Sorrel and Ash Craven
July 03, 2008 2:07 PM
The week before... (split thread) by Sorrel and Ash Craven
OOC hey, by 'split thread' I just meant that the twins are in two different places when this is happening (boys' and girls' dorms) so obviously two separate people can reply. Just wanted to try to attract some attention to that, so people don't go "oh, someone's replied... it is too late for me."IC
There were several unusual things about the way Sorrel Craven was behaving. Firstly, she was packing. It was still a full week until term ended, and the twins never usually began throwing things into their trunks until anything but the last minute. Anyone who had asked, leading up to this week, would also have been under the impression that the twins planned to spend their last Sonora midterm at the school, seeing what fun and games it had to offer this year. But now Sorrel was hurling things into her trunk pell-mell (the only aspect of her behaviour that followed suit) as if she couldn't get out of there soon enough, and would indeed be leaving in five minutes, and not a week or not at all. The last thing that was strange was somewhat harder to spot. Her back was turned to the room as she huddled over her trunk, so her face wasn't visible to anyone who entered, but if they watched for long enough they would see an occasional hiccup of her shoulders, hear a little gasp of breath or see her hand come up to wipe her eyes. Sorrel Craven was crying.
Meanwhile, in the boys' room, Ash was reacting to the same stimulus somewhat differently. His trunk looked in more disarray than usual, as if he had begun to pack, but then angrily ripped the contents out and thrown them across the room, as if they were to blame for the current state of affairs, or at least could absorb all his ill feelings about them. He was now pacing about, ignoring his packing in true Craven twin fashion, occasionally pausing to punch his pillow several times. This never appeared to have the desired effect, for he would utter a short, guttural huff and resume his pacing. In an effort to aleviate some of the tension, evident about his hunched shoulders and scowling face, he aimed a hefty kick at a bedside table, swore loudly and then flopped down onto his bed. He massaged his sore foot with one hand and stared moodily out of the window. In the other hand, he held a piece of parchment, screwed up tightly in his fist. It wasn't going to be a very merry Christmas.
0
Sorrel and Ash Craven
The week before... (split thread)
0
Sorrel and Ash Craven
1
5
Stephen Baxter
July 04, 2008 1:50 AM
This seems the kind of thing I should respond to... by Stephen Baxter
Stephen was distracted. On one hand, there was a lot of homework starting to appear, just in time for midterm - it was rather like they didn't want the students to have actual holidays and enjoy them. Or maybe that was just the RATS students. He didn't think there'd been this much in years before. On the other hand, he couldn't seem to find Sorrel. She wasn't in the gardens or at the pitch. She wasn't in the library - not that he was expecting that, but as he had to go via there for a good for Ancient Runes, so it had seemed an idea to take care of the two things at the same time.She wasn't even in the common room.
Glancing up the corridor that led to the girls' dorms, Stephen pulled a face and took the other entry and headed for his own room.
Ash was there - oh yeah, he hadn't seen Ash around either. But then, Stephen hadn't been looking for him - and didn't look too happy. Moving to stash the book on his bedside table, Stephen almost tripped over the things scattered over the floor.
Stephen looked at his room mate again, raising an eyebrow. He made his way over, moving around or over the items crowding the floor-space.
"Er... dude? What's with the room? We get hit by a hurricane or something?" A thought occurred to him. He hadn't checked the Hospital Wing. "Sorrel ok?" he asked, hoping that wasn't it.
39
Stephen Baxter
This seems the kind of thing I should respond to...
49
Stephen Baxter
0
5
Ash Craven
July 04, 2008 7:53 AM
*various grumpy Ash noises* by Ash Craven
Ash looked around instinctively when he heard the door open, even though there was a 99.9% chance he wasn't going to be surprised. He turned back to the window as Stephen made his way across the room, ignoring what he assumed was a rhetorical, flippant question about a hurricane. Then Stephen asked about Sorrel. Presumably not rhetorically. Ash kneaded the mattress with his fists, trying to tell himself that this would have been Stephen's first question anyway, that it was a logical one on finding him in this state, and that it was nothing to do with how Stephen saw his sister - that it was to do with them all being friends, not Stephen and Sorrel being something to which Ash was third wheel. Had this been how he and Lizzie had made Sorrel feel, he wondered for the umpteenth time."I doubt it," he replied to Stephen's question. But Sorrel wasn't lying somewhere unconscious, or whatever along those lines Stephen was thinking, and even though his answer had kind of expressed that that probably wasn't the case, Stephen had a right to know for sure really. Ash wouldn't like it if someone was vague about Sorrel's well-being with him, and he guessed Stephen felt... He tried to find a way of explaining that she was ok in the way Stephen had meant, but probably not particularly ok overall, and found the words that fell out of his mouth to explain how Sorrel would be was what had happened, "Our grandma died."
