I am not sure how to do this... (tag Joe) on Magical Arts Room and Sports

Raine Collindale

December 12, 2017 11:41 PM

I am not sure how to do this... (tag Joe) by Raine Collindale

Midterm had been a blissful break in forgetting the existence of the CATS. She hadn’t seen Dallas again, and for a while that had hurt. In some ways it did still. But at least on New Year’s Eve, she’d been able to have some fun with someone else. There was nothing quite like boys to provide pleasant distraction, followed by mind calming bliss. Now that she’d got some way over her fixation on One Particular Boy, she saw Sonora with fresh eyes. Sure, there weren’t that many possibilities. A lot of the guys were too stuck up to get with her (for all that she was rapidly separating romance from other parts of relationships, she found it hard to imagine that someone could be physically attracted to her whilst disliking her as a person), and Ben was already with Tess. But there was Joe.

Joe was a nice person, they got on well, and he was far from unattractive. She didn’t think they had much potential for a serious relationship - she could never imagine Joe being willing to introduce someone as stupid as her to his high flying family even as a friend, much less a girlfriend - but that didn’t mean they couldn’t fool around and release some tension together. In fact, her utter unsuitability as a serious girlfriend was sort of a relief. She didn’t want anything like that, and she didn’t want Joe to think that she did and be hurt. But the idea was so ridiculous, he was sure to see it for what it was - a couple of friends just having some fun.

The only trouble with this plan was, in spite of her past experiences, Raine had absolutely zero idea how one went about seducing a guy. They had both come to her, fuelled by seeing her flexibility or by alcohol. One of those things was more readily available than the other at school, and - little as she tried to think of it - she knew it had worked on Ben too. Thus, she had casually dropped the idea to Joe that he should swing by after she finished her circus workout, so that they could hang out for a bit.

She genuinely had worked out for an hour. She could ill afford to skimp on the circus training. Just before Joe was due to arrive, she freshened up with a few charms. Dallas had said that it wasn’t necessarily unappealing seeing her glistening with sweat, but she was fairly sure he was just weird and that it was as entirely gross as she thought it was. Whereas, when Ben attended their training sessions, she tried her best to cover up (as much as one could when exercising), she had taken the opposite care for Joe… Her legs were clad in vibrant psychedelic leggings, her top half sported a tight fitting black crop top. Her wild brown hair was swept up in a bun. She had decided that make up was going too far, and would be too suspicious.

When she heard a knock, she called ‘Come in,’ whilst dropping into front splits with a back bend.

“Hi,” she smiled at Joe as she straightened her body up, her legs remaining in position. “How’s it going?”

13 Raine Collindale I am not sure how to do this... (tag Joe) 327 Raine Collindale 1 5

Joe Umland

December 13, 2017 9:41 PM

I am rapidly questioning things I thought I knew. by Joe Umland

Logically (Joe would have thought if he had, in the moment, really had much of a connection with his higher brain functions), it followed that if Raine was having circus practice in the sports room at seven and then wanted to meet there at eight, she would not bother running back to the dorms to change. Therefore, it should not have been a surprise to find her…somewhat less modestly garbed than they generally were in classes. Circuses were not institutions Joe was highly familiar with, not least because they were an entertainment which cost money to attend, but he knew that acrobats in them did not generally wear robes and long skirts and stuff like that. In fact, doing so would be downright dangerous for someone performing acrobatic tricks, and he would not have wanted Raine to do that…if he’d thought about it beforehand.

Unfortunately, he had not thought about it beforehand, and he did not think of it on hand, either. Instead, most of his attention was busy being startled and intrigued by the sight of a not insignificant portion of Raine’s abdomen immediately upon entrance into the room.

Joe had realized he was not entirely indifferent to the existence of women in roles other that ‘mother’, ‘sister’, or ‘nun’ some time ago. Practically, however, this was not really a problem. The closest it had come to being a problem had involved temporary insanity on his part and he wished that the whole thing had never happened, because it was why there were now two people who knew he was highly susceptible to emotional blackmail and extortion of various kinds and it had been bad enough when only Julian had realized that about him. Now, he kind of wished he had spent more time devising a plan for how to handle it when it did become a practical problem, though, because he had very little context for how to deal with the sight of a not insignificant portion of Raine's torso.

Generally, Joe thought he had very little Catholic guilt. The way he figured it, Mom and John did enough praying for him and themselves both - Mom, admittedly, asked at least four separate saints a day to put in good words for John, but asked the same of a perfectly respectable two for Joe as well, so as long as he showed up at Mass more than twice a year, Joe figured he was all right. It turned out, however, that suddenly actually seeing normally-concealed bits of a girl was both interesting and something which apparently triggered memories of childhood lessons which suggested he ought to, right now, perform a Summoning Charm to wrench out his own eyes. That, however, was the sort of thing that tended to alarm normal people and make them doubt his mental health besides proving a lasting inconvenience, so he decided he would have to take his chances.

“Going? Oh, pretty good. Sorry, I didn’t mean to - er - interrupt your practice. I guess that’s going well?” he asked, hoping he sounded normal, when Raine returned to an upright position where her face was easier to focus on.

16 Joe Umland I am rapidly questioning things I thought I knew. 329 Joe Umland 0 5

Raine

December 19, 2017 2:23 PM

Is that a good thing? by Raine

Raine did not recognise Joe’s moment of difficulty with the English language for what it was. Whilst she had reduced Ben to stuttering distraction a few times, she hadn’t known at the time what it meant, and thus didn’t connect it now - plus she had tended to be distracted herself, by the distracting things she was doing, so she hadn’t always had her full attention on her friend. Guys who had wanted her had usually been pretty confident and forthcoming about that point.

