It was her. It absolutely was: the casual hi, the state of undress, the dramatic pose and devil-may-care attitude and devilish smile. All her.
"I'd say look at what the cat dragged in, but I don't have a cat," Ishmael intoned - nonchalantly enough - and extended a hand to pull her up from her horizontal position, as he once had pulled her up out of the inky waters of Portugal. (This time, it was a move less out of chivalry or any misconceived idea that she needed help, and more as a command for her to, you know, sit up and explain herself.) And until she did, he was anything but nonchalant inside - possibly even when she had, because Ishmael wasn't sure in what world her arrival spelled good news.
She had not been good news, even as a human, and he probably should have known that. But she had been all bare skin and overconfidence then and seemed the same now and there was still something illogically appealing about her, even though he knew full well she was more trouble than his time was worth. (More trouble than anyone's time was worth.)
He didn't, however, much think Hogsmeade would be able to be so easily rid of her as by him telling her to get gone. It'd have the opposite effect, probably. "Congratulations on causing me a heart attack," he joked knowingly - heart attacks did not stop either of them now - but he was sure she'd be pleased at surprising him. "I didn't expect to see you here." That was a mere precursor to what he was actually interested in, which was: "How the fuck are you here?" How had she managed to find her way to Hogsmeade - or to him? Was this just a delightful ("delightful") coincidence, or had she come for a reason? Ishmael had questions, many of them. Most pressing, perhaps: did he want to know?
"I'd say look at what the cat dragged in, but I don't have a cat," Ishmael intoned - nonchalantly enough - and extended a hand to pull her up from her horizontal position, as he once had pulled her up out of the inky waters of Portugal. (This time, it was a move less out of chivalry or any misconceived idea that she needed help, and more as a command for her to, you know, sit up and explain herself.) And until she did, he was anything but nonchalant inside - possibly even when she had, because Ishmael wasn't sure in what world her arrival spelled good news.
She had not been good news, even as a human, and he probably should have known that. But she had been all bare skin and overconfidence then and seemed the same now and there was still something illogically appealing about her, even though he knew full well she was more trouble than his time was worth. (More trouble than anyone's time was worth.)
He didn't, however, much think Hogsmeade would be able to be so easily rid of her as by him telling her to get gone. It'd have the opposite effect, probably. "Congratulations on causing me a heart attack," he joked knowingly - heart attacks did not stop either of them now - but he was sure she'd be pleased at surprising him. "I didn't expect to see you here." That was a mere precursor to what he was actually interested in, which was: "How the fuck are you here?" How had she managed to find her way to Hogsmeade - or to him? Was this just a delightful ("delightful") coincidence, or had she come for a reason? Ishmael had questions, many of them. Most pressing, perhaps: did he want to know?
