Seeking a possible seeker. [Jeremy] on Quidditch Pitch

Leonor De Matteo

June 08, 2020 10:16 PM

Seeking a possible seeker. [Jeremy] by Leonor De Matteo

There had been a time when Leonor had thought Felipe was alright. Then she thought he couldn't get any more annoying. Then he got even more annoying. Leonor wasn't going to stand for such things, and she sure as heck wasn't going to be left behind. But there wasn't a lot that she could do to annoy him back now that she was meant to be all good and proper. Her snippy attitude had apparently gotten back to her parents and while they hadn't explicitly said anything about it over the summer, and the message certainly hadn't gotten through by the start of the new year, she knew it was only a matter of time. That meant that she was going to have to find something else. On the bright side, Leonor was a proper pureblood young lady, with distinctly less muggle sympathy than her family, and that gave her some extra possibilities.

Felipe made it a lot easier for her when he let slip that he was trying out for beater on the Quidditch team and that his roommate was trying for seeker. The roster hadn't yet come out, which worked in Leonor's favor, as the younger Mordue was spending a lot of his time practicing alone. Leonor didn't care two snitches about Quidditch, but she doubted that was particularly important. Besides, she could pretend.

One evening, when she was pretty confident the weather was decent enough and Jeremy would be practicing, Leonor put on her nicest clothes and headed to the Pitch. Her parents had taken to Jessica's advice better than she had, and she supposed she should admit that while they certainly weren't as well off as Leonor thought they ought to be, or as much as 'wealthy' would lead one to think, they could afford such things as the low heels and soft blue dress Leonor donned. She clipped on pearl earrings, added a pearl necklace interspersed with small crystals, and a selected a dark grey sweater to go over the top of the ensemble. As she'd hoped, Jeremy was there. She wasn't sure whether it would be creepy to sit and watch his practice, but she got lucky again because she arrived as he was emerging from the lockers and seemed to be in as good a mood as his generally sour demeanor ever allowed. Leonor could relate.

"Hello," she greeted him, trying for an alluring smile. "Leonor De Matteo, of the Mexican De Matteos," she told him, sure he already knew that. But that wasn't the point of such greetings, was it? The point was that she knew what she was supposed to do and that she was somebody. Also, she'd come to the conclusion that "Mexican De Matteos" was the most accurate, and helped distinguish her family line from others in Puerto Rico and what not. They weren't terribly important to her, but at least it gave her line some strength. She was well aware that her ideas of what was proper were different than those of the pureblood students around campus, and that could be good or bad. She opted for something in the middle, and stood closer than she thought most proper girls might but far enough away not to be untoward. "I wanted to talk to you because Felipe was telling me that he lost his temper, and I was very disappointed. It sounds like you have the right ideas about people, and I think we have the same ideas about my brother." She made he familial title sour, showing exactly what she thought of that. "I thought it might be nice to spend a bit more time with you, if you'd like," she added, fluttering her long eyelashes at him, hoping that they framed her brown eyes in an interesting enough way to keep Jeremy's attention. Even if this only went as far as irritating Felipe, it would be worth it. If it was even a bit more fun than that, that would be even better. Jeremy wasn't the worst looking boy she'd ever seen.

22 Leonor De Matteo Seeking a possible seeker. [Jeremy] 1471 1 5

Jeremy Mordue

June 10, 2020 5:38 AM

Not a Keeper? by Jeremy Mordue

It was time for some alone time. Not entirely by choice. Jeremy wasn’t really sure where he stood with other people, regarding wanting their company. Most of them annoyed him, or bored him. They were stuffy and obsessed with the rules, and just… Well, Nathaniel was always on at him to do better, and everyone who wasn’t saying it outright was busy dancing around each other either trying to be polite or, apparently, play mind games. Why couldn’t people just want to have fun? Jeremy generally liked being in a sports environment because people there knew how to have a good time. And taking it seriously meant trying to do it better, not talking about politics or business or anything else ‘serious.’ He could do the right things when it came to sport.

At Sonora, it was a little more of a mixed bag. People liked to drag all sorts of subjects onto the field, and he didn’t feel he got the respect he deserved from his teammates. Hence, he was alone right now. It was more fun to spend time with other people, but other people here just sucked.

