Ariel Hawk
Ireth
Academy Freshman: Mortal
Come away, O human child, to the waters and the wild, with a fairy hand-in-hand...
Posts: 251
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Post by Ariel Hawk on Sept 26, 2009 22:02:16 GMT -5
Ariel entered the student lounge quietly, surprised to find that it was nearly empty. She settled down on one of the soft leather couches, digging through her bookbag for her copy of The Hunter's Moon. Opening it at the ribbon she used as a bookmark, she immersed her mind in the story, with Sidhe-folk and mortals and all manner of Fae creatures cavorting and questing around her.
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Post by natalieburns on Sept 26, 2009 22:09:28 GMT -5
Natalie was irritated. She had spent the last half hour searching the entire castle for Ian and couldn't find him anywhere. Bored to death, she finally resigned herself to the student lounge. At least there she could sit and relax, and maybe take a nap.
When she arrived at the student lounge, she pushed open the door and surveyed the room in front of her. There were only a few students there, including Ariel. Her cousin was buried in some book. For a moment, Natalie considered leaving. But her encounter with Vincent in the kitchens had given her a second wind on trying to make amends with her family, and if she could talk to Vincent, she could talk to Ariel. Slowly, Natalie approached Ariel and sat next to her.
"Hey." She said. "How are you doing?"
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Ariel Hawk
Ireth
Academy Freshman: Mortal
Come away, O human child, to the waters and the wild, with a fairy hand-in-hand...
Posts: 251
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Post by Ariel Hawk on Sept 26, 2009 22:12:20 GMT -5
Ariel looked up at Natalie's voice, somewhat surprised to suddenly find her cousin so close--more surprised yet that she had actually spoken to her. Tucking the bookmark into her book and setting it aside, Ariel smiled and answered, "Not bad, thanks. What about you?"
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Post by natalieburns on Sept 26, 2009 22:14:22 GMT -5
Natalie waved her finger in the air. "No, no, no. I'm trying to have a conversation with you here. Three word answers don't count. How are you doing... really?"
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Ariel Hawk
Ireth
Academy Freshman: Mortal
Come away, O human child, to the waters and the wild, with a fairy hand-in-hand...
Posts: 251
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Post by Ariel Hawk on Sept 26, 2009 22:25:59 GMT -5
Ariel blinked. That was unexpected. They had gone from barely exchanging helloes in the halls to having detailed conversations in thirty seconds flat. She guessed she shouldn't be complaining--hadn't she wanted to connect with Natalie? Opportunity only knocked once.
"I'm doing okay right now," she answered. "All things considered, I mean. I had a bit of a tense moment with a friend of mine, and I'm not sure if I'll be able to look him in the eye again for awhile. And I think I have a crush on a different friend, and I know for a fact he's crushing on me too."
She stopped, surprised at herself. Why was she suddenly spilling every detail of her day to the cousin she barely knew? Well, she couldn't exactly take back what she'd said; she just smiled and waited calmly for Natalie's reply.
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Post by natalieburns on Sept 26, 2009 22:30:35 GMT -5
Natalie raised one eyebrow, but that was only a fraction of what was going on inside her head. Her cousin had a crush on a friend who had a crush on her? That was interesting. And familiar. It almost reminded her of...
Ian.
Natalie was silent for a long time. "That's odd." She said finally. "I seem to be encountering the same problem with a friend of mine. The crushing part, not the tense moment thing..." She thought for a few seconds. "Perhaps we could help each other out. I think family is supposed to do that... right?"
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Ariel Hawk
Ireth
Academy Freshman: Mortal
Come away, O human child, to the waters and the wild, with a fairy hand-in-hand...
Posts: 251
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Post by Ariel Hawk on Sept 26, 2009 22:36:43 GMT -5
Ariel nodded. "I guess so... but if we're both in the same boat, I'm not sure how much help we'll be to each other unless we learn from each other's mistakes. And our own, of course."
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Post by natalieburns on Sept 26, 2009 23:01:28 GMT -5
"And, of course, anything that happens in the family stays in the family." Natalie added. She trusted Ariel, of course, but she wanted to reassure her cousin that anything she said wouldn't find it's way into the wrong hands.
Natalie leaned back on the couch. Perhaps this was the chance to finally have a true heart to heart with the cousin she never knew. "So... do you want to go first, or do you want me to?"
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Ariel Hawk
Ireth
Academy Freshman: Mortal
Come away, O human child, to the waters and the wild, with a fairy hand-in-hand...
Posts: 251
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Post by Ariel Hawk on Sept 26, 2009 23:27:06 GMT -5
"I'll go first," Ariel consented. She drew a breath and let it out slowly.
"There's a boy in my year, Jaebi, who I've been friends with for awhile... we share almost all of our classes, so we're together a lot, and he had a small hand" or paw, she laughed to herself, "in helping save everyone from that teacher they called Creeps McGee. Jaebi helped me find Veronique while Dad fought Creeps.
