Fancy meeting you here (tag Evelyn) on Magical Arts Room and Sports

Sylvia Mordue

July 28, 2020 10:10 PM

Fancy meeting you here (tag Evelyn) by Sylvia Mordue

Sylvia had been watching from a distance for quite some time. The situation had very much bothered and concerned her until she had done some calculating over midterm and realised what might be going on here. It was, she thought, a little bit of a risky move on Nathaniel's part, and she wished he would have let her in. Perhaps it was for that reason that she was going to Evelyn and not her cousin first. Certainly, he would have been able to provide her with useful information, no doubt, but Sylvia prided herself on her ability to read people and she was curious to see just how well she might get along with Evelyn without his help.

Even casual observation and idle gossip could tell one that Evelyn Stones was a busy person, and that she had what would have been an inexplicable number of friends was it not for the fact that most of them were people like her. Evelyn's year was populated with far more of them than it was people like Sylvia. Still, the girl exercised a lot, and that was both a conveniently solitary activity and one that took place in the relative privacy of the MARS rooms. That suited Sylvia well, as the last thing she wanted was people seeing her talking to someone like Evelyn, and as she was a regular swimmer herself, Sylvia also had every excuse for just happening to be here.

She made her way to MARS, a small gym bag slung over her shoulder containing her swimsuit and a towel that was deeper, fluffier and less contaminated than anything that MARS could provide. In theory, the room could conjure up what she wanted, and if she wanted a towel softer than duck down and untouched by other human hands, that was what it should give her, but there was always something unpleasantly communal feeling about things that the room could provide. And there was something to be said for a real monogrammed object, gifted to her by Simon.

She had timed her arrival carefully, just in time to be the overlap of one person leaving and another arriving. A brief (she hoped) and by chance interaction. Opening the door, she found exactly what she had predicted, which was Evelyn exiting the pool.

"Hello," she smiled, "You're just leaving?" she checked though she knew it to be true. She gestured to the bag on her arm and the room in general, "It looks like we have an interest in common," she added, "Well, this and spending time with Nathaniel," she added pleasantly.

13 Sylvia Mordue Fancy meeting you here (tag Evelyn) 1413 1 5

Evelyn Stones

July 28, 2020 10:31 PM

A little too fancy. by Evelyn Stones

Swimming. Oh, but it felt so good to swim. Normally, Evelyn would have preferred some sort of beach type scene to the pool she was swimming in now, but she'd had a particular aversion to beaches that looked too much like Oregon recently, so a pool it was. Plus, it was much easier to swim laps here than it would have been on the coast, and warmer too. She did sort of wonder whether she could conjure the Pacific Ocean in the MARS room. Like the whole of it. If she conjured a familiar beach, how far out to sea would it let her swim? Since she wasn't about to find out that it let her swim way past the point of survival, she was just going to have to exercise here.

Apparently she wasn't the only one, because Sylvia Mordue arrived as she was doing some more light swimming to wind down. She felt a bit self-conscious, as she generally didn't go around in her swimsuit for the world to see. At the same time, she liked her swimsuit and she was proud of the body she'd cultivated for herself, so it wasn't the worst thing in the world. It was odd though. She and Sylvia had never really spoken that much but it wasn't like they'd exactly tried to either. Sylvia was . . . well she struck Evelyn as very much a Mordue at least. Evelyn was a bit surprised the older girl worked out at all, although she supposed it made some sense. Part of the problem with Sylvia Mordue, and with Allegra Brockert and all these other girls who might be perfectly fine if not for the fact that they were exactly that, was that that's very much who her Stones family would have wanted her to be if not for that pesky squib lineage on the other side. Of course, that raised the whole question of why someone like Mathias Stones had gone and married and made babies with a squib, whatever her family line beforehand was, but Mathias wasn't famous for his great decision making. Evelyn pushed those thoughts as far as . . . well, as far as the jail Mathias was currently sitting in.

