Travel to...

[.magnarock.]

"The Land of The Golden Sun! Oh! Doesn't the brochure make it sound just wonderfully exciting!"
Sighed Tobi's mother, fanning herself in the haze of the afternoon sun as they sat on their room's elaborately furnished balcony. Only a small breeze was coming from the sea and dispite their loose and thin clothing, the heat was staggering.
"Veronica, do calm down."
Tobi heard his father say cheerfully from where he had flopped and melted on a chaise lange.
She giggled. "Oh Gerald, how could I possibly?"
There was more laughter and the sound of ice and glasses clinking.
"Well I'm awfully excited, will this be better than last year in Kiribati?" Asked Madeline from another chair, shaded by the leafy greenness of a potted fern.
"I should think it will be very different to say the least."
"Well the heat isn't too far off!"
There was more laughter, Tobi found himself smiling too.

The luxury liner was now gliding along a bay towards a pearly white hotel surrounded by palms and sitting between two pyramids, small and glimmering in the distant sunset.
Tobi's mother and sister squealed with excitement.
"Doesn't it look just beautiful!"
"Oh I can hardly wait."

*****

[.magnarock.]

Tobi flumped down onto his bed in the cool hotel room, his sandals slipping off onto the polished marble floor. He had spent the past four days on tours of the ancient cities and tombs of Egypt in the sweltering heat. It was midday and, like the previous days, the group had broken apart for a few hours until the sun had gone down.
His sister skipped, humming to herself into the room, looking fresh and mellow. She and their mother, who were about as interested in history and civilisation as they were in looking bad, had spent their days recieving various pampering treatments and visiting the bath houses and spa's.
"Are you loving this holiday as much as I am Tobes?" She said, grinning broadly.
"D'you even need to ask, Mad?" He replied, beaming back and hoisting himself up to lean on one elbow on the bed.
They laughed at nothing in particular and sighed.
"I'm so gladd mummy and daddy don't want me to have a private tutor anymore." She smiled. "Leaning at home is SOO boring- and you always have such great stories of all your friends."
Tobi felt a little pleased he had made such an impression on his little sister. "Well, it just sort of happens when you're at Hogwarts, stories make themselves."
She picked at the pleats of her skirt, sighing. "They just all sound so wonderfully interesting. I mean, you're friends with the ministers son, a metamorphageus and that other one, with the bad temper. You must all have such fun."
Tobi smiled. "Well, we do I suppose."
"Do you think the girls in my year will like me? Which house do you think I'll be in?"
"Hmmmmm. Well, you won't be in Slytherin that's for sure."
She smiled. "Probably not in Ravenclaw either."
"Well then, you'll be in one of the two best houses." He replied, grinning.
"I do hope I'll be in Gryfindor."
"Me too Mad."
There was a comfortable silence in which they both lay on their seperate beds and listened to the sound of the tropical birds outside their window.

"Hey, Tobi-"
He looked up from the magazine he was flicking through. "Yes?"
"Guess who I like." She said, grinning.
"This guy?" He replied, holding up the magazine and pointing to the topless wizard posing on the cover.
She giggled. "Nooo. I mean a normal person."
"A muggle?" He asked before he realised he was speaking, not quite knowing why he'd asked.
"No... I'll give you a hint, he's on this cruise."
Tobi rolled his eyes. "There are lots of fi- er, boys on this cruise." He coughed.
"Ok, ummm, he's got brown hair."
"Anything else? Or do you just like the hair?" He joked.
She pouted humourously. "No! Well, asctually, I do like his hair a lot. But he's really lovely and he said that I was cute." A pink blush appeared on her face as she finished.
He raised his eyebrows. "So he likes you too hmm?"
She nodded, smiling dumbly, her straightened ginger hair bobbing loosely.
"Is he going to be in your year at school then?"
She giggled. "Umm, no. He's going to be in year four."
"Year four! Maddy!! You're 12! What will mummy and daddy think?"
"Oh, puff. I don't care what tthey think. And you shouldn't be so quick to think badly of me. It's only two years difference, there's more between mummy and daddy than that. So poo to you. I'm having a bath." She flounced out and into the bathroom.

[.magnarock.]

Later that week, Tobi lay on a sun lounger, relaxing in the mid morning sunlight. Other children were playing in the shallow kids pool. On the other side of the boat, he knew his parents would be reclining by the full size pool.