He was therefore not totally opposed when someone interrupted his flying time. He wanted to be the best, and he genuinely liked flying but part of why he spent so much time out here was due to having nowhere else to be. He was less than thrilled that it was Leonor De Matteo, all dressed up like she was about to go to a business meeting. Clearly she wasn’t here to fly, and he doubted he was going to find anything she said very interesting.

“Jeremy Mordue of the Oregon Mordues,” he intoned in his most ironically pompous tone, managing to not roll his eyes at the introductions. Honestly, they knew names by now, why were they doing this? A flicker of a smirk did cross his face as he said it.

After that, it got interesting. Jeremy was not one to revise his opinion very often, but he was willing to make an exception.

“That was ages ago,” he shrugged about the fight, “And anyway, I won.” That was up for debate as they’d both ended up in serious trouble, but Felipe had ended up sprawled backwards over his own trunk. So, point to Jeremy. He tilted his head curiously at Leonor. She didn’t seem to be cut from the same cloth as her brother then. She had some proper ideas about respectability and what not. That was probably going to make her dull to hang out with but he revelled in how much it would annoy his roommate to see Jeremy getting friendly with his sister. And he could rub it in Nathaniel’s face that someone thought he was proper. It would be a win, even if Leonor was kind of stuck up.

“I’d enjoy that,” he smiled. It was a shame Leonor was a beginner. It was going to be kind of embarrassing to hang out with a little kid. But then there was always the excuse of the connection blah-blah-blah stuff and he’d know what his real reason for doing it was, and that was satisfying enough.

“You don’t seem to have come prepared with a broom,” he noted, wondering how they were going to hang out right now. Was she going to watch him? That was fine. He quite liked an audience. “Does flying offend your lady-like sensibilities or something?” he asked bluntly.

13 Jeremy Mordue Not a Keeper? 1443 0 5

Leonor De Matteo

June 10, 2020 11:37 AM

That's not impossible. by Leonor De Matteo

Leonor was surprised at how easily this worked out for her. She'd bet correctly that bringing up the fight between Felipe and Jeremy would get him to talk, even if it was old and he was right about that, but she hadn't expected it to go this smoothly. She nodded, her expression both bored and impressed, as befitted both her station and Jeremy's suggestion that he'd won the fight. Considering how unlikely it was for Felipe to hit anyone in the first place and that he'd probably panicked at that point, it probably hadn't been terribly hard to win. Not that she was about to say that, though. Besides, however much Felipe annoyed her, she didn't actually want him to get the snot beat out of him by his roommate. Most days.

It was odd seeing Jeremy smile in a not-evil way. She mostly only saw him smile for rude reasons. It was . . . nice. Being smiled at by a boy who probably had zero questions about what she was suggesting. But then he asked about a broom. She must've miscalculated - was he finishing his practice or beginning it? If he was just starting, she must've done something right to get an invitation right away. She would've been perfectly happy to watch but it did take away from any opportunity to actually get to talk or whatever, so that was no good.

"Ladylike sensibilities," she scoffed lightly, waving a hand dismissively. "A lady should do things gracefully and do them well, not just skip out on anything fun." That was an idea she probably shouldn't go down too far. She was well aware of the fact that being in Pecari was a point in favor of the House but not in favor of her. She liked most of her housemates but that didn't mean she wanted the reputation attached to her name. In any case, flying and Quidditch were obviously perfectly respectable for those of the Crotalus persuasion as well, so she wasn't too worried. "I'd be happy to watch . . . or we could share," she suggested, raising an eyebrow suggestively. "Or I can use one of the school brooms."

This was one of the main problems with boys was the whole thing was just a game. Was she supposed to be helpless and need Jeremy to guide her on a broom? Or was she supposed to be able to show off that she could do it just fine on her own? Or was it something else? How was anyone supposed to actually get to know anyone else if they were all just playing a guessing game to figure out who they were supposed to be? Especially when they were all basing who they thought they ought to be on who the other person thought they ought to be, and round and round it went. In any case, she doubted Jeremy was confused about whether this was a marriage proposal, and she wasn't as worried about giving off the right impression in that direction. Again, if it went there . . . well, marriage was disgusting, but at least she'd get a good name for it and he'd probably be just as happy to leave her alone as she would be to leave him alone, until the opportunity to do fun things presented itself. That aside, Leonor smiled up at Jeremy.

