Venus

The King of the Sea & the Queen of the Land

My dirty little secret
Who has to know?

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On the other side of the castle, Demetria and Jomana were also neck-deep in homework. The two best friends were in the Gryffindor common room, sitting side by side at the study table by the window. They’ve already discussed the events of that day, and had decided to drop the subject when they had begun to bicker over it -which seemed to be a common theme as if of late. The girls were currently answering some questions for Charms class, and they were turning out to be more time-consuming than they’d thought. Jomana had taken it in stride, but Demi was growing more tired by the second. All she wanted was to meet up with Noel and pick up where they’d left off. But after the close call they’d had earlier, they’d decided to let things cool off for a little while. They both knew well that it wouldn’t be long until they were all over each other again.

The brunette had been fuming over a particularly long question when a voice called out to her: “Hey Graves,”. And when Demi looked, up she was surprised to find fourth-year Tatiana Lychestein standing beside her, looking as if she’d found the answer to all her prayers. This was red flag #1, as Demi had never had any sort of reason to interact with Tatiana.

“Hey Lychestein,” she replied, shifting her position to give her full attention to the girl.“What’s up?

“You’re Noel Jameson’s Potions partner, right?” Tatiana asked with a curious, hopeful expression. There was red flag #2.

Demi’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. Why on Earth would this She was very interested to see where this conversation was going. Meanwhile, Jo wore the same expression as the American, yet pretended to still be immersed in her work. She shook her head a little before answering with a dry “Yeah, why?”

Tatiana’s eyes lit up, which made Demi’s scowl even more pronounced. This did nothing to diminish the excitement in the younger girls’ face, though. “Haven’t you heard?” she asked Demi, who shook her head. The younger girl grinned, seemingly very happy to find someone to spill the tea to. “Well, there’s this rumor going around that they’ve seen him sneaking around with a Gryffindor! I know, right?! Him, of all people! Well, anyway, since you’re his Potions partner I thought you might be of help. Maybe you’ve heard or know something about who they are?”

And there it was: red flag #3.

Demi and Jomana exchanged meaningful looks, but refrained from doing or saying anything else. While Jo turned back to her parchment -trying to appear as if she’d completely disengaged herself from the conversation yet leaving a listening ear-, Demi was quick to answer Tatiana’s question.

“Oh darn… Sorry to disappoint you, but no: I have no idea what -or who- Jameson decides to do in his spare time.” she replied stiffly, battling with the desire to end the conversation or try to dig deeper to hear exactly what was going around. Being the curious girl she’d always been, Demi decided on the latter. “But does anyone have any idea who it could be? Any suspects?” she said in her best fake interested tone.

Tatiana nodded vigorously. “Well, people thought it was you for a bit, because of the Potions thing. But that was quickly ruled out, because why in Merlin’s beard would the Gryffindor Quidditch captain want to be involved with the likes of Jameson?” she let out a laugh as if the whole thing was ridiculous, and Demi joined her even when her paranoia was now at an all-time high. “There’s also the fact that he likes purebloods, so that also rules you out. So, right now, the top contenders are Jana Doppler, Lyanna Nielsen and Olivia Wilson.”

Demi pretended to be deep in thought considering the options before eventually voicing an opinion. “If you were to ask me, I’d say it’s Olivia. She fits the type of girls he usually goes for, and she’s a pureblood.” She could hear Jomana doing a little disapproving sound with her tongue, but the American paid her no mind. Her eyes remained on Tatiana, who seemed to be thinking through what Demi had just said.

“It does make sense… She was actually the I was leaning towards myself.” Tatiana piped up, looking satisfied with the findings of her investigation. She offered Demi a bright smile. “Thanks!” And with that, she was bouncing away towards her dormitory.

Demi shifted her position to face Jomana now. Her best friend was looking less than pleased, which the American suspected had to be because she’d purposely thrown some poor, innocent girl under the bus to cover up her own sorry ass. She’d open up her mouth to say something -very likely to scold her on her cowardice-, but Demi was quick to intervene. “Jo, if you’re going to lecture me, please don’t. Let’s just pretend this never happened and keep on doing this stupid homework, okay?

