Grapes to Honey
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| xxx | Lottie hardly registered the firm weight that rested on her shoulders, neatly covering both her jacket and her nightgown in a warm embrace. If the dried tears on her undereye and the quiet hum of nightly noises weren't enough to send her drifting off on the stone floor, Avis's cloak certainly was. She let out a soft exhale, letting her eyes close softly and her head move to rest on her knee. "Maybe," she replied softly, the preposterous nature of the suggestion at once a joke and an idea. "I just don't know what to make of it now. With nothing, you know?" Nothing was nearly as comical as too much. Lottie would never have nothing. If she didn't have her family, she would have her friends, and if she didn't have her friends, she'd have her books. That was to say, she likely wouldn't lose her closest friends anytime soon. It was an odd thought, that she had actually made some connections outside of her siblings. Odd, but warming. At Avis's final question, Lottie hesitated. She loved Anadil as much as she was frustrated by her. It was difficult to differentiate the parts of her that represented her own identity and her actions. Did being like her mean leaving? Or did it mean embracing who she truly was? What she loved, who she loved, how she wanted to live her life. But Anadil wasn't some abstract idea that could be cut up into a handful of bite-sized pieces and examined under a microscope. "Might not be so bad." It came out fond, gentle in a way she wasn't used to being, especially not about her sister. She could spend a million years rekindling the furious flames of the past and letting the memories burn on, and she could never truly hate her sister, nor her decision to leave. And maybe, one day, Lottie would leave to. She huffed out a short laugh that caught on a sniffle, wiping her stale cheeks. There was no doubt in Lottie's mind that she was long past her bedtime, and the threat of any prefects catching her and Avis out of their dorms was enough to drag her into a proper sitting position. "It's late." | xxx |
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Grapes to Honey |  |
| ✦"You better start walking. Love takes miles."✦ STA 8 │ EVA 8 │ STR 6 │ WIS 6 │ ARC 6 │ ACC 7 |
Grapes to Honey
Avis crossed her feet and lay her head against the wall, allowing the silence to cloak the girls like the shadows of the low hanging lanterns. It wasn't an awkward silence, but a soft, thoughtful one.
"With nothing, you know?" Avis nodded. "oh I know. Its all just nothing and yet we care."
The girl took a breathe and snorted out a choked up laugh, and Avis rang the final buzzer in her mind. Laughter meant one of two things: the crying was over, or the other person wanted to pretend that it was. Either way, it was a mark of a rapidly ending conversation, and Avis wasnt going to fight it. Her patience and kindness wasnt infinite, and she did want to get to bed at a reasonable hour, but she wanted to finish her patols first. Not that those patrols were any good, if tonight was any indication. The first time Avis had actually caught someone, and she wasnt even giving the girl detention.
Besides, Avis wanted Charlotte get to bed. After all, time heals all wounds. Plus, if she got to bed now she might be able to avoid the puffy red eyes that often follow a long night of crying. Charlotte seemed well put together, not a girl who would be okay going to class in that state.
Rising to her feet, Avis offered Charlotte a hand up, lest the girl fall asleep where she sat. Regardless of if she took it, Avis would pull the clock tighter around the girl. "leave this just outside your common room, i'll pick it up at potions tomorrow - its warm enough i dont need it for the rest of tonight." With a small, sympathetic grin, Avis turned on her heel and slipped around a corner, only then realizing she had left her prefect badge in her cloack.
@Charlotte Winfield
"With nothing, you know?" Avis nodded. "oh I know. Its all just nothing and yet we care."
The girl took a breathe and snorted out a choked up laugh, and Avis rang the final buzzer in her mind. Laughter meant one of two things: the crying was over, or the other person wanted to pretend that it was. Either way, it was a mark of a rapidly ending conversation, and Avis wasnt going to fight it. Her patience and kindness wasnt infinite, and she did want to get to bed at a reasonable hour, but she wanted to finish her patols first. Not that those patrols were any good, if tonight was any indication. The first time Avis had actually caught someone, and she wasnt even giving the girl detention.
Besides, Avis wanted Charlotte get to bed. After all, time heals all wounds. Plus, if she got to bed now she might be able to avoid the puffy red eyes that often follow a long night of crying. Charlotte seemed well put together, not a girl who would be okay going to class in that state.
@Charlotte Winfield
Avis Marlong | ”She won't cry or beg for help...she'll isolate from the world and fight her own demons so that nobody can throw it in her face later.” |
"The odds of hitting your target increase dramatically when you aim at it." Benji Marecos |
Grapes to Honey
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| xxx | The night was not getting any younger, and Lottie knew that only time would heal the deep flush of red that spread from her cheeks to her under-eye. Not that it mattered, really. Lottie had learned very early on that little could disturb the natural beauty of her Veela heritage. She very well could spend the rest of the night tossing and turning, only to wake and leave for class un-showered, and still carry herself with an otherworldly grace. Still, she feverishly swiped her hands down her cheeks, smearing the dried tears. Avis seemed content to let the discussion rest, and Lottie was more than happy to cease her emotional ramblings in favor of returning to her bed. Gratefully, she clasped Avis's outstretched hand, allowing herself to be pulled up off the cold cobblestone floor. She wobbled a bit as her legs finally found ground beneath her, but she mustered enough stability to look Avis straight on. "Er- thank you." There was more that she could say, something to restore her slow-crumbling reputation as a stone-faced enigma, but words abandoned her. Instead, she distantly allowed Avis to adjust her cloak around Lottie's shoulders and give her a small, strange look. This was not the comfort Lottie was familiar with, not the kind she received at home. Within that otherworldly home, that functioned within its own system of understanding, comfort came in understanding. Anadil knew what it meant to cry over their mother's harsh words, and she knew what it required to grow past that. Even if her idea of growth was resentment. She had tried many times to instill that same resentment within Lottie, and for some reason, it just never seemed to stick. This was different, though. This was warm and soft, sensitivity light as a feather's touch against her quivering skin. The expression Avis gave her just before whirling around to leave left a strange feeling in Lottie's gut. Unfamiliar, but settled. It was time for bed. As soon as Avis had disappeared down the hall, Lottie began making her own way to the dungeons. Despite her many layers, the nightly chill managed to sneak its way into all exposed skin, causing her to shiver. As she carefully tucked her hands into the cloak's pockets, her fingers curled around an unfamiliar object. If she had even a moment's hesitation, she would have perhaps been wise enough to mind her own business and leave the foreign item where it belonged, but in her groggy state, curiosity got the better of her. She extracted the object. It was a badge, light pink with silver lining. And, emblazoned in the very middle, a large P. Prefect. Lottie's heart skipped a violent beat. She whipped around, expecting to find the other girl had returned with the headmaster in tow, but the corridor was just as empty as she had left it. Two terrifying options immediately posed themselves: confrontation, or ignorance. Though, as Lottie distantly recounted their conversation, the surprising warmth, the strange laughter, she saw another option slowly begin to reveal itself. Gratitude. To her surprise, she huffed out an easy laugh. Quick as she had grabbed it, she tucked the badge back into her pocket and started off for the dungeons. | xxx |
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Grapes to Honey | |
| ✦"You better start walking. Love takes miles."✦ STA 8 │ EVA 8 │ STR 6 │ WIS 6 │ ARC 6 │ ACC 7 |