You were brave enough to ask, sadly the thread proves precisely why we can't all be friends. Differences of opinions, egos, hiding behind a screen, anonymity...It could be one thing, it could be multiple things, but honestly, I almost feel like that's why cliques exist. If you find a nice group of people that you vibe with well, you avoid that stuff for the most part and you generally stick with them. I don't think it's too far fetched to think maybe someday people can put their petty differences aside. But right now? I just don't think this community is there just yet. I'm hopeful I can be proven wrong.
The nonsensical tone that rang from her phone didn't sound like her ringtone or her alarm. As she slowly opened her eyes, she could see that the screen was different, too. As she stifled a yawn, she grabbed her phone, blinking a few times in the brightness of it as her eyes adjusted. The screen showed that it was a Skype call, the picture of a scowling chestnut haired young man who seemed to be yelling at what appeared to be a bird on a windowsill pecking at some baked goods that had been there.
Eyes widening, Lilie picked up immediately, and after a second of the call connecting, she could see the young man in person, considerably less grumpy. He looked like he was driving, eyes focused on the road, though he threw her a glance.
“Good morning,” He greeted her. “Are you still in bed?”
Lilie could have cried right there and then, but her happiness took a hold of her first. “Good morning, Ren!” She returned his greeting enthusiastically, immediately sitting up. She couldn't believe she was actually getting to talk to her brother right now, her attempt at trying to get her sleep schedule in place having always just missed him whenever she had a chance. At his latter comment she stole a glance at the time, surprised it was only eleven in the morning. She felt like she had been asleep for much longer. “Yeah, I'm trying to get used to the reverse cycle sort of thing, I'm supposed to be staying up all night and sleeping during the day.”
He nodded in understanding, fingers tapping the steering wheel. “I meant to call you sooner, but I thought you'd still be figuring stuff out, I didn't want to add to that,” He said, hands turning the wheel.
“It's going to take me more than a couple of days to figure anything out,” She admitted as she leaned against the headboard, freely admitting her frustration. “I already got reprimanded.”
Letting out a dramatic gasp, he held one hand to his chest, his breathing quickening. “Oh no! The perfect student actually got in trouble?! Call the fire marshal, inform the press, Lilie Dionne is a menace to society!” He wailed, albeit he broke out of it as the car came to a stop, giving her a deadpan look. “What did you do, offend some vampire by not getting on your knees and treating them like the Queen?”
“Joke all you want, I got paired with an actual noble,” Lilie informed him. “So offending someone is bound to happen, and then I'll get executed, and then we'll see who's still laughing.”
“Damn, Lilie, I was kidding.” Ren frowned as he turned off the car, leaning back in his seat. “Is it that bad?”
She was pretty stressed out, especially after already messing things up with Mariette, but she wasn't sure if she should tell him. Ultimately she decided against it; there was no point in worrying him. Besides, she didn't get beaten like she thought she would, so no harm, no foul. She probably wasn't going to be able to look Mariette in the eye for a while considering the whole ‘bloody tears’ thing, though. That was going to haunt her nightmares for days to come, for sure.
“I'm just stressed, I can't tell you a lot about it, but there's a lot I'm going to have to learn and no one to actually show me what to do,” She continued to voice her gripes. “I'm probably going to have to learn proper manners and etiquette or whatever, on top of whatever else I have to learn here, so…”
Ren nodded in understanding, thumb flicking his nose as he crossed his arms. “You're a smart kid, you'll figure it out,” He assured her, his faith in her being exactly what she needed to hear right now. “So day three now, how are you getting along with the other kids?”
Lilie brightened up, glad to tell her brother something positive. “I've made two new friends!” She replied excitedly. “One is named Salem, he's super nice and friendly, and when he gets excited he just goes off, it's hard to follow but he means well, I think,” She paused for a moment, hoping Salem wouldn't be too mad at her tomorrow. “And the other one is named Aaron, we actually had a spar earlier today--last night, sorry, and he's already able to use his magic, so I'm hoping I can kinda watch and learn from him,” And get some payback for her defeat.
