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Post by daphne alexandrina greengrass on Nov 12, 2010 22:47:57 GMT -5
the walls have ears, the stones have names
 
i knew you'd give in to your silly games
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -daphne was done; just done and that was it. she was in her sixth year and was tired of all the silly rules that they all had to obey. trudging her way through the forest, angrily slapping twigs and leaves and whatever else was there that she didn't want to know about away, she thought of all of the issues that she had with this school in her head. "don't go into the forbidden forest, you might get killed," she said mimicking no one in-particular in a very high, squeaky voice. "never go into hogsmeade without permission, something terribly bad might happen," she mimicked once again, hanging over the words like it were her last second alive and it was all she really cared about. stopping to catch her breath daphne finally started to pay attention to where she was going. looking around all she saw were trees, but she could still make out the slight arch of pathway that she had come from and the castle not far behind.
personally, daphne couldn't help but be a little scared. of course, she was to stubborn to admit that out loud but to herself she didn't exactly mind. even though she was scared, she also had to admit that she found the forest slightly calming. finding a rather large stone to sit upon, she dusted it off, like that would help, and sat down. crossing her legs and looking at the bottom of her shoes, all muddy and torn, she thanked herself for having the smarts to remove her robes because she had come out here. if she hadn't have done so, they would probably be a tangled mess of tattered fabric at her feet. daphne's robes, you see, drug the ground at all times. she was to short to find any that actually fit her correctly, and to lazy to hem the lining. there was also the fact that she felt like a queen, having something long and silky dragging behind her.
sighing and mentally patting herself on the back, daphne looked around for what she had naturally come out here for - something to sketch. lately she had started to find herself wanting to draw more and more, realizing that it was a great stress reliever. now, i know what your thinking; she's only sixteen and she has magical powers. that has nothing what-so-ever to do with the unneeded drama in her life. daphne was getting tired of her little sister being around the castle, and tired of so called 'friends' talking behind her back. sure, she did it to them, but it was not in anyway needed towards her. finding a beautiful, colorful, large bird in the tree above her daph pulled out her sketch pad and pencil and looked up. beginning to draw the bird in the way her eyes saw it she heard a twig snap. twisting herself around and grabbing for her wand she looked to where the sudden noise had came from. knowing that she was probably psyching herself out, it was probably just a rabbit or something, she couldn't help but call out into the forest. "who's there?" she asked slightly calmer than she thought she could.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 534 outfit ; one in the picture (: notes ; sorry it's kinda short, i'm pretty awful at starter posts. credit ; template me, lyrics charlotte martin, pictures to someone from caution v2. [/font] |
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Post by Araziel Léon Vasilica on Nov 13, 2010 1:08:22 GMT -5
Araziel, too, was tired of 'rules,' but that was mostly due to the fact that he had never really been one for following them, here or anywhere else. School rules? Petty little things compared to other rules he followed - rules for family, rules for the Chevalerie, rules for running the cafe; given a life of trying to balance discretion with his brash and outgoing personality, Araziel could hardly be expected to honor curfews and boundaries!
As such, the vampire's gait was hardly a meander as he made his way down from the castle towards the forest, knowing very well that his path was in plain sight; surely any authorities could stop him if they wished, but he did hope they had more important things to do than babysitting him, especially given all the whispers of 'these are dark times' and whatever other nonsense was circulating the corridors these days. Yes, even as an outsider of sorts he could still see that the wizarding world was going through its own quiet little war, and regarding such affairs he was admittedly divided. One half of him knew it was best to ignore things and let them carry out on their own - an isolationist policy, if you will; the other half wanted to fall back to days when he acted on impulse, 'just for the hell of it' instead of having to carefully weigh each and every little decision made.
Sigh. Luckily the forest provided a mental solace from troublesome thoughts, even if he was here on ... chores. Lucien was always sending him out to the forest to collect random specimens for the Care of Magical Creatures class, and while Araziel didn't mind, he quite detested the 'teacher's pet' crap often sent his way. He had an excuse; Lucien was his father! But naturally that wasn't common knowledge; Lucien - or Professor Séraphin - was 'openly' a vampire, and Araziel was not. Best not to have each other accidentally tangled up in the other's affairs.
Either way, to combat the chilly fall weather (chilly to Araziel who had grown up in Marseilles), Araziel was dressed in a heavy wool peacoat buttoned closed over a distressed BPN t-shirt, jeans, and over-the-knee riding boots. A scarf was wrapped twice around his neck and he pressed the loose fabric to his nose as he walked, enjoying the warmth.
Today he was on the lookout for one of Charlotte's babies. The newborn Acromantula had escaped from Lucien's office in the middle of the night and, though they usually returned within a day, it was still not safe to have one wandering about. If it forayed too deep into the forest, it might also risk meeting the other Acromantula that dwelt there ... and that would be no good at all.