Madeline was splashing about with a few girls she'd made friends with on the cruise and, he'd also noticed one or two boys. The brown haired one, who Maddy had revealed was called Joshua, seemed to be taking great delight in picking them up and the dumping them in the water, much to their giddy squeals. Tobi mumbled something to himself and pulled his Gucci sunglasses down from their perch on his head to cover his eyes. He let the magazine he had been leafing through drop to the floor and leaned his head backwards onto his folded arms. Sighing, he gazed up into the sky for a moment before closing his eyes and trying to shut out the shrieks from the pool.

[.magnarock.]

Half an hour or so passed and Tobi was suddenly aware of giggling and feet padding across the deck.
"Ohmigodnoway?- - No! Hehehehe!"
"Hehe! Totally!"
"No! You can soo tell!"
"Really! Yayayayay!"
More giggles, Tobi easily recognised that they were talking about crushes, most likely Joshua and his buddies were involved.
"So yeah, totally!"
"Heeee!"
The voices died away in the direction of the inner parts of the ship.
They've probably gone to squeal out of Joshua's hearing. He thought to himself, not having heard boys voices with them.
He's probably moved on to another group of girls. I wish Maddy wouldn't get so into holiday romances.
He settled back into the chair, sighing and letting the sun warm him through the purple sleeveless top he was wearing. His own little way of getting back at Elsie's obsession with colours that were in. Right now, his in depth reading of VooDoo Dollies and Magic Mode, had told him that purple was about as out as things got. He found this quietly funny against the rest of his cutting edge outfit.

Suddenly things felt a little bit colder and he felt a shadow over him. Frowning he opened his eyes and pulled his sunglasses down a little. Looking up he saw pale blue eyes smiling slightly down at him, framed by slightly damp brown hair.
"Hi." Came a voice much deeper than the squealy girl voices he had last heard.
"You must be Tobi."

[.magnarock.]

[okay, I have officially prepared the official Tobi playlist, full of cheese and power ballads. I am now fully armed to write this!]


Tobi stayed completely still for a moment, wondering whether the sunglasses were thick enough for the boy leaning over him to distinguish that his eyes were open, or if he might think they were closed and he was sleeping if he stayed still for long enough. After a second or two though, it just seemed a little too awkward and he sat forward slightly, lifting the glasses onto the top of his head.
So this was Joshua, Madeline's holiday crush. At this point Tobi did not congratulate her on her excellent taste. And he definately did not subtly cast his eyes from the pale teal of the eyes and his small smile downward over the toned, tanned stomach and.. His eyes flicked back up, suddenly remembering that this guy was responsible for messing his younger sister around. As pretty as she was, it was quite easy for an experienced gossip such as himself to see the signs that the feeling wasn't mutual. The way Joshua seemed to become slightly bored, restless even, after a few minutes of playing the same game. There was only a friendly manner in the joking taunts. Although- this was the bit that ruined Tobi's deductions so far- once or twice, when talking to Madeline, Tobi had seen him looking over at him. This sign told him that he was recognised as the older brother who needed to be kept approving of the relationship. Now was the time to confront this ridiculous pratt, who probably only wanted to get some easy thrills. Well, hah to him, Maddy wasn't easy.
Was she?
Oh dear.
Tobi frowned slightly, by this time, Joshua had a hand on each the arm rests and was leaning over to talk to him, standing on one side.
"And who are you."
damn! I phrased that wrong! and who do you think you are! poo D: Tobi let it pass, it would just seem as though he was unimpressed or unconcerned with this perv.