"I am, yeah," Evelyn said as she climbed from the pool and grabbed her towel. It was dark blue and it made her happy because it was very Heinrich - warm and fuzzy, comforting, and screaming in muted Aladren hues. She paused and looked up at Sylvia with round, puzzled eyes. "Yeah, I guess we do," she replied slowly. Not sure what to do with the second half of that statement, Evelyn gestured around the room. "I like working out and swimming is as good a way as any." Was she about to be drowned in her own mind-pool because she liked 'spending time' with Sylvia's cousin??

22 Evelyn Stones A little too fancy. 1422 0 5

Sylvia Mordue

July 29, 2020 11:42 PM

Not quite fancy enough by Sylvia Mordue

"Yes, I've always found swimming very enjoyable," Sylvia smiled pleasantly. She had clocked plenty of hours both in her family's pool at home and in a replica of it here - MARS was very good at recreating that, right down to the list on the wall detailing each of the Mordues' personal best times for each year. A list which often showed her as ahead, if you knew the relative ages to, for example, calculate and compare her at age eight with Simon at the same age. Of course, that would have to wait, as for now MARS was Evelyn's drab and unimaginative vision of a pool.

It was easy enough to smile and make small talk about swimming, both because she really did like it and because she'd been raised to chit chat with ease, even if it was with someone with an ugly scarred arm, in an ugly swimsuit. It was not the real reason she had come however. She noticed that Evelyn had not responded to the remark about Nathaniel, though she seemed to be glancing around her own pool room as if desperate to find something else to say to keep avoiding that subject.

"You're lucky I'm not Caitlin," she stated, still keeping her face pleasant, "I'm sure that's not how Pierces do things at all. She'd most likely hex you if you went near any family of hers."

13 Sylvia Mordue Not quite fancy enough 1413 0 5

Evelyn Stones

July 30, 2020 11:37 AM

That's not how that works. by Evelyn Stones

Evelyn dipped her head forward in disbelief, thinking that she must have heard Sylvia wrong. "Come again?" she asked. Seriously, what was this chick's problem? The odds of being drowned in her own mind pool were increasing, but Evelyn found that she was more pissed off than anything else. There was a good chance that there was a misunderstanding going on here, as Evelyn was pretty sure she hadn't done anything hex-worthy. Also, she doubted that her own family nightmares had been traipsed out for Sylvia to assess, so it was probably safe to assume that the Crotalus didn't know the half of what made Evelyn so distasteful to a bunch of pureblood snobs anyway. She made a mental note to make sure Gary didn't have his sights on this one - not that Sylvia would give him the time of day anyway, thank Zeus - and then asked again. "What are you talking about?" she demanded.

The problem with this whole thing was that Evelyn wasn't a very good witch and she knew it. If Sylvia did decide to hex her, Evelyn was going to get hexed and it was going to suck. If it came to a physical fight, Evelyn maybe stood a chance, but she was also small and probably didn't actually stand a chance. She might be able to channel some inner anger and make a tsunami wave to knock her out or something, but it was unlikely. There was, of course, the fact that Evelyn could take a hit. Sylvia couldn't know this and Evelyn wasn't thrilled to know this about herself, but she wasn't about to get a broken nose and give up. Although it probably said something about her that a confrontation like this immediately made her begin to think about a fight breaking out.

"You know Nathaniel and I are prefects right?" she asked, continuing to dry herself off and proceeding to get dressed. If it was her dad, she would have not been acting so casual. But Sylvia was much much less frightening than Evelyn's father and Evelyn was not about to get into it over some stupid family drama. "Also I think we're friends. Both of those mean we're going to talk. Also, I'm pretty sure, that it's not your business. What's your problem?"

22 Evelyn Stones That's not how that works. 1422 0 5

Sylvia Mordue

July 30, 2020 8:22 PM

That's not how English works by Sylvia Mordue

Sylvia’s face twitched as if Evelyn had slapped her as the Pecari started snapping at her. Clearly Evelyn did not understand at all - she had more or less admitted as much herself. Sylvia assumed that she wasn’t so very naive as to not have a clue about blood politics, and to really not know at all what Sylvia was referring to. If anything, her anger was suggestive of her knowing exactly what the problem was. It was one of those topics that pushed people’s buttons, made their blood boil until they weren’t being at all rational or sensible or even really listening to the other person. Luckily, Sylvia had plenty of practise in being patient and repeating herself for people who were failing to catch on. Katerina really was useful for a lot more than she’d seemed likely to be at first.

