4 Aug 2023, 01:54
Smoke to Daggers
The only reason Aaron was attending summer camp was because he didn't want to go home. "Home" being a relative term these days. He had honored the agreement to keep owling with his family at least once a month, but it was only his mum who wrote back lately. Their living situation at Aaron's grandparents' home didn't sound ideal, but his mum was doing her best to make it sound all wonderful and peachy. Aaron didn't buy it - and he certainly didn't buy the part where she said his father wanted him home for the summer too. So he had instead lied explained that camp was having a major academic push this year and he wanted to stay to get ahead in his studies. He hadn't gone home since the fire, not for Easter break or otherwise. And although he did feel really homesick for his family, he was also dreading the day that camp ended and he'd have no choice but to head back to Wales.Thursday | 13 July 2023 | sometime in the afternoon
Camp itself was proving to not be the best distraction, though. Yes, he could spend most of his days flying around the grounds, working on his tricks, and hanging out with Akari or Chae-rin; however, he also had to endure hearing awful rumors about a certain spin the bottle game from a couple days ago. Even here, sitting in a quiet area of the campgrounds overlooking the lake, he couldn't escape thoughts of it.
Aaron was pretty pissed off annoyed that he'd heard about @Aly Salinger's role in the game from several sources now. No one who straight up told him about it, but moreso the whispers he heard from people when they saw him and just had to mention how his ex had made out with someone hard-core during spin the bottle. What was Aly doing making out with @Jorah Moussa anyway? Sure, he was a good Quidditch player - actually, was that where they had met? Had she been crushing on him before? Aaron scoffed under his breath just before he noticed Akari was approaching him.
"Oh, hey, Akari," Aaron said, shooting a small smile in her direction, but it was pretty clear he was distracted. He turned his brown eyes back on the sketchpad on his lap, where he had been attempting to draw a trick diagram before getting distracted by thoughts of Aly and that loser of a Ravenclaw beater. "I'm still tryna figure out how to add more excitement to the act," he explained when the Gryffindor girl got closer. He had mentioned to her before that he wanted to add more danger to his trick riding acts, but they had never discussed it in detail. "I heard that fifth years learn the smoke to daggers spell in Professor Aarden's class, so maybe I could have a smokeshow involved somehow and then have daggers attack me as part of it," he said, his eyes focused on the not-well-drawn diagram of a Quidditch pitch with arrows showing the flight path he would take, and circles to represent the hula hoops he often practiced with.
"Maybe Chae could even pretend like she's controlling the daggers to attack me by skydiving at me with them," Aaron suddenly thought, his eyes lifting to Akari again to get her opinion on the matter. He pat the grass beside him, inviting her to sit close to him and take a look at the poorly-drawn diagram that he would decipher for her, explaining what each arrow and circle represented.
@Akari Kato
Aaron has a Calming Presence.Your presence simply puts others at ease, if it is your carefree personality or the trust others have in you, the result is still the same. With you there, perhaps through your encouragement, your allies are able to better focus.
Last edited by Aaron Jones on 11 Aug 2023, 23:23, edited 1 time in total.
PC: Aaron Jones | iNPC: Madeleine Nakamura | Former staff account: Marcus Iwasaki
2nd Gen PC: Idalia della Torre
Best way to contact me? Discord or owl Idalia
5 Aug 2023, 01:12
Smoke to Daggers
♡ Akari Kato ♡
Interacting with: @Aaron Jones
It was a good decision to come to summer camp, Akari thought to herself. It was turning out to be better than she expected, especially since Aaron happened to be attending too. She was able to spend more time with him and obviously what was not to enjoy about that. She did not really want to admit it, but the more she hung out with him the more she felt herself falling for him. But, she knew where he stood, and she was trying hard to respect it, but it was becoming increasingly hard as the time went by.