He uncurled his fist, smoothing the letter out on the windowsill. It wasn't that he was intending to let Stephen read it or anything, it was more like now he'd said it... Now he'd said it, he didn't need to keep this all balled up in his fist, crunching it up so it was all crushed and invisible. He swallowed hard. In a way, making it a bit more real was a release, but it wasn't exactly a comfortable one.
13
Ash Craven
*various grumpy Ash noises*
50
Ash Craven
0
5
Stephen
July 05, 2008 11:24 AM
Ah... by Stephen
Stephen wondered whether his stomach had just dropped or whether this was just his imagination. He just stood there a moment, trying to work that out while simultaneously resisting the urge to just turn and dash for the hospital wing. It was a strong urge - he'd even take several backwards steps when a stray beater's bat showed up under his feet and left him wheeling his hands wildly to recover his balance. Ash was here, rather than with his sister. The thought popped into Stephen's head and he felt a moment's surge of anger before he tempered it. That, if nothing else, was probably a sign that it wasn't quite as bad as he had been thinking for a moment."What do you mean," he asked carefully, moving up to glance out of the window near Ash's bed and then back at the other boy, "that you 'doubt it'?"
And then, of course, Ash answered. Quite simply and succinctly - he just flat out said what it was that had happened. And Stephen stood there, feeling relieved, a bit guilty about feeling relieved and, on top of that, more than a little useless. He didn't know what to say. No one in his family had died. What did you say to people who had just had their grandma die? There was something else too. A vague memory of something that one or the other of the twins had said at some point, that just didn't want to make itself known as more than a niggling knowledge that there was something else to this.
"Er... geeze, man. That really.. that sucks. I'm sorry," he offered the words, hoping they'd do and meaning them. "I suppose Sorrel's in her room, er," the hurricane had a reason, clearly, "packing too then?" So... they wouldn't be at Sonora for midterm. Probably. Almost certainly. A stab of disappointment made headway through him. He'd had some ideas.... had been looking forward to it really. Quite a lot. He opened his mouth, closed it, looked at the door, looked back at Ash and then ducked his head to meet his ascending hand to push it through his hair distractedly. "Look, I can see that you're... well, packing. How soon do you have to go? If there's a bit of time, you want to come out? We'll holler for Sorrel and we can go hang out in the Gardens or something. Talk, if you want," he shrugged, not entirely sure whether this was what Ash needed or wanted, but wanting to get to Sorrel and assess how she was for himself, while at the same time not completely deserting his friend.
39
Stephen
Ah...
0
Stephen
0
5
Ash
July 11, 2008 11:31 AM
'Ah...' indeed by Ash
"Going tomorrow," Ash replied, opting to answer the easiest question first. He fiddled with the edge of the parchment whilst he considered Stephen's offer. Stephen would probably try to see Sorrel even if he rejected it, so it was a good way to keep an eye on them. Plus it would be cool to hang out as the three of them anyway. The only think that made him reluctant was his current inability to feel like doing anything."Yeah... Thanks, man," he nodded. He wanted to make sure Sorrel was ok too, and it wasn't like he was going to feel any better by sitting alone moping, especially not if he sent Sorrel and Stephen off to cheer each other up without him. Stephen's mention of his "er... packing" prompted him to turn his attention back on the trunk. He should pack before going out. Sweeping his wand across the floor space that currently held his possessions, he attempted a little packing-by-magic. However, his generally inability to pull off large scale spells, combined with his current high level emotion meant that he instead caused his trunk to fly back against the wall with a hearty SLAM. His face coloured just a little as he scrambled up to pack in the Muggle way, avoiding Stephen's eyes. He grabbed handfuls of stuff, shoving them into the trunk angrily and in complete disarray. This didn't seem to aleviate his ill-feeling and it was easy to see how his packing had infuriated him to the point of hurling it across the room last time. It looked like it might easily happen again.
