just dance, it'll be okay

There were a number of different things that were running around in Raven’s mind and she really didn’t know what to do first. Thankfully or unfortunately, someone seemed to be calling out to her for whatever reasons that caused Raven to snap out of it and place an automatic smile on her face as she turned, “Oh hey….” She said seeing what she was needed for or what was going on.

“You’re not supposed to be here.” Iva repeated in mild annoyance, gesturing to the darkened halls of the Davidson Fine Arts Hall. She’d been practicing in the ball room for a bit before the ball room dancing club actually started. It was Sunday, and the doors should have been locked- she must have forgotten to re-lock it after herself. “Through what door did you get in?”

“Oh for fuck’s sake.” Lilian voiced her displeasure through gritted teeth. She had always been quite good at shouldering a number of responsibilities, but the ones that being a university student presented were far different. Her day to day agenda was starting to become very mundane –– Juggling sorority tasks, the two jobs she held at Inoubliable and Bridge & Burn, art club, schoolwork, and sports was all her life currently consisted of. The packed schedule left Lilian with virtually no time to enjoy all that Seacrest Cove really had to offer. “I’m in serious need of a back rub and a drink.”

“As you are a freshman I can not offer you a drink-” Iva said primly from where she was perched on one of the couches in the living room of the Phi Mu house, willfully ignoring the fact that she had been binge drinking her freshman year of high school. ”And as I am not a person who likes touching those I do not know well, the closest I can offer you to a massage is give you the name of my masseuse. What has you stressed, little sestrka?”

When you come home, you'll find a hand delivered gift basket on your doorstep with a printed note that reads: 

“Happy Holidays to you and your families from the staff at Seacrest Cove University! We’d like to thank you for your hard work this school year and look forward to seeing your return to campus after winter break has ended. Please, enjoy your time with your loved ones and have a wonderful holiday hiatus. 

On behalf of the board members, professors, and all the staff at Seacrest Cove University, please enjoy this complimentary gift basket as our way of saying we hope merry tidings are coming your way.”

Send ✿ for a happy memory.

One of Iva’s happiest memories is from her freshman year of college, several months after her and Stella had begun to bond with the other tenants of 4D. Stella had called Iva to tell her they’d convinced Finn McGee to play one of the earlier versions of Get Fucked and Iva, who had been ‘spending time’ with Julian for the fourth or fifth time. (Pre his getting sober.) She last minute decided to ask him to come with her. They and 4D proceeded to order a ridiculous amount of take out and liquor, get absolutely ridiculously drunk, and pull the kind of hi-jinks involved in a 4D play through of Get Fucked.

When the game was over and everyone was on the verge of blacking out, Iva and Julian refused to try to squeeze together on the lumpy 4D couch, and Julian refused to let a very drunk and very vomitious Finn McGee give them his bed. Gabe suggested they wait to sober up before they walked home, but Iva insisted she had dance in the morning and needed to get back to the Phi Mu house before her president at the time had a fit. Her and Julian managed to stumble home pretty well- until they decided to cut across the beach. 

Iva’s heels kept sinking into the sand- her being to drunk to consider taking them off- and Julian kept trying to pick her up to avoid her breaking an ankle. It eventually ended with Julian losing his balance about thirty feet from the back door to the Sig Chi house, taking Iva down with him. They both agreed to belated take Gabe’s advice and lay down and wait until they were slightly less drunk. It ended with them laying on their back looking at the stars and talking more than they ever really had before, and Iva remembered thinking that she had never had so many people she could honestly call friends.

Her time was precious these days. Between her new job at Little Bistro and her attempts to secure a place on the dance team, Charlie was struggling to balance her school work, and what social life she’d started to have seemed to have suffered. Finally, though, after a week of restructuring her daily schedule, she’d managed to bag herself a few days worth of free time outside of classes. 

Her first day off since starting her job, which she loved, Charlie had taken up the box she’d purchased with her first pay check and brought it out to a small flat patch flat space she’d found that was mostly hidden from passerbys. Inside, her first brand new pair of point shoes awaited stretching and breaking in a little, which was why she was here. Her dorm was hot and though she had space without yet having a roommate, she’d wanted to do it in the sun. Though dressed normally in her thrifted old dress, near threadbare but well cared for, and her ever present cardigan, it didn’t take long for her to get lost in the delicate flexing of her feet, feeling the fresh shoes flex beneath her soles. 

So lost in it, even before really dancing, that she didn’t even notice that someone had spotted her and come closer. 

