Building (Highly Unstable) Bridges PV Anastasia Closed

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Interacting With: @Rose Moon
Mentioning: N/A
Hex Color: #0080FF
Date: 10 November 2020
Time: 7:10 a.m.

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Ana was not overly fond of rain. Maybe it was her affinity for warmth and fire, maybe it was the fact that it made her feel trapped, there wasn't any telling. The explanation she went with was rain made flying or even her morning walks impossible. After the seemingly endless Quidditch game in the rain from a few weeks ago, she wasn't overly eager to spend more time cold and wet than was absolutely necessary. That meant she arrived at breakfast nearly an hour before she did most mornings.

There was exactly no point in time when the pureblood heiress enjoyed being alone, but after what had occurred on Halloween, she couldn't stand it. She entered the hall, with her robes and hair perfectly arranged. Her messy ponytails of that term had been abandoned in favor of a tight, simple French braid, reminiscent of her first year. She had brought a stack of invitations for the Beckett Gala with her to work on while she ate since time seemed to be getting away from her. However, as she caught sight of a familiar redhead, the invitations were gently deposited in her bag. It had been over a week since she and Eyre had made up and, deep down, she knew that she was going to at least have to make it look like she apologized to Carrot Top at some point.

She sat down across from Rose and poured herself a cup of coffee. She was definitely going to need caffeine for this. After taking a sip, she pasted on a fake smile. To those unfamiliar with her, they would think that the girl was being genuinely friendly and nice. To people that knew her, this smile was more comparable to a lion beholding its prey than an expression of amicability or joy. "You can, actually," Ana said, her patience already waning. God, this girl was insufferable. "I've been looking for you."

Rose wasn't sure what to think of Anastasia Beckett. She had pushed her, threatened her, tripped her, and hurt her boyfriend in many different horrible ways. To top that all off, she had managed to make a jab about her red hair and call her uncultured and clumsy all in one big fat fake apology. Rose was sure that she could hurt her drastically if she wanted to. She had looked a right mess when Rose had first met her, and had acted like it, too. The second time they met, she apologized for sending her crashing to the floor, but something had seemed just slightly off, and Rose wasn't sure if she had really meant it or if she was just trying to cover up her act because of her date nearby, but was a little suspicious to the second part.

Yet Eyre kept insisting she was a good person. And even though Rose didn't agree with him, they hadn't talked about it much. She was just plain toxic and Anastasia didn't deserve an amazing friend in Eyre. Eyre didn't deserve to deal with all her unstable and unpredictable self-centered drama that would pop up at random times.

Then again, Rose didn't deserve him, either, but at least she hadn't betrayed him when he needed her most or hurt him physically so bad he needed to spend several nights in the hospital wing, or caused him so many nights of wondering what he could have done wrong to deserve this.

Flashing her a smile, Anastasia sat down across from her, getting some coffee. Rose was carefully aware of her surroundings just in case this was another prank or a trick of hers. Rose was inwardly very nervous and lowkey terrified- why had she been looking for her? But she didn't let either emotion show on her face, so unless Anastasia was a mind-reader, she wouldn't pick up on her caution.

She was tempted to quote the girl on the time they had first met- "You're already talking to me, so spit it out." But she didn't. She would tread lightly around Anastasia-she was fragile. Not fragile like a flower, fragile like a bomb.

Rose was unsure what to say in response to Anastasia. "...Okay?"

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Interacting With: @Rose Moon
Mentioning: Jasmine aka the coolest cat ever | Eyre Reeves
Hex Color: #0080FF

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Ana rolled her eyes at the girl's response. Lovely, so not only did she have abysmal taste in friends, not to mention judgemental, nosy, insufferably self-righteous, brightly colored, and generally intolerable, she was a nitwit as well. Ana's words hadn't actually required any sort of reply and Rose's constant need to speak was already annoying Ana. She took a sip of coffee before continuing since this conversation had barely begun and she was already desperately tempted to lunge across the table and smack the redhead or at least fling her drink in her face. Still, this was for Eyre, so for the moment, she did none of those things and her frozen, well-bred smile stayed in place.

