Eden Manger

April 18, 2020 6:14 PM

A Cinderella moment [Professor Xavier] by Eden Manger

Eden ran fast.

She flew through the halls, the air whirling by, pulling on her blonde ponytail and whizzing in her ears like a quiet scream: Brett.

It all felt so surreal. Why was she running from her boyfriend on what was supposed to be the most exciting night of her life? Because he had to go and make it complicated and scary, that was why. She felt tears streaking down her cheeks, which made her foolishly angry that her makeup was going to be affected, but that just made her cry even more.

She didn’t dare look behind her, but she felt like she was being followed. There was no way a whole school would let her escape so abruptly - she just hoped it wasn’t Brett. Eden didn’t want this to be the end of their relationship, but she couldn’t talk to him. Not right now. Maybe not for a few days. She didn’t know when.

Like a homing missile, the seventh year autopiloted to the only place she knew would be safe: her common room. It was the most frantic and saddest she had ever performed the jig for entry, but once inside, she collapsed onto the couch and sobbed.

For a moment, she was alone, but then all at once, she was not. She heard another person enter, and her breath caught in her throat. She knew it was impossible for Brett to have followed her, but her panicked heart was far less rational. She frantically swiped away the tears currently dotting her face, although she had no means of addressing the smeared mascara. Through glassy eyes, she saw not Brett, but Professor Xavier, her Head of House. “O-oh,” she uttered weakly. “Sir. I’m sorry, I-....” Unfortunately, she couldn’t complete the thought, and she bit her bottom lip to hold back the next tidal wave.
12 Eden Manger A Cinderella moment [Professor Xavier] 385 1 5

Nathan Xavier

April 20, 2020 9:53 AM

Did you lose a glass slipper? by Nathan Xavier

Nathan tried not to look alarmed when Isis asked about her waistline. Not because there was anything wrong with her waistline. He liked her waistline. But he was afraid it was one of those questions where any answer was the wrong one. She took it back, but he wasn't sure that really got him out of the woods. That she had asked in the first place meant she was concerned about it. That she took it back meant she agreed there was no good answer and that didn't set well with Nathan. Isis was amazing and beautiful, even if she didn't look exactly the same as she did when he had asked her to marry him. Age and experience changed everybody, and Isis was no exception. Change was not even always a bad thing.

Yes, her waist was bigger than it had been four years ago. It was also thinner than it had been two years ago. And the change was largely due to the greatest gift Isis and Life had ever given him, so he could hardly count this change as a negative. The measure of her waistline was never a consideration when he'd popped the question, so it could fluctuate all it wanted to. It belonged to Isis, though, and that made it lovely.

"You're beautiful," he offered, leaving the waistline itself alone. He didn't want to poke at something she was self-conscious about. That would only lead her to not believe him or think he was irrationally biased. He very well might be the later, but that was no reason not to share how she looked to his eyes. "All of you is beautiful."

They finished getting themselves and Dora ready and headed down. The part passed enjoyably. Dora sat on his shoulders to watch the prefects dance and she clapped for them when they were done like it was the best show she'd ever seen. They really had to get her out more.

Maybe after she was potty-trained.

He twirled Dora around the dance floor a few times, to her great glee, and then the three of them danced a few songs together as well, which their little girl thought was hilarious. They were taking a juice break and he was helping Dora not spill her cup all down the front of her dress when Isis noticed trouble.

His eyes tracked toward the indicated door just in time to see Eden disappear out of it. "Right," he said. So much for a quiet enjoyable work-family outing. Isis took Dora toward Brett - on his knee, oh dear - and Nathan headed for the door Eden had taken.

He asked a few portraits along the way to point him in the direction of the distraught seventh year, until it became pretty clear she was heading home to Teppenpaw. He picked up his pace and soon found her in the Common area, crying into the cushions of one of the couches.

Fortunately, she noticed his arrival before he needed to find some discreet way to announce his presence.

"No," he waved away Eden's apologies, "You have no reason to apologize. I saw you leave and just wanted to check that you're all right. If you need to cry, go right ahead and cry. Do you, do you want to talk about it?" He perched a little awkwardly on another nearby couch, not quite sure if she wanted him to go away all together or if he should offer a hug. "Or I could go find you my cat?" In her old age, Alice loved sitting in laps and getting petted, and she had a nearly magical effect in calming down Dora sometimes. And if Eden needed to be alone a few moments, that could also be used as a good excuse to politely send him away.
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Eden Manger

April 30, 2020 6:07 PM

I wish that were all. by Eden Manger

Oh.

Objectively, Eden did not consider herself especially close to her Head of House, but she did suppose that Professor Xavier was in fact probably the adult man she had the most connection to in the world anymore. He took care of the Teppenpaws, and he taught them things, and… well, and Eden didn’t have a dad anymore. So there was that.

He asked if she wanted him to go or if she wanted to talk about it, and honestly, she didn’t know. “I don’t know,” she stated, the filter between her brain and mouth a bit damaged by the emotional upheaval. She was admittedly a little tempted by the offer of feline affection, but Eden didn’t want to get cat hair on her nice outfit. Her appearance was probably already marred by smeary makeup, and she didn’t think she couldn’t afford to let it get any worse.

“I just... Brett.” It wasn’t an articulate sentence, but everybody at Sonora knew that she and Brett were dating. She sighed. Yup, she guessed she was going to just talk about it then. “He asked me to marry him.” That was a heavy bomb to drop without some sort of qualification, so she peddled away from it, growing a bit babbly. “And I love him, and I thought, maybe someday, but not today. I mean we’re just kids and I’m not ready for that, and I just…. I don’t know. I ran away.”
12 Eden Manger I wish that were all. 385 0 5