"I'll let you pick," she said, giving him an approving once over.

22 Leonor De Matteo That's not impossible. 1471 0 5

Jeremy Mordue

June 10, 2020 9:13 PM

Not my preferred position by Jeremy Mordue

Okay, this was not just interesting. This was very interesting. Leonor did not seem anywhere near as up tight as other girls from proper families. Given how Felipe behaved, maybe this meant they weren't actually a good family. But then, Nathaniel had never warned Jeremy off trying to cultivate a relationship with either of his roommates. On the contrary, it had always been do this, do that, make sure you make good impressions. And Leonor was saying she didn't think the same way as her brother.

A more paranoid mind might have wondered whether the De Matteos were actually scandal-ridden or otherwise not as respectable as they seeemed, especially given Felipe's over-riding attitude to life. And might have questioned whether Leonor was playing the respectability card only to lure Jeremy in and then drag his reputation through the mud by associating with his inferiors. Heck, even without a difference in social statuses, Leonor could have been playing him specifically to get him into trouble as revenge for her brother.

Jeremy did not have a paranoid mind. He had one that wanted desperately to be valued and validated whilst making him enough of a butthead that he kept pushing people away.

"You can watch me," he grinned, pleased that she had put that offer on the table. He definitely liked the idea of having an adoring little fan. Plus she would not keep up on a school broom and he didn't have time to teach her. Nor was she getting a go on his top of the line broom. She wouldn't know how to handle it.

"This is custom built to my measurements," he added, regarding his broom. And he could say that, because it was a perfectly valid reason to not give her a turn, so he was just explaining. The fact that it let him show off without seeming like it was an added bonus (or at least, could have been, had his tone not very much implied he was proud of that fact).

He flew a couple of warm up laps, throwing in some fast corners and barrell rolls to look good, before diving at both a sharp angle and dizzying speed towards the point where she was watching from. He didn't let up, getting closer and closer, wondering whether she would scream or duck. He pulled up abruptly, bringing himself to a sharp stop directly in front of her.

"My best ground distance on a real Wronski Feint is even better than that," he added. "Anything you'd like to see me do?" he offered.

13 Jeremy Mordue Not my preferred position 1443 0 5

Leonor De Matteo

June 10, 2020 9:42 PM

Fine by me. by Leonor De Matteo

Leonor smirked, amused by Jeremy's eagerness to show off. This would be a whole lot easier than she'd expected and that fact was proving true over and over again. She wondered for a moment if all boys were like this but that made her wonder if this is all Zara had to do to turn Felipe into a pile of mush and that was a gross thought so she put it aside. She nodded, happy to get to watch him and not have to fly. She wouldn't have minded flying - it probably would have been more interesting than sitting there pretending to care what he was doing - but at least this gave her an in that didn't require a lot of work, and she could think through her next moves. She bit her lip and nodded, flipping her hair over her shoulder as she went to find a good place to sit. It was warm enough that the ground wasn't wet but she didn't want to risk grass stains on her bottom, so she took a seat on a bench instead.

As it turned out, Jeremy actually was pretty good. She didn't really have much to gauge it by but it did look impressive, and grinning up at him as he rushed around was easy enough to do. Perhaps Leonor had a type. At least she did right now, and that type was athletic. At one point, he dove towards her. And kept diving. Her heart hammered for a moment, wondering if he'd suddenly gotten it in his head that she was there to mess with him and he was going to murder her for it, but she decided that was unlikely. Still . . . he was getting very close. Very close. She let out a small shriek and jumped backwards over her own seat and into the ones behind her, which was good because Jeremy pulled up in front of where she was then.

Gaping, she swatted playfully at his shoulder. "I thought you had it in for me," she laughed, eyes shining with delight. This was much more exciting than she'd expected it to be. "You're really good," she added admiringly, not having to fake a compliment this time.

