Burning Brightly • •

[hermione zelda kent]

A blind date was not something Hermione would normally do. She was a very private person and dates were few and far between for her. It seemed even less since she had decided to balance her film career with school. That was just the way it was though, and it was difficult to guess whether guys were into her for who she was or because she was Hermione Kent. Her name was sometimes more attractive than her personality because men seemed to think it was going to be a way into Hollywood glamour, parties, and money. She was the first to tell them that it wasn’t that way at all. Aside from when it was award season, or she had something to promote, she liked to keep away from all of that. It had been her life for almost as long as she could remember and it had gotten old back when she was sixteen and they were shoving cameras in her face like she was some performing monkey in heels.

However, Thursday had been trying to get to agree to this for months now. Hermione had befriended the tattoo artist when she had the fairy tattoo done on her calf at the start of last year, and since then she had been the one to add Hermione’s second and third tattoos to her body. For the last couple of months she had been talking about Hermione going out with someone she knew, just for drinks, but Hermione had been wary about being set up with someone she didn’t know. She could be bad enough around the guys she did know! In the end though she had said yes just so Thursday would stop bringing it up in conversation, and so she might finally get a break from it. It was only drinks at a bar Hermione had picked specifically because it was less likely that it was going to be too crowded, and it was a good distance away from the usual areas where the paparazzi lurked at night, hoping to catch a shot of someone doing something good enough to be printed in a trashy magazine. She might not know the guy she was supposed to be meeting tonight, but she was sure he’d appreciate that, too.

Arriving a little bit earlier than Thursday had told her to be there for, Hermione ordered her usual rum and coke at the bar and then found a table near enough to the door that her mystery date could find her, but far enough back to have some privacy. Thursday had text her that afternoon to ask her for an identifying feature, which had made Hermione chuckle at first given that she was stopped several times in a week for photographs with fans or for autographs, but she replied with a smile, telling Thursday that she’d have a red clutch. Hermione sipped at her drink, hoping it might help take the edge off her nerves. She was starting to think that this might have been a stupid idea, and that maybe Thursday’s nagging was more tolerable than she thought. There were too many unpredictable factors in tonight for Hermione to relax. She reached for her drink again, this time gulping back half of the contents and then dabbing at her blood red lips with the back of her hand.

• • •

TAGGED! Carter River Thorton
WORDS! 558!
OUTFIT! Anxious Actress!
LYRICS! I Am The Fire - - - Halestorm
NOTES! <3

[Carter River Thorton]

Carter was pretty content with his life. When he wasn’t at the tattoo parlour, he was at his brother’s place, picking up his niece and doing something with her. He joked he only had time in his life for one girl and that was Spencer, his niece. And really with the hours he kept with Three Kings, there wasn’t much time left to do anything like grocery shop; nevermind dating! And the spare time he did have, he offered to watch his niece so his brother and brother-in-law could go on date night. He didn’t mind, not really. Sure, he thought things would have been different by now but he wasn’t upset it wasn’t either.

Apparently though, this wasn’t good enough for Thursday because she kept going on and on for months until finally he had agreed, just to shut her up. At least, that was honestly how it had started. But by the time she’d sorted it all, he was curious and decided to go but he had no idea what this girl looked like. Thursday hadn’t give him any information to go on except that she was a great person and that Thursday adored her so obviously he would, too. He needed to know who she was when he got there. And Carter had said as much to Thursday as well but she’d said she would take care of it. It would have been nice to have been given a name but his friend was staying silent on that front.

At least when he left Three King’s to shower and change, he knew he was looking for a woman with a red clutch. It was something at least. Carter didn’t stick around his place for long; enough time to shower and change and he was gone again. He got to the bar a few minutes earlier than the time Thursday told him but he didn’t want to be late. Inside, he looked around, if there was no red clutch, he would grab a drink and wait but he spotted the woman with the little purse sitting at a table, looking around. She looked familiar but Carter couldn’t place her immediately and brushed it off, thinking he’d probably walked past her on the street somewhere sometime. It was now or never so Carter ran his fingers through his hair, absently thinking it was time for another forgotten haircut and headed towards her, not yet realising where he recognised her from. It would be something that bothered him until he figured it out he knew but he also couldn’t outright ask it of her either. It was always possible he’d seen her at the shop since she was Thursday’s friend but he thought it was from somewhere else entirely. “Excuse me, I’m Carter, Thursday’s friend.” He said, almost questioningly but not quite when he reached the table, realising too late that he was actually nervous about this meeting.