It was afternoon at this point and there was not much to do around, so Akari decided to go and find Aaron and see what he was up to. After looking around a bit, she finally stumbled upon him sitting alone over looking the lake. Akari grinned giddily and she neared him. "Fancy seeing you here" She greeted him back once he saw her approaching, thinking to herself how adorable his smile was while tucking some strands of her dark hair behind her ear. Noticing he was a little distracted she looked over from where she was to take a quick peak at what he was occupying himself with. "Oh wow that's a brilliant idea" She replied fascinatedly, thinking about how amazing it would be if he figured out a way for this new trick of his to work.
When she was practically beside him, she chuckled as he pat the space next to him, encouraging her to take a seat beside him, but she shook her head, clearly having another plan. "I have a better idea" She laughed shyly before crouching down and gently reaching out and taking the sketchpad, putting it down where Aaron had previously pointed to, and in its place, sitting down in his lap instead. It was rather funny how she was being so bold, and it was truly a testament to how comfortable he made her feel. She looked up at him softly, her delicate hand reaching up as she held one side of his face, while leaning forward slightly and kissed his cheek before whispering a small "Hi"
Getting carried away for a few moments, Akari just gazed at Aaron, finding it amusing that after all this time she was still sheepish in his presence. She then brought her hand down and cleared her throat, remembering that he had been showing her something. "Right what were you showing me again? Oh yeah the diagram, it looks pretty fantastic. It will totally add a cool flare"
Life is much easier when you just chill out | enzo delcroix |
5 Aug 2023, 02:50
Smoke to Daggers
Aaron's eyebrow arched a bit when Akari mentioned having a better idea. She took the sketchpad from his hands and placed it aside, replacing it with... herself. He blinked in surprise, but his lips turned into a small grin in response. His hands instinctively wrapped themselves around her waist, squeezing her a bit in approval. He expected a kiss to the lips, but the Gryffindor girl cradled his face and kissed his cheek instead. "Hi there," he responded, his grin turning to more of a smile. He had picked up on the fact that she was a bit of a romantic, and he didn't mind that at all. He actually quite enjoyed the affection of it all, it was the emotional toll and idea of someone prying into his homelife that had prompted him to make it clear to her he wasn't looking for a girlfriend. But they were on the same page about that, so everything was light and easy and nice. For real this time, not like with Lindsey. This time he had made it verbally clear to Akari at the beginning. Although the part where he had purposefully started showing more affection with Aly's return was something he hadn't really acknowledged to himself or to her.
"Well, I was going to show you my trick idea, but I think I'd prefer more of this first," Aaron said, using the hand around the front of her waist to instead turn her face back to his and kiss her properly this time. His hand cradled the side of her neck during the kiss, pulling away with a small smirk after a few seconds. "And now, I can show you my masterpiece," he teased, his hand removing itself from the side of her neck and running slightly through her hair before it could reach the ground where she had placed his sketchbook.
Aaron readjusted their positioning so that she could comfortably stay in his lap, his arms around her and holding the sketchpad in front of her. It meant she was now between his stretched legs, her back against his front. His chin touched the side of her head as he explained the diagram, which had the pitch outlined and circles for hula hoops. The pencil he had was now used to label a few things as he spoke.
"I know daggers might not be the most exciting thing, but they're a good place to start, don't you think?" he finally ended up saying, nudging her with his chin for her opinion. "Adds an extra danger level as opposed to the dives I normally go for."
"Well, I was going to show you my trick idea, but I think I'd prefer more of this first," Aaron said, using the hand around the front of her waist to instead turn her face back to his and kiss her properly this time. His hand cradled the side of her neck during the kiss, pulling away with a small smirk after a few seconds. "And now, I can show you my masterpiece," he teased, his hand removing itself from the side of her neck and running slightly through her hair before it could reach the ground where she had placed his sketchbook.
Aaron readjusted their positioning so that she could comfortably stay in his lap, his arms around her and holding the sketchpad in front of her. It meant she was now between his stretched legs, her back against his front. His chin touched the side of her head as he explained the diagram, which had the pitch outlined and circles for hula hoops. The pencil he had was now used to label a few things as he spoke.