He said he could do better on some other broom (or in some other move?) and Leonor blinked; that was dizzying to imagine. "Faster than that?" she asked, shocked. "¡Dios mío!” Perhaps she'd have to get herself on a broom after all one of these times. He asked whether there was anything he'd like to see and she beamed, deciding for sure right then that boys might be worth her time if they were going to do things for her. Granted, offering to do something he enjoyed for her was not the best gift out there, but it made her happy nonetheless. She felt powerful when she got to tell other people what to do and when one of them happily offered to do it, then that was even better. "You've just done try-outs, right? I hear you're really good." She smiled and then looked down at her own person, wondering whether she had anything on her to use for the idea that came to mind. Luckily, there were some stones that had been kicked up nearby and she picked up a few of them. "Do you think you could catch these if I threw them?" she asked, grinning and tossing one in the air and catching it lightly to show she was ready to go if he was. "That way I can play with you."

OOC - If Jeremy approves the plan, feel free to godmod Leonor hucking the rocks at various heights, with a good arm.

22 Leonor De Matteo Fine by me. 1471 0 5

Jeremy Mordue

June 14, 2020 2:54 AM

Good to know by Jeremy Mordue

"No, I'm not one to hold someone's brother and his stuffy attitude against them," he stated, when Leonor said she'd worried for a moment that Jeremy had it in for her, "Believe me," he muttered with an eye roll.

"Thanks," he basked for a moment in the compliment, glad to find someone who actually appreciated his talents. Someone who would give him recognition. Someone who didn't follow that up with a 'but...' about his behaviour. He was starting to like Leonor. "I'd hope so. I've had some really exclusive coaches work with me before I came here," he added.

"Ground clearance, not speed - though that's important too," he conceded. Most people could, after all, get themselves pretty close to the ground if they could do it inch by inch like a wimp. "The Wronski Feint is a move where you pretend to see the Snitch close to the ground and dive for it. You pull out at the last possible second, and hope the other guy isn't as quick. It takes speed, precision and rock solid nerves under pressure," he added, just in case she wasn't able to figure that out herself and thus missed a page in how awesome he was.

"Oh yeah? Felipe pass that on did he?" he joked when Leonor stated that she had heard Jeremy was good. Felipe should have been willing to say it because it was totally true but Jeremy would bet he hadn't.

"Pretty sure, yeah," he grinned, when Leonor asked if.he could catch the rocks she threw. It was kind of cute how desperately she wanted to be part of what he was doing. That was how he had expected people to be, and it was nice to finally be proven right. "For me, not at me, speaking of people having it in for each other, yeah?" he winked. He readied himself as much as possible, face on to her so he could easily see where she threw and so he could easily dive in any direction. He backed up a little, more to give himself room to see and to move around rather than because he expected her to be able to throw them that hard.

Though actually, she didn't have a bad arm on her. She got a decent bit of speed and height on some of the stones (which actually made it easier for him). There were one of two that were near misses, and involved finger tip grasps or almost scraping himself along the grass. He missed one or two but he could claim that was the gentlemanly thing to do if challenged.

"Not got a bad arm on you," he grinned, once they had concluded, "Ever think of signing up?"

13 Jeremy Mordue Good to know 1443 0 5

Leonor De Matteo

June 14, 2020 11:27 AM

Do you have any preferences from me? by Leonor De Matteo

The way he talked about brothers made Leonor think that he had some experience in the area. Or he better have, because that was a hit harsh otherwise. Leonor knew there was an older Mordue brother, but she didn't know him well enough to know whether he would count as strictly stuffy. Still, there was part of Leonor that wanted naturally to jump to the defense, even though she'd been the one to smear Felipe's name first (he really did make it very easy to do though), and there was another part of her that wanted very much to relax a little, knowing someone understood. She considered him for a moment before responding, and eventually gave into a light smirk.

"Good," she decided.

It was amusing the way he talked about himself in a way that seemed to defer the credit to others while also boasting of his own success. Perhaps that was the landmark sign of an up-and-coming young man in high society, because Felipe would do the same thing, although his boasting would probably be accidental. "It shows," she beamed; once she knew she was trying to turn things into compliments, it wasn't so hard to figure out places to do so.