“You’re getting much better.” Iva commented kindly from where she had been observing the younger girl critically. She hadn’t searched her out- she didn’t have the time for that kind of thing, but when she had seen Charlie on her way to class she couldn’t resist pausing for a moment or two to watch her stretch and maybe once again gently prod the other girl towards Dance and Ballet Club. 

Ever since she’d happened upon the younger girl practicing in an empty dance room, Iva had been trying to recruit her into the dance groups she headed. The other girl’s talent was raw and far from professionally trained, but Iva wanted to see it honed. Partially because Charlie was some kind of princess escaped from an American fairy tale and Iva felt inexplicably required to protect her from the world at large, and partially because she wanted her talent on her team, where she could smile when Charlie succeeded (and she would succeed, of that Iva had no doubts) and brag that she had helped her recognize her own potential.

Her eyes dropping to the shiny satin-like material, Iva noted the smooth, unblemished material and hummed sympathetically. “Breaking in a new pair of slippers? Your feet will not be happy with you by the time you are done.”

“Ice. Ice cold,” Jonas drawled as he shifted into a sitting position, staring up at the woman that had just stepped over him and into his fraternity home. “You come into my home and insult me on the day of my daughter’s wedding? For fucking shame.” 

“Me? Cold? Never heard that before in my life.” Iva commented drily, making a beeline for the nearby coffee maker. It wasn’t cold out per se but it wasn’t entirely comfortable either, and Iva was coming off an exceptionally long practice. “And though I did understood your reference, but I am not sure you should even joke about reproducing.”

“Just trying to show you what a good time you’re missing on the dating scene while you’re fucking around with Lowell all the time,” Beau offered back in retort, figuring as soon as the words left his mouth that they’d been the wrong ones to spit out if he were trying to leave this conversation with even a hint of fondness about him in Iva’s mind. Dating a fellow Greek president was a power move that Iva and Julian both seemed to be doing while not doing at the same time and it was absolutely annoying to think that the Russian woman felt that Julian Lowell was a better suitor than he could be. Worse yet, the reminder that Lana Fitzgerald was the only other Greek President on the market was…tiring. “Don’t make any promises you’re not gonna keep, Z.” 

Iva froze mid written sentence, barely noticing the creak of the pencil in her hand groaning under the pressure her clenched hand was putting on it. It was the kind of anger that almost scared her, because it was so all encompassing it was nuclear- silent, calm, devastating- so big that it felt almost as if it wasn’t touching her. The fact that Beau stood there with a cocky look on his face and thought it acceptable to throw her connection with Julian in her face- she inhaled slowly, a tense and, she hoped, terrifying smile touching her lips. “Beau, get the fuck out of my house, or you will have only the few moments I debate whether to taze you or to hit you with the living room lamp to run out the door.”

“If you start cutting the few girls that saw past your–honestly–horrifying personality, you’re not going to have any recruits or members at all, baby.” Beau shot back in return, continuing without much of a pause, nor a falter to his tone. “Don’t get me wrong, Z, I’m totally into the may or may not slap the shit out of you vibe you’ve got going on, but not everyone is.” 

“Someone is annoyed I will not give in to his clumsy attempts at flirting?” Iva questioned sweetly, batting her eyelashes sarcastically before her attention back to her paper, waving her hand dismissively towards the hallway leading towards most of the girls’ rooms. “I and Phi Mu are doing just fine, Riker. And for the record, you should always assume when it comes to you that I am more likely to decide to slap you than not.”

Send △ for a sex headcanon 

Send ♧ for a cooking headcanon

Send ✚ for one of my muse’s prized possessions

Iva doesn’t hold much sentimentality for items- things are just things and can always be replaced. That being said, any trophy or award she ever received are important to her, even if she would never admit it, hesitant to sound self centered. Her bedroom at home proudly displays all of the trophies and ribbons she earned growing up.She never had many people validating her, or telling her she was talented, so she kept her awards to remind herself. 

Send ★ for a talent headcanon

Send ☼ for a dream headcanon

Send ❀ for a crush my muse has had

Alright who thinks they’re funny? I’ll fight u in the pit.

Iva was never quite the little girl who had many crushes, more the kid who became extremely interested in select few adults and older children whom she vehemently denied having a crush on. 

Send ✜ for a fear headcanon

In Moscow, there are packs of wild dogs that wander the streets. Most are semi friendly and survive on begging and foraging, but there’s a percentage that roam the streets at night and avoid or are aggressive towards people.