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Post by Shae Stevens on Jan 6, 2019 20:34:05 GMT -8
Shae had gotten back to school pretty early Sunday morning and fallen asleep before even bothering to get undressed. By the time he managed to crawl out of bed, he was surprised to see that he was the last one to wake. And if he didn't hurry, he was going to miss breakfast altogether!
He quickly changed his shirt, threw on some deodorant and booked it down to breakfast, grabbing some pancakes and sausage quickly - just in case the house elfs wanted to get a jump on lunch. He took time to butter each side of the pancakes before dousing them in syrup. Sighing with relief, grateful for breakfast after the abrupt meals yesterday, Shae poured himself some orange juice.
It seemed that he wasn't the only one late for breakfast though. At least a quarter of the tables were filled, despite the lateness of the hour. Then again, it was Sunday. Who the hell wanted to be up early on a Sunday anyway? It was why he had been so surprised to be the only one left in their dorm room.
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Post by Gideon Smith on Jan 6, 2019 20:41:23 GMT -8
Gideon had been up before dawn again and had snuck down to the dungeons to find another shopping list. He got off the school grounds as soon as the gates opened, purchased the items and had them back in the dungeons before most of the people in the castle were awake. He didn't have further instructions so he carefully hid his mask and cloak in the pouch of his favorite Red Sox hoodie.
He made his way to the dining hall, giving a nod to Shae as he approached. He sat down across from his roommate and pulled over a couple of waffles, buttering them before shaking a little bit of powdered sugar on them. He began eating as though he hadn't eaten in days. His metabolism was begging for fuel with such an early start to his day.
"You slept like the dead dude," he said after clearing his throat and grabbing a glass of chocolate milk.
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Post by Shae Stevens on Jan 6, 2019 20:50:13 GMT -8
"Not the dead, my friend. Like a champion!" Shae grinned, before dredging his sausage through the syrup. "Well, not a champion but a silver medalist!" He bit into the sausage. A bit cold but it was still better than having to wait until lunch. "That's right; your best friend has scored a triumphant victory against college-age students. Those Seniors in chess club are going to eat crow now!" He laughed cheerfully, popping the other half of the sausage in.
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Post by Gideon Smith on Jan 6, 2019 20:54:49 GMT -8
"Congrats man," he said with a smile before digging more into his waffles, washing them down with his chocolate milk. "So who won gold?" he asked, wondering who had beaten his best friend. Gideon wasn't stupid, but he didn't expend his brain cells on wizard's chess. He had never been good enough about strategy games to play them much. He had better things to do. Before it was racing, but now that void was filled by choir and singing, which he was still a bit nervous about, no matter what Jaina said, she was biased, he had to get his confidence up in his singing or he was going to miss notes.
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Post by Shae Stevens on Jan 6, 2019 21:10:38 GMT -8
At the question, Shae huffed, a little twitch at the corner of his mouth. "April Devereaux. I thought she was using the Open Variation but it was the Berlin Open Variation. It so obvious! I don't know why I didn't see it. Especially with her simpering little smile; her green eyes wide with disbelief, feigned innocent. Only an idiot would have fell for it and yet!" He started cutting at his pancakes with a little more ferocity than the fluffy cakes probably deserved.
"She made me feel like a kid, a stupid kid who tried to eat at the adult table too soon," he said, now stabbing his fork to collect squares as though he could picture it being her smug face. "And that lilting accent..." Shae stuffed his fork into his mouth.
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Post by Gideon Smith on Jan 6, 2019 23:38:55 GMT -8
"Oh really?" he grinned as he cut into his waffles again, nodding at the appropriate times as his friend described the girl with such detail. He washed his waffles down with his chocolate milk, wiping away his milk mustache with the back of his sleeve. He continued grinning at Shae before he started laughing, "Sounds like you were on a date and not just playing chess," he said before Shae could take offense to his laughter.
"So when are you planning on seeing Ms. Devereaux again?" he asked with a raised brow and smirk on his face.
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Post by Shae Stevens on Jan 6, 2019 23:54:42 GMT -8
"Oh ha ha!" Shae rolled his eyes. "A date? With that hellcat?" He snorted, stabbing his pancakes again, shoving in another mouthful. "Doubt a man would survive it. Bat those long eyelashes at them, flip her black hair, and walk the poor son of a bitch right off a cliff.
"Date," he snorted again. "Well, I'm seeing Miss Devereaux when she calls me and tells me that I'm ready to play with the big girls," Shae growled at his breakfast, shaking his head. "It would be a cold day in hell!" He drained half of his orange juice, grabbing another pancake just before the plate of them disappeared. Sighing, he buttered it and dropped another few dabs of syrup on it to make everything work out evenly. He managed to swipe three more sausages.
"I dunno what I'm going to do when I graduate. Even the elfs' luke-warm food tastes like heaven compared to what's awaiting us outside these hallowed halls."