“I don’t have a problem. Well, not so far as I’m aware,” she added, surveying Evelyn a little skeptically. She couldn’t deny that being spoken to like that did not exactly make a favourable first impression.

“But you’re wrong about the other part,” she stated as neutrally and carefully as she could, hoping that Evelyn wasn’t so stuck up that being told she was wrong about something set her off into angry mode again. She was a Pecari who was friends with a bunch of Aladrens though, and apparently not that great at putting two and two together, so she was probably fairly used to being told she’d grasped sticks by entirely the wrong ends. “I’m sure if Ness or Heinrich was spending an increasing amount of time with someone new, someone you didn’t know from a venemous tentacular - and that is just a turn of phrase, I am not calling you one,” she added, because Evelyn seemed like the kind of person who might need figurative language spelling out, “I think you’d want to at least find out what sort of person they were. I’m saying that Caitlin might solve that by trying to get rid of you, and that maybe you were assuming the same about me. In which case, you’d be wrong.” Again.

13 Sylvia Mordue That's not how English works 1413 0 5

Evelyn Stones

July 30, 2020 9:03 PM

I'm willing to learn. by Evelyn Stones

Evelyn paused, narrowing her eyes at Sylvia, not sure whether it was disbelief, confusion, or irritation that made her do it. Then she took a seat sideways on the bench where her clothes had been and folded her legs up criss-cross. "You don't have a problem," Evelyn repeated. She sighed. "Sorry. I've had a rough . . . week. I shouldn't be short with you. Except, are you threatening me, or . . ? What does Caitlin have to do with anything?" she asked. It wasn't exactly true that she'd been having a rough week but I've been having a rough life sounded melodramatic and rough year was specific enough to call for explanation if Sylvia was the kind of person to think of anyone she didn't find in a mirror.

She took another breath. What did she know about Sylvia? What would Heinrich or Ness - both of whom it was creepy of Sylvia to bring up; had she been researching Evelyn before this conversation? - say to do? Probably Ness would have told Sylvia exactly who resembled a venomous tentacular the most, and Heinrich would probably just be nice because that's how he was. Of course, Evelyn had also seen him outright stand up to people much scarier than Sylvia Mordue for her, so perhaps he wouldn't just sit back and take it. But what was she even taking? On the surface of it, Sylvia was being friendly almost. Which was, of course, the game. Be so sugary sweet on the surface that when your actions hurt someone and they called you out, you could gaslight them.

"I think I'd trust Ness or Heinrich's judgment," Evelyn said. It was true, too; she hadn't gone seeking Lyssa herself, or Gary for that matter. Heinrich generally kept to himself, but Evelyn was sure that she wouldn't go stalking his new friends after graduation. Now, if one of them turned out to be someone he was interested in as more than a friend . . . well, that would be heartbreaking but Evelyn wouldn't go after them to find out who they were. And also, Heinrich was her boyfriend, not her cousin. And also, Evelyn wasn't trying to get with Nathaniel.

"So . . . what? You're trying to see what kind of person I am, then?" she asked Sylvia, raising an eyebrow at her as she put her hands up and began braiding her wet hair over her shoulder. "I have to say, if you're going for friendly, pointing out that I'm hex-worthy isn't the best strategy. Like . . . am I meant to be grateful? Or . . .?" Truth be told, Evelyn was feeling reckless. She had a lot to lose at this point, but not a lot of it was really lose-able. Plus, she had a lot of pent up feelings that she'd love to get out, and she didn't necessarily want to do so in a bad-wolf way. If Sylvia punched her in the face, at least she'd have a good reason to lash out.

