Noah W. Valentine
Level 0
I'll take your picture if you smile for the camera. Then I can pretend you're smiling at me.
Posts: 9
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Post by Noah W. Valentine on Feb 19, 2011 19:30:40 GMT -5
Noah focused on the dull staccato snap snapsnap snap! of his knuckles against the leather casing on the punching bag. He had arrived at the school more than a month into the semester and had been trying to stay out of the way in the hallways, stay at the back of classrooms, and generally remain unnoticed. He was perfectly happy being Mr. Cellophane.
That is, save for crowded places like the mess hall and the castle foyer between classes. His eyesight was not good enough to keep him from bumping into people, stepping on their feet, getting caught on their backpacks. At least he could stay out of the way in the evenings; he would eat dinner early and go straight to his room, or scuttle off to the library, or, like today, hang out in the gym, getting in the workout time he used to share with his father twice a week. His wiry musculature was nowhere near his father's, but boxing was one of the few things they had had to bond over, and it made Noah feel better to know that Shiloh was doing the same thing back in Brighton.
Snap snap snapsnap snap!
The tape on his knuckles was beginning to wear-- if the protective wrapping broke again he would have busted knuckles for another week. The scabs from last time were just beginning to heal.
Snap snap!
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Post by Xander Elderton on Feb 19, 2011 20:16:24 GMT -5
Sometimes, in the evenings, when everyone else was at dinner, Xander liked to slip off into the gym to sit on the bleachers to be alone with his thoughts. Not that Xander didn't love being around other people, especially Aisling (and Xander knew that Aisling needed him there), but sometimes...sometimes Xander just needed to be alone.
But this time, as fate would have it, Xander wasn't alone. He could hear that much before he even pushed his way through the doors. For one brief moment he considered walking on and finding another place to hide for the night, but curiosity got the better of him. Who else would be here at this time of night?
Xander pushed through the heavy door, his footsteps quiet against the tiles of the gym. The door slipped past his shoulder and shut harder than Xander intended. He winced as sharp noise echoed in the gym. So much for entering quietly.
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Noah W. Valentine
Level 0
I'll take your picture if you smile for the camera. Then I can pretend you're smiling at me.
Posts: 9
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Post by Noah W. Valentine on Feb 19, 2011 20:24:58 GMT -5
The slamming door made Noah pause and turn to face the entrance, gasping a bit when the punching bag, pushed back by his last punch, swung forward and hit him softly but solidly in the chest. Noah took a step backwards and shook out his hands.
"Evening," he offered, his accented voice echoing slightly. The lad looked familiar-- Noah was sure they had a class or two together. Maybe. But he was going mostly by what color the blur of his hair was. As a matter of fact, all of the boy was a blur. Noah walked cautiously over to the bleachers to dig around in his bag for his glasses. He found them a moment later and slipped the frames over his ears before straightening and looking once more to the boy.
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Post by Xander Elderton on Feb 19, 2011 20:37:03 GMT -5
Xander wasn't sure what he'd been expecting to see when he entered the gym. One of the professors working out, maybe, or some of the university students playing volleyball. Instead, the gym's occupant was a young boy, probably not much older than him, not much taller and probably a bit thinner. He definitely didn't look like the sort of person Xander would expect to find attacking a punching bag in the gym.
Xander recognized the boy almost instantly. Not many people transferred mid-semester, and the boy did stick out a bit. Noah something-or-other, he thought. They hadn't spoken before, but then, Xander didn't really speak to anyone unless they spoke to him first.
"Hullo." Xander waved to the other boy before taking a seat just down the bleachers from him. He was close enough for Noah to speak to him if he wanted, but not close enough that Xander was being intrusive.
Xander pulled his backpack in front of him and held it against his chest, watching Noah out of the corner of his eye.
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Noah W. Valentine
Level 0
I'll take your picture if you smile for the camera. Then I can pretend you're smiling at me.
Posts: 9
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Post by Noah W. Valentine on Feb 19, 2011 20:44:58 GMT -5
"Um..."
Noah looked down at his knuckles and thought it very well that he had been interrupted. The tape wrapped around his knuckles had worn quite thin, and there was a crack running down the wrappings on his right hand. Noah found a nick in the tape and tugged on it, tearing it neatly so he could unwrap his hands.
"Aren't you in Professor Yogo's class third period? The magician Professor Yogo, not the healer." Noah pulled the last of the tape from his right hand and started working on his left. "How are you doing on that short story we're supposed to write?"
The assignment had been to modernize their favorite fairy tale. Noah figured it was as good an icebreaker as any.
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Post by Xander Elderton on Feb 19, 2011 20:50:18 GMT -5
Xander turned in place and let his backpack slip down onto the floor in front of him, tucking his leg underneath him. He hadn't actually started the assignment yet, but he had a general idea of what he was going to do.
"I'm trying to choose between Hansel and Gretel and Sleeping Beauty," he said. "I'm not really sure, though. I've never really tried writing a story before, so I don't know how good it's going to be..." He glanced back up at Noah. "Have you started yours yet?"
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Noah W. Valentine
Level 0
I'll take your picture if you smile for the camera. Then I can pretend you're smiling at me.
Posts: 9
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Post by Noah W. Valentine on Feb 19, 2011 21:04:37 GMT -5
Noah gave the boy a friendly smile and sank down to sit on the floor with his back resting against the foot of the bleachers, his legs stretched out before him.
