tickle pickle.

MILO MONTGOMERY i'm gonna tickle your pickle.

[mclosm]

LEVI.

The sentence most spoken in Levi’s household was ‘try to understand’. Not between Levi and his dad, they got along perfectly. At first it had been about Levi’s mother, whom he had never known; then it had been about a troublemaker Levi had befriended in his early school years; later on directed at people outside the house, asking to know what had happened with the Kowalczyk child, again and again. Compassion had caused nearly as many waves as magic, back in the day, but it was the former that had been Levi’s downfall when it came to Milo.

The too-big smile the Slytherin wore was a sure sign of trouble, but it just so happened to be what Levi liked best about his friend. One thing nobody could take away from Milo was his creativity. That he used it for unsavoury matters was but a detail, one Levi was all too happy to sweep under the rug. “Outside it is. Be careful though, it sounds like you’re planning something nasty… again.”

To be really honest, Milo wasn’t planning on anything sinister today. The male just wanted a good time and his time with his little debaucheries wasn’t enough to supply him with the so-called human warmth he craved. He knew no one else other than Levi that could tolerate his crazy — heck, Levi was the only person in this whole castle sane enough to trust him. But he never really disclosed to anyone that Milo needed human warmth, everyone just thought he was crazy for his schemes and potions. 

His smile softened to let the other know that today wasn’t the day for crazy schemes and nasty potions. “Don’t get me started on plans, no, no, no.” He said, shaking his head per syllable of no he uttered. “Today is the day for peace, it only comes once a year, so don’t worry. We will just enjoy a good breakfast!”

[mclosm]

LEVI;

Back when he had first been assigned Milo to chaperone, Levi had had to put in some work to feel like he was accepted by the Slytherin’s side. Not only did Milo not want the supervision, it was also a ploy on the teachers’ part to dangle the prefect badge under his nose like a trophy. Keep that one in check, and you’ll get the badge, they said without words. But Milo was a big boy who knew how to keep a low profile, and while Levi had found out some less than tasteful things about the redhead, he hadn’t needed to protect him or testify against him. It had taken some work, but eventually they had become friends.

At times like these, when Levi got out of his dorm room and saw Milo there, while feeling the crease in his robe where his prefect badge was pinned, he felt quite satisfied with himself. Better yet was the smirk he was granted. “Something about your shark smile,” he quipped, sliding closer to his friend as a way to silently ask if it was okay to start invading his space yet. Just because Levi could live glued to other humans didn’t make it okay to hog all of Milo’s personal bubble. “What are you doing today? Do you want to take breakfast somewhere other than the hall?”

As far as Milo was concerned, he never really asked for Levi’s presence. His constant sniffing around his business made it hard for him to deal with almost illegal doings in the school premises. What even made the teachers cautious around him to send an almost perfect boy to sniff around him? Was it the smile? How funny it was for them to judge him based on the smile he gave out to people. But they were mostly right, the only time he smiled was when he was thinking trouble. Didn’t think that this Hufflepuff would be a problem - a problem he didn’t want to solve.

He eyed the other’s prefect badge, something he wanted to take out from the other. Not that he wasn’t proud but the fact that he was a prefect made him some sort of a teacher’s pet. And even if it wasn’t his choice to be, teachers would always rely on these prefects to do the good thing. It disgusted him. The comment made him give him that shark smile he was observing, a little too big of a smile - it made it seem like he was gonna ask for them to go to the Forbidden Forest. “I’d rather eat breakfast outside... where there aren’t any...” he looked around, glaring at those who passed by, “...onlookers.”

[mclosm]

LEVI;

@mclosm

Levi woke up everyday feeling pretty much the same: content, cheerful, and ready to welcome the day’s challenges and surprises with open arms. He rarely got mad or anxious for too long, as a result every day felt roughly the same.

It was easy, then, to notice when something different was going on; at the moment it was a pinprick at the back of his neck, something that made him want to turn around and steal glances under cover of yawning. Yet that, too, had become part of his emotional scenery. Stopping in his tracks (which had been slow, as he had been trying to find something in the mess that was his school bag), he leaned against the wall, looking left and right until he found what he had been looking for.

Or more precisely, who. “Hey, Milo. Come closer instead of playing the Jaws theme to yourself.” Which, probably he wasn’t, but the creeping always reminded Levi of that bloody tune.

With Milo knowing that he didn’t need anyone to be his anchor whenever he felt the urge to burn someone alive with whatever potion he concocted, he certainly did not think that for some reason, he’d be waiting outside his dorm room waiting for him to feel that he’s close by. Also, of all dorm rooms he’d be waiting on, it was the Hufflepuff one. How surprising. 

Before, he’d enter unknowingly, never speaking that he was present, surprising him that he was there. But after the days - years  - had gone by, Levi was used to him going there (all a Hufflepuff would gain when trying to go near the dungeons was more Slytherins trying to bully them and Milo did not want anyone doing that to his dear Levi) so Milo knew, that somehow, the male had felt his presence there.

Fiddling with the fidget cube he had gotten last Christmas, he waited for Levi to get out of bed and sense his presence and luckily enough, he did. He released a chuckle to the other’s comment and replied with a small smirk, “How did you know I hum the Jaws theme?” He never really did though, but it was an amusing thought.

[riot-nrrrd]

Cameron Monaghan for @heroine_mag.