He corrected her understanding of a Wronski Feint and explained the whole thing without being pompous. Without be rude about it. Without reminding her that she was supposed to know things already and if she was just reading as much as she'd been asked to read and doing what she was supposed to do, she might've already known the answer. She was so sick and tired of being made to feel stupid all the time, and so far Jeremy hadn't done that at all. There was something inside her that felt warm about the whole purpose of her coming here, but she refused to let it. She'd come to find out whether making out with someone Felipe did not get on with - other than Jessica, because that wasn't Leonor's thing, although she'd probably be willing to give it a go - would bother him. See how much he liked it when she started tonguing people down around school. But it turned out that Jeremy was not half so awful as people made him sound, and actually, he was pretty easy to talk to. He was nice, and he made her feel good. That made him dangerous, unfortunately, but she was the one with a plan so she was pretty sure she could handle that.

"That's really impressive," she cooed. "You must be really smart to think of using that, not just fast and rock solid to be able to."

She smirked a little, imagining Felipe passing on compliments about his roommate's Quidditch performance. "Not quite," she said. "But everyone else does. Everyone knows you're good; it was a mistake not to play you last year. Felipe said how much you practice and I knew you must be really committed, and it looks like it pays off."

He agreed to let her participate, and he winked, and Leonor absolutely refused to have any sort of feelings about that except pride and victory. She threw most of the rocks as hard and high as she could without exerting herself in an unladylike way, and he caught almost all of them. It was easy to laugh and cheer and be boisterous without having to worry about anything else, and when she ran out of rocks and he landed, she was grinning again, feeling flushed. "You're really really good," she told him. "You can count me in for games this year. I'm excited to see you play."

She blushed again; it was so good to be complimented. Really, people didn't compliment her enough. Felipe thought she still had too far to go to reach the impossibly high bar he'd set to make her worth complimenting, Mara thought she was alright as far as Leonor could tell but their ideas of what deserved a compliment were different, Theo and Mab weren't terribly likely to dole out compliments anyway, much as Leonor liked them, and she couldn't think of anyone else who'd said so nice a thing to her as Jeremy had, and that didn't go unnoticed. "Thank you. I'm not sure I could throw something the size of a Quaffle as well as those," she admitted, surprising herself with her concession. "Plus, then I wouldn't get to watch you play," she added, smiling mischievously.

A thought crossed her mind then, and she stifled a smirk, excited to see how this would play out. "And really, I'm not half so fast on a broom," she began, kicking off her heels and raising an eyebrow at him. "I'm much faster on foot." She bounced up on the balls of her feet, eagerness and nerves making her stomach roll. If he didn't take the bait, she was going to look like a fool. She bounced a little, getting herself within arm's reach of Jeremy but keeping her balance away from him. Then, her grin came free; she was a Pecari after all. "How about yourself?" She put a hand on his arm, between his elbow and his shoulder and leaned towards him, hoping for something vaguely like the way she saw Zara look at Felipe but less gross. "Tag," she whispered softly before taking off running the other direction.

22 Leonor De Matteo Do you have any preferences from me? 1471 0 5

Jeremy Mordue

June 28, 2020 7:38 AM

Public adoration by Jeremy Mordue

Leonor was really awesome. She thought he was awesome, and that was more than enough to qualify her as a seriously cool person. He responded with 'thanks' and 'yeah, it's tough' and appropriate other comments to her various comments on his excellence, braininess and dedication. This really was fun.

Jeremy considered saying something vaguely concilliatory like 'I'm sure you'd get there with practise' regarding Leonor's Quaffle throwing ability. But then she raised the idea of cheering him on, and he liked that far too much to encourage a different line of thought.

"Good point," he agreed. And it was still a compliment, right? He was saying she was right. Girls loved to hear that. It just had the benefit this time of being true, which he had gathered was unusual.

He was about to ask something else when she touched his arm. Jeremy managed not to start in surprise even though he didn't touch other people often. Uncle Alexander had clapped him on the shoulder when they had been setting off for the wagon stop. That was the last time he could recall a deliberate physical interaction other than within-the-rules pushing and jostling on the pitch. It was different than either of those though.

But before he could process more about it, she had told him 'tag' and run off. He assumed he was meant to pursue on foot, as on his broom really wouldn't be a challenge. He sprinted after her, the dual advantages of height and athleticism making up for her quick get away. He caught up to the touching distance required for tag easily enough but he was a Seeker. And he'd had something to ask before she'd run off. He closed his fingers around her wrist.

