Dorian Montoir
April 17, 2020 7:19 AM
Election Day by Dorian Montoir
It had been hard to know how to say goodbye to Jean-Loup at the end of Tumbleweed trip. Both in the abstract, heartache sense of the term, but also on a practical level. They had agreed to be themselves but had such a limited idea of what that looked like. There was also the fact that Dorian didn't really want ambiguity - he wanted people to know they were not just friends - but he did not want to be vulgar either. If he took his cues from the adults in his life... He had never seen the Professors Brooding-Hawthorne behave in a way in public that really revealed the nature of their relationship. But then, they had the power of names...Hand holding, was a pretty clear signal, he thought. Boys did not hold hands with other boys.
Except, he did.
They had strolled up to the Floo point hand in hand, both palms sweaty and shaking. And… hesitated.
“I guess… see you in the summer? Somehow...” Dorian had stated. It sounded so far away, both being the wrong side of the ball and impossible to know how, exactly, he was going to get time with his boyfriend given that his parents didn’t approve.
“We’ll work something out,” Jean-Loup had assured him, squeezing his hand and feeling the absolute insufficiency of it for someone who just wanted to be… his. Honestly. Openly. “I’d ask to be your date for the ball. If I could,” he added. Not that that was going to help in terms of… advertisement, seeing as they were speaking French.
”I’d say yes,” Dorian had replied. And Jean-Loup’s wand hand had been free, and he had twirled it in the air, conjuring a little flower which, in the absence of Dorian’s uniform having a buttonhole, he had slipped behind his prefect badge. And, with a smile, had taken the hand he was holding and pressed a kiss to it. And it had been so perfect and sweet that Dorian hadn’t been able to resist sliding his arms around his boyfriend’s neck, standing up on tiptoes so he could pull his hands through the soft blond curls as he kissed him goodbye.
Between Dorian and the summer stood a whole host of stressful things. There were exams (luckily not major ones this time around), the ball, and - more immediately - the head student vote.
Vlad had raised the subject with him, of whether he wanted it, and he had been surprised it needed asking because… who didn’t want the respect and validation of their peers? But that, of course, meant that Vlad wanted it too. It was weird being in competition with each other. The general gist of the conversation seemed to have been that Vlad would vote for Dorian if he wanted him to. Which was sweet. And Dorian did want him to. But he had also pointed out that it might be a bit of a waste of Vlad’s vote, as he wasn’t really sure that many people were going to be voting for a gay foreigner. He hadn’t said the same to Tatya. Maybe because they weren’t so directly in competition. Maybe because he thought it would upset her to hear him say that. Maybe because he sort of thought she was the one person who might, and even if he shouldn’t have wanted to take votes away from Vlad, he sort of did still want his best friend to support him…
Dorian was sort of pissed at himself over what he’d said. He was pretty sure if any of his friends had called themselves unelectable he would have been quick to list their good qualities. And it wasn’t like he didn’t believe he didn’t have any… Why had he called himself a waste of a vote, to Vlad? Why had he picked on himself for the things he couldn’t stand the thought of others picking on him for? Even if it was true that other people would see him that way, it didn’t mean he had to see himself like that. Or call it a bad thing.
He made his way down to the hall. The Notice had been up for a while, asking all fifth and sixth years to make sure they were in the Hall on this particular date. It wasn’t exactly a mystery what was going to be happening…
As he drew closer, he saw one of the vote Jasmine posters. He had passed a couple of them around school in the last couple of weeks. He was surprised that she was taking it that seriously as… well, his limited impression of Jasmine had been that she didn’t take very much seriously. Her posters had mentioned open-mindedness and featured rainbows, and he wasn’t sure whether he was reading too much into that, given that she was going to the ball with Gary… But anyway, his best friend was in the running, so it sort of wouldn’t have been important. Except Vlad was torn on head girl too. So he had asked Tatya whether she wanted it. And she seemed to have said that it sounded like a headache. Which meant that he didn't know whether he should support Vlad by voting for Peyton (and for Vlad) or whether he should vote for Ruby, who was his friend too. All in all, it meant that Jasmine would have been at the bottom of his list. Except for the rainbows, and the fact he had no idea what Peyton or Ruby thought about him.