“You didn’t interrupt,” she assured him, “Or rather, I don’t mind. I’m nearly done.” She swapped her front splits for side ones. She probably, having said that she was nearly done, and having arranged to hang out with Joe, would have to finish up soon. She only had to hope he’d have got the idea by then…

“Yes,” she smiled, when he asked if she’d had a good practice. Talking about practice was good. Her practising was usually considered appealing. But Joe wasn’t exactly complimenting her on it, and she didn’t exactly know how to flaunt herself or her own achievements. Beyond doing what she was doing, she had no idea how further to encourage Joe. How to bring the subject subtly round to what he might think of her or like to do… “I’m very flexible,” she added, in case he somehow hadn’t noticed or really considered that point.

13 Raine Is that a good thing? 327 Raine 0 5

Joe

December 20, 2017 11:48 PM

Jury's still out. by Joe

It was obvious, Joe thought as Raine moved from one kind of split to another, that Raine really knew what she was doing with this. He, who actually felt weird on the rare occasions he didn’t have a few knots in his shoulders, could not imagine moving that...fluidly...even if the prescribed range of motion was a normal one. Not anxious and yet in total control - that was...something. It didn’t even seem to occur to her that she could slip, let something loose that ought not be, and cause a disaster, either just by doing it or because she was distracting herself talking to him….

“You...are not wrong about that,” said Joe when Raine announced that she was very flexible.

It was odd, seeing Raine...confident like this, he guessed. Enough so that the thought she was deliberately, well, showing off not only her skill but her body only occurred to him briefly and made him feel like a terrible, awful, very bad person. Raine often seemed terrified of speaking, so she’d probably be completely horrified by the thought of someone ogling her. Even if she was currently very...ogleable. Surely she realized this? And he wasn’t actually doing anything wrong just by noticing this?

“It’s really cool that you can do that,” he said, remembering to say something nice instead of just dwelling on her torso and whether or not he was doing something wrong. That was poor form - thinking too much about oneself. Impolite. Shame on the national honour. “I’d need a wheelchair if I even tried that. You look good - I mean, good at that.”

16 Joe Jury's still out. 329 Joe 0 5

Raine

December 23, 2017 3:09 PM

Oh. I see... Um... by Raine

“Thank you,” Raine smiled, as Joe mentioned how it was cool that she could do all this. That was definitely a step in the right direction, and even Raine couldn’t miss Joe telling her she looked good, even if he seemed to backtrack slightly afterwards. Bingo.

“Thanks,” she said again. She waited a moment, but Joe didn’t seem to be following that up in any way. She was used to that kind of comment being followed by some sort of suggestion that they got it on, but there didn’t seem to be one. Why wasn’t Joe making a move on her? Was she misreading his comment? But he’d said she looked good. She realised that a silence was developing.

“So…,” she mused, feeling slightly awkward at still holding her splits, but not sure whether she could continue pretending to not be done with her exercises after this pose, or how much pull she’d have on Joe if she wasn’t being all stretchy - she felt like she was getting somewhere but he didn’t seem as keen as other guys. “Here we both are. And we want to unwind before exams. And I’m very flexible. Got any ideas?” she hinted.

13 Raine Oh. I see... Um... 327 Raine 0 5

Joe

December 28, 2017 1:59 PM

...Er, yeah, that’s all very...ah.... by Joe

Before today, Joe had thought he had known what an awkward situation was. As a brief silence developed after Raine thanked him for his botched attempt at a compliment, though, he realized that no, being in the same room as John and any woman other than their mother was not the absolute most awkward situation known to man. Pretty awkward, yes, there was no denying that, but not...this. He was seconds away from launching into nonsensical babbling - about what he didn’t know; maybe the room, maybe their last Charms lesson, anything - when Raine spoke first.

For one moment, he was almost relieved. Then he processed what she’d said and realized that she was, in fact, making it much, much worse.

“I - ah - eh - I - that’s - “ he ended with an incoherent sort of noise. This was accompanied by some rapid changes in complexion, which ended with him looking as though he had taken far too much sun very, very recently. “No, not really. Didn’t realize - unwinding - was, uh, a thing. I’m kind of used to being tense.” He realized he was babbling and that the very best he could hope for was passing it off as a rapid-onset virus. That was not the best last-ditch option he’d ever had and he was not crazy about the odds of his pulling it off successfully, either. “I’m Catholic - not enough you can tell,” he acknowledged, as he wasn’t sure Raine even knew this fact about him and that he didn’t just develop an inexplicable desire to try vegetarianism every Friday - “but enough to get all the, uh, guilt and stuff. So usually pretty tense.”

16 Joe ...Er, yeah, that’s all very...ah.... 329 Joe 0 5

Raine

January 04, 2018 12:51 PM

So... by Raine

“Oh,” Raine responded to Joe’s ramble about not relaxing, trying not to sound too disappointed. She took his response to be an indication that he wasn’t interested in engaging in “relaxation” with her. She was mildly confused - had she just imagined that he seemed, at the very least, curious about her body when he’d walked in - and also a bit embarrassed. The latter was easier to note, as a blush had spread across her cheeks. She brought her legs round to a much more natural angle and stood up, crossing her arms lightly across her exposed torso.

Part of her wanted to yell at Joe to just go away, if he was going to be like that, but she remembered snapping at him in herbology and that she’d felt bad about that, and it checked her tongue. Instead, she picked up a long, loose top which she had used to cover herself up on the way to MARS, and slipped in on. She tugged her hair out of its ponytail, feeling safer and more secure with it falling around her shoulders, free to be played with or hidden behind. The atmosphere had palpably changed.

“You don’t have to stay if you don’t want to,” she shrugged.

13 Raine So... 327 Raine 0 5