Testing things out on Sonora Lounges

Cleo James

January 27, 2019 7:46 PM

Testing things out by Cleo James

Cleo stepped into the prefect lounge, trying very hard to feel like she was allowed to be there. The shining badge on her robes affirmed that she was but still... She had entered the room before, for their start of term briefing with Professor Skies. But that was different - she had been summoned, and she had come. It was like meeting a teacher in their office versus wandering into it on your own.

She perched carefully on one of the settees, wondering slightly what the point of the room was, and whether she would find herself in the habit of using it much. She supposed it was nice to have another place to unwind or to study, to have an extra choice, and one that was likely to be less crowded than the library or the common room.

She needed to do some Charms practise, specifically summoning and banishing, and the lack of an audience plus the open space actually made the room pretty handy. There was a shelf of books opposite her, which seemed a reasonable target. She was able to accio them reasonably well. The main thing that needed improvement was her aim, or possibly just her catching skills, as things tended to go somewhat wide of her. It was the same with banishing. She could fling things away from herself quite well, just there wasn't the degree of control to make them land neatly, or to keep good control over how they moved. Case in point that, just as the door opened, a large hardback hit the wall near it with a resounding thud and dropped to the floor at the feet of whoever had just entered.

"Sorry," she apologised, even though the book had come nowhere close to hitting them really. "Uh, I was just practising summoning and banishing," she added, deciding that perhaps she should explain why she, as the newest prefect of the house known for respecting the rules, appeared to be trashing the lounge.

13 Cleo James Testing things out 389 Cleo James 1 5

Isaac Song

February 10, 2019 6:10 PM

As long as I'm not the target by Isaac Song

Isaac stepped outside of his common room and breathed in the fresh air. It was way too noisy in there to do homework right now, and he really needed to finish his work for Transfiguration. He was already having a hard time soaking everything in, and he knew he needed to get a head start on it now so he wouldn’t fall horrendously behind. Isaac stood in the gardens for a moment before deciding to walk over to the Prefect Lounge. It would be quieter there for sure. He didn’t go there too often, but he did like it better than the library when he needed another place to study. It was a good space to get to know other Prefects whenever they came in too.

When he opened the door, a hardback slammed against the wall nearby, startling him. Isaac looked at the book before looking up at the person who was responsible for it, and his heartbeat stuttered when he made eye-contact with her. Focusing on Transfiguration was going to be substantially harder.

“Throwing things around the lounge, huh?” he teased, picking up the book. He closed the door behind him and walked towards her. “How’s your practice going?” He handed the book back to her. “I don’t know how I could help, but if you need any…” He trailed off, unsure how he could help even if she asked him. He was pretty good at Charms, at least, and familiar with the material she was probably going through right now in class.

“Oh, congrats on becoming Prefect by the way! I have a feeling you’ll be pretty good at it,” he said with a sincere smile. And then he felt embarrassed for saying that. “Well, I needed to get some Transfiguration homework done. Hope I’m not disturbing,” he added quickly. He moved out of her way and went to one of the couches in the room to set down his backpack.

19 Isaac Song As long as I'm not the target 375 Isaac Song 0 5

Cleo

February 11, 2019 7:35 AM

Trying my best not to target you by Cleo

It was Isaac. And Cleo found herself realising that there was no one she would rather have catching her throwing books around the room. Ok, sure it was a little embarrassing, but he was being really sweet about it. She couldn't imagine any of her fellow Crotalus prefects being so lighthearted about things. And it meant she got to see him, and hang out again without any of the nerviness of like… actually having to ask him to do that.

"Thanks," she smiled, taking back the book. "I can do the basic spell. Just not very neatly. I think, with summoning, I just don't really want things flying at me, so I tend to make them go wide," she admitted.