He had not done posters. It felt too outspoken, for one thing, and too much like direct competition with Vlad. He wrestled with both of those points as he drew his wand, trying to think what he would say about himself. If he did it… Trying to think of all the good things he’d done for other people over the years, and why it was so much harder to do the same for himself.
The poster he conjured was a lot less neat than Jasmine’s. But it was there. Because every reason other people might not vote for him was something he’d overcome. And he should be proud of that, instead of brushing himself off. So. There it was. With his name underlined by a big freaking rainbow.
Vote Dorian:
Courageous
Hard-working
Always stands up to bullies.
And then, with an immediate pang of guilt, he conjured another one next to it.
Vote Vlad:
Kind
Loyal friend
Supportive
He stopped short of doing one for Tatya, given that she genuinely seemed uninterested, and instead made his way into the hall, still utterly unsure how he was planning to vote. But with the feeling that, if people (including himself) put a tick next to his name, he had earnt it.
(OOC - Vlad’s author asked what ours would have said if Vlad raised the subject)
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Dorian Montoir
Election Day
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Dorian Montoir
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Parker Fitzgerald
April 17, 2020 12:57 PM
Do I have to Make a Speech? by Parker Fitzgerald
There was a tartness to the apple in his mouth that Parker liked as he walked into the Hall. He’d remembered the signs that were up around school and had headed towards the hall a bit early so he could swing by the kitchens as he was constantly hungry nowadays.Parker hadn’t been putting two and two together, wrapped up in his own head. Of course he’d seen Vote For Jasmine posters up, and he knew that there was an election happening at some point for Head Boy and Head Girl, though he didn’t fully understand what each would do.
It wasn’t until he saw Dorian standing in front of the two posters, one from Dorian and one for Dorian’s roommate Vlad, that Parker had put it all together. Both posters looked like the same person had made them. Or at least used the same handwriting and realized it was probably Dorian who had made them. Parker smiled at the kindness of it all, but it meant that Parker was one of the only boys without a sign. Was he supposed to be running?
Parker swallowed his bite of apple hard. He could feel his cheeks burn a bit from the embarrassment. He didn’t know if he had to do anything for this election and was unsure if he was even up for the honor. He walked up behind Dorian realizing he’d grown a bit since the two of them had stood near each other.
“You got my vote Dorian,” Parker said as he finished off the apple and threw the core into a waste bin on the side of the room. “And not just cause all six phrases on the two posters describe you fairly well. If we all have to make speeches, my speech will explain why."
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Parker Fitzgerald
Do I have to Make a Speech?
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Parker Fitzgerald
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Dorian Montoir
April 17, 2020 11:54 PM
I don't think so by Dorian Montoir
You’ve got my vote, Dorian.Dorian was surprised enough by this phrase, uttered without apparent sarcasm by someone other than Vlad or Tatya, and even more so when it turned out to be being said by Parker. Who he was up against.
“Really?” he asked, sounding slightly dumbfounded. “Wh-” he began, and then realised that Parker had already said why. The six phrases on the two posters. He glanced between his own and Vlad’s. He… he supposed he was all of those things. But Parker believed he was all those things? The split second after his poster had gone up might have been enough to make him crumble with embarrassment at putting such adjectives to his own name but now someone had come along and was convinced. Thought they were correct.
“Thanks,” he managed, pushing some of the surprise out of his voice. He almost wanted to check ’You did see me kissing another boy, right?’ - but a surprising number of people had been on his side about that. Maybe Parker was one of them too.
“I don’t think we do speeches,” he added, the other part of what Parker had said catching up with him, which served to remind him again that Parker too was in the running. “You’d be good at it too,” he said, meaning it. He hoped it was… obvious and fair why he had included Vlad in the posters but not Parker. They were much closer. But it didn’t mean that he thought Parker wasn’t a viable candidate with many good points. “I think any of us would be. Our year group's pretty awesome,” he added with a smile.
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Dorian Montoir
I don't think so
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