Ren raised his eyebrows, rolling his head to the side. “Didn't you make any girl friends?” He asked.
“I met one of my neighbors that's a girl. But we didn't get to talk much,” She frowned. “And the countess is, well, a countess, so…”
Scowling at her, Ren uncrossed his arms as he threw them up, exasperated. “Then stick to them and forget the guys,” He insisted.
“This isn't high school, Ren. I'm going to be too busy learning about magic and trying not to upset my vampire instead of thinking about boys, if that's what you're worried about,” She chided him. “I have to just...do this. I'll figure it out, like you said. So don't worry about me.”
Opening his mouth to retort, he seemed to catch something she said, his frown settling on his expression. “I'm never not going to worry about you, so you just need to deal with that,” He told her sternly, albeit he had a rather soft look in his eyes. “Here or there, I'm...listen, Lilie, it doesn't matter what the time is, if you need me you just have to call. I mean it.”
Lilie watched Ren’s image on her phone, finding herself wishing she could hug him. “I know. Thank you,” She gave him a genuine smile as she rubbed her eye, feeling some tears biting at her. “Um, I'm going to try to sleep, but I'll make sure to call you again before I go to class. I promise.”
“Alright. Take care of yourself.”
As she ended the call, Lilie let out a breath she wasn't aware she was holding. Everything she had been holding back seemed to sneak up on her all at once. Ren had seen right through her without her having to admit how alone she felt right now, how lost and confused she was. But she couldn't admit it to him, knowing he had his schooling and the family business to deal with. Any issues that would arise would have to be dealt with on her own.
Part of her felt trapped, knowing that this was going to be her life going forward. There was no going back to how things used to be, the only thing she had to look forward to was being with an eccentric vampire for the rest of her life. It was a suffocating thought, and one that caused her great distress anytime it came to mind. But she also felt alone with that sense of dread; seeing her future classmates and texting Aaron told her that all of this was normalcy with them, that this was to be expected. No one was freaking out or worrying like she was, everyone was taking things with stride, falling in line as they should be, as she needed to be. She just needed to get her head in that mindset, too, no matter how scared she was.
Looking at her phone, part of her had wished she had been able to speak to Aaron about some of her thoughts. But it was probably too personal to indulge so much to someone you had just met, right? He might think she was weird, and she was desperate for human friends. The very last thing she wanted was to alienate him, and he actually texted her back, so she wanted to think that he wanted to get along with her, too, so no use in ruining a good thing.
Making herself comfortable, she found herself thinking about what her brother said about making friends. Hopefully Salem wouldn't be too upset with her, she could find him tomorrow and apologize properly, and she could try to make friends with Cassandra, too. She still wasn't sure what she was going to do about any vampires, her experience from them soured already. Mariette was a complete mystery, she needed to decide how she was going to handle living with her.
"However, one day I will be taking you away from everything and everyone that you know, back to my manor. You'll be allowed to visit your family and friends, but you'll always have to come back to me."
That terrible dread threatened to creep up on her again, causing Lilie to huff as she shook her head. The countess was giving herself too much credit; Lilie had already been taken away from her old life, everything going forward didn't mean anything to her. Not yet, anyway. Taking in a deep breath, she made herself comfortable as she closed her eyes.If she was going to lose it on the third day, then she was just pathetic. Everything was just going to take some getting used to, that's all.
Despite going back to bed within the hour, Lilie ended up getting out of bed at around two in the afternoon. She genuinely tried to sleep more, but her body refused. It didn't seem like staying asleep was an option, and though she was aware Mariette would still be asleep, she found herself getting bored in her room. Quietly putting herself in the kitchen, her hungry stomach was telling her to make herself something to eat, though she was distracted by how nice the kitchen was. Everything about this place was so fancy, even the cookware was high quality.