Jomana gave Demi a glare followed by an exasperated sigh before turning back to her homework. “Fine. But next time, if you do not want things like this to happen, do try to be more careful.” she muttered angrily to her best friend, scowling brown eyes on her parchment.

Demi sighed, and also turned back to resume her homework. However, although her quill was effectively working, her mind was in a whole other place. Who could have possibly seen her and Noel? Everyone was supposed to be in class. And even if they were skipping, Noel and Demi had been careful to remain hidden and separate when they could be exposed. There was also the fact that she’d looked around many times to make sure the perimeter was safe before venturing out. So what went wrong?

No, this ‘rumor’ had carefully fabricated, planted in a way to get people out for a literal witch hunt. Her reputation kept her safe for the time being, but what if the doubts resurfaced? What if some small detail exposed her emerged? It wouldn’t be the end of the world, but it would bring her many inconveniences and drama she was trying hard to avoid. One thing was certain, though: if she ever found out who was behind this leak, Demi would make sure they would face the consequences.

{Hɪɢʜ Cᴀsᴜᴀʟ} Pᴇɴɴʙʀᴏᴏᴋᴇ Uɴɪᴠᴇʀsɪᴛʏ

When you have to make a Dante post so soon:

_{Boy's awfully popular LOL.}

The King of the Sea & the Queen of the Land

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Instead of going straight to her next lesson, Demi had opted to hide away behind the staircase at the furthest end of the floor, waiting for the last three students to exit the classroom. She was much too curious to know what had happened after she left the dungeon, and was determined to hear it as soon as it was over with. From her position, she saw as Beatrice hurriedly left the premises (Demi clenched her teeth at the sight of her), as did Kalder less than five minutes later. Finally, it was Noel’s turn to leave, and as he unknowingly approached Demi’s hiding spot, she jumped out to intercept him.

“Come here for a second!” she whispered, grabbed Noel’s arm and dragged him to the back of the staircase where she had been previously hiding. Once they were safely away from any prying eyes, she looked up at him with an apologetic expression, biting her lip. “Look, I’m sorry about what happened back there,” she began, pouting a little as a way to low-key be more believable. “I was acting stupid and not thinking things through. I didn’t mean to hurt you in any way, so I’m sorry about the hostility.”

A rather naughty thought had crossed Noel’s mind when he realized they were out of sight, but Demi unfortunately put that thought in the ground as she would apologize. As much as he wanted to forgive and forget, having Kalder question him got under his skin. “I just want to understand what’s going on,” He would admit, shrugging. “I thought we had a good thing going.”

Demi sighed, a guilty look on her face now. Shit, this wasn’t the way she wanted things to go. In fact, this was the one thing she was afraid of: that her past with Kalder fucked up her present with Noel, even if their involvement wasn't serious. Luckily for her -and judging by the way the blond male wasn't leaving or cutting things off- it seemed that not all hope was lost yet… Right?

Demi let out a sigh. “We do, Noel, we do…” she said in a soft tone, wrapping her arms around him as she stared into his eyes, lower lip still being bitten -a trick she’d come to notice worked really well when she was trying to get on his ‘good side’ AKA seduce him so he would do what she wanted. “There’s nothing going on, I promise. Some things are just best left unsaid and forgotten.”

Going straight for the kill, was she? He still wanted to know what was going on, but her lips were literally calling for his, making the situation very difficult to handle. He inhaled through his nose in an attempt to calm himself down. “I don’t want you to be looking at him,” He murmured, staring into her eyes. “I want you all to myself.”

At his words, Demi’s eyes widened, mouth slightly agape. She didn’t know just how much two sentences said in such a way were capable of getting someone’s knees weak- like hers were at the moment. The fact that the Noel Jameson -the Slytherin Casanova that had gaggles of girls coming for him left, right and center- was actually feeling jealous and possessive of her of all people, sent all kinds of good feelings down her body. The brunette had never felt so wanted; not even back with the guy Noel was referring to. For once, Kalder Sigourney was the last thing on her mind.

