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Post by Jaina Gemini on Dec 29, 2018 15:14:18 GMT -8
Jaina raced through the halls, using her wand to quickly dry her hair while in transit. Not the safest procedure but, to her horror, she had lost track of time. It had been the quickest shower and shave she'd ever managed and there had been absolutely no time to do anything with her hair other than dry it. At least, when she did this with magic, it was less likely to poof out. Normally she would have braided it to avoid that exact problem but she couldn't do that while sailing through the halls.
Mostly dry, she looked down at her watch. Four minutes...only four minutes late. Still, when they had so little time together, four minutes could mean everything. Hitting one of the secret passageways she had found during her nocturnal sneaking, Jaina cut off nearly two minutes of the walk, bringing her out just around the corner from the dining hall, slowing just before as she careened around the corner. He was already waiting for her there so she adopted a quick smile, using the time it took to reach him to catch her breath. She slid her wand into the special pocket of her jeans made specifically for that purpose.
"Hi," Jaina greeted him, trying not to wince at the, she surreptitiously looked at her watch. Five and a half minutes. Frick! She had said she would be there and had already failed. Still, her smile didn't slip as she sincerely apologized. "Sorry I'm late. Shall we go in?"
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Post by Gideon Smith on Dec 29, 2018 15:21:57 GMT -8
Gideon looked at his watch again. It wasn't like Jaina to be late, so he began to wonder if she was just running behind or if she stood him up. He couldn't blame her if it was the latter. He hadn't been the most attentive boyfriend lately, and with his Masked Lord responsibilities growing, he'd be cut off from her except at meal times and classes.
When she finally appeared before him, he quickly dropped his arm, his sleeve covering his watch as though he had hadn't been checking it every thirty seconds. "Hi there gorgeous," he said as she approached. He reached his hand out for hers, needing that gentle contact to settle his insides. He felt like he was on a date, and in a way he kinda was. He led the way to a partially empty table and took a seat, wondering if she would sit across from him or next to him.
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Post by Jaina Gemini on Dec 29, 2018 15:42:32 GMT -8
Jaina considered the two spots, next to him or across. It was a tough call. On a normal day, she would have probably chosen across from him but right now, where they were at, having a lot of space between them wasn't remotely appealing. From the way he had captured her hand when she had finally joined him, she wondered if he felt the same way. Thus, Jaina took the seat on his left so they wouldn't be fighting for space while eating. She could technically eat with her right hand but it felt more natural with the left, especially with her emotions all over the place.
Saturday nights were the meals nobody normally wanted to miss. There was always the best choices, an official celebration of the end of another week. Pizza, burgers, or tacos were most common. Tomorrow would be the more refined meal - the roasted or cooked meat with a variety of potato. But tonight...Jaina couldn't help but smile. All the fixing for tacos and fajitas were spread out over the tables, a meal she knew he loved. What a perfect way to start an evening.
"Looks like you lucked out tonight, huh?" She said. Instead of grabbing for the shells, Jaina reached for a bowl towards the goal of a taco salad instead of the messier alternative.
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Post by Gideon Smith on Dec 29, 2018 15:52:19 GMT -8
"Oh sweet," he said, his outlook immediately brightening as he grabbed a shell and filled it with taco meat, a light sprinkle of shredded lettuce, a good amount of cheese and topping it off with sour cream. He took a big bite out of his soft shell taco and groaned in happiness. It was so good, and just the way he liked them. At least here at school, he could make them the way he wanted. At home, his mom put all sorts of other crap in them, like tomatoes and things like that.
He swallowed his bite down and looked curiously over at Jaina, wondering what she was doing exactly. So he put it to question, "What are you trying to do?" he asked, thinking it wasn't that hard to make a taco.
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Post by Jaina Gemini on Dec 29, 2018 16:01:39 GMT -8
Jaina had spent more than one of their Independence Day festivals working at a local food stand. They had taught her to make a good many things the right way. So she dumped a little meat at the bottom of the bowl, layered in a sprinkle of cheese so that it melted. Then she grabbed a shell and broke it in half, crumbling part of it on top of the cheese before adding two handfuls of lettuce on top of that and crumbled the other part of the shell on top of that. Then she grabbed another spoonful of meat and topped it off with a little more cheese.
When he asked what she was doing, she was surprised. "Taco salad. A lot easier to eat and I only need to make one of these compared to eating three or four tacos." Jaina grabbed one of the few forks on the table and then poured herself a glass of juice, probably the first time he had ever seen her drink that sort of thing but water had been upsetting her stomach lately and caffeine wasn't the best choice either. Milk sounded better but there was enough dairy in the salad that it would put her over.
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Post by Gideon Smith on Dec 29, 2018 16:06:37 GMT -8
"Oh," he said before taking another bite of his taco. He polished it off and went in for his second one, made exactly the same way before nomming that down too. By the time he had had his fill, four tacos rested in his stomach. He looked over to Jaina, wondering how her taco salad was fairing. He reached forward and grabbed a glass of water, drinking about half of it down to wash down the remains of his taco.
"This is a good sign I think," he said. "A good start to a great night that will help us through the coming weeks," he said.