"Thank you," she smiled again when he congratulated her on becoming prefect, blushing slightly at his further compliment that he thought she would be good at it. She wondered what exactly made him think that, seeing as she wasn't convinced herself. But maybe he was just being polite. She was trying to work out whether to ask, or what else to say when he declared he should get some studying done and moved away from her. When he’d been standing right in front of her, and telling her nice things, she’d felt warm and tingly and then… then he was gone. It was like a sudden cold draft passing through the room.

“Um, no. Of course not,” she added, when he mentioned he might be disturbing her. “I can do some reading,” she added, figuring that throwing books around the room was not really likely to help Isaac’s concentration. And, given her aforementioned inability to catch, or to neatly banish, it was probably a bit dangerous to try with someone else in the room.

She glanced across to wear Isaac was sitting, wondering if he had intentionally chosen to move away from her because it was Away From Her or just… he needed a seat. Even if it was the former, she supposed that was fair. And sensible. And boring. And not fair. She wished she didn’t have to second guess everything. She thought that she had been fairly decisive as a human. She had made friends with people she liked and it had been easy. Now everything was complicated all the time. Not having been inside any other teenage minds except her own, she didn’t have a lot of points for comparison, and certainly not enough to realise that liking boys could be inherently confusing, even for humans, and she was apt to blame it on the veela side, sure that without it all of this would have been incredibly simple and straightforward. She sat down on a different couch, taking out her Charms textbook.

Right. Studying. He had said he had homework. And it would be rude to disturb him. And she was studying too. Totally studious. Even if she had gone over the same page five times without taking in a word. And even if her eyes kept drifting up from the page only to drop back down almost immediately for fear of being caught staring.

13 Cleo Trying my best not to target you 389 Cleo 0 5

Isaac

February 13, 2019 8:21 PM

You can target me a little bit by Isaac

“Well, practice makes perfect,” Isaac replied with an encouraging smile.

Isaac’s brain was already packed full, and some of it slipped back into consciousness as he walked over to the couch. There was always something to think about with the concert performance, Quidditch tryouts, Prefect duties, and future exams to study for, not to mention his future. Isaac knew what he wanted to do, he just needed to make the grades to get there. The anxiety pushed him to study harder along with the hope of getting into a healer training program right out of graduation. As long as he could understand these convoluted theories, then maybe he'd have a chance.

Isaac glanced at Cleo, wondering if she would sit and study with him, or if he should ask her outright if she would study with him. It seemed selfish to ask though, when she needed to do more practice with spells and he had to try to understand Transfiguration theories.

He opened his mouth to tell Cleo she could keep practicing, but she moved on to work on something different… at a different couch. Maybe she was avoiding him, but there wasn’t any feasible reason in his mind as to why she would. He couldn’t remember either of them doing anything wrong or offensive. Maybe she was shy or didn’t want to impose. Luckily Isaac wasn’t shy. That much.

Isaac smothered the tangles in his stomach and, after a moment of hesitation, picked up his stuff and walked over to her. “Can I join you?” he asked. It was always safer to ask than to assume, a piece of advice his mom and sisters had engrained in him since childhood. He really did need to study, but spending time with Cleo right now was honestly more of a priority to him.

19 Isaac You can target me a little bit 375 Isaac 0 5

Cleo

February 14, 2019 7:20 AM

Are you sure that's wise? by Cleo

He was coming over! It seemed like he hadn't been deliberately putting space between them after all. Cleo tried to ignore the part of her brain that said maybe he should, and that if he wasn't going to, maybe she should. Or that she was somehow luring him in… But she also didn’t know how to tell him no without seeming rude. And she didn’t really want to.

"Of course," she answered, when he asked if he could sit. "I just... I didn't want to make your brain go wobbly. Especially when you're trying to study," she admitted. Part of her felt like that sounded really conceited, like she expected guys to be so distracted by her radiant beauty. Only someone really arrogant would talk about themselves that way. And she never would have done except... except it was a fact that she did that to people. “I mean… I know it’s not… like guaranteed to happen. I don’t think that- I just still don’t have a good handle on it, is all.” She had done it to Isaac in the past. She had done it in Potions on the first day back. She found herself not wanting to admit that to him though. Would he think less of her? Would he think she had been flirting or trying to attract other guys, and if so what we he think about it? She felt so bad about herself whenever it happened. She gave him a slightly anxious smile, hoping that wasn’t going to have disastrous results.