A sudden voice broke him out of his thoughts, and Araziel froze, his senses consciously seeking the source of the noise. Whilst he was not as adept as most of his family was in relying on base sensory input, he could still detect the scent of another not native to the forest.
Freezing momentarily in his tracks, he paused and then pressed on a bit more, peeking around another tree. Ah, just a student, nothing to worry about. In the back of his mind, he did subconsciously register that her features were aesthetically pleasing, but even that stray thought was met with a just as stray notion of guilt.
With a sigh, he gestured vaguely with one leather-gloved hand. "Sorry, 's just me. Didn't ruin your drawing did I?" He glanced up and caught sight of the bird which fortunately hadn't moved from its perch. "Pretty little subject ... won't scare it away, I swear. I'm on the hunt for giant spiders anyway, not birds." He laughed good-naturedly, having already recalled from memory where he had seen her. She was no doubt a Slytherin, but that fact didn't seem to bother him even if it would her; Araziel couldn't have cared less for the silly house rivalries anyhow.
"Speaking of which, I don't suppose you've seen any?" The vampire's words suggested a slight accent that was most certainly not British; truth be told it was difficult to discern. Perhaps a mild hint of 'French' was in there somewhere, but it had since been marred by his trilingual fluency and as such his ethnicity could not easily be placed. |
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Post by daphne alexandrina greengrass on Nov 13, 2010 18:55:22 GMT -5
the walls have ears, the stones have names
i knew you'd give in to your silly games
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -as daphne stood there, waiting to be surprised by something so 'huge and terrifying' that lived in this blasted forest, she started to drift towards thinking that maybe her professors were right. not even her own twisted mind could think of what was about to appear in front of her. with her wand still raised she took another look around herself, only to see a head popping out from behind a tree when she returned her gaze straight in front of her. a human head as far as she knew, obviously a boy. blinking a couple of times and lowering the wand she cocked her head and tried to figure out who are what it was. although he wasn't wearing his robes, she was guessing that he was, however, a student at hogwarts just like her. as he appeared from the tree he had been hiding behind and gestured toward her, she couldn't help but think of him as...interesting. looking him up and down she nodded in approval to herself suddenly catching herself as she realized who he was. daphne had seen him around the castle before, at the gryffindor table, and he was definitely the son of one of the professors at the school.
daphne's somewhat startled face dispersed when she heard the boy's voice. she would not accept 'sorry' for scaring the shit out of her, and oh no - her drawing. stuffing her wand back in her pocket and running over to the stone she had been near earlier she searched around for her sketchpad and pencil. she had kinda just, uh, thrown them when she had heard the movement earlier. at least she had been quick about defending herself, she would definitely get some props for that later. finally finding it lying a couple of feet away she picked it up and flipped it back to the page she had been working on. there was a slight dragging of a lead mark across the paper that must have happened when she had tossed it around, but it was fixable. he was lucky. setting the pad back down she noticed him looking up at the tree she was standing under. looking up herself she noticed that the bird she had been drawing hadn't flew away. smiling and grabbing her pad and pencil again she sat back down on the stone and began to sketch the rest of the birds outline and main features; that was all she really needed to be able to turn it into something of her own.
only five seconds into the rest of her drawing she realized that he had said something again, and what exactly he had said. had he mentioned...giant spiders? looking up at him she gave him the most calm face that she could. "did you say...giant spiders?" she questioned, suddenly feeling a shiver working it's way up her spine. daphne's worst fears - water, snakes, and last, but definitely not least, spiders. she hated the damn things, they were unbearably fuzzy in awkward places, had way over to many legs, and had pincers that she was pretty sure were bigger than the actual part of their head. can you say 'eww'? these might seem like some pretty crazy fears for a slytherin, but daphne would openly admit to these. she knew she was a scaredy cat when it came to those things, and really she wasn't bothered by it - much.
"uhh, no. i don't suppose i have..." she shook her head and added, "thank god." another shiver was sent up her spine. disgusting. standing up and walking over to him she pulled down on her sweater and crossed her arms. "why may i ask, are you looking for," she gulped, "giant spiders?" shaking her head she looked down at her muddy shoes, which were also gross. she'd have to wash those when she got back into the castle; either that or throw them away. looking back up at him she looked into his, actually really pretty eyes, and waited for an answer. this one ought to be good.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 683 outfit ; one in the picture (: notes ; weeee... credit ; template me, lyrics charlotte martin, pictures to someone from caution v2. [/font] |
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Post by Araziel Léon Vasilica on Nov 13, 2010 19:58:41 GMT -5
Spotting the wand pointed towards him, Araziel held his hands up with a frantic, "Whoa, calm down there; I'm not one of the forest's uh ... bloodthirsty inhabitants!" He laughed inwardly at the unintentional pun. "Though I might as well be, admittedly. I run enough errands here as it is." Whether it was from his chatter or for some other reason, the student finally lowered the weapon, and Araziel sighed in slight relief, dropping his hands to his side again. He never thought he'd see the day where he was afraid of a stick of wood with some magical nonsense stuffed inside of it, but the wizarding world certainly came up with some crazy inventions. He still preferred punching things in the face over waving a stick of wood at would-be enemies, though.
