Council Housing -- Blackpool

Hugh felt the muscles connecting his shoulder blades grow incredibly tense. "Would you... get that, please? I need to..." Without completing his sentence, he stalked off into the next room, leaving behind only a quick "I'm not here" before shutting the door.

"I HEARD SOMETHING ABOUT CHINESE FOOD!" shouted Sophia from outside of the apartment.

Kyle nodded to his friend, and opened the door. "Hello, Sophia."

"Hey Kyle you weirdo!" exclaimed Sophia, happily hopping into the apartment room. "Are you excited for school to be starting?! I am! We're SEVENTH YEARS! We rule the school! We get to can first years for the heck of it!"

Kyle rolled his eyes, still in the middle of the doorway as Sophia pranced. He finally turned after a few silent moments. "And hello to you as well Sophia, and I suppose so, but, most of us were already doing that last year."

"Yes, well, we Sawyers have a SPECIAL tradition that involves canning each other on First Year Friday!" she proclaimed happily. "Of course, it's rather difficult to each other. The rule is that it can only be an empty trashcan, and only boys can be canned or we girls will start crying and thus faint. But it's kinda hard to be next to an empty trashcan at the same time your little brother just so happens to be walking by. But I'm going to can Victor to see how he reacts! He probably won't care though as he long as he has his book and his glasses don't get broken or anything."

"Well, you Sawyers are quite..." Kyle was silent for a moment, deep in thought of a word to say. "Unique, I suppose? It sounds like Victor is sensible enough, though. Either way." Kyle shrugged and after using the Kesha CD art as a little broom, he cleared some space on the couch for himself to sit. "What brings you today?"

"Oh nothing!" Sophia jumped and took a seat on an old patched up love seat, that even had some stuffing coming out of it with no fear for germs. "I just wanted to visit you lovely people since school is starting in less then a week and all."

"Well you forgot this on you last visit, it appears." Kyle threw the CD art into her lap distastefully. "A bit of bad timing for you. Hugh just stepped out. Meaning you're left to deal with me."

"Oh really?" Sophia frowned in almost comical way, and she stuck the CD in her jacket pocket. She stood up. "I'm very sorry Kyle, but I needed to talk to him over something very important. But, thank you anyway." And Sophia, with that, apparated back home.

Kyle, rolled his neck, making whatever bone that cracked if you do that crack. "It's safe, Hugh." Said Kyle with a chuckle.

The door creaked open, and Hugh cautiously sneaked over to the door, standing on his toes and looking out the peep-hole. "Where are we going, then?"

"Well, where do you want to go? I'm flexible." No greasy fast food... no greasy fast food...

"You're the one buying, I think you ought to decide." He stepped away from the door, still clearly on-edge.

"Oh, alright, if you insist. There's a nice Italian place like ten miles away, it's called Illiano's. Want to just to floo powder? They're connected..."

"Oh, they're... that sort of place."

Kyle nodded, trying to locate a fireplace in the mess of Hugh's residence. "...Do you have a fireplace?"

"No," he muttered.

"Oh... I guess we'll have to side along apparate then. No sense in you and your arm getting separated... unless you know the place?"

Hugh despised apparating. The very thought gave him an awful qualm. However, he wasn't one to object; he nervously linked arms with his friend, trying to fill his thoughts with something other than the impending jolt and memories of that time he was accidentally scalped.

"One... two..." Pop.

Knock, knock.

Practically drenched in sweat, Hugh dragged himself off the couch to answer the door. The air conditioning in the complex had been out for the past week or so, and things had grown absolutely SWELTERING. It wasn't exactly the most ideal state for him to be in when greeting a visitor, but there wasn't exactly anything to be done about it.

"Hey Hugh..." Sophia mumbled quietly, looking up at him with a smile. Sure, he was sweating to insane levels, but she didn't care. Here was Hugh. In the flesh.

"Hi," he answered at the same level. A rather embarrassing state, he thought. "What's up?"