"I know daggers might not be the most exciting thing, but they're a good place to start, don't you think?" he finally ended up saying, nudging her with his chin for her opinion. "Adds an extra danger level as opposed to the dives I normally go for."
@Akari Kato
PC: Aaron Jones | iNPC: Madeleine Nakamura | Former staff account: Marcus Iwasaki
2nd Gen PC: Idalia della Torre
Best way to contact me? Discord or owl Idalia
6 Aug 2023, 03:30
Smoke to Daggers
♡ Akari Kato ♡
Interacting with: @Aaron Jones
Akari giggled as Aaron was quick to reciprocate, and she without hesitation melted into his touch as he turned her face back to him before leaning in and closing the space between them properly. When he pulled away she could not help but immediately notice his expression as her gaze lingered on him. "Stop looking at me like that its too cute" She scrunched her nose with fake annoyance that would not fool a single soul as she mumbled to him in another soft whisper, playfully but gently hitting his arm with the back of her hand.
She then leaned her head slightly into his hand as he touched her hair. As per usual a small tone of crimson creeping up on her cheeks as he did so. Gosh all of this made her feel so... special... It was the simple things that she enjoyed so much and having this be her first, well whatever this relationship was, she was not used to all of these sort of couple-ly things, and she had to admit it was nice, really nice. But at the end of the day they were not a couple. And she had to keep reminding herself that. But boy was it getting hard.
Moving a bit so they could reposition themselves, she then lay back a bit leaning on Aaron's chest as he brought over the sketchpad, and then attentively watched him explain each of the things he had mapped out for his new trick idea. While he did so, one of her hands slowly slid on top of his, the one that was not occupied with the pencil, lightly playing with his fingers. Then, when he was done showing everything to her, she took his hand and fully intertwined her own with his.
"I think daggers sound super exciting" Akari piped up after listening to all his brainstorming. If all the timing was right she was sure it could bring out a few gasps from unexpecting audience members. She then looked up at him "But to be completely utterly honest I think anything you do would be amazing" She continued her tone quieting down as she shot him a compliment, though her expression beaming up at him nevertheless.
Then suddenly a quick idea popped up in her mid and she immediately wanted to share it with him. "Oh my gosh wait, have you ever seen those fascinating muggle street performers at those big carnivals? My mum took me a couple times. They use these sort of torch-like things that they light up while they are doing their act, so the fire makes it all look more scary" She gushed, wondering if that would be something he would want to try to incorporate considering he was looking for more thrilling additions to his tricks. "Could that work?"
Life is much easier when you just chill out | enzo delcroix |
7 Aug 2023, 04:25
Smoke to Daggers
"Thanks, Ari," Aaron said in response to her compliment, smiling and squeezing the hand she was holding. Anything he did would be amazing? He knew that the Gryffindor genuinely meant the words she was saying, but he also knew that it wasn't true. There were some things he still failed at. Not trick riding, but other stuff - important stuff.
Aaron was brought out of that line of thinking as Akari suddenly and enthusiastically launched into an idea. Aaron raised his eyebrows curiously as he listened to her idea, but as soon as she said the word torch, he made a slight grimace that he couldn't help. Fire? Yeah, he knew exactly what she was talking about when she described the carnival scene, but no way was fire getting incorporated into his act. His body even involuntarily stiffened in response.
"No," he said, almost immediately when she asked if it could work. Too harsh, he realized too late. The disdain for her idea was pretty palpable from the way his body had stiffened and the way he had said the words. Aaron had to make a conscious effort to relax his body again, and lighten his tone. That was weird - even he hadn't expected that from himself. He released her hand and placed it on her upper arm, rubbing it comfortingly.
"Sorry, I just mean - I don't think fire is a good idea," he said dismissively, giving no further insight into why. He wouldn't look her in the eye now, and released her hand so he could hold the sketchpad and use the other to flip to a blank page.