A broader smile came across Joshua's lips, the sun shone softly on the fringe which had flopped across his face.
"I'm Joshua, Sherborne."
Tobi had a very well hidden heart attack. o-mi-god-this-guy-is-like-famous-he's-so-rich-...-dies-OX-
The Sherbornes, [as of this moment because i say so] were one of the ridiculously rich families that tended to go on such luxury cruises as this as a thing to do at a long weeked. They were a proud and openly pure-blood family, who worked at whichever station in life which they chose. There had been former ministers of magic in the family and almost all of them were knighted, being born into the landed gentry.
Madeline had incredibly good taste.
Tobi pulled himself back into a stable cardiac state.
"Oh, yes. I think I might have heard of the Sherbornes somewhere." He replied vaguely, surprising himself with the suavity which he appeared to be handling this situation with.
"I'm sure you have." Came Joshua's smooth, perfectly annunciated reply, along with another smile, his eyes only subtly breaking contact to blink, and then look down at the pile of magazines on the deck.
Tobi felt awkward for a moment, looking at the top of Joshua's head as he read a few of the titles. They were hardly the magazines that Cenizo or Charles, or even Sei, as girly as he was, would be reading.
He could see the eyebrows raising. Something inside him wanted to shove Joashua away from the mildly threatening postition he was in, blocking off any means of escape save for wriggling under an arm out to the side, but that was a little extreme.
He'd better say something.
"I-"
But Joshua had brought his head back up and was now looking straight at him, talking in the way only people who really knew they were loaded could.
"But what about your name? Hm?"
Something in the way his head tilted slightly to one side as he spoke unnerved Tobi a little, he smiled faintly, a reflex action to anxiety. Not realising he needed to speak.
Joshua's own smile broadened. "Forgotten it?" His eyes shone briefly and he leaned forward ever so slightly. "Can I guess?"

[.magnarock.]

Tobi opened his mouth to babble something incoherent about his sister, Joshua seemed to not hear this and spoke, in a creamy smooth voice.
"You look like a Tobi to me."
"H-ow, did you know that?" DUhhhhhh! He asked Mad. DX dummy!
Joshua grinned, pleased with the reaction.
"Well, you may not know this, but I can read minds."
Tobi was about to say, oh cool! or I have a couple of friends that can do that! But decided against it, finally remembering that he was supposed to be protecting Madeline against this, this smarmy cheese!
His smile changed into a slightly more agressive one, frowning too for good measure."Then you'll know that I want to know why my little sister is hanging around with someone three years older than her and thinks she's going to spend the rest of her life with you!"
Joshua leant back slightly, releasing one of his hands from its grip on the arm rest. He sat on one leg on a space on the recliner. Tobi felt relieved at this change, it was a little less imposing. Although the first one hadn't been that offensive either.
Tobi waited for a reply, looking as tough as he thought suited the situation.
He was laughing.
Gawping in disbelief at the, the, the sheer... argh! -ness of this guy, Tobi folded his legs on the chair, mainly concerned of how pale they looked in the shade, but also to look a bit more macho than his previous, crossed legs position.
"Wha- I'm serious. And you're clearly not. So stop messing her about."
"Messing- hahaha- messing- her about?" He sighed and ran a hand through the sandy brown strands of hair on his head. Even his hair looked expensive. "-You- you think." Shaking his head, he leant on his hand, looking sideways at Tobi. Frowning slightly, brown eyes glowing slightly in the sun, and a look of confusion begining to surface on his features.
He pulled a slightly exasperated face and rubbed the back of his neck with the hand he wasn't leaning on.
"Ahmm..." Looking across at Tobi, meeting his eyes again, Joshua waited until a crowd of noisy children in rubber rings of various colours had passed by. "I don't like your sister. I mean, she's lovely. But, not in that way. . . At all."
Tobi considered this for a moment, so his signs had been right, save for the looking at him part. A thought struck him. "But she said that you said you thought she was cute."
"I did?" Joshua, to Tobi's surprise, sounded genuinely surprised. "Err, oh, no. I said she was a cute dress." He laughed. "Ok, that made me sound pretty camp. But it was a joke, because my cousin was wearing the same dress."
He fiddled with a fray in the cord of his surfer shorts, designer fray, not from any sort of exposure to the elements, before looking back up at Tobi earnestly.
"I'm sorry that she took it that way. I honestly- I would never- she's in year two anyway." He replied, shifting slightly and smiling, a little glimmer in his eyes from the sun.
"Exactly. I was worried." Tobi said, with a- isn't her age obvious, she's shorter than me for goodness sake- look. "Who wouldn't be, I mean, it's like, a brothers job." He finished, watching as Joshua rose from his seat on the sunlounger.
"Completely." He smiled, something similar to the smile he'd used when introducing himself in this one. Tobi couldn't quite place it and smiled back as he turned to walk inside. "I like year three's better anyway."

[.magnarock.]