22 Evelyn Stones I'm willing to learn. 1422 0 5

Sylvia Mordue

August 04, 2020 4:05 AM

Oh good by Sylvia Mordue

Right. She’d had a rough week. Apparently so bad that basic logical conversation had fallen out of her head, if it had ever been there in the first place. Perhaps one flaw going into this had been assuming that, at a baseline, Evelyn was able to converse reasonably coherently. Obviously she wasn’t smart but she passed her classes, and based on what Sylvia had seen and heard, she must be pulling good theory grades because her practical scores were nothing to write home about, so it hadn’t seemed too much to hope for.

“That’s alright,” she smiled graciously, glad that Evelyn was at least apologising. “And no. I’m not threatening you,” she stated as plainly and directly as possible, though still in a pleasant tone. As for what Caitlin had to with this… How direct to be there? It felt like it was going to be necessary to state everything bluntly with Evelyn but this wasn’t the kind of thing you could just out and say. Perhaps she could plant a seed and check in with Nathaniel. Or give Evelyn up as a lost cause and move onto the next one… “I’m sure people think of myself and Caitlin as very similar, perhaps more or less the same. Naturally, she and I have a lot in common, but well… I suppose I just like to think you might bother to see us as different people. Seeing as you care so much about Nathaniel. That was my meaning.

“I didn’t say I don’t trust Nate’s judgement,” she stated. The last thing she wanted was any implication that Nate was frail or lacked sound judgement - that he was someone who could be exploited. She choked down the frustration and the worry that Evelyn’s implication caused her. “Nate- Nathaniel,” she corrected herself because she didn’t want Evelyn thinking she had the privilege of calling him that, “has excellent judgement. That doesn’t stop me wanting to know more about the people he spends time with. I think it’s polite to care about the people around the person you care about,” she stated, tilting her head at Evelyn with genuine puzzlement on this point. She was fairly sure Evelyn was bluffing, just to try to push her out. Everyone cared about their friend’s friends, didn’t they? Cared about what manner of person they were and whether they were a good or a bad influence. Not that Evelyn was really Nate’s friend, surely. But if it pleased her to think so for now, so be it.

“Yes. As we find ourselves here,” she agreed, taking care to make it clear that this was a casual and accidental meeting when Evelyn stated Sylvia was after seeing what kind of person she was. She wasn’t sure what to make of Evelyn’s question about whether she ought to be grateful for not being hexed. Given how much like banging her head against a brick wall this conversation was, the honest answer to that would be ‘yes.’

“Everyone’s hex-worthy to someone,” she dismissed the comment. There were people who would say Dorian Montoir deserved jinxing and clearly more than half the school felt he was worthy of being head boy. So, what was a good or a bad personality trait was a matter of perspective. That, she hoped, was a basic enough truth that Evelyn couldn’t misunderstand her. “Meaning people don't all get along," she added, to be on the safe side, "I thought it was politer to say hello than start a fight. And, like you say, find out what you're like and let you know what I'm like.”

13 Sylvia Mordue Oh good 1413 0 5

Evelyn Stones

August 06, 2020 11:29 AM

But I still don't get the point. by Evelyn Stones

Well, threats off the table was good at least. Evelyn still felt like she was missing something obvious, but at least she wasn't about to get bat-bogeyed for it. She thought it was particularly interesting that Sylvia seemed to be trying very hard. Perhaps that was just because she didn't usually find herself interacting with people out of her societal circle? She wasn't used to having normal conversations? Or perhaps it was something else. Evelyn wondered how much trouble she'd be in if she ever called Nathaniel "Nate" and decided it was best not to find out.

"Well, hello," Evelyn said, managing a small smile. If she tried hard, she could even be amused by this conversation so far. She wasn't too sure that would help her cause anymore than being stiff about it would, but since she didn't know what her cause was at this point, it wasn't a big loss.

She did feel a bit like Steve Irwin though. Here's a wild pureblood, clearly stressed from interacting with creatures not of its own kind. It has very little social skills applicable to the real world, but won't give up trying. Let's see what happens when I get closer.