Tag || hermione zelda kent
Words || 530
Clothes || Curious Creator
Music || Make You Miss Me --Sam Hunt
Notes || <3

[hermione zelda kent]

For so many years Hermione had done what people had told her to do. It might seem like a typical childhood thing to listen to the adults, but Hermione didn’t have a typical childhood. She had been in the spotlight for almost as long as she could remember and had the awards dating back to then. It had made her miserable beyond words and ultimately left her depressed and locked in an Australian hotel room when she was sixteen. It was an uphill struggle from there to regain control and start to enjoy the work she did again, but Hermione was there at last. This time at college was a sort of break from Hollywood for herself, and a chance to play with something new. Palaeontology had interested Hermione since she was younger, but now she wanted the piece of paper in a frame to go with it. Even if she never used it for anything, Hermione just wanted to take the time to have that normal college experience even if she was having it a little later than most, and even if she couldn’t avoid people recognising her from time to time.

Still, it was nice for Hermione to kick back and hand in assignments and study like a normal student. Even if she still worked on movies every now and then when a script came her way that she just couldn’t refuse because she loved the concept, or the director. Some in the industry were family to her, and she was thrilled to work with them on anything; even if she was killed off after half an hour and left to rot by the roadside by everyone else. Plus, it kept her talent fresh whilst she was at school. She hated gossip column rumours about fading away. She had only gone to college for four years, not turned herself into a mountain hut recluse. Some journalists would write anything to sell a story though which was why the young redhead was so wary these days of what she did and who she trusted. It might have cost her chances and relationships, but it was the price she unfortunately had to pay with her life.

Nerves did not suit Hermione. They made her polish off her first drink quicker than she ever would have liked to. When the man spoke, Hermione swallowed the last of the rum and coke, and managed a small, polite smile. “Pleasure to meet you. Hermione, Thursday’s other friend.” She said, pushing herself to her feet and grabbing her clutch from the table. “What are you having? Drink? Food?” There wasn’t much room to argue with her since she was across at the bar in seconds, head tilted just enough to catch Carter’s order when he called it to her. Hermione was known for being forward at times, and her brother said his friends found her intimidating, but she had never seen either of those traits herself. Right now she was being fuelled by nerves and the knowledge that if she had stayed sitting at that table she would have become fidgety and she hated feeling fidgety. It was a habit she had been scolded for in her youth and the memories still lingered.

• • •

TAGGED! Carter River Thorton
WORDS! 543!
OUTFIT! Anxious Actress!
LYRICS! I Am The Fire - - - Halestorm
NOTES! <3

[Carter River Thorton]

Carter didn’t want to admit he was nervous about this because that just didn’t seem manly. But he was. And unsurprisingly, it annoyed him more than anything. He hadn’t been as nervous when he’d been brought home by the police for tagging as he was walking through the door of the bar! Of course, he also didn’t date a whole lot since his life seemed to revolve more around work and his niece than anything else; which was why Thursday thought up the grand idea of setting him up on a blind date. He quite liked his life, even if it didn’t look like much. He’d been a bit of a scamp as a child, running out through the middle of the night to put his graffiti on sides of buildings and really, wherever he could.

He’d since grown out of that particular hobby, instead turning it into something that wouldn’t get him into trouble but instead get him paid or bring up his volunteer hours. He’d never been secretive about his past, the people who were close to him, like the group at Three Kings, knew he’d had quite a few run ins with the law when he’d been a minor though even they didn’t know about his art degree. They just thought like most of them, he was just really artistic and wanted to make an alternative life with it. He was a bit of a goofball, hyperactive and enjoyed the nerdier side of things which really just translated to there being nowhere else Carter could fit in as well as he did at Three Kings. Admittedly, he could probably find something in one of those hipster galleries that keep popping up everywhere but they hardly had reputations for good things, and he loathed those little hipster weirdos, and people generally regretting referring to him as one.

