Isaac Song
May 23, 2019 2:00 PM
Taking the plunge [tag Cleo] by Isaac Song
Isaac paced nervously, unsure of when exactly Cleo was going to show up. He was dressed impeccably in clothes that made him feel handsome in this warmer weather, but which also looked casual enough for a just-friends hangout. He just hoped he wouldn't sweat out of it. Isaac had asked Cleo earlier in the day to meet him here to hang out, but hadn't implied that it was going to be anything special. He swallowed and thought he'd better ask her out before anything else happened. Otherwise he'd act weird the whole time and Cleo would probably think it was the veela magic messing with him again.Over the break, Lauren had prodded him so much in that annoying older sister way that Isaac had finally spilled about his feelings about Cleo. The veela part did complicate things a little, but Lauren had given him some very serious big sister advice about taking the plunge. Otherwise, he would regret it forever. Isaac, in return, asked if she had any unrequited love stories, but she didn't really answer him. It didn't matter for her anyway since she had a boyfriend now. Apparently, having a significant other made you an expert in all things related to successful dating.
Isaac took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. He couldn't freak Cleo out and mess this up, and he definitely didn't need to keep freaking out himself. He took a seat on one of the stone benches adn stopped his hand from going through his hair. He gripped his knee instead. He didn't know what he'd say if she rejected him, even though he and Lauren had talked about all of the possibilities. The worst thing that could happen was Cleo cutting off their friendship. The best thing that could happen was her becoming his girlfriend.
Regardless of how nervous he felt right now, he was determined. He was going to ask her out today.
Isaac stood up and was about to start pacing again, but he heard footsteps and froze. He brushed invisible dust off his jeans, trying to look casual.
"Hey," he said, maybe a little too loudly. So much for playing it cool. Isaac smiled. "How are you?"
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Isaac Song
Taking the plunge [tag Cleo]
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Isaac Song
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Cleo James
May 24, 2019 10:13 PM
Plunging is a scary thought by Cleo James
Cleo was more relaxed about this meeting with Isaac than the previous one. The first one, she hadn’t really known what to expect or what it was about. And it had got a bit weird when she’d used her veela powers on him but they’d got through that. Same when she’d done it to Parker… She appreciated that she had people who were willing to ride those moments out and talk them through with her. She still found it hard to do that, rather than just wanting to run away and hide, but her approach really hadn’t ever solved any of her problems.She’d also been having classes in controlling her powers. Not just the ones from Professor Skies, but proper ones from an actual veela. She felt like she understood a bit more about her powers. Essentially, it felt like there was a degree of… background veela-ness. There was something about her that might make people stop and stare. But the stranger effects - people losing their minds, trying to get close to her or impress her - that was within her control. Or rather, it would be. She wasn’t there yet. She still had trouble being deliberate with her power. The most helpful thing about the lessons hadn’t been so much the power control as the chats she’d been able to have with Virginia after their classes. How do I know if someone likes me for me? Is it responsible to be around people if I don’t know how to control my powers? She’d been given the green light on that second one, and the only answer to the first one seemed to be ‘get to know them better.’ She knew Parker wanted to spend time with her because of their shared interest in gardening. That was such a concrete, non-veela part of her identity, and she knew him well enough to know when he wasn’t being himself. Why did Isaac like her though? That was harder to answer. It seemed a lot less concrete - he just did, he thought she was interesting… All those fuzzy, vague qualities that she couldn’t pinpoint whether they came from the human side or the veela one. And she found it harder to know what ‘normal’ was for him, and thus know whether she was affecting him.
