected in her head.

Immediately after he finished, she shook her head, once, indicating that she was finished. Then, a split second later, said, in a calm tone, "You shouldn't give people something you can't take." There was no rudeness (she made sure of this) in her voice, only something that was almost as if it was a casual observation, a simple dropping of a fact.

And then, with dipping her head slightly in a polite goodbye nod, she turned her hand upside down, essentially dropping the sweets at the feet of the older male. As it hit the ground, she didn't take her eyes off him, instead giving it a split second to register, and then she turned and started walking off.

"Enjoy your sweets," she added, softly, over her shoulder, just loud enough for him to hear, but she didn't once raise her voice to be heard. That simply would not do, because it meant he was worth the strain, which she honestly did not think he was.

Guest

The words from the witch in that moment brought a smirk to Josh's lips the moment she'd said them. Sass was not usually something that came from a Pureblood witch's lips, especially not around Josh. But he found that rather than being irked by the words, he quite... enjoyed them. There was no reply though, not because he was beaten, oh no, but because he appreciated a well played piece when presented with it.

A kind of silent appreciation for the witch.

As the sweets dropped to the floor, Josh's eyes remained on the witch, not giving her the satisfaction of looking down. Her words were enough to complete the brief encounter, and Josh stood, watching her walk away as he thought through what had just happened.

Something that never usually happens, his mind supplied only a moment later, and Josh couldn't help but bend down and pick the three sweets up and pocket them. Not for himself, oh no.

But for the future.

» Condolences and Confessions (Of Sorts) (Josh and Madison)
» An Invention of Sorts (Open)
» Free Spirits Of Sorts (Adrian)
» A Talk, of Sorts (Marilyn & Victoria)
» Sweet surprise (Josh)