#..start

damage control. that’s what she calls it. a safety net, if you will. it’s the least she could do after spending half of the night in someone else’s bed-- a third party all together. a bed that elodie can’t consider a usual scene for her (at least, that bed in particular.) 

it’s easy to slip into night owls, the bar bustling even so close to closing. there’s no way he would see her, not right away at least, and probably not when she tucks herself into the bar. 

this isn’t something unfamiliar. she’s been known to watch, to stalk, almost prey on the poor girl of the night who is a little too friendly to her boyfriend. her lovely boyfriend that she completely understands she has no right to, or shouldn’t at least. 

but then again, elodie has always understood she was the very definition of a hypocrite. 

with her chin pillowed in her palm, she watches, expression carefully blank as some girl with such a lowcut shirt smiles at dom, laughs a little louder than elodie thinks is necessary and completely misses the icy glare she’s getting. poor girl. 

elodie waits, rather patiently all things considered, until the girl has gotten what she’s asked for, probably something fruity and disgusting, before she’s standing, waving a hand in the air with the clear intention to garner attention. her eyes are carefully trained on the girl. “dom!” loud and insistent over the music. “dom, baby!” 

“i heard...” she lets herself in, a quick alohomora and she’s letting the door click shut behind her. “from a little kitty that you are in the market for adopting a pet.” it’s been some days since she was able to catch her brother, dom taking up a lot of her time as well as... other friends. 

“and i just thought it was interesting that you wouldn’t tell me.” because it wasn’t like they kept secrets from each other. it wasn’t like them to not talk either, so this insu boy must be much more than ethan is letting be known. 

which elodie just isn’t going to stand for. she was his sister and she had a right to know. 

“i didn’t even know you were looking to pick someone up. funny how he had to tell me that.” she levels him with a carefully passive look, making herself comfortable on his roommates bed, not really caring if she disturbed anything she shouldn’t. “i thought we told each other everything, big brother. i’m a little offended.” 

speed dating wasn't her thing. dating wasn't her thing, but freshmen-- more importantly, the trouble she could cause the freshmen, were her thing.

well, that and a certain potions ta.

a certain ta that was slipping into the same ferris wheel kart as her. okay, so maybe a little game of freshman torture could wait. this was much more fun.

"han eloise, mingling with us good for nothing common folk." the hwaseong girl hummed, pushing her unphased facade she always tried to uphold. even if it wouldn't last very long in the presence of the other. it never did. "how lucky am i?" elodie coos, a smug little grin slowly spreading on her lips.

it had been a while since she had been in such close quarters with the other girl, much too long.

she's shameless in how she stares eloise down, eyes lingering on the length of her skirt. she wonders... "you wouldn't be here to score an easy little freshman, would you?" not that same couldn't be said about her, but their idea of scoring always was a little different. "still entertaining pathetic little boys, hm?"

"stop." she holds a finger up and doesn't look away from her book. she hadn't even been paying attention to the bar around her, borealis usually fairly busy at this time. all that elodie cared about was that she had gotten herself a table in the corner alone and intended to keep it that way. so when she spotted him moving out of the corner of her eye, she really didn't think much of it because plenty of people were moving about. it wasn't that big of a deal.

until the chair opposite her was being pulled out. it only takes her a second to flick her eyes up, roll them, and look back down at her book.

and of course the, "stop." because she was nearly finished with the page. she wasn't about her momentum. but she takes her time, just to be a little difficult, finger still held in the air.

after a minute she finally sighs, closing her book and setting it down on the table, fixing the male with a bored gaze. "is there a reason you thought i was friendly enough to let you sit at my table?" she asks, deadpan, folding her hands together atop her book. elodie glances over him. she only knows of this one vaguely-- only in passing and only because he was actually very easy on the eyes.

not that she would be admitting that to him anytime soon-- or ever.

"or are you just a little bit slow?"

this was embarrassing. park elodie doesn't get embarrassed. park elodie also doesn't get her ass handed to her. it just doesn't happen. except when it's anais throwing the punches.

she's not sore over it, she really isn't.

but she is keeping to herself, something very un-elodie like, as she pulls her hair up, tries not to think about the very telling bruises on her jaw, the scrapes on her arm from being tossed into the dirt. no, it's all fine. it's fine and the icy look on her face keeps any of the others from inching up to her to ask if she's ok.

because she was.

it really wasn't a big deal and she wasn't here to accept pity... or stupidity for that matter. it was unsaid that it was better to just not poke the bear at the moment, leave her be to lick her wounds and not come over to hover above her. freshman, probably. elodie doesn't care to look up from trying her shoe to find out. just rolls her eyes and mumbles, "i wouldn't say anything about the bruises... unless you want one yourself?"

elodie has a tendency to pick people out, not for any particular reason. just people that grab her eye, usually because they’re attractive or they look like an easy target. 

however, sometimes, she gets this a little mixed up, interchanging her feelings of general attraction and interest for a need to torture, pick at. it’s something she knows and something she doesn’t care to work on. and really, that could very well be what happened when she stumble across kang levi. it is most likely what happened because from day one, she has make it her personal goal to dislike him-- to his face, very publicly. 

“you know, you’re like... really hot.” she calls to him from her spot on one of the gym benches, half her focus on wrapping her hands for the boxing club meeting preparing around them. “in a like... i kinda want to punch you in the face kinda hot...” 

her expression remains carefully blank as she watches him. “you know what i mean?” 

“you’re cute.” elodie smiles, draping an arm over the younger hwaseong student. there was no particular reason that elodie has singled out this little girl out of all the others today other than the fact that the common room was nearly empty and she was bored. 

and she wanted to see how quick she could make her cry. she looks liked an easy one to cry. 

so elodie feigns nice, friendly, leaning against her and picking at her hair with a hum. “a little plain looking, but cute, i guess.” it’s such a backhanded compliment for it to not be obvious. 

“what’s your name, sweetheart? see you around levi a lot. he’s pretty-- you like him?”