"I am genuinely curious here: do you do that with all his friends? Or co-prefects?" A thought crossed her mind then and she raised an eyebrow. "You know I'm not into him, right?" Even if she was, she knew enough about high society to know that she'd have to be a whole lot more appealing than she was to have a chance there, and she was perfectly happy to never ever ever have a chance there.

22 Evelyn Stones But I still don't get the point. 1422 0 5

Sylvia Mordue

August 09, 2020 6:22 AM

The only point is that I'm nice by Sylvia Mordue

“Hello,” Sylvia returned, with a polite inclination of her head. It was an odd sort of conversation when the ‘hello’ was a culmination of monumental amounts of effort, and possibly the best place to draw the line and conclude things.

Evelyn, however, seemed to want to probe things further.

“Do what?” Sylvia asked, when Evelyn asked if she did ‘this’ to all Nathaniel’s friends. Or co-prefects. Her word order was very telling as to where she placed herself. Although apparently she was not into him. Sylvia inclined her head slightly to indicate that yes, she was aware. Technically, she had not been fully aware of Evelyn’s thoughts on the matter, and that was something of a relief to know. However, a ‘yes’ seemed appropriate, even if it was based more on the fact that she trusted Nate well enough for that not to be an issue. Of course, something could still develop into an inconvenience or a scene without his inclinations heading that way, so it was good that that wasn’t going to be the case. “Do I… say hello or make small talk if I cross paths with them?” she queried, wondering what specific action Evelyn was suggesting she was engaging in here. “I would think so,” she nodded. “I’m not a monster.”

13 Sylvia Mordue The only point is that I'm nice 1413 0 5

Evelyn Stones

August 09, 2020 8:54 AM

My gut says no. by Evelyn Stones

"Funny way to start off some small talk," Evelyn pointed out matter-of-factly. She was pretty sure that even Sylvia couldn't argue that most conversations began with a heaping dose of vague non-threats. This was the problem with people like this though; Evelyn felt sure that this wasn't just a friendly conversation, but it also wasn't . . . not. On the surface, there was nothing immediately wrong. On the surface, Sylvia was mostly perfectly polite. It was the sort of silent gaslighting that made Evelyn wonder whether she was making it all up in her head. But she thought that that probably wasn't true, because conversations with other people didn't feel like this. So what was wrong? What evidence was she seeing to make her think Sylvia wasn't just being perfectly polite? The vague non-threat was definitely in that category.

The irritating thing was that she couldn't just ask. If this was Gary and the conversation was being weird, Evelyn could call him on it. Even Nathaniel, she could have called on it. There would have been some less success with that probably, but she could've. It was the difference between looking down his own nose at people and not looking down at all. Or, in Gary's face, looking around to make as much noise as possible on a stealth roll trying to chaperone herself and Heinrich.

Evelyn considered Sylvia, wondering what would happen if she did call her on it. She had nothing to lose, but she also didn't particularly want to deal with the saccharine response she was almost sure to get. The other option was to play the game right back, but Evelyn hadn't paid enough attention to Sylvia to know where to begin with that. There was only one button she'd been exposed to and it seemed rude to push it. Eh. Yolo.

"You and Nate are close then?" she asked lightly.

22 Evelyn Stones My gut says no. 1422 0 5

Sylvia Mordue

August 09, 2020 5:49 PM

Oh, you don't need to listen to that by Sylvia Mordue

Sylvia let the small talk comment drop. Coming back at it would just sound like arguing - like she was trying to convince Evelyn that her version of small talk was acceptable and that Evelyn's ideas were wrong. Evelyn's ideas were wrong and it probably only seemed 'funny' to her because she'd managed to entirely misunderstand for the first half of their conversation. None of that was Sylvia's fault but nor was it going to het her any further to point it out. Hopefully if she just left it alone, Evelyn would give up on saying and thinking that too.