"As I'm sure Eyre's mentioned, he and I have cleared the air between us," Ana began. She wasn't remotely sure whether or not Eyre had mentioned it to Rose, although given the other things he had blabbed to her, it wouldn't surprise her, still, that wasn't the point. God, it had been almost physically painful to swallow her pride and apologize to Eyre, and that was when she had known she owed him an apology and actually meant it. This was comparable to being stabbed in the face repeatedly with a dull, rusty spoon.

Jasmine, who had evidently followed Ana from the Common Room, despite the fact Ana had already fed her, lept into Ana's lap. Ana gracefully stroked her majestic cat, who seemed to be behaving for once. If Ana had known anything about Muggle culture, she likely would have compared the scene to a similar one from the Godfather movie. Alas, she did not. "It's come to my attention that some of my past actions may have affected you in a negative manner, and I would like to make it clear that, if they did, I regret that they made you feel inadequate and will most likely make an effort not to repeat them."

There, she had gotten them out and nobody could say that she hadn't tried to apologize.

Rose nodded at Anastasia telling her about her and Eyre making up. Then a majestic leopard-cat leapt up onto the lap of the Gryffindor's lap across from her, receiving a massage for her presence. She was cute, though not as adorable as Rose's silver fluffball of love. Rose almost wished Chaska would come and sit on her lap too, which would probably calm her down a little bit, though she would probably end up walking across the table to greet Anastasia as well as the cat that looked like hers. And probably get some food on her silky fur that Rose had actually brushed this morning. But Chaska did not come join her in the Great Hall, making Anastasia and her cat team up against her.

Rose was completely caught off guard when Anastasia provided her version of a sincere apology. Rose hesitated, not sure what to say. Of course, Anastasia had apologized before, and if Rose was going with her gut, she thought it was fake as it was accompanied by insults and felt a little off. "Th-thank you," Rose said, only a couple seconds after Anastasia tried her best at apologizing. She never explicitly said "I'm sorry," but maybe that was because she was too proper for an "I'm sorry." Well, she never said, "I apologize," which sounded much more posh and cold. Just like Anastasia. How was it possible for a roaring fire to be so cold? Rose supposed some apologies on her end were in order as well. "I'm sorry too for butting into your private life and telling you what to do. That was really rude of me." She was expecting Anastasia to laugh out loud at any moment now, and start making fun of her again or hissing at her to stay away from Eyre or something. She had already been surprised that Anastasia had even approached her, so anything was still possible at this point.

She did admire her a little bit trying to apologize, though it was probably because she didn't want to worry Eyre about them fighting or something. Maybe she was a better person than Rose gave her credit for?

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Interacting With: @Rose Moon
Mentioning: Jasmine aka the coolest cat ever | Eyre Reeves
Hex Color: #0080FF

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Ana felt dirty in her apology. It wasn't remotely sincere and she hated it. She had apologized to Eyre, Rafa, and Ruby for her behavior because she had genuinely regretted her actions and the way that they had hurt the people she cared about. She didn't regret a moment of her treatment of Rose. She would do everything exactly the same if given the chance to do so. Her apologies to others had been her bearing her soul, each a rare moment of complete vulnerability. It felt like a mockery of something she had come to value and she hated it. Still, she would have left it alone if Rose had simply accepted it. She would have gone about her morning satisfied.

"Obviously," Ana scoffed in response with an eye-roll. Nope, she gave up. Rose was the literal epitome of a nuisance and while she was, regrettably, part of Eyre's life, that didn't mean Ana had to approve of it. "Just so we're perfectly clear, this does not mean I like, tolerate, or even remotely value you or your opinions on anything. You're spectacularly nosiy, far too assured of your own moral superiority, and a general imbecile. I'm making an effort to clear up my past actions because Eyre's my friend and I care about him but I do hope that you don't deceive yourself into believing for a single second that this changes a thing." Not a single one of her words sounded threatening or even unpleasant. As she finished, she took a peaceful sip of coffee, maintaining eye contact as if daring the younger girl to contradict a word she said.