Still, she was looking forward to today. Not least because it meant a break from studying. The CATS were coming up, and it felt like there was an awful lot she still didn’t know. She was pretty confident in Herbology. She thought she would do okay in the practical charms. The theory for that and Transfiguration were sort of fuzzy. Defence… She knew most things that could harm her, and how to take measures against that, so those kinds of questions were okay - anything about ethics or deeper theory made her head hurt but she’d memorised some of the things it was good to say… Potions, she did fine when her herbology knowledge could come into play, and could usually brew something decent under normal circumstances. How badly exam nerves would affect that, she didn’t know… She was able to get revision done during the concert rehearsals, at which she served literally no purpose. Arianna seemed to have Her Way of doing things, and had then deputised the musical side to Connor. Which made sense because it wasn’t like Cleo would have known how to do it, but it did make her feel a bit useless. No one had told her she no longer needed to be at rehearsals, but no one had told her what to do either, so she just sat back, feeling vaguely useless and getting the impression that most of Crotalus were quite happy so long as she tried to be invisible. It was kind of depressing, but at least she got some studying done, and thus got all the unpleasant things out of the way using the same block of time, thus freeing her up to do nice things. Like seeing Isaac.
“Hi,” she smiled at him. She didn’t notice the volume, or the abruptness to his movements. After all, so much of their first walk together had been… weird. She still was calibrating what was normal for Isaac. She noticed that he looked nice. She was wearing denim shorts, which were technically boys’ shorts. Her daddy seemed to object to the substantial lack of fabric they put into girls’ clothing, and given that Cleo’s preferred activity was grubbing about in flower beds, practical clothes seemed like a logical choice. The shorts came to just above her knees and were loose fitting. She had paired this with a lilac t-shirt. Her nails had some little flecks of glitter polish from her nail painting session with Jasmine, although it was getting chipped around the edges (as the base was clear, this wasn’t obvious without a close inspection, and was one of the reasons Cleo liked that one in particular, as she never could seem to keep polish from chipping within two seconds of getting it on).
“I’m ok. Lots of revision,” she grimaced, “How about you?”
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Cleo James
Plunging is a scary thought
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Cleo James
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Isaac
June 12, 2019 7:01 PM
It sure is, but uh here I go by Isaac
She was fine. That was good. And she looked more comfortable being with him this time, which was also very good. Isaac shrugged. "Same, but it's looking pretty good. Don't tell anyone, but we've got brooms in the mix." Isaac wasn't sure if it was supposed to be a secret or not, but he didn't think Cleo would go tell her house to copy their idea.It was hard trying to think of what to say next without jumping right into it. "I'm looking forward to summer," he continued. "The concert is pretty fun and I like bonding with my housemates, but it's also stressful on top of school and final exams." Isaac did not want to talk about school though, so he pressed on. "I'm thinking of asking my mom if I can stay back this summer instead of going to Korea now that I'm 17. I don't know what she'll say, but she might be OK with it."
As the only boy in the family, Isaac had realized early on that he had a little bit more privilege than his sisters. It was unfair, undoubtedly, but he also used it to his advantage when he really wanted some time on his own or wanted to do something with his friends by himself. He had a weird role of being both the 'man of the house,' but also the baby of the household. Mom didn't really worry about him too much, but leaving him on his own for the whole summer in LA would probably be a stretch for her. Maybe if he roped Uncle Derek into loosely 'babysitting,' he could get away with it.
"What are your plans this summer?" he asked. "I was just thinking that maybe I could visit you and we could go on a real date sometime, if you want." He glanced at her to see if she was horrified or shocked or amused by his suggestion. Visiting her was maybe a big leap. Maybe he should've toned it way down. "But if my mom doesn't agree, then maybe we could hang out, er, go out maybe before the concert?" He cleared his throat, feeling awkward now. If only he'd stopped after the date suggestion.
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Isaac
It sure is, but uh here I go
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Isaac
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Cleo
June 13, 2019 12:41 AM
*cautiously dips toe to test the water* by Cleo
"Sounds exciting," Cleo smiled. Which, she supposed, made sense for Pecari. It probably wasn't that big of a surprise really that they were including flying, nonetheless she promised Isaac that the secret was safe with her. "Big surprise, we have a lot of classical music," she sighed.She was glad when he moved the subject away from school. The concert wasn't something she could get really excited about, seeing as she wasn't really involved, and the end of year meant exams, CATS for her.