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Post by Jaina Gemini on Dec 29, 2018 16:27:50 GMT -8
It took Jaina very little time to polish off the salad, once it had been properly mixed together. It was the only way she would willingly eat lettuce. She had gotten through about half of her juice when he finally spoke. "Of course," she reassured. "It will just be a practice for Christmas break." Anything to make this easier on them both. "You once told me my detention days would fly right back. I'm sure this will too." Of course, back then she knew that they might be able to squeeze in a little more time together but there were still classes and meals. Far better than it would be if they weren't in the same grade.
"So did you get a lot done today?" Jaina asked casually.
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Post by Gideon Smith on Dec 29, 2018 16:32:30 GMT -8
"More than I thought I would, which is progress," he said before taking another drink of water. He hated lying to her, but it was the very first tenant of the Masked Lords, you don't reveal yourself to anyone, including each other. The only people who know anyone were the seniors who knew who the new recruits were. His answer was honest, in that he accomplished almost all of the tasks that Eris had set out for him. It still rankled that she was Harmonia, but it explained a lot about her alter ego. "What about you? How did detention go?" he asked, scared to ask if she went to Whimsic Alley without him.
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Post by Jaina Gemini on Dec 29, 2018 16:43:27 GMT -8
"Quite fulfilling, actually," she said with surprise. "Fixing stuff around the stables, most of the work I already knew how to do, which I think was actually a bit of a relief for him. Less time he had to waste first explaining, then checking on, and likely making me redo it correctly. Probably good that we didn't go today, however. His list was a bit long and I didn't finish until about one. I felt bad enough about being late tonight," Jaina confessed, turning her head towards him so that she could actually see the sincerity.
"But I'm glad your day was successful. I had hoped it would be." She really had been, after what happened at breakfast. Maybe going to the infirmary really had been the wisest course of action for his sake. And had she not gotten the salve for her hands, today would have been absolute hell.
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Post by Gideon Smith on Dec 29, 2018 16:52:29 GMT -8
"Why were you late anyway?" he asked, curious as he turned toward her, taking a sip of his water. It was just curiosity in his tone. He didn't know what girls got up to when alone.
"How are your hands?" he asked, reaching for one, feeling like a dunce for not checking before he had grabbed her hand on their way into the dining hall.
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Post by Jaina Gemini on Dec 29, 2018 17:02:39 GMT -8
Now that they were mostly back to normal, Jaina let him actually look at them, hoping that she had gotten all the dirt out from underneath her nails. "They are good as new, thanks to you reminding me to go to the infirmary." She laughed softly. "Even with a mother that's a healer, I sometimes forget the amazing things we can accomplish with magic.
"As for the other part, I had some other chores to do that I've been putting off; perhaps a bit longer than I should have. In the process, I kinda lost track of time. You know, just wanting to finish up so it's not hanging over my head for another day. I'm just glad I'm a runner...and that I didn't meet a teacher or prefect in the halls." Jaina admitted, a little guiltily. "You can't write me up for something you didn't see, right?" She smiled, partially hopeful but with a little teasing in the twinkling in her eyes. Of course, if he had to, she would take it. Not being any later to meet him would have been totally worth the trouble or the loss of points.
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Post by Gideon Smith on Dec 29, 2018 17:11:47 GMT -8
He looked down at her hands, taking one of his and tracing along the lines of her hand with his fingertips as if making sure the skin wasn't more scared than it already was. He shifted until he was holding the hand proper and shook his head no at her question, "We can only punish what we see," he said, hoping to ease her mind a little bit. "I'm glad your hands are alright," he said, wanting to remember to look in on Mrs. Henspit and thank her for doing her job so well.
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Post by Jaina Gemini on Dec 29, 2018 17:33:13 GMT -8
"Easy fix. Luckily the coffee had cooled a bit so it just hurt a bit - which with burning, is actually a good sign." As for the other part...
"I will have to remember that for the future then," Jaina said mischievously, though she had no intentions of going out to seek more trouble. Further detention was the last things she wanted. She lowered her voice when she added, "So from now on, use the secret passages no one knows about and when you are doing unspeakable, against-the-rules things to me, you will just have to keep your eyes closed." |
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Post by Gideon Smith on Dec 29, 2018 17:38:33 GMT -8
"Secret passage?" he asked, his voice going a little tight so he took another drink of water. Had she found one of the secret passages through the dungeons? That did not bode well for him if she had. "Sorry, my throat's a little dry," he said before draining the rest of the glass and waited for it to refill. "I wasn't aware such things existed. You'll have to show me so I know to check it for troublemakers." He gave her hand a slight squeeze at the mention of troublemakers.
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Post by Jaina Gemini on Dec 29, 2018 17:47:22 GMT -8
A strange reaction but maybe he wasn't in the mood. With their time so constricted, maybe he really just wanted to spend time talking - cuddling. Understandable. It was something she had prepared for, just in case. "Well, we used one the night I had detention with Professor McDanna," she reminded him, suddenly remembering what had led them to use it in the first place.
"As for the others..." Jaina contemplated actually saying anything. What if she wasn't the only one that knew about them and kids just like her were using them to avoid trouble? She sure as hell wasn't going to tell a prefect, boyfriend or not. Might as well just squeal on everyone doing something wrong. "There aren't many. I'm sure an attentive prefect like yourself already knows them all and I just think I'm the only one." She looked back at her bowl, grabbing the glass of juice and finishing it before grabbing a napkin to wipe her mouth.
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