The moral superiority was particularly unforgivable to Ana. While she did some morally questionable things, she had absolutely no illusions as to her own morality. She knew she wasn't the kindest person, and she was making a vague effort to do better when it came to the people she cared about. Rose on the other hand seemed to think herself some type of angel, which Ana had exactly zero tolerance for.

Ah.

So there it was. The insults following the apology. Rose had felt very uncomfortable when Anastasia had been trying to apologize but still had the cold, only slightly fake demeanor around her. Well, two could play at this game. Rose felt weird when Anastasia acted that way, too, like... she was being played around with. Like a mouse chased around by a lazy, fat cat. So Rose smiled and nodded, almost sympathetically. "Of course. Though, just while we're giving constructive critisiscm, I would advise you to stop insulting people and making enemies. It's very rude and really bad for your image. Anyway," she would stand up, picking up her bag. "It was lovely talking with you, but I'm afraid we'll have to cut this short- I left something in my dorm and I'm going to go get it before class starts." She did give the other girl enough time to reply, and didn't just sharply turn away, because then she would look like she was doing exactly what she was doing. Class wasn't really starting anytime soon, and Rose had plenty of time to go back up to Gryffindor Tower, but Rose just wanted to get away from Anastasia. She was so toxic.

And the worst part? Rose believed every single word that Anastasia had said about her, and was watching every word she said just to try not to be as noisy as Anastasia had told her she was. She was about to walk away. But-

"If Eyre has a problem, he can talk to me about it, not send his little girlfriend or replacement Ana or new sister or whatever..."

She just couldn't make herself. Because she had remembered those words from their first meeting and they had cut deep. She didn't want to fight over Eyre with Anastasia- she knew there was room for both of them, and she didn't want her to ever doubt that. But more than that, she didn't want to feel like a placeholder during their fight. She knew every word made her that much more noisy to Anastasia, but that wasn't her fault. She was going to end this on a good note between the two of them. She did seem a little more anxious and concerned while she said this, some of the confidence drained. "One last thing. I wasn't trying to, didn't, and could never replace you. Eyre was miserable while you two were fighting and I'm glad you made up." There. She had done all she could to make up with Anastasia, and she walked away before the older lioness could ruin her attempt.

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Interacting With: @Rose Moon
Mentioning: Jasmine aka the coolest cat ever | Eyre Reeves
Hex Color: #0080FF

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Ana deeply regretted her choice of venue. Punching Rose as she so dearly would have liked to would cause no shortage of problems since there were plenty of witnesses. Still, she was playing the long game. Just because she was making nice with Rose for Eyre didn't mean she couldn't make her life miserable. Ana's concern was far less over Eyre and Rose's relationship than it was over the fact that the aforementioned relationship meant that Rose apparently felt entitled to meddle in Ana's life.

"Forgive me if I'm not particularly interested in advice on my image and conduct from the likes of, well, you," Ana said, her tone dripping with disgust on the last word as though it were something dirty or disgusting rather than a way to refer to the girl across from her. She rolled her eyes at Rose's words. Seeing as Rose was a second year, Ana doubted that her classes started anytime soon. That made her stomach turn more than it ought to have. Still, Rose's moral superiority combined with her blatant lies was making Ana deeply reconsider just how committed she was to playing nice with her.

"Obivously, you didn't. As if you of all people bloody could. It doesn't mean that you didn't attempt to," Ana retorted coldly. Without knowing it, Rose had hit the issue on the head. The ginger likely wouldn't be able to tell, since Ana's face was a taciturn mask, but being cast aside and replaced was exactly what Ana feared. Her own parents had cast her aside, so what would ever possess her to believe that others would have any reason to do otherwise?

Anastasia Beckett has exited this thread