She ended up cooking herself a late breakfast (or would it be lunch at this point?) with whatever she found in the fridge, cleaning everything shortly afterwards and putting everything back before realizing that she didn't know what to do with herself for the rest of the day. If yesterday was any indication, then classes wouldn't start until late evening.
Oh boy.
After doing everything she could possibly think of, Lilie ended up sitting outside, watching the forest move with the wind as the sun started to set on the horizon. It was a beautiful view and the sun felt nice; she had no idea why she felt like it had been forever since she had felt it on her skin. Despite knowing sitting on the wall was probably inappropriate, she figured as long as she wasn't seen, she would be fine. She had shot Aaron a quick text to see if he was awake, but being up during the day seemed to be out of the ordinary. It was so strange to see a place so empty during daylight, but she supposed she needed to get used to it.
Now was as good a time as ever to decide what she was going to do about Mariette. Ignoring her probably wasn't an option, but interacting with her seemed like it was going to be difficult. Maybe she could request a new partner. Placing her head on her hands, she let out a groan. Maybe she could just run away somewhere and go into hiding or something. Running her hands over her face, Lilie's mind was abuzz with trying to figure out how to handle the vampire. She needed some advice. Eyeing her phone, she wondered what Aaron and Salem would do in this situation. Maybe they got along better with their vampires better than she did. Or at least, they would have a better idea than she did.
Mara's words were music to Victoire's ears, all too happy to get the fuck out of here. The night was a complete disaster, no one was happy, the dating arrangements just served to piss everyone off, and of course, nothing of importance happened. Following the blonde's lead, she only looked to see Kavi go berserk on his way out, rolling her eyes. Yeah, she wasn't going to stick around to deal with that, the staff could go ahead and handle it. Either she'd just go home and go to bed or spend the rest of her night bashing her head against the wall in an effort to knock herself out until tomorrow.
As she trailed behind Mara and considered the third option of crashing at her place, she was stumbled into. As she fully prepared to unleash her misaimed wrath on the poor soul, she wasn't the least surprised to find her own brother had been the culprit. Before she could properly chew him out, she was hit with the scent of alcohol.
"Vic, take me home," He grumbled at her, and she noticed a rather bright, red spot on his cheek. Likely someone above him who had rightfully put him in his place.
"Oh no, no, no," Victoire immediately shut down the idea, shaking her finger before pointing it at him. "You're just going to hit on Mara the whole time and say dumb crap, and believe me, I am beyond my stupidity tolerance for the rest of the weekend."
Lucas threw his head back, exhaling a whine. "Come on, Vic, there's no way I'll make it home like this. What if I get into a crash and die? You want that on your conscience?"
"So you are shit faced," She didn't think it was possible for her to be even more disappointed, but there he was, proving her wrong. "So much for 'I know my limits'."
"You know, for once, I actually don't know how it happened," Lucas mumbled, shaking his head in an attempt to clear his head. "But um...please take me home."
"Nope. You got yourself into this mess, get yourself out of it. Goodbye and good night," She dismissed him, pushing past him as he grumbled something about his 'boy' and staggering off in another direction. Paying no mind to him, she instead caught up with Mara and sighed. Stupid dance.
I've been working on being more emotionally open, and despite knowing the shit I'll get for it, I'll try it anyway and this is a good way to start. So in no particular order...