She didn’t really realize how or when, but the next thing she knew, Demi found herself pinning Noel against the wall with her body and greedily pressing her lips against his. The young man was pleasantly surprised by her sudden change in mood, sparks bouncing off the walls as the pair enveloped each other in a fiery mix of lust and touch. Eventually, they broke up, both pairs of eyes clouded with desire.

“You wanna skip again?” she asked Noel breathlessly, arms still wrapped tightly around him.

Gazing into her eyes, a rather mischievous smile traced his lips, although he ended up kissing her again, only breaking apart to tell her, "As long as you don't mind a little catching up."

Demetria let out a giggle, immediately catching the reference her partner was making. “Of course not.” she muttered suggestively, kissing him once more before pulling him by the hand. “Let’s go, then. I’ll leave first, you follow in a bit.”

Noel gave her that sly smile that drove her crazy before nodding. “Got it.”

Holding hands, the pair left their hiding place and made their way out of the dungeons. They exchanged one last kiss before Noel stayed back and Demi moved further. However, their plans were soon put to a halt.

“Miss Graves?” a voice called out to Demi as she was about to reach the castle’s double doors. When she turned to see who was addressing her, her heart sank at the sight of none other than Professor Splendora: the Transfigurations master. And she wasn’t looking very pleased. “You’re supposed to be in my classroom. Where are you headed?”

Thinking on the spot, Demi held her ground. “My apologies, Professor. My classmates were concerned about your absence and I volunteered to find you.” she said convincingly, an innocent look on her face.

Splendora wasn’t impressed, because her face remained as stern as her tone of voice. “As much as I appreciate the concern from yourself and your classmates, I suggest you follow me to class before I take points from your House.”

Demi nodded vigorously. “Yes, ma’am.”

The Professor motioned to the girl to follow her. Shooting an apologetic look at where Noel was hiding, the Gryffindor didn’t have any other choice but to follow Splendora back to the Transfiguration classroom. 

{Hɪɢʜ Cᴀsᴜᴀʟ} Pᴇɴɴʙʀᴏᴏᴋᴇ Uɴɪᴠᴇʀsɪᴛʏ

@Hushed Whispers Question: the time skip would be to later the same night of the bonfire or to another day?

{Hɪɢʜ Cᴀsᴜᴀʟ} Pᴇɴɴʙʀᴏᴏᴋᴇ Uɴɪᴠᴇʀsɪᴛʏ

Will wait till spooner posts before making another Dante post. 😁

Creating Our Own Lives; A Road Trip, Slice of Life Roleplay!

Since I forgot to mention it in my post: the text Samantha sent was meant for Nate @spooner and Sam @Denny!

The King of the Sea & the Queen of the Land

Caution, there's just no limits to the boundaries you push,
I've warned you but still you just fuck with my mind
There's no escape from this rage that I feel,
Nothing is real

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The rest of the lesson had gone by in a breeze. Even with the constant distraction of trying to avoid looking at her front neighbors, the preparation of today’s potions had kept both Noel and Demi busy. The Slytherin seemed to be improving steadily, which pleased her very much. Whether it was the study sessions or the incentive of their ‘relationship’, she didn’t know. All that mattered was that, with every lesson, their chances of accidentally getting poisoned by Noel were getting significantly lower.

Because most of their classmates were leaving the room after being dismissed, Demi unwillingly overheard the conversation going on between Kalder and Beatrice. She rolled her eyes and made a sour expression as he thanked Bea for her ‘selfless’ help before announcing he was off to his next lesson. And Bea, ever the ‘selflessly helpful one with absolutely no secret intentions’, immediately offered up her human walking stick services once more.

Demetria scoffed. “‘I’ll hilp yiuh, I’ll hilp yiuh’! Wah, wah, waaaaaah!” she mocked under her breath while placing her belongings inside her bag, making faces as she spoke. “Give me a fucking break. 'Oh, please, Kalder: can I lick the soil off your boots? I’ll do anything for you if it means you’ll love me forever and ever'!”