She was surprised when Evelyn pushed the conversation further, especially when the Pecari trod very firmly into territory where she was not welcome. Sylvia's lips pursed. Nate, she knew, would not have extended an invitation to anyone else to call him that, which meant that Evelyn was doing so utterly uninvited. Sylvia thought you didn't need an etiquette tutor to be aware that it was rude to shorten someone's name unless they explicitly invited you to. Although she was either genrous enough or deluded enough to assume that was a careless mistake born of ill-breeding and not a deliberate provocation. She wasn't really sure why Evelyn was asking something that should have been painfully obvious. Especially to someone who was 'friends' with Nate. But perhaps she was just trying to small talk back. Perhaps Sylvia really was getting through to her! Not that she wanted Evelyn to run off with the delusion that they were now friends. 'Friendly' would be more than enough.

"Nathaniel," she corrected, her tone slightly prickly, "I'm the only one who calls him Nate, even at home." Which, she supposed, answered Evelyn's question too.

"Neither of us remembers not being with the other one," she added to further explain. Previously, she might have referenced them being only a few months apart in age but, even if they didn't claim Nate was her sibling, they did try to avoid the implication that his parents had existed. "I know that doesn't always mean closeness but with us it does," she answered, her voice losing its edge slightly.

13 Sylvia Mordue Oh, you don't need to listen to that 1413 0 5

Evelyn Stones

August 12, 2020 11:11 AM

It's been right before. by Evelyn Stones

Evelyn kept her face neutral on the outside but beamed inwardly at the small victory. It wasn't really much of a victory at all, but to see Sylvia be irritated, to know that she had pushed the right button, and to get to see just how . . . possessive? Sylvia was about Nathaniel, was helpful. There was a reason that Sylvia had brought Nathaniel up; she hadn't needed to take advantage of them bumping into each other like this and she'd brought him up very intentionally, so there was a reason they hadn't just talked about swimming, or else ignored each other altogether.

"Nathaniel then," Evelyn agreed peaceably, inclining her head to show she accepted the correction.
She blinked when Sylvia said she was the only one who called him that, even at 'home' though. Home, she knew, could mean a lot of things to people, but she had forgotten for a moment that it meant Sylvia for Nathaniel. "I forgot," she said a little more softly. "He said he lives with his aunt and uncle. That's your family then, I assume?"

Having someone absolutely could mean you're close. Evelyn understood that well. She'd been closer to CJ when they'd only had each other and it was sort of nice not to be close for that reason only. She hated to think what their relationship would look like if she became his mother by proxy but that was that.

"Being together can mean closeness," Evelyn agreed. "Sometimes that's all you have." She cocked her head. "And you're worried about him because . . . of me? Because of what?"

22 Evelyn Stones It's been right before. 1422 0 5

Sylvia Mordue

August 16, 2020 8:10 PM

I suspect it's also been wrong sometimes by Sylvia Mordue

"Yes," Sylvia confirmed, keeping her neutral-to-pleasant social face on as if Evelyn was just making small talk. Why the heck did she know that Nate lived with them? That was a strangely personal detail for her to know. Of course, it sometimes came up unavoidably, such as if one was asked a very direct question about parents or some such. Still, Nate was quite well practised at giving evasive answers, or simply avoiding correcting misconceptions. There were often ways round the issue. It also was not the fact that Nate lived with them that had caused their closeness - rather the other way around in some senses, but to correct Evelyn on that point would be revealing far too much.

"No," Sylvia smiled, when Evelyn asked whether she was worried about Nate. Naturally she was - she hadn't liked Evelyn hanging about him in the first place (although now she had to wonder, given the presumed purpose of their interactions, whether Nate had actually initiated it), and several things Evelyn had said in this conversation had given her further reason to be on edge about the whole thing. But that wasn't the purpose of being here. She might have a word with Nate, check he wasn't suffering too much from keeping company with Evelyn, but she wasn't about to do anything to suggest they should all be less friendly to each other. "Not unless you give me any reason to be," - she already had about a dozen - "I just want good things for Nate. And he wants good things for me too," she added, "We're each happy when the other succeeds. It's nice having someone who looks out for you that way."

13 Sylvia Mordue I suspect it's also been wrong sometimes 1413 0 5