My Valentine's Day Peeps
≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎
@POOHEAD189 - My bestie, my shoulder to cry on, my confidant. I love you so much, you make me feel like I can do anything and I'm eternally grateful for your support through my darkest times. Thank you. and I'm still upset about that Aladdin teaser
@Obscene Symphony - Maybe someday this sadistic, masochistic dance of ours will cease and we can move onto healthier things, but for now, we can relish in our misery together. also my poor boy HNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNG
@Inkarnate - ur okay i guess you're more than okay you put up with all of my shit, thank you for that
@Altered Tundra - Nearly ten years of friendship and two sites' worth of roleplaying, here's to many, many more! I want to say more but I'm getting pretty emotional typing this up I'm so sorry you know I love you
Despite her better judgment Lilie's nerves got the best of her, with the white haired girl making a rather speedy exit. Either Mariette wasn't able to nab her or she let her go willingly; either way, Lilie knew she needed to be alone. She managed to control herself long enough to close the door properly behind her as opposed to slamming it, releasing a breath she wasn't aware she was holding as she stayed in place. It was rude, and she was more than certain she would get reprimanded for it later, but for the moment, she needed an escape.
Dragging her feet to the bed, she let herself fall on it, letting out a whine muffled by the sheets. Her vampire was crazy. All these Eve vampires were crazy. And the one vampire she thought would be alright ditched her within the hour. Were all vampires like this? Why did she have to get assigned to a noble? But what did she know? She was uneducated, powerless, and nothing more than something for her vampire to feed on. Part of her wanted to think there was more to it than she knew, but another part wondered if maybe she was the problem.
Her hand absentmindedly pulled out Ike's note as she turned her face, her eyes staring at his writing. At least he didn't leave an omnious warning like Arianna did. “Associate with the common crowd, dearest Lilie," She had said. Maybe it was just advice; she was clearly out of her element, constantly messing up her own introductions and calling people by the wrong titles and abandoning her 'charge.' But she had no idea what she was doing! Maybe sticking with her own kind was for the best, at least with other humans she wouldn't have to worry about angering anyone. So long as she kept her head down, she was certain she could get through this.
Letting out a sigh, she let herself doze off despite knowing she should have at least changed clothes. The universe seemed to agree as well: some time later, her phone chimed at her. Grasping it, she half-expected another pop up, though her eyes widened as she realized it was a text from Aaron.
> Hey, sorry, I just got home. Also, weird. Where is ‘here’?
He was just getting home now? What in the world was he up to? As she was about to inquire on it, she realized that her own assumptions were slightly out of bounds. Being out all night was probably normal around here; she was the odd one used to accomplishing things during the day. Eventually she was going to have to get used to that somehow. Today had been a whirlwind, and she managed just fine, but she was going to have to make sure she didn't go passing out during class.
For now, however, she was going to let Aaron know what had happened. He was the perfect distraction from this mess of a day.
> In the cul-de-sac, but they're all gone now. Someone got arrested, the princess was here, too! I thought I was going to pass out Dx
> Oh, wow. Must have been a big deal. Freaky! > Wait, what cul-de-sac? Where the noble dorms are?
> Yeah
Oh, right, Aaron was probably in the common dorms.
> OH > I live there, forgot to mention that since most of the students are in the public dorms > Since I'm rooming with Mariette > Not rooming, sorry, I'm her mage or whatever
For the rest of her life. But that was just a given.
> Pretty much how being a mage works around here, haha. > I live there too! In the Sinnenodel dorm, farthest to the right! > Mariette? Which family?
Lilie's eyes lit up at the revelation, the girl sitting up slightly as she immediately typed out her response. Just knowing that there was a familiar face nearby relieved her immensely. Or at least, a face that wasn't a vampire. It was a great comfort, waking Lilie out of her sleep as she happily gave him a response.
> OH WOW!! WE'RE NEIGHBORS!!! :D > I'm right next door! At the Eve dorm!
> Oh wow, what a coincidence! > I guess we’ll be seeing more of each other then.
It was so nice to see he was at least happy as well. She definitely needed a friend if she was going to get herself through this, if she only had Mariette to interact with, she was pretty sure she was going to go insane. Tapping her phone to her chin, she let out a sigh as she figured that was probably the end of their conversation. She supposed it was probably for the better, she was pretty tired. Besides, if they had classes together, they'd probably see one another. Or maybe they could walk to their classes together?
Before she could ask, her phone lit up again.