Restlessly, Tobi turned in the linin sheets of his bed for the seventh time that minute, from across the moonlit room one of Madeline's eyes slid open humourlessly, "For god's sake, Tobi!" She whispered sleepily, "do you have zombie ants in your pants or something? Shhh!"
He pulled a face and turned once again to face the wall. "You shhh!" rolling onto his back to look up at the ceiling, he found no more comfort and pulled himself up out of the bed.
Madeline gurgled something about salad and snored gently as he padded across the tiled floor, still warm from the heat of the day, to the sliding door which lead to the large stone balcony.
Sighing heavily, he leaned on the thick walls, now tall enough to lean his head and arms on the top without straining.
He didn't know why he was still thinking about Joshua. He was a cheesy flirt, and a ladies man too no doubt. Madeline didn't know about him not liking her. But what had he meant by that: "I like third years better anyway." remark. He said, putting on a voice.
"He can't have known I was in the third year. And even so...." Tobi mumbled to the hewn limestone of the wall.
"Perhaps it was a dig at my magazines." He said, noticing Madeline's collection splayed across the glass coffee table.
For the past few days while they were docking and booking into the third hotel of the cruise Joshua had been invisible; not even at the childrens soiree, or kiddie disco to the normal world, that the owners put on for the younger members of family cruises like this.
"Maybe he's hiding from Mad, and doesn't want to bump into both of us together in case she tries to make us talk. What a poo. Why did he go and say that stupid thing anyway."
Tobi cooled his reddening cheeks on the stone beneath his hands.
"Haaaah." He exhaled, trying to sort out his thoughts.
From the city, sounds of late night clubs blasting music out onto the streets bounced up through the winding streets and to the hotel balconies.
Sighing again, Tobi turned inside. Maybe tomorrow he would begin the hunt for Joshua, if only to prove that he had moved onto a different girl from his sister.

**z z z z **

The sound of Madeline singing angrily in the shower woke Tobi, the sunlight already streaming through the open windows and smells of breakfast wafting up from the courtyard seating area of the hotel restaurant below.


I used ta thinkyuu wer thah wun
Now I'm sick of thinking an-y-thin-at-all!

You ain't ever comin back.to.me.
an thass not how things wer suh-post to be
y' take my hand juss to give it back!
No utha lova has eva dun that!!!

Tobi rolled out of bed, wondering what could have provoked these angsty lyrics. Something in the back of his mind told him that it was Joshua. But she wouldn't have seen him already today, it was only... He checked the glowing clock in the shape of a pyramid built into the side table on his left.
Half past eleven!!! Why had noone woken him up! Why hadn't he woken himself up! He never usually slept in late like that! uhhh, it must have been from staying up so late... poopy, I hope I don't look like a zombie.
Wandering over to the dressing table with it's highly polished mirror he peered in and frowned at the freckles in a loose band across the bridge of his nose and cheeks. He left his reflection at the mirror, after neatening up the fluffy gingery mess he tried to pass as hair, lightened slightly and inching closer to the dreaded strawberry blonde colour that made him look like a short haired girl. It would need cutting when he got back home, and maybe even a new style. How exciting, he smiled.

[.magnarock.]

But back to more important matters. After taking a quick glance at the smiling picture of them both at a pyramid. [any excuse for a picture ^^ :

He dressed quickly, yelling a goodbye to Madeline and left the room, walking purposefully and fairly quickly. There would be no escape for Joshua now, he would probably be down by the hotel pool luring other girls whilst the adults took shelter and played boring adult card games inside.

There were very few other children there, a couple of older teenagers hanging around in the jacuzi and lurking in the deeper end in the way they do, but the younger ones seemed to be at the hand puppet play in the main hall. It had clearly not enthralled Joshua.
Sure enough, when Tobi arrived, he was just climbing out of the pool, dripping from everywhere except his hair, which was dry. The tart.

[.magnarock.]

Joshua heard the sound of sandals and looked up. Tobi, who had forgotten temporarily exactly what he had meant to be saying, stood a few feet from him, frowning because it was probably something negative.