Unbeknownst to her, Noel had overheard her bitch fit. Without realizing what he was about to do, he shrugged before speaking up. "It's a bit sappy for my taste, but they look nice together," the young man had admitted as he packed his own bag.

The next sound that was heard across the dungeon was when Demi’s book bag fell off their table, books slipping out of its insides and scattering all over the cold floor. The Gryffindor’s mouth was wide open with shock, eyes nearly-shut slits of fury. He didn’t know it, but Noel had pretty much squeezed a lemon and rubbed salt all over the invisible fresh wounds in her heart. What came after was done out of impulse; a consequence of the young woman acting out of anger without thinking things through.

Demi turned to Noel with a dead-serious look in her face, wand drawn and discreetly pointed at him. “Noel, I will stick this wand up your ass if you ever say some stupid shit like that again.” she threatened, sparks flying out of her wand as if backing up that she meant every word she was saying.

Okay. It was time to address the hippogriff in the room. The young blond man looked at her, his eyes wide. "What is with you?" He was just as annoyed as she was at this point, seemingly losing whatever previous patience he had. "You've been acting so hostile I'm starting to think I should properly shield myself in case you decide to attack someone!"

This stopped Demi in her tracks, a bewildered expression on her face. He was right, though. Every time Kalder’s name came up in conversation, she would instantly get hostile, spewing out threats in an attempt to disencourage any further mention of the individual in question. However, this was only managing to do more harm than good. Noel’s patience with her was clearly running low, and his suspicions seemed to only be strengthened by every scene like this. If she really wanted to move on, then she’d have to make the titanic effort to push aside her vengeful, resentful ways and pretend nothing had ever happened. There was also the small fact that, even if it wasn’t anything serious, she didn’t want to screw up what she had with Noel so early in the game.

This was why Demi took a deep, calming breath before addressing her partner. “Don’t be such a little bitch! I wasn’t going to, like, actually do anything to hurt you! Duuuuh!” she replied back in an effort to tone down the hostility before she bent down to pick her scattered books from the floor.

His blue eyes squinted at her, studying her expression. A look of uncertainty filled his features, his eyes darting from Kalder to Demi. He looked taken aback for a moment as a realization hit him. "Are you jealous of Balthazar?" He asked her.

Demi looked up, stunned and offended by the suggestion of something so insulting -even if it was the truth she so conveniently failed to acknowledge. “Fuck you, Noel.” she shot back, standing back up again with her bag in her hand. Even if she ‘didn’t care’, she realized that not adding to her previous statement was pretty much an admission of guilt, which would not be good- especially in the current circumstances. “Why on Earth would I be jealous of some desperate, skinny little cu-” The brunette trailed off as she noticed Kalder approaching her table.

Oh, fucking great...

Once again, she pointedly turned her eyes to her shoes, avoiding to look at the stupidly handsome blond male who now stood in front of them.

"Noel," Kalder called out to Noel before crossing his arms in front of his chest.

“Well, looks like they’re requesting you!” Demi said sarcastically, taking advantage of the distraction to make her swift exit. She would be damned if she was forced to interact with her ex-boyfriend in any sort of way when his stupidly handsome face was more than enough to trigger her. She shot Noel a warning look: her way of silently telling him to keep his mouth tightly shut. Then the brunette risked a cold, haughty glance at Kalder before walking away to get to her next lesson, purposely slamming her shoulder onto the one of that snake that was her ex best friend along the way.

Creating Our Own Lives; A Road Trip, Slice of Life Roleplay!

She's a sunrise dressed like dusk
Going out, she's getting into something

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Still smiling, Samantha watched as Johnathan jogged up to her car and knelt in the patch of grass by the passenger window to be level with her. She giggled as she watched him explain that attending Avery’s party seemed like a dreadful idea, but that her offer had pretty much made him at least consider it. Then he asked if she’d been crying, and her cherub cheeks went red as she nodded. The girl had opened her mouth to blurt out the explanation, but the boy nodded in silent understanding. He’d patted her comfortingly in the shoulder before pretty much acknowledging all of her hard work with his kind words. Her green eyes filled up with tears again, but she’d caught herself before any of them spilled out. And after saying a quick goodbye and a brief acknowledgement to Eleanor, Johnny was gone.