> What does your class schedule look like?
Great minds thought alike, it seemed! Lilie fished her schedule out of her bag, carefully unfolding the page before sending it to Aaron.
> I have Affinity Mastery in the Rose Hall, then Treaty Law in the Vilbrek Hall, then Lunch, then Spell Theory in the Rose Hall, then Self Defense at the Arena > Hbu?
Hmm, now that she was looking at her schedule, Affinity Mastery and Spell Theory were the ones that would likely grab her attention the most. Her eagerness to learn magic was what mainly drove her, though for now, she would give Aaron her attention as he would respond.
> ??? > OH I get it, heh.
Huh? He didn't get acronyms? Lilie raised an eyebrow at it, but she couldn't help but giggle. That was actually cute, he was like a time traveler from the 1800s.
> Hey, I have Treaty Law in Vilbrek too! And Spell Theory in Rose! And I think everyone has Self Defence in the Arena. I’ll be interested to see what they teach in that one.
> I'm more interested in learning my affinity. And magic! Real magic!! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:・ﾟ✧
> Your affinity is water, isn’t it? That’s magic! Though I’m excited to get into arcane magic too. I’ve had some aspect tutoring but so far arcane spells are still beyond me, haha.
> Well yeah but
Despite sending the text, Lilie realized she hadn't completed the thought, her mind wandering back to the day she and the rest of her town had discovered she was a mage. It lingered on the back of her mind from time to time, though the day's events had done a lot to quell it. But it wasn't something she would be forgetting anytime soon, even if she would do whatever it took to distract herself, she would never forget hanging onto her best friend's hand for dear life. She would never forget her former friend's vicious words, punctuating in one that constantly hung over her head:
"Murderer!"
Her chest tightened for a second, but she batted away the unpleasant memories. No need to have a breakdown this early into the game. Despite the thought, however, her doubt still pulled at her, resulting in a lackluster response.
> I don't know if I'll be any good at it
> Oh, so you’re basically in the same boat as literally everyone else. :P
His response caused her to burst out laughing, her hand clamping over her mouth to quiet herself.
> That's not what I meant! >:T
> I’m sure you’ll be fine! There’s a learning curve to everything, right?
> that's really nice of you to say but
No, no, she just needed to get a hang of things. Everything was going to be fine. She just...needed to learn to control it. Once she learned, everything else would fall into place. And she wasn't going to let the experience haunt her forever. She was determined to come out on top, she was going to master her affinity and be strong. She wasn't going to be a weakling anymore.
> nvm > sorry, I feel a little overwhelmed by everything
> Yeah, me too I guess. > But I hear that’s normal, isn’t it? You know, big changes, new place, new people. > Pairing system probably freaks some people out, but that’s life! Hopefully they’ll adjust quickly. > I’m sure you’ll be okay ^_^
Lilie found herself smiling appreciatively, her heart swelling at his messages. That was exactly what she needed to hear right now. She brought her phone down to her chest, grateful for Aaron's reassurance. Yeah, she would be okay. Things would be okay. Savoring the moment, she made sure to let him know how grateful she was.
> That means a lot to me > Thanks ♡
As she was about to consider whether or not she should bid him goodnight, she suddenly remembered that she never told him what had happened once they went their separate ways.
> OH OH OH SO > I think I'm cursed because my vampire left. Twice.
> Really? What happened?? > What like they just left you alone? Or they’re literally gone?
> the lady that came for me was an Eve. Arianna chose to leave the Academy, and another Eve named Ikelos came. But after we met, I went out to try to find you and Salem. I ran into one of our neighbors, then this countess came and said Ike left. He gave me a letter but it didn't say why he left. > and this Mariette is > I dont know what to make of her > She said some weird stuff and she read my diary!!! >:[
The splurge was unintended, but she had been dying to get that off of her chest. Because there was no way anyone else would consider that normal, right?