Carter had been unable to force any food down his throat when he’d been home for the few minutes he’d been there. He’d been running late, though he would also never admit to it so found there had really been no time to eat anything. And he didn’t know if this would just be drinks or dinner as well. He had no idea what he was getting himself into but he knew he really had no choice in the matter; he had to go to appease Thursday. If nothing came of it, well at least he’d tried. Thursday couldn’t fault either blind date participants for that! Carter felt like he’d barely sat down and the night was over. He’d worried in the instant between one sentence and the next that he hadn’t been what Hermione was expecting.

Then again, she’d had as much information as he did so it whoever she’d been expecting would have been some creation of her own imagination. He relaxed slightly when she revealed she was just going to the bar so he contemplated for a second what he wanted. “Rum and Coke for start, thanks.” He said, shaking his head. He had no idea what Thursday had gotten him into but he was determined to see the night through at the very least. His date had obviously put in time and effort to be there and he had dressed nicer than he usually did for this so he wasn’t about to waste not only his time and effort but Hermione’s as well.

Tag || hermione zelda kent
Words || 620
Clothes || Curious Creator
Music || Make You Miss Me --Sam Hunt
Notes || <3

[hermione zelda kent]

Hermione was hiding her nerves well. That sort of thing was nothing really new to her, even if dating was a little more uncommon for her. It was hard to be in a relationship when she had trust issues, or was flying off to film in various locations every few months of the year. Not that she felt she needed a man to complete her when she was still young. Still, Hermione was secretly lonely. It was hard when those she considered friends were in the same profession as her and spent just as much time flitting off to work on movies and then promote them. Their schedules rarely aligned for socialising and the Hollywood parties weren’t exactly the sort of place where they could kick back and just catch up on everything they had missed. There was always someone lurking nearby with a camera or a notepad, keen to sell some gossip to a magazine. Hermione was famous for being an enigma and it was a reputation she was inclined to keep.

She liked keeping a lot of herself to herself, at least when it came to the media. Of course, when she was promoting movies people would ask her questions about how she was like her characters and Hermione would have to answer them, but no one knew who she dated, when she dated them, or what she was doing on her weekends. Fan sites listed a few facts about her childhood, but her adulthood had very few statements aside from the college degree she was working towards, living in New York City, and owning two dogs named after characters from A Song of Ice and Fire. All other tidbits that could be found on the internet were trivial statements that she’d been asked about in interviews, or were cute comments about co-stars where she gushed about how much she loved working with them. The whole thing painted an image of a strange mystery, but like a jigsaw puzzle with missing pieces, Hermione couldn’t be complete with media interviews and greedy journalists.

She was wary of the people she spent her time with, just because she didn’t know who she could trust. Hermione didn’t want to be a cynic, but there was honestly no way of knowing who would run to the papers after her back was turned to sell a tale of their fifteen minutes with a Hollywood star. She was here tonight because Thursday had told her she could trust this guy and Hermione trusted Thursday. Plus, with school and still reading scripts for a movie to grab her attention it had felt like a long time since she had enjoyed an evening with someone new who wasn’t just trying to encourage her to sign on to a new project. Nervous she might have been, but hidden deep down in there might just be the smallest flicker of excitement. Hermione wouldn’t sweat to that though. Instead she just got the drinks in and brought them back to the table. She didn’t need to guess that Carter worked at Three Kings; she recognised him from there though she had never spoken to him before now. “Here we are.” She said as she set the drinks down and retook her seat. Hermione took a small sip of her drink and crossed her legs, thinking of something to say next. “I don’t know about you, but Thursday has been trying to get me to agree to this for months.” She admitted, smirking ever so slightly as she danced her fingers around the rim of her glass.

• • •

TAGGED! Carter River Thorton
WORDS! 601!
OUTFIT! Anxious Actress!
LYRICS! I Am The Fire - - - Halestorm
NOTES! <3