ANOTHER DAY; another...well, not a dollar...

[Hayes Simon]

"I've heard of that, but I've never known that 'metaback' was a word. Sounds vaguely mechanical, if you ask me," he commented. "Hey, I am the smart one. It's only one word. Shoot me anything else." He was still betting on metaback not being real.

"Physically - deep down, you're always the same person," Hayes argued. "Sure, they change beliefs and such, but they don't change their personality. If someone's insanely stubborn, they'll be stubborn whether they're a Gryffindor or Hufflpuff or like us." He shrugged.

"Well, my sister, Mollie, keeps to herself, always reading and goofing with the dog. She's got a few friends, here and there, but she doens't consider herself popular. Mum's in charge of the local journal, which is where I suppose I got it from. Dad used to take some photos for her, whenever he felt up to it," Hayes said, drifting off slightly. "Well, depends on what some consider random. I, myself, think that question was a bit random. What 'bout you?"

[Marissa Eveglion]

"Metaback is definetly a word." Marissa assured, holding in her giggles. "I remember thinking the same thing, and looking it up in the dictionary. I opened a book on free will. My friends were shocked."

"Always stubborn! HA! My Uncle, biggest most stubborn boozer you'll ever meet, he goes to a party and there's this total sweet girl there, and he cleans up his act like that." She snapped her fingers. "I've never seen anyone so docile. Aunt Trisolda was a miracle in blue silk."

Marissa perked up. "Mollie? I've seen her around! She's got great potentiol, but frankly, she needs to fix the hair. And the clothes. And the makeup. And by fix, I mean put on and stop looking perpetually shocked." Marissa neglected to mention that on occasion her and her friends had teased the girl.

"What about me? Oh, family. Uhm. Normal. Mom. Dad. Sister. Older brother. Li-." Why wasn't her throat working? Stop thinking about that.

[Hayes Simon]

Haye shrugged. "If you say so. But, in the World According to Hayes Simon, it's existence is not acknowledged. Until I actually see it in a dictionary, at least. Then its existence may be acknowledged. Maybe. Potentially. We'll see. Eventually." He shrugged again - wow, was he ever drawing that one out.

"Ah, but that's just an act? Once the girl's out of hearing and seeing range, he's back to him old self, isn't he?" he asked. "See, people might seem like they change, but they've really just covered old habits and personalities with a veil. No one ever really changes, they just act. Some people are really good at it."

Hayes frowned at Marissa. "You heard me when I was going about everything that Mollie had always poured on about models and makeup and such, yes? In case you hadn't, the chanes of her wearing makeup and dressing up and the like out of free will are about equal to, oh, our skin mutating purple in the next three seconds." He paused for a while. One...two...three."Nope, not purple. And, as for 'erpetually shocked', that's just how some people are." Another shrug.

"Obviously, it's not normal, considering all the tavrelling you've done. Using my Innermost Journalist's Inference - capitalized - I'm going to guess that you're from a rich and ancient pureblood family, you've been pampered your entire life, and by your sudden loss of words, you've had some rough times here and there." Alright, he pulled most of that crap out of the air, but, hey, it was worth a shot. Or something.

[Marissa Eveglion]

Marissa shrugged; her readiness for this conversation was rapidly evaporating, and her always faithful technique of fight and flight had never let her down yet. She stood up, her unbutton shirt flapping a bit. Hm. Must look into that.

"Its kinda late." Marissa improvised with her best neutral, impassioned voice. "And the feast'll be starting soon. We should both get dressed. If I see you around ... well, I doubt I'll see you around, as we are different years and Houses. So, uh, have a nice life. And try a more unctous solution on your hair. Makes it shiner."

[Hayes Simon]

Hayes nodded, standing up after her. "Be seein' you, then," he said, leaning against the wall, crossing one ankle over the other, and shoving his hands into his pockets.

With her last words, he tilted his head down slightly and gave her an are you serious? look. "Marissa, you do remember I'm a boy, right? Not only of your girly-girly friends? Keep in mind, the most boy's do with their hair,"- he said the word like he would say Snot for lunch - "is comb it and maybe have a bit of gel forced in on special occasions. Any sort of solution is practically out of the question." He managed to keep himself from shuddering at the thought.