> Oh wow > A lot to unpack there > But I’d say talk to her about it? It’s not really appropriate for me to speak on that, heh.
Or maybe everyone here was just insane. Geez, Aaron, have a little sympathy!
> ¬_¬ > Idk about that > I'll tell you more about it tomorrow
'Cause just thinking about it was starting to rattle her again! Still, she realized she had spent a little too much time talking about herself, and she never asked what had happened after they had departed.
> More importantly, what happened with you? You said you had to go right? What happened?
> Oh, right.
Yikes, that was never a good way to start things off.
> My partner and I had to go to an important thing, he needed me to come home and get ready. > Actually, Salem was there too! Though I guess that makes sense, since he’s Lucan’s mage.
Her eyes widened again, her mouth opening in surprise. He saw Salem! Goodness, the first thing she was going to do was profusely apologize to the poor guy, he probably thought they had ditched him or something.
> im so happy you saw him!! I was so scared that he would be mad > at least you guys got to spend more time together > I had to stay in an office like a child that got reprimanded >.< > so what did you guys end up doing together?
> A meeting with the Queen and Princess Ryner as well as Lady Sinnenodel. Kind of a big deal! No wonder Count Varis pulled me away early.
Lilie hesitated for a moment, eyes narrowing at what she just read. No way, he was just pulling her leg, right?
> What > wait seriously > you went to see the Queen????
> Yeah, I think she and Lady Sinnenodel were here for business or something.
Whoa. That was a big deal! And Aaron was sort of just treating it as is. But that's like, huge, right? Squinting at her phone, she scrunched her face in thought. Lady Sinnenodel, was that his vampire? He did say he was in that dorm. No, that must have been someone else. The head of the house or something? She felt like she should know this, but she couldn't remember for the life of her at the moment.
> uh > that sounded like it was a stressful time
> … Yes XD > Their families butt heads on a lot of issues so there’s usually tension, heh.
Tensions between the families? How do you have tensions with the Queen? Isn't her word final? There was so much of this that Lilie didn't understand, and she decided that there was no point in trying to, either. At the end of the day, it really wasn't any of her business. Still, hearing that Aaron was stressed did worry her a little bit, and she decided to pay him back for him assuring her earlier.
> sounds complicated > but the good part is that its over! And then tomorrow is going to be a good day!
As Lilie yawned, she realized that she should probably get ready for bed. Making sure her phone was on her nightstand, she forced herself to get up, her legs protesting as she went into the bathroom. Pulling her clothes off, she rubbed her eyes before jumping into the shower, the warmth of the water nearly making her fall asleep standing/ She managed to clean herself without incident, and once done she pulled on her nightgown, rolling her now aching shoulder. Right, she had nearly forgotten about that. She figured she could sleep it off and be right as raining in the morning--evening. Man, this backwards schedule-thing was going to be such a struggle.
Getting comfortable in bed, she pulled out her diary as she jotted down her many, many thoughts, constantly looking at her phone. Aaron hadn't responded yet, and as much as she wanted to wait, she was slowly losing the battle with her sleepiness, her handwriting getting bubblier as she wrote. Once she finished writing, she was about to put it back when she remembered that Mariette had found it. Pausing for a moment, she shook her head. Now that she had expressed she didn't like it, she was sure the vampire wouldn't read it again.
She went ahead and put it back, making herself comfortable in bed before checking her phone. Still no response from Aaron. As much as she liked writing down her private thoughts, it had done wonders to relieve her stress and tension to talk to someone about it. Fortunately she was so tired that even her more negative thinking was quelled. She really did appreciate him listening, a small smile on her face as she mentally thanked him. Tapping her phone to her chin, she decided to send him one last message before she would go ahead and pass out.
> If you ever wanna talk or anything just let me know, okay? I have to keep my first friend close! :D
Neziul
MaeB
Lemons
Altered Tundra
Raijinslayer
Xiro Zean
WXer
Taka
Achronum