13 Cleo Are you sure that's wise? 389 Cleo 0 5

Isaac

February 17, 2019 7:44 PM

Pretty sure by Isaac

Immediately after Cleo told him she didn't want to make his brain go wobbly, Isaac blushed and turned his face away as he set up his books. He knew she was talking about her Veela powers, but even without that she made his brain "go wobbly." Not crazy like that time in the gardens, but there was definitely still something. "That's OK," he replied. "I get it." He smiled at her, but he couldn't maintain eye-contact without sustaining his blush.

Isaac was having a hard time sitting still, so he stood up and walked a couple steps away and started stretching. Did he want to tell her how she made him feel? She probably had some idea because he acted so weird sometimes. Like right now. But maybe she would just run away or he would freak her out. She might even think it was happening because of her Veela powers and reject him on principle. He didn't want to make her think he was some sensitive guy who fell head-over-heels for any old girl either, because he really wasn't. He just liked her, that's all.

"Sorry, I just felt stiff. I started practicing for Quidditch and I feel sore all the time. It's a good thing though, just something I need to get used to." He cleared his throat and went back to the couch. "Well, if you see me acting weird again, just put some distance between us. I mean, weirder than usual. That didn't count," he said grinning, referring to his stretching.

Isaac felt more in control of his faculties after stretching a little, and his body felt better. He really was sore almost all the time. "Sorry for disturbing your practice also, you can keep throwing books around if you need to," he teased. "But seriously, don't mind me."

19 Isaac Pretty sure 375 Isaac 0 5

Cleo

February 18, 2019 8:06 AM

Pretty indecisive by Cleo

He was okay with it. And he took a seat. And then left. And… seemed to be trying to… shake something off? She was pretty sure she hadn’t been doing anything. She thought she was getting better at least at identifying it on other people’s faces, even if it was hard to work out what she was doing… But then he explained it was Quidditch related.

“Oh. I didn’t know you were on the team,” she commented, “It’s sort of been hard to keep up the last couple of years,” she added apologetically.

“Yup, will do,” she smiled brightly when he said she was free to put distance between them if she needed to. Great. Safe distance. That was the watch word. That was Parker had done, when she had veela’d him in Potions. Got a nice, safe distance away. And it was how she should deal with Isaac now. Nice, safe distance. She wondered how many times she could hear people she liked say they needed to maintain a ‘safe distance’ from her before she cracked. She didn’t want people to need to be a safe distance away. She wanted… She didn’t know. Hadn’t she wanted, when she had found out, for everyone to go away and just leave her? Well, wish granted. And she had never been a super physical, touchy person. The thought of guys being all over her because of her luring them in had always been more creepy than appealing. She… she wanted them to be her friends. And to be close to her. And to stay away, and not touch her. And not to need to be a safe distance. And to make sure they stayed it.

“I’ll read. I don’t want to hit you in the head. Though hey, guess it might be good Quidditch practise,” she joked. And then she checked herself, because… smiling, laughing, getting… friendly. Hadn’t those been the precursors before? She was also acutely aware that Isaac had been on her mind in Potions right when she affected Parker. Which suggested to her that maybe thinking about him was a less than great idea. Which was sort of hard when he was right in front of her and when he kept blushing and smiling and making her do the same. She shifted back a few inches on the couch.

“Sorry… Me not you. I mean, just...” She searched her mind and found the word ‘anxious’ coming to the forefront. Yeah, okay, being left alone, safe distance, they were right - that was sounding like a much better option. It didn’t seem like a nice word to share though, “Crotalus. Sensible and cautious.” That, conveniently, brought her to a subject that was pretty much the least romantic, smile-inducing one she could think of.