Aaron was brought out of that line of thinking as Akari suddenly and enthusiastically launched into an idea. Aaron raised his eyebrows curiously as he listened to her idea, but as soon as she said the word torch, he made a slight grimace that he couldn't help. Fire? Yeah, he knew exactly what she was talking about when she described the carnival scene, but no way was fire getting incorporated into his act. His body even involuntarily stiffened in response.
"No," he said, almost immediately when she asked if it could work. Too harsh, he realized too late. The disdain for her idea was pretty palpable from the way his body had stiffened and the way he had said the words. Aaron had to make a conscious effort to relax his body again, and lighten his tone. That was weird - even he hadn't expected that from himself. He released her hand and placed it on her upper arm, rubbing it comfortingly.
"Sorry, I just mean - I don't think fire is a good idea," he said dismissively, giving no further insight into why. He wouldn't look her in the eye now, and released her hand so he could hold the sketchpad and use the other to flip to a blank page.
@Akari Kato
PC: Aaron Jones | iNPC: Madeleine Nakamura | Former staff account: Marcus Iwasaki
2nd Gen PC: Idalia della Torre
Best way to contact me? Discord or owl Idalia
11 Aug 2023, 03:59
Smoke to Daggers
♡ Akari Kato ♡
Interacting with: @Aaron Jones
Akari was to say the least a bit stunned when what she thought was a bright idea was met with a stern no. She froze for a moment. Had she explained her idea wrong? Maybe she had not made sense? How come he hardly even took a second to think about her suggestion before refusing in such a direct manner? She was very very confused.
To be quite frank, she had not really understood how adverse he was to the idea, because she had been so distracted with her own doings. So much so that she did not even notice how his body involuntarily reacted to her input. She felt bad suddenly, thinking that maybe she had imposed herself too much, and well of course it was his tricks and hobby at the end of the day so he could say whatever he wanted, but she had simply been under the impression that he wanted to add a danger factor to it all, so that was certainly not the reaction she expected.
Her eyes trailed his hand as it left her own and made its way back to the sketchpad. Shortly after, one could say curiosity killed the cat, as Akari naively did not just let the topic go. Not because she thought anything was particularly wrong or because she thought her idea was genuinely worth pestering him about, but rather that she purely wondered what would not work about her idea.
"Oh I see... how come? Would it be too hard to coordinate?" She asked completely innocently, still not quite getting the hint. "I guess I just thought that it would be cool since those performers are always able to give the audience a fright, and keep them holding their breath, since it looks like something could go wrong at any moment" Akari pressed on.
Life is much easier when you just chill out | enzo delcroix |
11 Aug 2023, 04:35
Smoke to Daggers
As Aaron flipped to the empty page on his notepad, feeling a bit shaken by his own reaction, the last thing he expected was for Akari to continue pressing the matter. Annoyance suddenly flooded his emotions. Normally the Gryffindor girl was very attuned to him, and this one time that she wasn't following his lead was really irking him. He clearly didn't want to talk about it and shouldn't have to explain himself.
"Of course I could do it if I wanted to - you think I'm not skilled enough?" the Hufflepuff teenager scoffed, annoyance evident in his voice. He didn't know why he was picking a fight, and in the moment didn't really realize he was doing it. What he did know is he didn't want to hold her anymore, so he removed himself from their entanglement - he scooted back away from her. He situated himself a foot or so behind her now, crossing his legs and replacing the sketchpad back on his lap so it was clear she was no longer welcome there. His brown eyes focused on the blank page, a deep frown on his lips.
"Like I said, fire isn't a good idea," he said coolly. No more "I think" it's not a good idea. Just - it's not a good idea. His dominant hand held his pencil hovering over the empty page, but his hand was shaking. The image of fire had entered his mind now, and he didn't know how to get it out. A moment later and the pencil was gripped tightly in an effort to stop the shaking, his knuckles white. He could smell smoke. Where was the smoke coming from? He coughed, covering the gesture with the inside of his elbow.