"We were paired up for an assignment in English class recently: we had to write a horror story. I wrote about what I've been seeing in my nightmares lately--being an angel held captive by a demon--and Jaebi wrote about being a monster locked in a dungeon, scared of his own voice. We put the two ideas together and made a story out of it. I wrote two versions, one with a sad ending and one with a happy ending. I handed in the sad one to Professor Harrows and kept the other one. It's still in my binder somewhere.
"Anyway... it started out really awkward, because he kept blushing and dropping his pencils every time I'd look at him, and Kemekin kept bugging us about it, which only made it worse. Jaebi said something about the angel in our story making the monster seem less like a monster, because the monster loved the angel, and it got me thinking. That's when I realized Jaebi had a huge crush on me, but he was too shy to say anything.
"Then I realized that I might kind of like him back, but I'm not too sure yet... I mean, Kemekin seems to think there's something between us already, and since he's such an obnoxious little git most of the time, I don't really want to see him proven right, or we'd never hear the end of it. But at the same time, it might be where we both want to go, you know?"
She took another breath. "Your turn."
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Post by natalieburns on Sept 27, 2009 0:06:49 GMT -5
Ariel's honesty surprised Natalie. She was detailed with her story... even mentioning the names of the people in her story. The honestly inspired Natalie. She decided to return the favor.
"Alright. The boy in question's name is Ian. Ian Harris... oh, everyone knows Ian Harris. The boy that blew up the mage classroom. Either way, after the whole Creeps thing, which Ian was apparently a part of, even though no one will tell me what his part was, I met Ian in the gym. He's really awkward normally, but around me... it's odd. Sometimes he can't say anything at all, and on rare occasions he won't shut up. He behaves very... un-Ian-like around me."
"I first figured out that he had a crush on me very early in the friendship, but I haven't done anything, because... well, the truth is I've only known him for a week. Which makes things complicated. And the trouble is that he's everything I ever wanted. He's cute and sweet and... well..."
"And then there's the problem of... no offense... your father, who I'm fairly sure would plow both Ian and Jaebi into the side of the castle if he ever found out about all this... Ian's nerves are thin enough as it is. I worry what would happen if Uncle Vincent found out that we liked each other after only days... I mean, he has the best intentions, but he's quite scary when he wants to be..."
Natalie swallowed. She hoped she hadn't offended Ariel with the part about Vincent. But she was being honest... that was a big problem with the relationship between her and Ian... or lack of said relationship...
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Ariel Hawk
Ireth
Academy Freshman: Mortal
Come away, O human child, to the waters and the wild, with a fairy hand-in-hand...
Posts: 251
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Post by Ariel Hawk on Sept 27, 2009 0:12:09 GMT -5
Ariel grinned, acknowledging Natalie's remarks about her father. "Yeah... he can be a little overbearing sometimes. But it's because he wants to protect me--us. I mean, bad things have happened to me even whem he was there to get me out of danger... I can see his reasoning for that. But I think, if you're not ready for him to know about your relationship with Ian yet, then don't tell him. Wait until you know what it is. That's what I'm doing."
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Post by natalieburns on Sept 27, 2009 0:32:42 GMT -5
Natalie nodded. "I know why he acts the way he does. It's just... irritating sometimes. And I don't know how the whole me-and-Ian thing will turn out. I'm just waiting to see. I worry that if he doesn't make the first move, than he'll never feel right about the whole thing." Natalie studied her cousin's face. "What about you? Are you going to let Jaebi act first? Or is he too shy?"
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Ariel Hawk
Ireth
Academy Freshman: Mortal
Come away, O human child, to the waters and the wild, with a fairy hand-in-hand...
Posts: 251
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Post by Ariel Hawk on Sept 27, 2009 13:01:21 GMT -5
"I don't know," Ariel confessed. "I'm not even sure how I feel about him yet; I don't really want to be the one to make the first move unless I'm sure this is what I want. But Jaebi seems way too shy to make the first move--intentionally, at least. He did some stuff while we were writing that could have counted as flirting, but I'm not sure he even knew how he was coming across."
She shifted position, stretching out her legs and then pulling them up to her chest, wrapping her arms around her shins and looking at her cousin. "What do you think I should do?"
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Post by natalieburns on Sept 27, 2009 16:23:10 GMT -5
"Well, it seems that you yourself just made the key point," Natalie pointed out. "You just said you don't know how you feel about him. I would try to figure it out before deciding what to do. You may decide that you don't like him. If that's the case, then you can keep being friends. But if you decide that you do like him, then... you'll have do decide at the moment, I suppose, whether or not to make the first move."
Natalie tilted her head to one side and studied her cousin. "Just make sure you're sure first. That's all I can say about you and Jaebi."
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Ariel Hawk
Ireth
Academy Freshman: Mortal
Come away, O human child, to the waters and the wild, with a fairy hand-in-hand...
Posts: 251
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Post by Ariel Hawk on Sept 27, 2009 19:51:15 GMT -5
Ariel nodded, smiling. "I'll do that. Thanks for the advice." She studied Natalie back, looking for a new direction to take their conversation.