Silence settled inside the vehicle as Samantha rolled up her passenger window and move her gaze forward. It wasn’t long before her mother piped up “He seems like a sweet boy.”, followed by shooting a suggestive glance at her daughter before turning her eyes back to the road. “Do you like him? And I mean it like like him, like him?”

“Oh my God, Mom!” Sammi’s exclaimed in embarrassment and disbelief, her cheeks flushed again. She let out a small laugh. “I do like Johnny, but not like that. He’s just a friend, you know? Like Nate and Sam are.”

Eleanor raised up her hands in defeat. “Okay, okay, I was just asking!” she said teasingly, pulling into the Juliano’s parking lot.

Shaking her head, Sammi and her mother both exited the car and made their way to the restaurant. They were quickly seated, tended to and soon enough enjoying the meal and conversation. Sammi had been halfway through her tiramisu when her phone chimed, signaling the arrival of a new text:

Hello. If it's okay with you, I would like to take you up on your offer for a ride to the Henderson party.

Johnny

Smiling, Samantha typed up a quick response and sent it on his way before turning back to her dessert.

Hiiiii! And yaaaayyyy! That’s awesome! I’ll pick you up at 8. See ya then! <3

Sammi

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It had taken Samantha less than an hour to get ready for Avery Henderson’s, opting to keep things cute yet comfortable. She’d decided on wearing a black and white striped T-shirt dress with some black Doc Martens while also rocking a half-up top bun. The real kicker came when, venturing away from her usual washed-out face, she’d put on some dark red lipstick and a bold winged liner. Satisfied with the outcome of her short preparations, she dropped her essentials into a small handbag before skipping off to the car and driving off to Plum Hill Lake.

At five minutes before eight, Samantha was pulling into the park’s parking lot in her mother’s borrowed Corolla. She honked twice to let him know of her arrival before grabbing her phone to shoot a text to her ride or dies:

Omw to the party, loves, and bringing a surprise with me! See u guys in a bit! 💖😘

Sammi

She pressed the send command at the same time that there was a tap in her passenger window. The girl looked up to see Johnny’s face staring back at her from the dark, motioning for her to open up the door to him. She did so, and he immediately opened the door.

“Hey Johnny!” Samantha greeted the boy, that bright smile back in place again. “Hop right in, I’ve got something to show you.”

Once the young man occupied the passenger seat, Sammi pulled out of the park’s entrance and drove off in the direction of Avery’s house. Keeping her eyes on the road, she grabbed her phone and handed it to the boy. “I know you liked some of the bands I listen to, so here’s a song I thought you might like. It’s not exactly our usual emo vibe, but it’s a great song nonetheless. Press play whenever you’re ready.”

Johnny did as he was told, and the first chords of Bad Suns’ ‘Daft Pretty Boys’ began playing through the speakers. Smiling, Samantha sang and danced along enthusiastically, as if putting on a show to an attentive audience. Usually, it was Nate and Sam the ones she would put through this torture. But since the two other members of The Trifecta were presumably at the party, it was Johnny’s turn to suffer through it. After the song was over, she turned to him with a curious expression.

“Welllllllll, how was it?!” she asked excitedly, waiting to hear his opinions about one of her favorite bands.

{Hɪɢʜ Cᴀsᴜᴀʟ} Pᴇɴɴʙʀᴏᴏᴋᴇ Uɴɪᴠᴇʀsɪᴛʏ

First attempt at playing a male in a group roleplay is now up! Let the games begin.

