Sink or Swim (Open)

[Daphne Brady]

Why did Daphne have to be so nice? As a result of being extremely nice and never really saying the word 'no', Daphne had been sitting in the library for the past two hours taking notes for someone else. She was seventeen years old and she still hadn't learned to say no. Of course, it wasn't that hard to intimidate her. Daphne just slipped from the common room. It wasn't like anyone was going to miss her anyway.

The library was a place that she could come to be alone. No one ever bothered her there. She could do whatever she wanted in the silence, not worrying if someone else would come up and ask her if she wanted to do something for them.

Sitting off in the corner of the library, Daphne finally finished the notes that she had been working on, then started on her actual homework.

[Bennett Marks]

Bennett had walked into the library, carrying three books in his arms. His ultimate goal was to finish at least half of his homework, although that wasn't nessecarily going to happen. Bennett fully knew that his excellent talent of procrastination was going to get him through the four papers he had to write. But it was always nice to pretend.

He looked around, not seeing any tables open with more than two or three people at them. Bennett wrinkled his nose slightly, it was almost impossible to start a conversation with people who were already in a group. He loped along the tables, until finally spotting someone in the back, taking notes silently. Bennett wasn't one to remember faces, so he couldn't recall anything about the girl, but hey, that wasn't a big deal.

"Hey," Bennett said, not bothering to ask if anyone was sitting with her, and putting his books on the table.

[Daphne Brady]

Daphne's books were scattered around her but only on half of the table. The notes she took for Brenda Blair were sitting on top of one of the books and she slipped the notes into her bag before returning to her own homework. Two papers to write and then read. Not knowing how she got all of her work, plus others' on time, she would never know.

Brenda was a 'friend' of hers. She was nice to her, however, she was also kind of mean. Daphne always brushed that off and even though she had certain opinions, she would just keep them inside.

Becoming absorbed in her work, Daphne didn't hear anyone come up until she heard books being put on the table. The sudden noise scared her, and she jumped a little before looking up. "H-hi," she said shyly, her cheeks tinting pink. Daphne wasn't sure what he was doing just sitting with her like that. No one just came up and just sat with her, unless the person wanted her to do something, or if it was Heather. This boy was definitely wasn't Heather, so he had to want her do something for him, right?

Seeing her books still scattered, Daphne quickly leaned up and stacked her books out of the way so he could have plenty of room. "S-sorry about that."

[Bennett Marks]

Bennett was leaning back, balancing on the chair with only two legs on the ground. He gave her a small, arrogant smile when she stuttered her greeting. Bennett loved it when people acted nervous, he was so extraordinarily confident that he viewed it as a game to make them comfortable.

While she started to stack up her books, Bennett opened one of his own to a page that probably had nothing to do with what he was researching. He didn't even glance at it as he flattened down his own parchement, taking up a little more then a fourth of the table. He didn't want to take over all the space, it seemed as if the girl had a lot to do. If that was the case, he'd leave in a bit, but not before he was able to talk with her normally. She was a pretty girl, and although he hadn't a reason to really talk about anything rather than to just procrastinate, Bennett now felt a bit more motivated to get something out of the conversation.

"Why are you apologizing?" Bennett asked, before shrugging slightly. Maybe it was one of those apologies that hadn't meant much rather than to say something. He wouldn't have guessed much else about a stranger. "What's your name?"

[Daphne Brady]

People in general sort of made Daphne nervous or uneasy, except for Heather. Heather was the one person she felt most comfortable around. Brenda just made Daphne feel like she had to tread really easy around her. She never wanted to make Brenda mad. If she did, it would be bad luck for her.

"I-I just was taking up a lot of s-space and you needed..." Daphne trailed off. It was dumb of her to apologize, but it was something she found she did a lot. Every little thing that she did and thought that it was in the way of others, or bothering others, she would apologize. Daphne was about to apologize for apologizing, but she figured that the boy would ask why she was apologizing again and then it would be the never ending cycle of attempting to explain.