"Oh, um. Hi, Tobi. Long-ish time no see." He said to the floor, running a hand through his hair.
"Errr, yes."
now what was i going to say??? ummm, errr... oh yeah! "Madeline!" He blurted the last word unintentionally.
They both spoke at the same time.
"I was-" / "I wa-"

Joshua broke the ensuing silence. "I was going to tell you, but I haven't seen you in a few days -what with the moving hotels and luggage hassle we've had- I told her I thought we should just be friends." He said, something slightly apologetic about the acompanying smile.
Tobi brushed some invisible fluff off of the shoulder of the 'rocks rock' Tee that he had bought on one of the tours; it was too cute to ignore.
"I- er. Ok." He answered, glad that Maddy knew where she stood with this guy now. "Thanks. I mean- I'm sure you're a great guy, and you're definately an ideal boyfriend, for her, but. There's a bit of stress at home, and, you know how parents are about these things."
Joshua had sat back down on the edge of the pool and was swinging his feet slowly in the water, he looked up at Tobi, smiling slightly, "I know what you mean. I've just stopped saying that I'm seeing anyone, they seem to like it better."
There was something touching in the tone of his words that drew Tobi to sit next to him on the edge of the pool, letting his feet slide into the water, cooling in the heat of the rising sun.
"They're just trying to look after you. Parents can be really childish sometimes." He said, reassuringly, not quite patting him on the shoulder.
Joshua's eyes were now staring impartially over the water, it's gentle ripples making small strips of flyaway palm meander languidly in soft splashing waves. He said nothing.
Tobi smiled smpathetically, hoping it would be infectious, the human instinct to comfort setting in. "Come on Joshua, you didn't actually fancy my little sister, you said so yourself. And I'm sure girls are practically queing up to go out with someone like you."
He waggled a toe to dislodge a drifting palm frond and continued. "Your parents will relax in a couple of years, but until then you don't have to tell them that you've got a girlfriend, and because you're at Hogwarts, you can see them pretty much whenever you want to."

His small smile returned and he sighed pensively. "You're right, Tobi. But, sometimes I just feel so frustrated; I can't tell them anything."
"I'm sure your parents care deep down. If you tell them you want a serious talk, then they'll take you seriously." Tobi subconsiouly quoted the article on relationships he'd been reading last night in Cosmic [like cosmo? cosmopolitan? yeah, im sure you guys have seen it]
Mumbling something and circled his feet in the water. "I'm not sure they would. But I'm fine with that. I don't want to be one of those lame guys that relies on his parents for everything."
They laughed at how ridiculous that sounded coming from someone with the social standing he had.
"Ok, ok. Maybe I'll keep the money. But you know what I mean, right Tobi?" He said, turning slightly to make a more direct eye contact.
Nodding, Tobi gave the only obvious reply, "Completely."
This merited a grin from Joshua as he twisted on his hands and slid smoothly back into the water, a few inches below his hips and splashing out in wide circles from the disturbance he had caused on entry. Folding his arms, he leaned forward onto the side, roughly eye level with Tobi who was slouching slightly now.
There was a moment where they were both silent, watching each other for something unknown.
Once more, Joshua broke the silence, smiling and saying: "I like your top. Did you get it at those old mountain things?"
Tobi half giggled, failing awkwardly to make it more of a laugh partway through. "You mean the pyramids?"
"Oh, yeah, they're the ones." He smiled.
"Yes, I did. Thanks." Tobi returned the smile.
"Do you like my invisible top?" The joke was a little cheesy, but that went unnoticed.
"It's very convincing, I can't see it at all."

[.magnarock.]

A few seconds of laughter filled the wordless gap.
"Well, it is designer after all." Joshua pulled some poses typical of models and pouted exageratedly.
"I see! Fantastic, you really can't get anything better than authentic invisible shirts."
Laughing and smiling down slightly at Tobi, Joshua leaned on the side again. "Glad that you're a fellow connosieur." He joked and they both sighed from laughter.
Tobi smiled and let his vision rest on the pale blue eyes that were gazing back at him seven or eight inches away.
What was that, that, strange look in them? They were soft, but focused intently, on my eyes?
Then it dawned on Tobi, Joshua was totally and completely, beyond the shadow of a doubt. Gorgeous.
And he was right there, waiting for a sign.
Tobi suddenly became very aware of the cacophony of his racing heartbeats, and felt a slight flush begin to creep onto his cheeks.
He heard his name being murmured and noticed that the distance between himself and Joshua was comparatively smaller, his eyes still searching deep into his own.
Giving in to the feeling that pulled him closer towards Joshua, he felt himself leaning forward, heart racing, eyelids lowering slowly. The seemingly endless time it took to close the distance, and then...