{Hɪɢʜ Cᴀsᴜᴀʟ} Pᴇɴɴʙʀᴏᴏᴋᴇ Uɴɪᴠᴇʀsɪᴛʏ

Location: Phi Delta Kappa House
Interacting with: The Bro @spooner, The Atomic Blonde [Guess who!]
_{Special mention at the end: The Ex @SpicyMeatball}

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It was fifteen minutes past three in the afternoon when Dante Mossos finally awoke from his deep slumber. The past night had been a rather eventful one for the young man. He’d received a call from his uncle informing him that his position at Mossos Industries was now guaranteed, and that he would be taking it as soon as he graduated. The blond male had decided a celebration was in order, so he’d hit up the nearby spirits shop for some beer and high-class Puerto Rican rum before dropping by Archie’s room. The two had decided to spend the night at their shared balcony, having some beers, listening to whatever came up on Archie’s Spotify and making their best attempt at drunken karaoke. They’d made the stupid decision to have a shots competition, which Dante’s pounding head was now regretting deeply. Ultimately, Arch hadn’t been able to catch up with him, and after a few times throwing up had decided to call it a night.

Meanwhile, the lone Mossos boy was craving some lovin’ to properly end his celebratory night. That’s why, at half past two in the morning, he’d decided to text his favorite blonde bombshell to see if she was up for some late-night fun. Lucky for him, the girl happened to be a light sleeper, so her reply came less than three minutes later. Fifteen more minutes passed by before they were getting down and dirty up until half past four AM.

To avoid the dreaded “Walk of Shame”, the mysterious young woman had opted to have a quick session before make her exit at seven, which meant that the pair had only gotten less than three hours of sleep. Still dizzy from the combination of lust, alcohol and lack of sleep in his system, Dante had passed out on his bed as soon as she’d left, and he wouldn’t be heard from again until three in the afternoon.

It took him a good fifteen minutes to finally muster up the strength to merely take up a sitting position on his bed, and another ten to physically get up. A long shower had helped somewhat, and the usual cigarette had taken him to his near-usual self. A quick glance at his phone’s clock was quick to disturb his peace, as he realized that they needed to be at the bonfire in less than an hour. Cursing, Dante put out his cig with the sole of his shoe before going back to his room to get dressed for success. In all honesty, he didn’t really care about making it early- or making it on time at all. But he was the Vice-President of the fraternity, after all, so appearances had to be kept. After dressing up in a plain white T-shirt, dark wash jeans and some Bullboxer boots, and spending his usual amount of self-grooming time, the young man was ready to go. But there was one small detail to be figured out first…

Mossos walked out of his room and took the two steps to Archie’s door, knocked on it twice before flinging it open and sticking his head in. He was greeted with a rather colorful surprise.

“DUDE! Boundaries! Or you’ll get to see something you unfortunately don’t want to see!” Archer had quipped, throwing the pants he had just taken off towards Dante’s face.

The blond male’s mouth broke into an amused grin. “Look, Arch, I don’t give a shit about seeing your limp dick, okay? It’s not like it would be the first time.” he said teasingly, grabbing the pants thrown at him and attempting to throw them into the nearby laundry basket. He shoots, he scores! “I just wanted to know if we’re taking my car or your car to the bonfire.”

“Well if you let me get something to cover my shame I’ll drive us, now get the out you perv!” Archer replied, face slightly red with embarrassment as he pulled his shorts on.

Chuckling, Dante closed the door to Archie’s room and made his way to the fraternity’s front door. He decided to smoke another cigarette and text his cousin all about his past night’s conquest to kill some time while he waited for his main man to be ready. He’d been so absorbed in his virtual conversation that it wasn’t until Archie yelled out to Sophia McLaughlin that he’d realized it was time to go. Their exchange left a sour taste in the young man’s mouth, which was visible on his face as he boarded the passenger seat of his best friend’s vehicle.

“I don’t get why you still talk to her, of all people…” Dante commented, still annoyed at the fact that the one chick he’d had the biggest falling out with happened to be the one chick who blatantly stole his best friend. It had to be done on some petty purpose: some girls were cunts like that. He shook his head disapprovingly before changing the subject, a complicit smile on his lips now. He didn’t want to fuck up the night before it even got started. “Sorry I missed this morning, dude. I was fucking hammered, and I didn’t get to sleep till like after four in the morning.”