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Post by Gideon Smith on Jan 6, 2019 23:59:49 GMT -8
"Aww, come on Shae, have more faith in yourself, you could handle her," he said with a chuckle, finishing off his waffles and pushing his plate forward and watching as it disappeared. He reached over and grabbed a mug and the pot of coffee, pouring himself some of the strong brew. He added some sugar and the last of his chocolate milk, to make it a mocha.
"You are playing with college people, that is already playing with the big girls," he said. "You just got distracted by her looks. It's called the honey pot man. But next time you face her, you won't fall for it and you'll show her what you're really made of."
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Post by Shae Stevens on Jan 7, 2019 0:08:04 GMT -8
"See? That's what I said!" Shae said, finishing the pancake with another few bites before finishing most of his orange juice. "If I couldn't handle it, I sure as hell wouldn't be there so...Chicks. I'll be ready for her next time." He shook his head, using the sausages to start wiping the excess syrup from his plate.
"Enough of that. What did you get up to while I was gone? Anything exciting?"
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Post by Gideon Smith on Jan 7, 2019 0:16:21 GMT -8
"Nothing really," he said. "Jaina and I tried to have a date and got rained out, so we went down to her tent and talked until it was time for my rounds," he said with a sigh and a shrug. "Rounds were uneventful as usual, and then I went to bed."
"Jaina and I have been spending so much time together, my grades are starting to suffer, so I'm taking the next two weeks and studying my ass off in my free time," he said, covering his bases with the lie. "I figure two weeks should be enough time to get myself back on track. Especially since I don't have any racing to do, and the Choir is after the other classes."
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Post by Shae Stevens on Jan 7, 2019 0:32:52 GMT -8
"Oh? Sounds like a wise plan," Shae agreed. At least he was finally starting to sound more like the responsible Gideon that had been his friend before this year. Not that Shae gave a damn - a friend was a friend and you didn't bail on them until they bailed on you. But it was fair to say that he had been worried about how much affect the accident was having on Gideon's personality.
"A little surprising though. After your concern about her not waiting for you to figure some things out," he remarked, finishing the last of his sausages before pushing the plate forward for the elfs to start washing. Drowning the last of his orange juice, Shae put his glass down where it would disappear as well, making more space.
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Post by Gideon Smith on Jan 7, 2019 0:40:05 GMT -8
"As I said, we talked about a lot of stuff when we got rained out," he said before giving a shrug. He took a sip of his mocha and gave a contented sigh. "There is just something about that girl that just gets me going. Makes me think of the future possibilities a little more. Whereas before all I thought about was racing, now that I don't have that I have to think what am I going to do with my life? But I definitely want her in it."
"But before I can do anything, I need my grades back up, then I can worry about juggling school work, a girlfriend and my prefect duties," he said before taking another swig of his mocha. And his Masked Lord duties, but of course he made no mention what so ever of that. Subconsciously he reached down and patted his hoodie pouch, feeling his mask resting safely inside. He was glad he thought of putting an extender charm on his hoodie, that way he could fit whatever he needed to carry into it without it showing.
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Post by Shae Stevens on Jan 7, 2019 0:48:10 GMT -8
"And don't forget the Academic Olympics coming up!" Shae reminded him. "You never know; this could be your year!" The stuff about the future was not unusual - Gideon had said it before. Didn’t mean it wasn’t unusual since Jaina and he had only been dating a month...if that. It seemed a little soon to be mentioning anything further than Halloween, at this point.
"But best to focus on what you can for the time being. You wanna hit the library? I have to catch up on my Herbology work if you want company until lunch," Shae offered.
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Post by Gideon Smith on Jan 7, 2019 16:42:20 GMT -8
"Oh shit, I completely forgot about the Olympics," he said, setting his cup down. Thankfully most of the school would be present to watch so he doubted very much that Eris would have anything for him to do.
"Nah, I'm better if I study by myself, but thanks for the offer," he said, afraid Shae was going to say that. He didn't like lying to his friend but it was a necessary evil that he would have to put up with for now. He wondered how Eris would react when he spilled that he knew it was her behind Harmonia's mask. He bet she'd shit herself at first and then probably assign him to clean more corridors or something stupid like that.
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Post by Shae Stevens on Jan 7, 2019 17:14:29 GMT -8
"Of course. I can completely understand wanting to be alone to study. The library can be a complete pain with all the irreverent younger kids buzzing around. Luckily, if you hit it early, you can avoid most of it," Shae suggested for Gideon, who might not actually know that. Not like the guy usually joined Shae in the library so best to impart the information, just in case.
"And if you change your mind, I'll probably be in the back corner. Just follow the walls on the left. Meet back for lunch?" Of course, Shae wouldn't be in the castle all afternoon but he didn't really want to talk about that and, odds were, Gideon didn't want to either. While eventually, he was going to have to really face the fact that he wasn't racing anymore, it still seemed a bit soon and a little cruel to force it into his face. Maybe that would be something Jaina could actually be good for. The girl had to have something other than a pretty face and if she was willing to distract Gideon, then all the more power to her.
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