"So how did you like Dad's little dinner-theater act with Rhythan?" she grinned. "I hope they do another one sometime. That's the most fun I've had in ages--probably the most fun he's had, too."
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Post by natalieburns on Sept 27, 2009 20:38:45 GMT -5
Natalie laughed, remembering the incident in the kitchen. "If you were there, you know how I feel about it... apparently the entire mess hall heard me scolding Vincent. Didn't do anything to dampen his mood, though. The weird thing is that it seemed to make him happier... Did you see the boy I was sitting next to fall out of his chair? That was Ian... for some reason he found the entire thing really funny... perhaps it's because he's a literature major..."
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Ariel Hawk
Ireth
Academy Freshman: Mortal
Come away, O human child, to the waters and the wild, with a fairy hand-in-hand...
Posts: 251
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Post by Ariel Hawk on Sept 27, 2009 20:48:37 GMT -5
"I thought I heard somebody fall over," Ariel grinned. "That must have been it. I'm not surprised Dad was even happier when you called attention to the fact that everybody could hear him and Rhythan going on and on. He loves being in the spotlight if it means he can entertain other people. That's one of the reasons I love Dad--he has a healthy ego. He doesn't love acting or singing because of the idea of fame or fortune. He does it for the audience's pleasure."
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Post by natalieburns on Sept 27, 2009 21:55:52 GMT -5
"Well, the audience got a lot of pleasure from it..." Natalie chuckled. "I have the feeling that we'll be getting a sequel to that little performance very soon. Speaking of performances, by the way, have you heard what we're performing for Halloween? I heard it was the "Masque of Red Death" but I've been hearing rumors that it's going to be..."
Natalie's voice trailed off as her eyes drifted towards the door. Standing in the doorway was a very confused-looking Ian. Natalie immediately felt her throat constrict. How much of the conversation had Ian overheard?
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Post by ianharris on Sept 27, 2009 22:04:51 GMT -5
Ian hadn't been looking for Natalie. He really hadn't. He hadn't yet had time to process his conversation with Vincent, and was still trying to figure out how to approach the whole thing. But when he walked into the student lounge and discovered Natalie and... someone... sitting on the couch, talking about play stuff, he couldn't very well leave the room. Instead, he took a few steps towards the two girls.
"Uh... hi." He said. "I... um... how are you, Natalie? Who's your friend?"
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Ariel Hawk
Ireth
Academy Freshman: Mortal
Come away, O human child, to the waters and the wild, with a fairy hand-in-hand...
Posts: 251
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Post by Ariel Hawk on Sept 27, 2009 22:20:04 GMT -5
Ariel looked up at the boy who had just entered the room, speaking up and introducing herself. "I'm Ariel, Natalie's cousin. You might have met my dad, Professor Hawk."
She remembered seeing the boy before--he had been unconscious in the hallway the night of... that vampire professor's death. Was this the Ian she had been hearing about, the one who had blown up that classroom in the university?
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Post by ianharris on Sept 27, 2009 22:27:19 GMT -5
Ian nodded. "Yes... I've met Professor Hawk. I just talked to him a few minutes ago, actually... he's nice..."
For a moment, Ian wondered if he should be nervous that Natalie was talking to Ariel. Ian had just talked to Vincent about Natalie... could Natalie be talking to Ariel about him? He shook his head. What a ridiculous thought.
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Ariel Hawk
Ireth
Academy Freshman: Mortal
Come away, O human child, to the waters and the wild, with a fairy hand-in-hand...
Posts: 251
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Post by Ariel Hawk on Sept 27, 2009 22:29:52 GMT -5
"He is," Ariel agreed with a nod. "So I hear you liked his and Rhythan's performance of Hamlet at lunch today, huh?" She grinned at the mental image of Ian falling out of a chair.
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Post by ianharris on Sept 27, 2009 22:58:33 GMT -5
Ian felt Natalie staring at him and looked down at the floor. "Uh... yeah... it was funny. I kinda... lost my balance... wait, has Natalie been telling people about that?" he rounded on Natalie, trying not to smile. "Come on, Natalie! I don't need the whole school knowing I can't stay on my chair..."
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Post by natalieburns on Sept 27, 2009 23:01:19 GMT -5
Natalie laughed. "But it was so funny! You were dying of laughter. Considering that most people in this school have never even seen you crack a smile..." She turned back to her cousin. "You know what I think? I think Ian needs more exposure to being the center of attention. I think he should try out for the Halloween play."
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Ariel Hawk
Ireth
Academy Freshman: Mortal
Come away, O human child, to the waters and the wild, with a fairy hand-in-hand...
Posts: 251
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Post by Ariel Hawk on Sept 27, 2009 23:15:51 GMT -5
Ariel grinned. "That could be fun. For him, I mean. I've been thinking of trying out for it, but I think I might wait for Hamlet... I've always wanted to play Ophelia."
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