Blown (Continued)

Their lesson went pretty damn well, in Cat's opinion. There were some Outstanding oral reports, which he graded 69/69, and he didn't for a moment regret leaving the club before he'd walked in. Extra credit was always worth the time you put in.

It helped that Cat enjoyed what he did, that it wasn't pre-payment for what he'd end up getting, and he made a pleased purring sound as he lay back, a glorified whispering of rolled r's.

Evelyn couldn't purr, but she smiled as she fitted herself against Cat and she would have. He said he owned cuddling and here was his chance to give her a taste. "You know, a lot of girls would be a lot less b~y if they had one of you hanging around," she said. The night hadn't been a waste, after all, and she was glad she'd headed out of the club when she had.

Cat stretched his arm out behind Evelyn, then curled it around to toy with her hair. One of the pluses of girls was how damned soft they were. "If everyone just admitted they're bi, they could figure out what they liked and they'd enjoy it more," he said idly. He looked down at Evelyn's curl-topped head. "What about you? Played around any, or love the d~ too much?"

"I've played, I think I generally prefer the dick, though," Evelyn said. "Every now and then a girl's nice." A changeup kept things interesting and stopped her from getting complacent. There was nothing quite like finding a guy who matched just right. "Are you a pretty even split or do you prefer one?" In her experience, most people who were bi had a preference. Sometimes the preference was different romantically and sexually, but it was usually there.

"I lean toward girls, but I don't really have a type," Cat said. "Tall, short, muscles, curves," he added, letting a hand slide appreciatively against Evelyn. "You've got a damn fine body." No type didn't mean no appreciation for someone particularly amazing, and she was definitely that. "You can hit me up anytime."

"Same to you, handsome," Evelyn said. She picked her head up and propped it on her hand to look at him. "I love guys with mods. Especially the confident ones like you. Sometimes you find someone who's covered and it's just 'cause they don't give a sh~ about themselves. Confidence is sexy." He wasn't one of the broody ones, either, which was nice.

"Life's too short not to live it up," Cat said. "Maybe you get fifty years, maybe a hundred fifty, why not make them count?" It could be taken as morbid, but it made sense. He never wanted to look back and wish he'd done something when he'd had the time.

"Exactly. My parents are all work, they're not bad, they just don't live very much. My aunt, though, she lives. She took me to get my first tattoo. Dad was not happy with her," Evelyn said, smiling at the memory. It had been a long time coming. "I guess he was scared I'd end up without a job and with a lot of regret. Think I'd rather regret giving it a chance than wondering what if all the time."

"Yeah, I don't know how people can stand it," Cat said. He didn't tend to share his own story because it killed the mood and the other person usually ended up wishing they didn't know. He didn't need that kind of complication. Carpe diem was a fine motto without the baggage behind it.

"If I didn't have VU, I might've learned to play the guitar. I love Transfig, but my buddy's got a band and I'd have probably just stuck with him." But he'd gone on to VU and Jai had disappeared for a couple years before landing a place in The Billywigs.

"I worked at a little coffee shop the past few years. It wasn't much but I got to see a lot of interesting people. I don't think I'd have minded doing that for a while," Evelyn said. "But I couldn't pass up the opportunity to come out here. How'd you end up here, anyway? Long way from the States." It wasn't like there were a ton of universities to choose from, but there were other opportunities.

"Seventh year they took us all aside and tried to help us figure out what to do. We'd done it a couple times already, but the economy out there sucks. There's no jobs for anyone, wizard or Muggle, so a few of us that didn't know where we were going were told about VU. We'd be the first class to go, since it was just opening.

"Dad was trying to get me to go into Muggle Relations, he was pushing hard and I said F~ it, I'd rather stay in school. Ended up being a good move."

"That's cool, you being in the first class. I bet it was wild being here with everything just starting up." It was probably better now that the place had filled up. "Are you going to stay here a while?" He seemed comfortable, to say the least, and it would probably do the school good to have some experienced students on campus.

"I'm dragging this out as long as possible," Cat said. "Muggle schools offer Doctorates after Masters, but I don't know if they'll do that. They're still figuring out the Masters program." It had really been something being part of such a small group, but it had been easy to let go and really do what he wanted.

"You should've seen it. The professors couldn't decide if they were teaching kids or apprentices. Work was all over the place, but there was a lot of leeway. Defense was packed, but there were only a few of us in Transfig. There were like two Agriculture students. They expanded the Great Hall three times to make room for everyone.

"Gringotts wasn't around yet, it was some bank I'd never heard of. No cafe. The whole place has grown, it's awesome to watch.

"I bet," Evelyn said. "I think I wouldn't mind staying here a few years. I'm not getting the itch to move any time soon." Being around a lot of people her own age in tight quarters would be a fun experience, especially with the added freedom of everyone being of age and able to do magic. She lifted a hand to absently trace one of the patterns on Cat's skin.

Cat closed his eyes to enjoy the feel of Evelyn's fingers against him. "You're staying up at the school, right?" he asked. If she was new, that made her a freshman, though she'd been working a few years. "What House did they throw you in?" That was something they'd had no trouble figuring out. He'd gotten bright green without a moment's wavering.