“Speaking of which, how are you feeling about this concert - and having to organise it?” Given that she was dreading it - a fact perfectly conveyed by her tone of voice - she didn’t think she was in danger of getting into too many fuzzy feels if they discussed that.

13 Cleo Pretty indecisive 389 Cleo 0 5

Isaac

February 19, 2019 12:29 AM

Pretty cautious by Isaac

Isaac smiled when she returned his teasing, but then the air got tense and she moved away a little. His smile faltered. Did something happen? She looked self-conscious, but then she said something about it being her and sensible and cautious. Was she saying they weren’t being sensible? It was going to be hard with Cleo because he knew they needed to be cautious for Veela reasons, but he really didn’t want to be cautious. He wanted to take risks. He had been sorted into Pecari for a reason.

Isaac didn’t press the subject though, and she changed topics. The concert was actually exciting for Isaac, and he loved putting together big events. He wanted to throw a big party next year for, well, maybe his eighteenth birthday or something, just to bring people together for fun. “I’m excited about it,” he said. “It’s going to be a lot of work, but I think I like organizing things like this a lot. Plus, I have a feeling our performance is going to be super fun and energetic. Very Pecari, you know? My mom and sister are going to come, and when Mom wrote she said she would take pictures for my dad. My uncle might come too. He’s pretty much like my second dad.”

If Isaac was really honest, Uncle Derek felt like his dad, and his real dad felt like an uncle to him. But, he would never, ever say those words out loud.

“Maybe after the concert we could hang out or something before we leave for the summer,” he said, glancing at her quickly to see her reaction. If he openly asked her on a date, would she say yes? Isaac was a sixteen-year-old boy who had never asked a girl out before, and he only had one and a half more years at school with Cleo. He wanted to make it count. Then again, she had said she was sensible and cautious. Maybe he should be too.

“How’s the concert planning going for you? I imagine your housemates are a little more organized than mine,” he said with a little smile.

19 Isaac Pretty cautious 375 Isaac 0 5

Cleo

February 20, 2019 7:58 AM

Better than being a cautionary tale by Cleo

"You have such a big family," she commented, when Isaac talked about who might be coming to the concert. It seemed sort of sad that his dad and his other sister wouldn't be there. He had mentioned his complicated living situation before but she wasn't totally sure how he felt about it, or them missing things like his school concert, and she didn't want to venture a guess. "It's just me and Daddy in mine. I mean, I have grandparents too but I don't know if they'd be allowed to come." She held back from mentioning that her mother was not part of her life. She guessed that was obvious from context. And perhaps it was something Isaac already knew, either by figuring it out from the fact that only Daddy got mentioned, or from the general tide and spread of information about people in a school. Either way, she didn't feel like bringing it up. It was just yet another way of the conversation looping back to her species. And from the fact that her mother wasn’t around now led on nicely to the fact that she hadn’t been ever, and no, Cleo hadn’t know what she was until about a year before everyone else. Maybe she should tell him. Maybe that would help explain why she didn’t have it together with her powers, or… well, life. Any of it. But she was sort of sick of the way it kept constantly coming up. It would be nice to have just one conversation that wasn't about her being a half veela mess.

"That would be nice," she agreed, when he suggested they made plans for after the concert. Practically speaking, that wasn't a great plan, as their families would be there, and typically took them straight home from the event. However, it was too far in the future for these practical details to cross Cleo's mind. The main thing was that plans sounded nice. In fact, if anything was bothering her about the arrangements, it was how far away they were. Hopefully they would be able to hang out plenty before it too...

"Yeah, I guess we have that going for us…” she commented, when he mentioned how her house would be organised. “I don't know what the plan is yet. There's going to be a meeting this weekend but... I don't have any ideas of how to make being the rule following house exciting, and I doubt anyone would listen to me even if I did. Probably works out, being the junior prefect here... They aren't going to expect much, and that’s exactly what I’ve got to offer. Yours sounds fun and exciting though."

13 Cleo Better than being a cautionary tale 389 Cleo 0 5