She sighed and tucked a lock of hair that had fallen from her ponytail, behind her ear. As she picked up her quill again, her attention was drawn back to the boy in front of her. Since when did someone just come up and ask for her name, or just sit there?

"Daphne," she replied, looking away shyly back down to her paper. Then she remembered that it was only polite if she asked for his in return. Glancing back up, Daphne tried to make her voice not shakey. "What's yours?"

[Bennett Marks]

Bennett sat, eyebrows raised as she explained why she had been apologizing. Bennett hadn't realized that the girl had been the type to legitmately feel bad for doing things that were almost inevitable. Bennett didn't ask for a further explanation, and began to use both his fingers to hit a small rhythm on the corner of the table, still looking at her with a curious expression. She sounded like someone who would was a real person, rather than a girl who would make up information about bands, just to impress him or any other guy. This bothered Bennett to no avail, and he would always end up drumming louder and louder until they got the hint.

He noticed her tuck a lock of hair behind her ear, and quirked his head slightly to the right. She must have been a lot more nervous than he had first thought, but this would be good for her, Bennett decided. Everyone needed to strike up a conversation with someone they didn't know sometime in their life. This was Daphne's moment.

"Bennett," he shrugged. "Tell me something."

[Daphne Brady]

Hearing the steady rhythm of his fingers caused on the table drew her attention. Her eyes were watching his fingers drum on the table. The only time whenever someone drummed their fingers on the table whenever they were around her was if they were impatient and waiting on her to finish something for them.

Daphne looked back to Bennett and looked at him a little confused. "Tell you what?" Her head was slightly tilted to the side. What did this guy want to know? If she was too busy at the moment to do something for him? Or maybe he was just checking to see if she was the push over people talked about behind her back. The possibility of Bennett actually wanting to know something about what she liked never popped into her head.

[Bennett Marks]

Bennett smiled at her lazily. "Something about you, of course."

This was usually a good conversation starter in Bennett's books. It gave people the chance to tell him one thing about themselves, and with that one statement, Bennett could tell if he'd want to get to know them better or not. Of course, he kept as casual as possible, not to intimidate the person, but Daphne already seemed uneasy at his presence. Bennett decided to lean forward slightly, resting his cheek his hand.

"I want you to tell me something about you."

[Daphne Brady]

Something about her? Was he completely serious? Daphne looked at him still a little confused. No one had ever just come up and asked something about her. She wasn't even sure what she could tell him about her.

As he leaned forward, Daphne averted her eyes to the paper that she had been working on. If she just leaned back, it would just seem like she didn't want anything to do with him and she didn't want to really chase him away. Daphne welcomed the distraction, especially since he wasn't asking her to do anything more than tell him something about her.

"Um, I like books and music," she replied a little lamely looking back up. What else was she supposed to have said? "Rolling Stones and Creedence Clearwater Revival are probably two of my favorites."

[Bennett Marks]

Daphne had averted her eyes, and Bennett pushed himself back just a few inches. Making her nervous wasn't going to help her come up with an answer. Most people gave him the strangest look when he asked them something so direct. But Daphne hadn't seemed to think it was strange at all. Already incentive for him to stay a bit longer than he intended.

"The Rolling Stones?" Bennett asked. "Despite their lack of drumset, I like the simplicity of it all. Nice to just sit and listen to without having to be overwhelmed."

Bennett purposely didn't mention Creedance Clearwater Revival, he wasn't too sure of many of their songs. Without an extensive background on a subject, the conversation wouldn't go too far. But the Rolling Stones was one band he'd been able to listen and make judgements.

[Daphne Brady]

A smile started to appear on Daphne's face, which sometimes was a rarity unless she was around her best friend, Heather.

It was odd to her at least, that someone wanted to make actual conversation with her rather than someone shoving parchment in her face and telling her they needed something done. However, Daphne wasn't going to complain about it. She had been almost finished anyway, and it wouldn't hurt to take a break. Goodness knew she had been working on all of it for awhile now.

"True," she said. Daphne wasn't an expert whenever it came to music, and she wasn't going to pretend that she was. "What about you? Who is your favorite," she asked putting down her quill.