13
Ash
'Ah...' indeed
50
Ash
0
5
Stephen
July 13, 2008 8:05 AM
So... by Stephen
Tomorrow. That was awfully soon, all things considered. Not only would he miss spending Midterm with Sorrel (and Ash, hopefully to a lesser extent) but they'd be gone nearly a week more beforehand. Stephen wondered privately if it made him a bad person that he felt that wasn't fair. That it wasn't fair that this had happened now, and messed with his plans. And then he did feel bad because their grandmother had died and Ash was upset. And, Sorrel was probably just as upset, in the seventh year girls' room.He nodded back at Ash, glad that the other boy couldn't read his mind and see how small and petty his thoughts were. Making his way to the door, he did his best not to look at Ash and his packing, pretending that everything was, if not completely normal, at the very least not something to be commented on. He shoved his hands in his pockets and stood by the door, leaning against the wall uncomfortably trying to think of something he could say to lighten the mood and coming up completely blank.
"You done for now?" he said at last, ducking and twisting his head to glance down the corridor in the direction that turned towards the common room. "I'm going to head down and see if I can get Sorrel. I'll see you there, ok?"
He flashed Ash an uncertain half-smile before pushing off the wall and heading to the landing that both corridors shared. Moving to the entrance to the girl's corridor he gazed down it. He didn't really want to shout for her, as Sorrel probably didn't want attention to be drawn to her if she was upset. And he couldn't just go down the corridor himself... stupid corridor ride. He rested one hand on the wall, drumming his fingers as he tried to work out what to do.
Find a girl and ask her to look for Sorrel?
Shout out anyhow, as that was perfectly normal and wouldn't really bring that much attention... and might work?
Cast spells at the entrance until the protections disappeared? Not that that was likely to work anytime soon.
Where was an owl when you needed one? Or any animal that might carry a message? His fingers stopped their drumming quite suddenly and he hit the wall with his entire fist. He searched his pockets until he found a pen and a scrap of parchment, then leaned the parchment against the wall to scrawl a quick message.
Sorrel,
Ash told me about your Gran. Come out to the gardens with us. It's got to be better than hanging out in your room. And I want to see you.
-Stephen
He glanced down the corridor again, and hearing footsteps coming up behind him, quickly folded the parchment into a makeshift paper airplane. With a barely audible spell and a quick direction from his wand he sent it up the corridor towards Sorrel's room and hoped like hell her door was open.
39
Stephen
So...
0
Stephen
0
5
Ash and Sorrel
July 14, 2008 8:21 AM
Yeah... um... by Ash and Sorrel
"Mm," Ash nodded vaguely, as Stephen hastily made his excuses and left. He looked at the packing. Stephen had snapped him a little back to reality. Done now? Yeah, he could be, could call it done and at least stop dealing with it. Like the packing was the problem in and of itself. Knocking the trunk lid as closed as it would go, he followed Stephen down stairs, just in time to see a paper aeroplane disappear up towards Sorrel's room.Sorrel's possessions were stowed messily in her trunk. She drummed her fingers on the rim of it. She was just picking some items out, arranging them more carefully one by one as something to do, when she heard a funny rustling scrunch outside the door. She left it a moment, but on hearing it again crossed the room and opened the door. At first, she saw nothing, but a repeat of the sound drew her attention to the floor, where a little paper aeroplane with a crumpled nose was twitching like a half-deceased bug. Picking it up, she quickly shut the door again, in case anyone should come by and see her. She smoothed the note out, finding it to be a missive requesting her company on the paths with Stephen and Ash. Shrugging to herself, she checked her face in the mirror, rubbing off smudged eyeliner with a wet finger and trying to will her eyes not to look red and puffy before going downstairs. She hesitated a fraction of a second in the common room, before reaching out to hug Ash. That done, she thrust her hands into her pockets, not really sure how to greet Stephen. 'Hello' seemed inappropriately inoccuous and normal. She nodded sort of awkwardly, looking forward to getting out to the seclusion of the paths, sure that everyone was staring at them.
13
Ash and Sorrel
Yeah... um...
50
Ash and Sorrel
0
5
Stephen
July 14, 2008 9:22 AM
You ok? by Stephen
Stephen turned around and nodded at Ash before turning back to the girl's corridor without having said anything. He was still trying to work out what he could really say - especially to Sorrel if she came out - to them, to be sympathetic and whatever else he was supposed to be. And he did feel bad for them, really he did. He double-checked, and was fairly sure he felt bad for them, amongst everything else. His introspection didn't last long, interrupted by the sounds of a door opening and closing."I think that means she got my note," he said to Ash. "Do you think she's going to come out?"
