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As Finley spoke, Sparrow listened and observed. She adjusted her own position, subtly mirroring the way he sat. Not maliciously, this was just an exercise she used to do in theatre. She watched his facial expressions, tried to understand the way her new friend felt, and bring that expression to her own face.

When Finley sighed and ran his hand through his hair in frustration, Sparrow spoke up again. She couldn’t quite place his accent anywhere, but slowed her usual cadence and energy to match his more relaxed--and maybe nervous--one. ”That’s...odd.” Chadwick was usually very polite on first impressions. But she kept that to herself as she worked her mind around how Finley saw Chadwick. He said he didn’t want to see her getting hurt--what a kind thing to say! Finley seemed to believe he knew Chadwick’s personality, but he also seemed unsure about that. Why? ”You... you said you two almost got into a fight? Did that happen today? How did you become...what did you say, uhm, aware of this personality?”

Sparrow listened carefully. She didn’t agree, but she wasn’t here to agree: for now, she took what Finley said as truth, and tried to imagine where she’d be if one of the twins had threatened him every time she encountered them. She was suddenly very bothered by people who couldn’t tell them apart. She wondered if Finley considered Cenek a friend-- she knew Cenek considered Finley a friend, and of course she wanted to befriend him. ”That’s...tough. Not make enemies. You were just trying to watch out for yourself.”

She relaxed thoughtfully into his position, pausing only to pat the foil on her hair gently, wondering how long it had been. Surely no time at all. One more question. ”What do you want from Chadwick, Finley? Do you want to be friends? Do you want him to be nice? Or,”--and here her own voice leaked back in, excited as though she was predicting the ending of a script--”You don't really care, you just want to befriend Cenek!”

Sparrow couldn’t help but deflate a little at Finley’s response that he wanted Chadwick to leave him alone. But this was not the character she was trying to understand. She added Finley’s words to her mental concept of the truths and motivations and tried to wrap her mind around it. Finley asked her a question in response to all these questions, and Sparrow gathered everything she could from her observations. Resignment. Knowledge of Chadwick being rude and threatening. And just wanting to be left alone, so he wouldn’t be hurt. She tried to convey it all in her performance, because her lines could not agree:

“Chadwick’s my soulmate and Cenek’s one of my best friends. Anyone connected to them is connected to me. This... thing with you and Chadwick...it affects me too. So, even if I can’t change anything, I want to try.” she replied seriously, matching his rhythm of speaking if not his voice. She sighed, more resignment and frustration than exasperation. ”I love Chadwick because of his energy. He wants a lot of attention, but he gives me just as much in return. Gives me praise and critique. He and I fight sometimes too. Thankfully, we’ve always gotten back together.”

Sparrow reached forward, offering her hands palm-up to her new friend. Resignment. Knowledge. Safety. She always thought she was safest with her family and friends around her. ”Sometimes, I think Cenek feels like he's just Chadwick's ...stunt double. But they're quite different, and you've noticed that. And you should know...you’ve got a friend in Cenek.”

She let that hang in the air for a few moments, then dropped her head. And Scene.

A moment later, Sparrow popped back on her feet, stretching herself up to full height, pulling Finley up if he’d taken her hand. She twirled around. ”You’ve got a friend in me
You’ve got a friend in me.
When the road looks rough ahead
And you’re miles and miles from your nice warm bed
You just remember what your old pal said
Boy, you’ve got a friend in me.”

Still in character at the time, Sparrow gave only a small half-smile when Finley said he would lighten up on Chadwick if she could get Chadwick to be less of a jerk..she’d have to think that one through more, but inside she was mentally cheering. She kept her expression controlled. ”Alright. You’re going to be friends when I’m through.”

The scene continued, then concluded, and she was dragging Finley around in a dance. She squealed when Mr. Archer called her over, and then she waited impatiently to finish. And then finally it was done. Sparrow almost jumped out of her seat as Finley started detangling her hair. It was...not what she imagined. IT WAS BETTER! ”O. M. Geeeeeeeeeee! Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!” She’d never had so many colors in her hair before! This was so fun!. She watched with barely contained enthusiasm as Finley brushed and braided it, trying to memorize everything he was doing.

Wren paid close attention from his spot as well, trying to understand the techniques that went into...folding hair. He took care of the bill as Finley worked on the styling. He’d been listening to Finley and Sparrow’s conversation from his ambivalent position and...well, he was used to Sparrow’s antics. He thought better of Finley for not being fooled by Chadwick, and noted that he liked keeping people at a “neutral” distance. Hm. This could be useful.

The moment Sparrow was finished, Wren was ready to pull her away before she could suggest another duet or conversation. ”Archer,” he acknowledged, giving the younger boy a nod of thanks. ”Let’s go, I still have places to be.”

”If you wanted to hang out with Aspen you didn’t have to wait with me.” Sparrow replied, but she stopped admiring her new hair in the mirror and waved enthusiastically as her brother dragged her out the door. ”Thank you Mr. Archer! Bye Finley! We’ll hang out soon okay? Karaoke or something!”