"So, should I expect a big banner with my name on when you come to matches?" he asked. Because there was fun in having this, in knowing someone was on his side. But it was even more fun if everyone else knew it too. And one person in particlar. If Leonor showed up to support Jeremy, Felipe was gonna love that... Leonor had said she'd come to him because he had better ideas about people than his brother. He wondered whether she had considered how much this was going to annoy Felipe. He grinned as all the ways he could turn this to his advantage struck him.

13 Jeremy Mordue Public adoration 1443 0 5

Leonor De Matteo

June 28, 2020 9:59 AM

Will you return the favor? by Leonor De Matteo

It didn't take long for Jeremy to catch up, which wasn't very surprising but still somehow rather impressive, and when he did, he grabbed on to her wrist. A flash of something unpleasant ran through Leonor's stomach - frustration at being caught? anger at the game ending before it really began? the fear of prey being caught by a predator it really couldn't get away from? - before Jeremy spoke again and . . . okay, so maybe he was a little pompous. But wasn't that a good thing? That was one of the things that frustrated Leonor so much about Felipe: he didn't know when to boast. Sure, keep your head down, defer to others when credit is due there, but when it's you? Own. It. Rock it! Take hold of your pride and show the world its beautiful head and flowing mane.

She stopped, preferring not to pull her own arm out of socket, and turned back towards Jeremy. What was flirting meant to look like? She felt Ike she was really laying it on think but he wasn't really responding with much different than he'd been so far. Maybe that was how he flirted? Maybe flirting was supposed to go slow? Or . . . maybe he didn't realise? From what she gathered, he didn't exactly have a top reputation at school for being nice. She could see now that it was because he was proud of his accomplishments, and clever, which maybe lent him to brooding. That was just as well in Leonor's book and she could see that he was misunderstood. If others couldn't see that, then that was their loss.

His question made her heart do an annoying backflip; this was it. This was the deciding point. If she agreed to make a banner, and followed through with it, she was going to have aligned herself with the forces of evil to Felipe, and probably to others as well. But when evil was this cute and had a great back...ground, well, maybe it wasn't so bad. Besides, she was young. Best case scenario, she could jump right into the fun parts of courting and be done with it, society match made. Worst case, she would just leave him behind. There were no alternatives, in Leonor's mind, and she was sure she'd come out on top.

As she turned towards him, she stepped forward, close enough that their folded arms - his hand on her wrist - were about the only distance between them, with only enough room on either side not to make them all cramped up. From here, she had to look up at him, and she made her brown eyes and long lashes as sweet as possible as she blinked up at him. Really, someone should be making a banner for her and her prodigy flirting skills. Yes, thank you, thank you, I'll be here as long as I stinking want to be.

"Big banner, fireworks, I might even get a band if I can," she promised in a soft voice. She looked down at where they were joined and used her free hand to run the tips of her fingers along the back of the hand that was on her wrist before looking back up at him. It was something that she'd seen Zara do to Felipe's hands, and it was something she'd seen her papa do to her mama's hands, and it was not something she'd ever seen friends do unless you were friends with Theo in which case it was a distinct possibility. Just like swimming: take a breath, close your eyes, and jump. "How much do you want to annoy my brother?" she asked, raising an eyebrow meaningfully. "Banners aren't the only way we can show we're on the same team."

22 Leonor De Matteo Will you return the favor? 1471 0 5

Jeremy Mordue

June 29, 2020 5:58 AM

Depends by Jeremy Mordue

CW - references to physical assault

Jeremy grinned. Okay, at this point she was clearly joking a little bit. But the whole thing hadn’t been a joke, right? Right?! He was going to be so mad if she was just messing around with him. Just laughing at him like everyone else. He knew there were rules against hitting girls, but they also said rules were made to be broken. If she was just teasing him, then he was perfectly entitled to hex her, right? He almost pushed her away. But she wasn’t laughing. She was… stroking? It was sort of nice. It was weird that it was sort of nice cos she was a kid. She was only in beginners and they’d just been playing tag. But she was also touching him? But also talking about Felipe. Girls were confusing.

“A lot,” he gave the honest answer to her question, latching onto something that made good, concrete sense. Diplomacy and blah blah whatever could be on hold for that question. Once two people had gotten in a fist fight, he was pretty sure it was obvious that they might ‘want to annoy each other.’ That wasn’t new. The new part was maybe her being willing to do that.. “What have you got in mind?” he asked.