His brown eyes lifted from the page and towards the sky, but there was nothing there. No smoke, no fire, nothing. What was happening? His eyes landed back on Akari, frowning once again at the fact that there was a witness to his absurd reaction to the mention of fire. He arched an eyebrow, as if asking Well? What're you staring at?
"Of course I could do it if I wanted to - you think I'm not skilled enough?" the Hufflepuff teenager scoffed, annoyance evident in his voice. He didn't know why he was picking a fight, and in the moment didn't really realize he was doing it. What he did know is he didn't want to hold her anymore, so he removed himself from their entanglement - he scooted back away from her. He situated himself a foot or so behind her now, crossing his legs and replacing the sketchpad back on his lap so it was clear she was no longer welcome there. His brown eyes focused on the blank page, a deep frown on his lips.
"Like I said, fire isn't a good idea," he said coolly. No more "I think" it's not a good idea. Just - it's not a good idea. His dominant hand held his pencil hovering over the empty page, but his hand was shaking. The image of fire had entered his mind now, and he didn't know how to get it out. A moment later and the pencil was gripped tightly in an effort to stop the shaking, his knuckles white. He could smell smoke. Where was the smoke coming from? He coughed, covering the gesture with the inside of his elbow.
His brown eyes lifted from the page and towards the sky, but there was nothing there. No smoke, no fire, nothing. What was happening? His eyes landed back on Akari, frowning once again at the fact that there was a witness to his absurd reaction to the mention of fire. He arched an eyebrow, as if asking Well? What're you staring at?
@Akari Kato
PC: Aaron Jones | iNPC: Madeleine Nakamura | Former staff account: Marcus Iwasaki
2nd Gen PC: Idalia della Torre
Best way to contact me? Discord or owl Idalia
11 Aug 2023, 05:20
Smoke to Daggers
♡ Akari Kato ♡
Interacting with: @Aaron Jones
"I- What- No- of course not, I'm sure you could- I was just- " Akari fumbled over her words, if she had not quite noticed it before she certainly noticed his change in demeanor now. But she was at a complete loss. Unsure of what went wrong, or what she said that could have made him shift his attitude so drastically and snap at her.
It was just the cherry on the cake when he suddenly back away from her, no longer holding her in his lap. Her heart dropped, and she immediately began to fret, never seeing this side of him before. She could practically see the cloud of annoyance appear over him and she felt a flood of guilt wash over her. A small anxious frown grew upon her face. Why couldn't she figure out what she had done and what was making him so upset?
"Right, I- I am sorry" She replied in what only came out as a shaky whisper and a nod, accepting that he really just did not like the idea. She felt her throat close up slightly as she turned back to him, reading his expressions frantically, and desperately trying to grasp onto any clue she could, but to no avail.
It was then that Aaron finally looked back up at her for the first time since, but his expression was anything but consoling. He had given her a look of pure irritation, and she was no closer to understanding what was going on. She bit her lip nervously, chewing down hard, as she attempted to gather her words. She was just so utterly confused and she knew she had to be missing a part of the bigger picture but she had no idea what or where to even start.
"I am really sorry-" Akari repeated again not quite knowing what she was apologizing for but knowing that she just wanted everything to go back to how it was a few minutes ago and forget any mention of his new tricks. She swallowed her discomfort before she continued. "Did I do something- Is- is everything okay?" Her tone still rather hushed and her gaze slowly attaching itself to the ground.
What in the world was happening?