▬▬"Being the best is great, you're the number one."▬▬

This summer had been weird, without Deepak there the whole house seemed much more...calm? It wasn't like he spent all the time there, he still switched between living with his parents, and living with his grandparents. He needed to get away from his family, go visit a friend or something. Go visit... no he couldn't visit them... maybe- no... Archer. He could go to Archer. The two weren't buddies like Cenek and Finley were, but... maybe Finley would tolerate Chadwick for a little bit, and just be there, that would be nice. It was settled, he threw on a hoodie and went to Hogsmeade to the Hair Salon that he'd probably find Finley in.

Upon arriving, he saw Finley in the window seat, reading...with glasses? Since when did Archer wear glasses? They looked nice on his face, made his eyes pop a little. He walked in, and turned the corner to be standing right next to Finley. He said with his usual attitude, Nice glasses, Archer. Seeing any better now?" Wait - no. that sounded rude. This was already off to a bad start, he had planned on coming in here acting cool being nice - and he'd already butchered it. Wait - no maybe he could save the conversation, he was reading. maybe it was something Chadwick had heard of. "Say, whatcha reading there Archer?" He reached out for the book before seeing the top of the page say something about jazz, "Jazz? Really? Do you ever do something not related to your Jazz?" Nope, he had once again butchered the conversation. Was Chadwick just incapable of being a kind human towards Finley?

▬▬"Being the best is great, you're the number one."▬▬

Chadwick was pretty excited once Finley started talking about the book and what it was about. Sure, Chadwick wasn't that interested at first, he hated reading and the thought of reading was just gross. Book sthemselves though? Were wonderful. They had adventures and history and tragedy, and the idea of books was just... books. Chadwick grinned, "Tell me more, what factors in the world made Jazz the wonder it is today. Obviously, some pretty big stuff since it wasn't forgotten like other less common music things." Did Chadwick know what music had been forgotten? Obviously not - it was forgotten. Maybe like.. the music from the 1990s was forgotten? That was over half a century ago, and yet music that was over a century old was better remembered probably.

Wait - had Chadwick just had a decent remark to Finley? Maybe the answer was clear - he just needed to be more Ravenclaw, more book nerdy, more like Cenek. Maybe, if he actually tried to act like Cenek, instead of the version of Cenek that Chadwick had created for the world, maybe then more people would like him... and finley would become his friend. It was worth a shot at least. "I like the cause and effect of things, so this book on things that lead to jazz seems interesting." No wait, now he was just going on and on about one thing, maybe he needed a little less Ravenclaw pretending in his life, he didn't need to ramble about something that he didn't know about, that would be Archer's job in the conversation - Ramble on and on about Jazz, sure.

▬▬"Being the best is great, you're the number one."▬▬

Chadwick sat next to Finley, and listened as he began explaining the book, and poiting out a few pages. He kept going. On. and on. That was the most Chadwick had ever heard Finley talk. He knew the kid liked Jazz, but didn't realize he was so passionate about it. When finley paused and took a breath, Chadwick smiled at him and asked, "So you used Jazz to express yourself, what's your favorite style then? You said swing bands, Kansas City, Gypsy, all those. So surely, one must have a favorite?" Chadwick thought about it and answered his question, give some info get some info, right? He looked toward the ground, nervous about showing Finley that yes, he had some knowledge of what he was talking about. "I think I'm more of a fan of style like Louis Armstrong, if we're talking Jazz only styles. Just, the versatility he had being able to sing and play, it's outstanding. Of course, he's probably part of the reason why Jazz didn't die in the 20s, he kept it alive."

Chadwick didn't know much about Armstrong, about music of Jazz, but he knew a bit. He had learned how to sing as a kid, had tried fiddling at piano, bagpipes (ugh how could Brook stand them), viola, flute, and so on, but yet singing was the only thing he would stick with. At home. No where else. His mom may require them all to learn an instrument, but he would not let anyone else know that was required of him still. He looked up to Finley, and waited for what Finley's answer would be, oh now. What if Archer hated Armstrong, what if this was the deciding factor to friendship?

▬▬"Being the best is great, you're the number one."▬▬

Apparently, Finley really liked Louis Armstrong, he was very excited and launched into another rant. However, that rant ended in him asking a question Chadwick had hoped he wouldn't ask, if he played anything. Chadwick did not flaunt his music like his sister did, despite Sparrow trying to get him to do something with it. He groaned and leaned backwards and looked outside, this seat did have a good view, no wonder Finley so often was caught sitting here. He smiled to Finley, "would you believe me if I told you I followed in Brook's footsteps, and I play bagpipes?" He frowned, he hadn't heard Brook play her bagpipes since Deepak, it was strange to not have that weird noise coming from the bedrooms constantly. He sighed and mumbled, "I kind of sing. I guess." there, that was all he would say, unless Finley pried, but he didn't usually, did he? Chadwick had never spent time talking to the kid, maybe the only thing Finley had passion about was music.

He stood up, and smiled to Finley, "Well Archer, it has been a pleasure to talk with you, but I think it's time for me to leave." He wasn't really ready to leave, but he didn't want to cause trouble, and that was bound to happen with him sitting in the salon. He still wasn't sure how much of a grudge Finley's dad had against Chadwick, since he had been harsh to Finley last year, had that only been a year ago? He sighed, and walked toward the door, maybe he could go bother Sparrow again?