She was curious about his summer, and why he wanted to stay back, curious about his life in general. But before she had a chance to ask, he had moved the conversation on. The question of her own summer also fell by the wayside because it seemed sort of odd to start talking about all the mundane things she'd be doing over the summer when he had just asked her out on a date. A real date. And was clearly kind of nervously waiting for an answer on that.
"I'd like that, I think" she answered shyly, not quite meeting his eyes as she said it because the thought that a boy, a nice boy, had just asked her out on a real date was very lovely but also made her want to sort of curl up with embarrassment. She supposed it was hard to pretend no one was noticing you when someone was sitting just with you and asking you that, and Cleo had got rather used to hoping not to be noticed. She thought she mostly would like a date with Isaac, though the thought made her a little nervous because she hadn't dated anyone before, and part of her still thought that it might be a bad idea to try. But Virginia seemed to think the best way to solve her current dilemma was to get to know Isaac better, and that there wasn't anything wrong with the idea of her going on a date. She supposed she could have got to know him better by just hanging out. Dates were more serious than just habging out, after all. She had read romance novels and seen teen movies at her grandparents' house. The difference between hanging out and dates were that dates were more of an event. She was supposed to get dressed up, make more of an effort than she had today. And you went somewhere. And then you kissed. So she supposed that was what Isaac was asking for. And the going somewhere and having fun together sounded fine - it sounded easier, in some ways, than just hanging out, because if they ran out of things to say, they would be out doing something. It was just the thought of kissing someone, which felt a little bit like speeding towards a precipice because she had no idea how to do it right, and what would happen in terms of her veela powers if she did. She wondered if there was such a thing as going on a date without kissing. She suppposed that was just being friends, and that wasn't what Isaac wanted. And she liked Isaac, and people got disappointed or annoyed when you didn't agree with their plans, and she didn't want to upset him. If she said 'no' he might not ask again, and it wasn't like she didn't want him to ask, it was just sort of scary.
"What would do for this date?" she asked, because she sort of wanted to ask 'are you going to kiss me and what's it going to feel like?' but she was aware that she couldn't ask that, and that he probably couldn't answer even if she did. Still, in spite of finding no interest in their concert act, it did seem that the sorting potion had got her right because she wanted some reassuance about what was going to happen, not to just dive in and see. "And if it's before the concert..." He had seemed to float it as an idea in case they couldn't go on a proper date in the summer, and had changed what he had said part way through. "You said hang out and go out, so would that be a date too or not?" she asked, wanting to make sure she was clear about what was going on.
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Cleo
*cautiously dips toe to test the water*
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Cleo
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Isaac
June 16, 2019 12:31 AM
*splashes a little deeper* by Isaac
Cleo said she'd like to go on a date with him! Isaac swelled with hope and couldn't help but smile at her.He had an idea of what dates consisted of for the most part. His best friends back home had had girlfriends, though Jason was the only one with a more serious girlfriend. Dates for his friends meant going out to dinner and a movie where the guy paid for everything and the girl maybe kissed him at the end. Isaac hadn't had his first kiss yet, and it made him a little nervous thinking about kissing Cleo. He didn't know if she'd be up for it, but maybe if the date went well...
But then there was the possibility of it going horribly wrong merely because of circumstantial influences. Isaac couldn't predict what they might be, but something could happen that could ruin their date, like rain or spilled drinks or a really rude waiter.
Movie theaters also didn't exist in the wizarding world, but maybe they could see another show or go do something else. Isaac felt like he was sweating a little bit now that he was put on the spot. "Yeah, that would be a date too," he said, more confidently now that she had agreed to go out with him. "On campus, I'm not really sure what we could do. Maybe we could go for a walk, do some gardening or take a swim in the MARS water room, and then watch the sunset outside. If I visited you, maybe you could show me around where you live. We could walk around, visit some shops, and get dinner somewhere." If they were in LA, Isaac would've had a lot more ideas, but it was hard to say what they would do on her turf.