[Bennett Marks]

Bennett noticed that Daphne had begun to smile, and couldn't help but start to form a very small half smile. He ducked his head and shook his hair before she noticed too much, he still wanted to get to know her a bit better.

"I'm going to have to go with either Deep Purple or Rush. Their drummers are incredible, especially Neil Peart. Although I wouldn't mind meeting Ian Paice either," Bennett tapped his fingers against the table in a small beat before putting them back on the arm rest. "You play anything musical?"

Bennett silently tried to shy away from his constant tapping and beats, he was well aware that it could irritate anyone. Sometimes he didn't even notice what he was doing, and a few coughs aimed in Bennett's direction would wake him up. He liked the small quirk, it was something that people could associate solely with him.

[Daphne Brady]

"Deep Purple I like," she said feeling less uneasy than before, "but I haven't really heard anything from Rush." Daphne leaned slightly forward and rested her arms on the table so that she was leaning on them. The thing with her was if you could start an actual conversation, she would open up slowly, but there hadn't really been that many people that even bothered.

"Honestly," she arched an eyebrow just slightly, "I don't play anything musical. Never really had the time to really learn anything." A shy look crossed her face again, but Daphne tried to not let it linger, so she gave a look of interest which wasn't just for show. "Do you?"

[Bennett Marks]

"I'll have to let you borrow some of their stuff," Bennett grinned widely at Daphne. If she accepted, he'd get to talk to her again. It was a reason to stop her in the halls and have some one to say hey to. "You obviously have a good taste in music, I'm sure you'd appreciate some of their songs."

"Anything? You must have some hobbies, right?" Bennett hadn't really noticed the shy look. He was just surprised she hadn't learned anything musical. He always thought that was mandatory for kids. "I like drumming. But piano isn't too difficult if you have time to spend on it."

[Daphne Brady]

She blushed whenever he said he would let her borrow his music. "Really?" Another smile appeared on her face. "I would like to borrow it sometime. Maybe, maybe I could find something you would like too. I'm sure there's something I have you would like to listen to." She knew that they would end up speaking again, and for once, Daphne didn't mind speaking to someone again. He didn't want her to do any of his work for him, and that put him at the top of her lists automatically.

"I don't know about hobbies," she said biting on her lip. "I usually am doing too much work to really focus on anything else. Work and sometimes eat and sleep are the main three things I do." As she said that, she realized how bland that was. Every day was the same, never anything interesting. A blush rose to her cheeks at the realization. "But if I ever have any time to myself, I like to go for a run around the grounds, as long as its not too late. If it is, then I just scribble in a notebook. Its never anything special, just something to waste time."

Of course, she left the fact out that sometimes she followed Blair, from Slytherin, around if she wasn't doing anything. She knew that it would sound even more lame.

Daphne grew quiet for a moment. "Drumming? Really?" Her interest grew. "Do you just play on your own?"

[Bennett Marks]

"I'm really open to anything," Bennett said, smiling softly as she blushed. That was cute, as it was when any girl did. Bennett didn't know many people who could fake that, and that meant he must have done something good. "Try me anytime. Maybe some Creedance Clearwater Revival? You must have some of their stuff if they're your favorite band."

"Work?" Bennett blinked a bit. "The professers aren't too harsh on us, are you some sort of perfectonist?" That was a decent quality, but perfection in everything annoyed him slightly. Who would want to spend time with someone who was relatively Nancy Drew and just topped you on any topic that came up? "Run, something I could never do." Bennett laughed. "I'm impressed with people who like that. But scribbling. Like drawing? Cartoons or still life -slash-portraits?"

"I play on my own," Bennett shrugged. "I don't know anyone around here who has a guitar or a bass to really hang out. But it's ohkay. Something to do to keep your mind from going crazy being cooped up in the same place for too long, you know?"

[Daphne Brady]

"I can get you Creedence Clearwater Revival and a few others." Daphne was smiling. It felt natural, yet some what odd for her to do but she was glad that she was actually relaxed and taking a break.