Life is much easier when you just chill out | enzo delcroix |
11 Aug 2023, 06:09
Smoke to Daggers
Aaron's lips tightened as he heard Akari's apologies. He pushed her words to the back of his mind immediately, but she kept repeating herself, and it was hammering away at him. The guilt from the fire, the guilt from snapping at her, it was clawing its way up his throat and making it hard to breathe. His eyes dropped back to the empty notepad page when she made eye contact, unable to form words in that moment. What was he supposed to say? Sorry, I'm just having a bit of a panic at the moment? Was he meant to tell her about the wave of nausea that was building in his stomach? No. He wasn't going to go spilling his guts to a girl that knew nothing about him, because then he'd have to talk about all of it. How the fire had paralyzed him, how his father had looked at him, how he had thought about being expelled rather than thinking about his sister-
"Everything is obviously not okay," Aaron finally said, closing the sketchpad firmly and cutting off his own thoughts there. He looked over at Akari, his brown eyes had hardened and he had a determined look on his face. "I'm going to go practice - alone - I just need a break," he said. From you, was unspoken, but probably implied. Flying is what he needed, not a girl who wanted to pry into his thoughts and question him about fire stunts.
The Hufflepuff got to his feet easily enough, but did not offer to help her up like he normally would. Aaron didn't ask her to come along. He had made it clear she shouldn't follow him. So he walked off, towards the rest of the campgrounds, intending to fetch his Moontrimmer and go for a fly over by the training pitch. He didn't look back over his shoulder or anything, he only had the skies on his mind now.
"Everything is obviously not okay," Aaron finally said, closing the sketchpad firmly and cutting off his own thoughts there. He looked over at Akari, his brown eyes had hardened and he had a determined look on his face. "I'm going to go practice - alone - I just need a break," he said. From you, was unspoken, but probably implied. Flying is what he needed, not a girl who wanted to pry into his thoughts and question him about fire stunts.
The Hufflepuff got to his feet easily enough, but did not offer to help her up like he normally would. Aaron didn't ask her to come along. He had made it clear she shouldn't follow him. So he walked off, towards the rest of the campgrounds, intending to fetch his Moontrimmer and go for a fly over by the training pitch. He didn't look back over his shoulder or anything, he only had the skies on his mind now.
@Akari Kato
PC: Aaron Jones | iNPC: Madeleine Nakamura | Former staff account: Marcus Iwasaki
2nd Gen PC: Idalia della Torre
Best way to contact me? Discord or owl Idalia
11 Aug 2023, 22:37
Smoke to Daggers
♡ Akari Kato ♡
Interacting with: @Aaron Jones
As Aaron responded to her Akari felt herself choking up even more. Well obviously something was wrong but how was she supposed to know if he would not talk to her. It was all so out of the blue, and it was like he expected her to be able to read his mind. It was then that the boy proclaimed he had had enough and wanted a break. He got up off the ground and without another word stormed off, leaving a bewildered Akari behind.
Akari had not said a word in response to him, and she sat in silence as she watched him walk away from her. When it came to others that she was not as close with, Akari did not have a problem with coming up with a retort or speaking back. Yes she was on the more soft spoken side, but she could speak up for herself no problem. But this was different. She really liked Aaron, and she the last thing she wanted was for him to be mad at her. She wanted to run after him and give him a hug and tell him that she would drop it and not ask anymore stupid questions, but he had made it clear to her he did not want her company at this time.
She felt awful, and there was a horrible stinging sensation in her eyes, threating to well up at any moment. All in all she did not know what happened and he had left her in the dark, not explaining to her why she was so clearly in the wrong. So she simply did not have the tools to fix it. Had she just ruined everything? Would he ever speak to her again? These were the types of questions that flooded her mind, mixed with replaying their interaction over and over. She just could not figure it out. What had been so bad about her suggestion? Had she stepped out of line? He had seemed open to her input just moments before, so what changed?
Akari brought her legs up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them and resting her head down on her knees. She took a deep breath in, forcing the tears back, telling herself she would not cry over a boy. But his tone had just been so harsh... Well there was nothing much she could do now. She would just have to give him space if that was what he wanted.
Thread Ended
Life is much easier when you just chill out | enzo delcroix |