Araziel remained respectfully silent as the girl returned to her drawing. Maybe he ought to leave her be, now; she was obviously peaceful enough on her own without him blathering about spiders and birds. But at the same time it was rare that he ran across another someone from the school during his little errands; the place was technically off limits, and that coupled with the horror stories of the forest's inhabitants usually did enough to keep most students - and even professors - away from here. So, with a curious tilt of his head, Araziel meandered slowly around the clearing, scanning the surroundings with a somewhat annoyed sigh. Where was that dratted spider? It didn't even have a name; how was he ever going to find it? Well, Lucien had given him a web-wrapped parcel that he was now carrying around in his bag (much to his displeasure), and Araziel had the suspicion that it was probably a bundle of dead bugs or something equally disgusting. Whatever the case, it was supposed to lure the spider to him so he could take it back to Lucien.
The girl had suddenly addressed him again, and he stopped and turned towards her from his spot at the edge of the clearing. "Yeah, I did. So you did see something?" Only not; she declined having done so right afterwards anyway. "Oh, right. Nevermind. Sorry."
She didn't sound too pleased at the mention of them though. Then again, what sane person would? It took a lot to get used to his father's odd ... preferences for ... er ... company.
Absently checking under a pile of undergrowth thinking he'd spotted something - it only turned out to be a bundle of twigs though, and not legs - Araziel answered her from his spot crouched on the ground, rummaging. "Yeah, for Lucien - I mean, uh, for Professor Séraphin. One of his pet Acromantulas' babies ran away sooooo I'm on a wild goose chase right now. Or wild spider chase, as it were." He huffed and looked back up at her before dusting his coat off and pushing himself back to his feet again.
"Well since we're here anyway, I'm Araziel. Nice to meetcha'." He offered a hand to shake. "You're ... I can't recall if I've heard your name, but I've seen you at the Slytherin table. That means I'm supposed to harbor an inherent dislike for you, right? Being a Gryff and all." The last bit was obviously lighthearted sarcasm; Araziel chuckled and then sighed again, shaking his head and jerking a thumb over his shoulder.
"Anyhow I'd best find that spider. Uh ... I'd invite you to come along but it doesn't seem like that sort of thing would ... interest you?" Best not to assume, but she hadn't seemed so keen at the mention of spiders. |
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Post by daphne alexandrina greengrass on Nov 13, 2010 22:56:18 GMT -5
the walls have ears, the stones have names
i knew you'd give in to your silly games
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -while daphne stood there, she reviewed over what she was able to find out about this guy so far. he was obviously around her age, probably a sixth year, like herself, or a seventh year. he was definitely good looking, there was no doubt about that, but in a weird sort of way that she herself didn't even know she would be interested in. he rambled a lot too, she had noticed. even though she hadn't been listening to him much while she was finishing the frame on her sketch, she did notice that he had been talking a lot while she was doing it. just because the words didn't sink in, didn't mean that she hadn't actually heard them. it's a little thing that daphne liked to call selective hearing. when he began talking again, she heard the words 'professor séraphin' and then knew one more thing. daph knew that she had it right earlier, he was the kid of the openly vampire professor at hogwarts. she didn't know that specific professor personally, but she definitely knew about him.
you see, daphne has a little interest in vampires; she's had it most of her life but kept it a rather large secret. okay, maybe it's more of a little interest and more like the size of her secret; but did that really matter? honestly, she didn't even know why she loved them so much. if she had to guess though, it would probably have to do with something on the lines of their 'blood-chilling charm' as she liked to call it; no pun intended, of course.
at the sound of the runaway spider daphne automatically checked around herself to make sure nothing was about to crawl on her. most of the time daphne didn't mind getting down in dirty, mud and all that didn't bother her much, but she just couldn't stand the fact of little insects all over her body. she had a recurring dream when she was little that when she would fall asleep every single insect you could think of would be crawling around in her bed. that was basically what had started her fear for anything with more that four limbs. it was just unnatural, but, with living in a magical world her entire life, she was starting to realize that she would have to get used to it. how could this guy talk about this 'spider chase', as he called it, so calmly? like he was actually having a tiny bit of fun doing it?