"Oh no," she said almost bashfully, "I'm not a perfectionist. I just like to get ahead on somethings, and I am doing a few favors for a couple of friends." Okay, the last part was a lie. Daphne knew that what she was doing wasn't any type of favor. It was just because she couldn't say no when other people wanted her to do something. "I like to have a little more time to myself, so the more work I do now, the less I have later." In a way, that wasn't a lie.

She gave a small, quiet laugh. "Running is not all that bad. It helps you let off a lot of steam. As for my scribbles, its sometimes Cartoons. They're not very good, but they help me waste time. I can't really draw life like things. They always end up looking odd."

Daphne was relieved for the change of subject. She didn't want to have to explain why she was doing those so called favors. Daphne only hoped that no one came up to her while she was talking to Bennett. If he didn't know that she did work for other people, she didn't really want to enlighten him. "Yeah, I know exactly what you mean." She smiled again. She did need something to help her keep her distracted and keep her from going crazy being cooped up in the same place for too long.

[Bennett Marks]

"That would be excellent. And a few others? Oh, I see that you've been holding out on me. You've got more music I might be interested in," Bennett teased lightly. "I'm looking forward to it, really. You seem to be a pretty decent girl."

"I'm glad you aren't," Bennett admitted openly. "I really can't stand people who need to get every detail perfect. It's hard to be friends with someone who does everything ten times better than you do. Especially when you're a little arrogant like I am," he joked. "But hey, I can't really say that getting ahead isn't smart. And a few favors must mean you're a good person, right? Two qualities that are admirable, Daph. Keep it up."

Bennett really hoped that she wasn't getting frightened off by his very casual demeanor. Maybe using nicknames so early on wasn't the smartest idea, but Bennett couldn't help himself. She was adorable and bashful.

"Runners have to have endurance and balance. Watching me run would be a lot like watching a hippogriff try and swim. So you must be graceful. And even if you contradicted me, I doubt I'd believe you. Like how I don't believe that your cartoons are just scribbles. With your getting- ahead tendencies, it's hard to believe you don't get a lot of practice in."

"We must have the same track mind," Bennett tapped his forehead lightly and smirked jokingly. "I assume you must love pumpkin pasties too, right?"

[Daphne Brady]

The only people to have ever tell her that she was a decent girl were her parents and Heather. So, hearing that from a person she had just met did help raise her self-esteem a little even if it would come crashing down again later.

Hearing the nickname made her cheeks burn again. If he knew that the so called 'favors' were always doing someone else's work for them, Bennett probably wouldn't think that was all that admirable. However, Daphne couldn't just come out and say that. She did know that she was a good person, but she was just far too nice and she allowed people to take advantage of that.

Picturing Bennett run and seeing a hippogriff try to swim caused a louder laugh to come from Daphne. She covered her mouth to muffle her laughter so that it wouldn't offend anyone trying to work in the library. Once she quietened down, Daphne still had a smile on her face. "Sorry, I wasn't really laughing at you, it was just the mental image you gave. Besides, I don't think you would look that bad running. As for my cartoons, they are mostly stick people. However, I can draw letters decently and write in calligraphy."

Her face lit up when Bennett mentioned pumpkin pasties. "I love those," she said with a sort of excited tone in her voice. "I think those are probably my biggest weakness other than these croissants filled with strawberry and cream cheese."

[Bennett Marks]

When she laughed, Bennett couldn't help but laugh along. It was a nice laugh, not too high pitched and hyena-esque. But it seemed to fit her perfectly, Bennett thought.

"It's alright, you can admit it. You were laughing at me. It's alright. And even if you weren't, you would be if you managed to witness that certain fiasco," Bennett teased lightly. "Not all of us can be graceful like you."

"Calligraphy? I always thought of that as the more sophisticated version of graffitti," Bennett nodded approvingly while grabbing a piece of parchment from inside his bag. He started to draw something, but kept it from Daphne's view. "What kind of things do you write? Like names or sentences? Maybe stories? Might as well do something during the boring lectures that some of the teachers give."

"Croissants with strawberry and cream cheese?" Bennett asked. "I've never tried that before. It sounds like it would melt in your mouth, though."