Stephen didn't really look at his room mate as he spoke, instead trying to crane his head to find that impossible angle that would allow him to see what was happening down the corridor while, at the same time, not sending him crashing down into the middle of the common room. And then there was the faint sound of the door opening again and he twitched, glancing sideways at Ash and then at the approaching Sorrel, trying to twist his expression into something suitably sympathetic rather than the smile that seeing her automatically generated.
It didn't take much of a brain to get the idea and shift back momentarily, to give the twins a bit of room. He thought it was kind of odd, to see them openly hugging, but didn't say a word, waiting for them to be done and then offering Sorrel his best effort at a sympathetic half-smile. He slipped an arm around her, sliding it between her arm and her body without bothering to say or do anything about her hands in her pockets.
"Come on," he said, keeping it simple. He headed down the stairs, taking Sorrel with him and expecting that Ash would be with them. The room was covered quickly, and then they headed through the passage out - blinking a little, at least in Stephen's case - they were out in the bright outdoors. Stephen glanced up at the sky - still clear, but within a week it would be thick with clouds in preparation for the snow of midterm. He glanced at the twins, but didn't get an impression of any particular direction that they'd want to go, so he took a path at random.
OOC: Keeping the thread here rather than moving to the Gardens, considering it's midterm already. Shouldn't make too big a difference ;)\r\n\r\n
39
Stephen
You ok?
0
Stephen
0
5
Sorrel and Ash
July 17, 2008 11:42 AM
Yeah, tip-top of the world! by Sorrel and Ash
Sorrel tensed a little as Stephen put his arm around her, in spite of her best efforts to prevent him. She'd warned him a million times about public displays of affection. He seemed to think he could out-stubborn her though. He had never shown any signs of backing down, but she did think he might have left off in front of Ash. Not having a vast amount of choice, she allowed Stephen to steer her out, Ash following, and already feeling a little put-out and unwelcome.They traipsed down a path, not really following Stephen but not really choosing a way. The three of them just sort of drifted. Each of the twins ran comments through their heads, rejecting them as not being the right way to begin a conversation... It looks like it's going to snow. Well, of course it did. It was about to be Midterm. I guess you're staying here over the holidays? They already knew he was. They'd talked about, and no member of his family had dropped dead, dragging him away.
"This sucks," muttered Sorrel eventually. It strayed slightly onto the side of stating the obvious, but it was all that she could think of that wasn't out-right ridiculous.
13
Sorrel and Ash
Yeah, tip-top of the world!
51
Sorrel and Ash
0
5
Stephen
July 18, 2008 10:22 AM
Your grasp of sarcasm is a wonder to behold by Stephen
The silence was wearing. Stephen used it to try and think of things to say, things to do, but kept on coming up a blank. He kept glancing at Sorrel and occasionally at Ash. What the hell was he going to do with himself over midterm without them around? He'd kind of been counting on it and now... now..."This sucks."
Almost involuntarily Stephen used the arm around Sorrel to give her what he hoped was a comforting squeeze. There was a fountain nearby, so he took the steps needed to reach it, disengaged and sat down on the edge.
"Yup," he said. "I mean, ah, yeah. Yeah, it does. I'm sorry Sorrel, this is kind of awful, isn't it? I mean," a humourless smile escaped, "Hurricane Ash here is all I needed to know it wasn't good. Do you... do you know how-" Would it make him a completely insensitive clod to ask how long they were going to be gone? Probably. Stephen frowned and hit the wall of the fountain with his heels several times. Stephen glanced up at Ash. "Plenty of seats to go around, dude."
Sorrel he didn't push on this, not this time. There was times, although this certainly wasn't the time to say so, when he wished that Sorrel would be the one to instigate a little bit, whether it be holding his hand or whatever. It was kind of strange to have a girl who needed to be pushed and pulled into almost everything. If he'd been a mite less sure of himself he'd have serious doubts about how she felt about him, and even with his self-confidence he wavered a little at times. What he wanted to be doing right now was to have her wrapped in his arms, so he could silently say that he felt awful for her loss, and was there for her if she needed him, but if her stiffness so far was anything to go by that wasn't going to happen any time soon. Not that it would stop him trying again later. Just not now. Not when she's just learned of the death of her grandmother. Somehow, it didn't seem quite... right.
To keep his mind from it he twisted to look at the fountain and he dipped a hand into the water - although he didn't spray either of the twins as he might have in other circumstances. Instead, he splashed the statue in the middle of the fountain which promptly diverted some of the spouting water directly at his face.
39
Stephen
Your grasp of sarcasm is a wonder to behold
0
Stephen
0
5