"At first I was torn between Ashputtel-- that's essentially Cinderella-- and The Frog Prince. But after a couple failed drafts I ended up working with Peter Pan instead." Noah shrugged and balled up the tape once he had removed all of it from his knuckles. "I've got it all planned out and junk, I just need to sit down and write the thing."
Noah leaned his head back on the bench and grinned amiably. "Do you want help picking yours?"
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Post by Xander Elderton on Feb 19, 2011 21:20:25 GMT -5
Xander smiled at the other boy. "Yeah, actually, that would be great, if you don't mind."
He kicked his backpack a few feet toward Noah, then scooted across the bench until he was sitting next to him. "I'm Xander, by the way. I don't think I ever introduced myself. You're Noah, right?"
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Noah W. Valentine
Level 0
I'll take your picture if you smile for the camera. Then I can pretend you're smiling at me.
Posts: 9
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Post by Noah W. Valentine on Feb 19, 2011 21:24:38 GMT -5
Noah stretched one arm out to shake Xander's hand. "Aye, and pleased to meet you."
He ran a hand through his hair and pushed his glasses further up the bridge of his nose. "So, you said you were stuck between Hansel and Gretel and Sleeping Beauty? I guess the easiest place to start is for you to consider what you would do with either of them. How would you modernize either of the two? Brainstorming would do a world of good."
Noah glanced over at the punching bag. The big leather thing had stopped swinging and was just sort of hanging there staring at them.
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Post by Xander Elderton on Feb 19, 2011 22:11:11 GMT -5
Xander's hand lingered on Noah's for just a moment too long before he pulled back. He pushed back a stray strand of hair and stared down at his shoes for a moment.
"I'm not really sure," he said after a moment. He shrugged. "Most of my ideas for Hansel and Gretel would more or less be me writing about myself and my brother. I can identify with them a lot, I think. But Sleeping Beauty has always been my favorite fairy tale. I just don't know what I would do with it."
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Noah W. Valentine
Level 0
I'll take your picture if you smile for the camera. Then I can pretend you're smiling at me.
Posts: 9
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Post by Noah W. Valentine on Mar 5, 2011 15:01:43 GMT -5
Noah looked at his hand for a moment before dropping it back onto the bench behind him. He quirked his lips to one side and tipped his head back to looks at the ceiling through half-closed eyes.
"I'd say to go with what's less familiar. You get to explore more that way. S'why I picked Peter Pan instead of my other choices."
He sighed and added in a mumble, "I wish Poe stories counted as fairy tales. I'd write the fuck out of The Cask of Amontillado."
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Post by Xander Elderton on Mar 10, 2011 17:20:26 GMT -5
"So Sleeping Beauty then, I suppose," he said thoughtfully, digging a notebook out of his backpack. He opened it to a blank page and twirled a pencil between his fingers.
"What are you planning on doing your Peter Pan story about?" he asked. "If you don't mind me asking, I mean. I promise not to steal your idea or something." Xander smiled.
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Noah W. Valentine
Level 0
I'll take your picture if you smile for the camera. Then I can pretend you're smiling at me.
Posts: 9
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Post by Noah W. Valentine on Mar 10, 2011 17:41:44 GMT -5
Noah laced his fingers together and cupped his hands behind his head.
"You have nice hands," he commented after watching Xander for a moment longer. Then he turned his gaze back to the ceiling, one corner of his lips quirked in a smirk.
"My version of Peter Pan isn't so much a fairy tale as a horror story. Peter comes from the Never Never to lead away naughty children and steal their youth. Once they're old and angry they lose the ability to fly, thereby the ability to leave, and gang together as pirates to protect themselves from the Airborne Dominion." Noah gave a low chuckle and shrugged. "I haven't quite figured out what to do with the Lost Boys, but I'm sure it'll play out on its own."
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Post by Xander Elderton on Mar 10, 2011 19:10:02 GMT -5
"Um." Xander blinked back at Noah, a soft blush creeping across his cheeks. "Thank you," he said quietly, not sure what else to say.
He listened to Noah's idea, licking his lower lip thoughtfully. "Are you going to be including Wendy in your version?" he asked. "She was always my favorite character in the original."
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Noah W. Valentine
Level 0
I'll take your picture if you smile for the camera. Then I can pretend you're smiling at me.
Posts: 9
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Post by Noah W. Valentine on Mar 10, 2011 19:19:45 GMT -5
"Of course!" Noah stood up and rummaged around in his bag for his gloves. He wanted to continue, but he didn't want to re-wrap his hands. He had the weighted gloves somewh-- ahah!
"Wendy's the one who slays the monster." He strapped the gloves onto his hands and tested their weight with a light swing of both arms. "After Peter traps John's youth in the teddy bear."
Noah stood with his feet apart and went through a short burst of light jabs. Shadowboxing with the weights always helped him think. One two three-four five. Right left right-right left. He was thinking on his feet now.
"Aaaand..." Noah sidestepped and jutted forward with a swift uppercut to an imaginary jaw. "The top hat that the older brother wears turns out to be a weapon. A pocket of dark. Peter can't stand the dark." Left jab, right hook, elbow to the solar plexus. "That's why 'e targets nursery windows." He paused a looked over his shoulder at Xander, a single bead of sweat rolling down his cheek. "Nightlights, you know. Nightlights and candles."
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