ignoring the fact that this guy was probably crazier than half of the kids combined in the other houses, she took his hand. "daphne alexandrina greengrass," she said her full name every time she met someone because she loved it so much. her mother had done an amazing job with naming her, it fit perfectly. "and to be honest, i don't care much about the whole houses rival with other houses thing either. i like to get to know a person before i judge them, then if they're annoying i brush them off," she smirked; like she would ever admit that to anyone else. so why had she just told him? shaking her head she back away a bit and calmed herself. why was she being so nice to this kid? better yet, why did she keep asking herself all these questions? daphne was to good to be questioning herself about anything...right? "that, of course, doesn't mean that i'm going to start hanging out with anyone else out of slytherin though," she added real quick in case this guy started to get any ideas.
at the mention of spiders again, she could have sworn that she hadn't even felt the chills appear this time. she was pretty sure that they were now permanent. "uhh, no. it wouldn't. can't stand the things...but i guess since you know this certain spider that it won't bother me as much." she shrugged in wonder of why she couldn't try to overcome her fear. why should she do it with him though? ugh, there she went again. walking over to the stone she had only gotten to sit on earlier for a total of five minutes, she grabbed her sketch pad and tucked it under her arm. the last thing she wanted to do was loose it. "sooo...where exactly are we going to find this, uh, acromantula?" she looked up at him with a slightly concerned look, obviously for herself.
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Post by Araziel Léon Vasilica on Nov 14, 2010 1:49:01 GMT -5
Oblivious to whatever conclusions the girl was making in her head about his identity, Araziel eventually began to rummage through the contents of his messenger bag, fishing out the web-wrapped parcel. It actually didn't look or feel like ... well, cobwebs; it just looked and felt like cellophane tape or something, and Araziel was endlessly grateful about that. With a sigh, he passed the thing (about the size of a quaffle) from hand to hand before returning his attention to the girl, easily looking past whatever flicker of disbelief might have shone momentarily in her features.
"Pretty name," Araziel commented absently, unknowingly echoing Daphne's own thoughts on it. He had just been about to turn back in the direction of deeper into the forest when she worded her accordance with his dismissal of house rivalry nonsense ... and the proclamation earned a raised brow and skeptical look from the vampire. Really now? A Slytherin who wasn't knee-deep into the petty squabbling of serpents and lions?
"Well I must say you've earned my respect then, Ma'ams'elle Greengrass," the vampire remarked, somewhat impressed. He'd tucked the web-wrapped parcel under one arm as he spoke as if it were just a stack of books. Still, he could detect the faintest hint of confusion from the girl, but Araziel had no idea what it might have been about; he wouldn't have ever connected it with being confused over being nice. But then, that was Araziel. He was chipper and friendly by default.
"Right, right, bien-sûr," he agreed patronizingly as Daphne quickly backtracked. What did 'hanging out' count as? Were they technically 'hanging out' now? If so, maybe he ought to leave to respect her wishes. Then again, he still didn't understand the clique-ish nature of these students ... but one couldn't really blame him. Publicly instituted education still hadn't quite been 'grounded' in his early life, and thus the social groups that formed from school culture hadn't existed yet.
As she hesitantly took up his tentative offer of going spider hunting together, Araziel laughed and waved a hand dismissively in what he hoped was a reassuring manner. "That's the idea. The Acromantulas are pretty tame, really, since they've been raised in captivity. Goes to show that some instinct can be quelled by environmental factors." Not that she cared, probably. And besides, Araziel wasn't supposed to know all this since he wasn't related to Lucien or anything. Eherm.
Quite the contrary, he was quite used to the little buggers running all over the house, climbing on the walls, swinging by their webs from the chandeliers ...
After Daphne had gone to retrieve her drawing materials, Araziel started to walk deeper into the forest by way of answering her question. "This way. I hope. It's a direct path west from the castle and for some reason, Charlotte's babies like to walk westward. Nooooo clue why."
It was apparent by his demeanor that Araziel was definitely an easygoing sort; he might have been a bit chit-chatty, but one had to be in his line of work (he operated a couple of cafes in France - it had always been his dream job). He was good at networking, naturally, and genuinely he just liked getting to know people. At Hogwarts though, 'getting to know people' had been a lot more difficult than he'd thought it'd be, though he supposed that was due in large part to the age range of the people. Seventeen was the graduating age, and that was just barely adulthood! Thus he was glad that the girl was at least making an effort to be social.
"So ... how's life going for you? You draw as a hobby or something? I've got an aunt who's an amazing visual artist! But then she's been doing it for - uh, for a while." He'd almost said 'a couple of centuries' (it was true!) but that would just be weird.
They were progressing farther into the forest, and at some point Araziel paused, spotting something on the ground. He crouched and gingerly scooped up a dead bird - just a sparrow or something like it - and held it up to inspect.
"Mhm. Bite mark ... fits the baby Acromantula's mandibles. Must be around here somewhere, then!" With that, he dropped the bird, took the web parcel, and randomly stuck it to the trunk of the nearest tree.
As if this were an everyday thing for him, Araziel now took a seat on a nearby boulder to wait. |
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