"And then, if it went well and if the moment's right, I might kiss you, if you're OK with that, but there'd be no pressure at all." Isaac felt warm talking about it, but he wasn't going to be a coward and pretend that wasn't on his mind. "It's totally up to you of course too and what you want to do."
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Isaac
*splashes a little deeper*
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Isaac
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Cleo
June 16, 2019 11:43 PM
How deep is it? Any sharks? by Cleo
The things Isaac listed sounded generally safe and familiar. If they were on campus, their options were rather limited, down to more or less what they usually did. Swimming was the only really unsusual option, and Cleo was not particularly keen on that idea because the thought of Isaac seeing her in a swimsuit was just embarassing. Not that she thought she looked bad in one - that was something she never really had to worry about - but he would definitely be looking, and she just didn't want that."Walks and sunsets sound nice," she agreed. That was the one of his school suggestions that sounded the most romantic, and the most like something she didn't do every day. She had seen sunsets at school before, just happening to be out or by a window when one was occurring, but she had never gone out of her way to deliberately watch one.
"There's not a lot to do where I live," she warned him, "but that still sounds like fun," she agreed. He also said that there wasn't going to be any pressure to kiss him if she didn't want to. She wasn't sure how true that was, but the more she got to know Isaac, the nicer he seemed. It definitely seemed like an interested-in-Cleo thing, not a lured-in-by-her-powers thing to talk to her like that.
"Have you ever kissed anyone before?" she asked.
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Cleo
How deep is it? Any sharks?
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Cleo
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Isaac
June 17, 2019 6:28 PM
No sharks in sight here, just dolphins by Isaac
Isaac was really glad his suggestions sounded appealing to Cleo because he really had no idea what he was talking about. Walks and sunsets were like the movies. He hoped his own date with her turned out just as romantic and nice, but it was also kind of scary to think about that.If there wasn't much to do where Cleo lived, Isaac would have to get a little creative, but they didn't have to make it a big deal either. Maybe they could just hang out or go on a picnic somewhere if it wasn't super hot. Isaac would think about it later, if his mom would even let him stay home this summer. He'd figure something else out though if they couldn't hang out over the break.
"No," Isaac replied honestly to Cleo's question. It was a little embarrassing to admit at his age, but Lauren hadn't kissed anyone till she was older so he didn't think it was a big deal. "Well, I did play Spin the Bottle once a couple years ago, but we just kissed each other on the cheek." Most of Isaac's experiences were pretty innocent compared to some of his friends. Maybe that had to do with some kind of magical boarding school vs. big public high school thing.
"Have you kissed anyone before?" he asked.
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Isaac
No sharks in sight here, just dolphins
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Isaac
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Cleo
June 18, 2019 8:31 PM
That does sound nice by Cleo
Cleo was relieved when Isaac admitted he hadn't kissed anyone properly either, although his game of spin the bottle was more than she had ever done. It was not an experience that particularly appealed. She had a hard enough time imagining kissing someone she liked without feeling also a little bit frightened about it. She thought it would have to be someone she trusted, and would have to be somewhere with some privacy, and spin the bottle removed both those possibilities. It might even make it someone you didn't like."No," she admitted, when he asked her the same question, "My friend Anna, back home, she finds that... I don't know... funny? Unbelievable?" she suggested, not entirely sure how to finish that sentence. "I just... I don't know what happens when I kiss someone. What happens with the veela thing, I mean," she clarified. She was also not entirely sure what happened with the technical side of lips and everything else but that was less of a worry, and at least she and Isaac were in the same boat there. He wasn't really going to know if she was doing it wrong if he'd never done it either. Of course, was he going to know if she made his brain go weird if he had nothing to compare to? She thought she was getting better at telling when she was and wasn't using her powers though, and at seeing when she was. She didn't like guys, or the way they behaved, when she did. It was creepy. And Isaac was never creepy with her.
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Cleo
That does sound nice
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Cleo
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