13 Jeremy Mordue Depends 1443 Jeremy Mordue 0 5

Leonor De Matteo

June 29, 2020 10:30 AM

I'm not asking much. by Leonor De Matteo

Was he . . . did he not . . . oh gosh. This whole time, Leonor thought it had been pretty obvious that she'd been flirting. Because duh. She might have thought he was flirting back if he didn't sound not at all like he was flirting. But why else would she be here? Just to hang out and acknowledge their mutual dislike of a certain former heir? That was ridiculous. At least they both did want to annoy Felipe, and Jeremy hadn't pushed her away or ran away or anything, so that was a good sign, right? He didn't seem like this orient to tolerate ~~anything~~ something he didn't like, so she felt it was afire to assume he at least liked this contact a little bit.

Was it rude to just tell him? Hey, stupid, I'm flirting with you. Maybe this is why formal, organized courtship was a thing; otherwise no one knew what the heck was happening and it never went anywhere. Jeremy would be much more attractive, tolerable, whatever, if he wasn't being so oblivious. If they were formally courting, they would be working from the same set of assumptions, and she wouldn't have to find out he was oblivious.

Maybe it was because he thought she was a kid. But that wasn't fair because she wasn't really a kid at all. They were only like two years apart, maybe less depending on when their birthdays were. She'd be thirteen over Christmas break, after all.

She managed not to scowl at him, keeping her soft, adoring smile on her face. "It's not really proper for the lady to do the asking," she said softly. "I only thought that it might be nice to . . . get to know each other better." Get handsy with me where my brother can see, that's all I want, you fool. "If you'd like to consider dating? Or something along those lines."

22 Leonor De Matteo I'm not asking much. 1471 Leonor De Matteo 0 5

Jeremy Mordue

July 01, 2020 10:25 PM

Okay then by Jeremy Mordue

It wasn't proper for ladies to do the asking? That sounded... Well, that applied to a few things. Most alarmingly, marriage, but then also things like dancing or... Well, there was a range of things, the most severe and terrifying of which was marriage, but all the other things were also decidedly romantic too.

Leonor pointed out the dating part pretty firmly. Or something along those lines. Along that line in which direction? He had to admit that he was curious what touching and kissing and all that stuff was like. She wouldn't have been his first choice, or even on his radar, but on the plus sides she was actually asking and it would annoy Felipe.

There were probably risks he was meant to consider like whether this was just a trap to get him in a position where he was forced to marry her, but he was confident he was smarter than her - she was two years younger than him and a girl.

"Dating or something casual works for me," he answered, wanting to make it clear that this was just a for now/for fun arrangement. He was pretty sure that put her at more risk than him. Okay, perhaps people would call him ungentlemanly but accusations of being cheap or easy stuck to girls so much more easily. That would be her problem though. He raised an eyebrow, waiting to see how she'd take that response.

13 Jeremy Mordue Okay then 1443 0 5

Leonor De Matteo

July 02, 2020 12:15 AM

Good deal. by Leonor De Matteo

Leonor stifled a sigh of relief. Tolerable as she was beginning to find Jeremy Mordue, she was not at all prepared to pledge her life on their relationship, whatever it was. Something casual, something irritating to Felipe and fun to her, was perfect. She beamed happily at Jeremy. "That sounds good," she replied.

She paused a moment to take it in and get a good look at him. 'Boyfriend' was maybe a strong word? She was loathe to use it when 'we are dating' was true without being so... So ugh. But he really wasn't bad looking, even with his pompous expression. Maybe especially because of it. This was a young man who knew he had the right to hold his head high and he was about as close to Leonor's match as she was bound to find at Sonora, at least close to her age. Yes, he would do nicely. She'd even dress him up to show her parents if things went well and then they could enjoy their functional, surface-level relationship without all the hoity toity business that went into other people's.

The problem was what to do next. It seemed a bit odd to just leave, box checked. It also seemed odd to make out or something when she wasn't really terribly interested and there was no one around to annoy. It wasn't like they'd built up to a terribly romantic mood and she was just dying to get at him. Also, it was getting cold.

"Amy particular colors I should put on your banner for this first game?" she asked retrieving her shoes and returning to his side, ready to return to the school when he was, or else follow him on a perfectly boring midnight stroll.

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