#mostrum

"WHOOOOAAA!! hold on hold on! WHO IS THAT?" was she being nosy? yes. will it cost her? maybe... if the other can survive this encounter. Yuyu was glancing over this particular cephalopod's shoulder TOTALLY CASUALLY when she spotted who could only be a beautiful siren on his screen. her lightening quick instincts kicked in as she practically dove over Azul's shoulder to point at the woman pictured.

Starter for @mostrum Club time was always different for each person. For the sporty clubs it was hours of gruelling training and aching muscles. For the more artsy and brainy bunch it was time to express themselves or challenge the mind.

But for the board game club...well it was normally to play and gossip

Currently Rove was lounging in his chair chewing sour worms lazily while staring at his tablet face straight barron of any emotion as his feet were propped on the desk. One foot jiggling slightly as the croc shoe was hanging off swinging slightly as Rove tapped away on the screen.

“Have you not lectured your brother about his behavior or has the journey in the black carriage recently knocked both of your heads so hard and rid you of your senses?!” Azul acknowledges that his lack of height on Jade hardly makes room for intimidation, but he’ll be damned if he doesn’t try. 

“Are you aware of what he called me?!” The octopus’ scowl deepens. “He called me a—“ Azul’s gaze suddenly snaps away to pierce against one straggling student, who apologizes and quickly advances away. 

“He called me a bitch!” Azul huffs and crosses his arm against his chest now, “Can you believe it?! Truly, I think he’s crossed the line!” 

In the time it takes for those quick, resolute steps to reach him, Jade has already mentally sifted through every thaumark he's touched, every document he's put together for the next housewarden meeting, the last place he saw the key to the safe, and all tasks still unaccounted for - each with good reason, excuses approved by Azul well in advance. So when he turns to face the octopus' wrath, it's with - not surprise - but a muted interest to learn what he could have possibly forgotten.

Though perhaps this time the forgetting is on Azul's part, who holds fast to the assumption that he has any control over what his brother decides to do. Jade answers it with silence, allowing Azul his tantrum until he grows tired, thinking with some amusement that whatever it was Floyd had done this time must have been near-fatal, if it riled Azul enough to break his cool-headed composure where others could watch.

The truth comes to its precipice and draws Jade forward with anticipation. Then it doesn't so much plunge to the depths of depravity and mortal offense as it tumbles clumsily into a shallow valley where the banter of everyday sleeps. Jade stifles a laugh behind a quiet gasp.

"Goodness, Azul, you had me believing this was an emergency." He's mindful of his tone where others not yet frightened completely away by the daggers that have replaced Azul's eyes can still hear. To the public, they are still boss and employee, housewarden and vice. To undermine Azul's authority with the quips that hide behind his teeth would be to undermine Mostro Lounge and his Exchange as well. So he doesn't. Not here, anyway.

april 23rd, 20XX

what is there to say about azul ashengrotto? ...he is my yearmate, as are those two eel twins he's always with, but, well - to put it frankly, i don't think we get along very well.

i feel i should elaborate. mother always said to be as thorough as possible, so i shall endeavor to do so, even here. i have met ashengrotto in passing before, of course. we are yearmates (as i have stated previously), and thus we share some classes.

on an aside, he really is an abysmal flyer. i wonder if it might be because he is technically a mer? though the eel twins seem to fly just fine...

anyways, it doesn't really matter. as the new term has begun, it means that all housewardens are to meet prior to orientation to plan inter-house events, and speak generally about what our respective duties will look like in the coming academic year. ashengrotto has become octavinelle's housewarden, and fairly recently. i believe this makes it three sophomores that have become housewardens - kamil al asim being the third.

i can get along with al asim. i cannot get along with ashengrotto. i can't quite explain what it is, unfortunately. perhaps it is the fact that he is singularly infuriating - those contracts of his, while an interesting piece of magic to be certain, are nothing less than a flagrant flaunting of the rules. not to mention his attitude!

disrespectful and openly antagonistic. certainly, he seems to mind his house from afar, but he lacks the drive or ability to actually take them in hand, when it comes down to it. or, at the very least, he refuses to take them in hand unless it benefits him. i cannot stand it!

continued from here

Azul’s penchant for dramatics evokes a chuckle from Jade, cut abruptly short as one student suddenly drops to the floor before them, right at the center of a ring of onlookers cheering them on. There it no impetus that compels the eel to check that the student is alright, especially through a throng of people, but it takes several seconds for the realization to set in that that was not a heart attack, as Azul had described, but indeed a dance move from which the student soon springs back to their feet amidst a round of applause. The laughter resumes, fuller this time, because Jade knows Floyd would be enamored by a move like that. Azul though -- of course not.

The longer Azul talks, the more apparent it becomes that he’s stalling to make a decision. Jade hadn’t thought that he would even entertain the idea, and the possibility that Azul would consider joining him in a dance - regardless of a motive - turns his interest from the dance floor to his housewarden with a single sidelong glance.

“Modern dance? Surely you’re not saying that you think the classics are obsolete, Azul. You should know as well as anyone else that vintage is a style in itself.” He didn’t need to know what the trends were to join the other students, among which dances hardly overlapped anyway. Individuality then, he had gathered, was at the heart of this party. And they would be stared at either way; at least a dance done with confidence and training would be more pleasing to the eye than any half-baked attempt to fit in.

In the next moment that it takes Azul to arrive at a decision, Jade has already made his own. Push is countered by a darting grab of the wrist, eel turning momentum against the octopus, and the two are carried out into the crowd together. Jade twists around, snatches Azul’s other hand, and pulls the position closed.

starter for @mostrum

Two passengers had been dumped hurriedly in the clearing at the base of one of the mountains surrounding Night Raven University, hoofbeats already fading into the distance as if eager to seal them to their fate. Wild, vine-covered trees loomed all around them, but for all their menace, half a dozen trails well-worn by the feet of generations passed were testament to their taming. The veneer of survival could imbue a simple hike with the excitement of adventure, however, and Jade, who had walked this very mountain as soon as he could trust his own legs, quite enjoyed the thrill of a danger that was near enough to touch if one desired, but would not encroach on where it didn’t belong. Indeed, these mountains had become like a second home to him, so the half-hour of contingency plans, and contingencies for contingencies that Azul had insisted on going over with him in the carriage were humorous entertainment for an otherwise boring ride at best.

Now that they were finally here though, Azul had yielded silence to the whispering leaves. Jade stole a sidelong glance.

“Are you ready, Azul?” he ventured to break the unusual quiet. The rocky trail before them meandered up through the underbrush at a steep angle, but the signpost beside it assured medium difficulty. Jade had walked this particular one a handful of times and trusted the markers more than he trusted anything that breathed, but hanging back a few steps behind, Azul seemed less than convinced.

Though the hike itself was hardly a concern to Jade, nor was Azul’s penchant for over-preparing, he had double-checked the other’s bag before they departed. The essentials were there - a week’s worth, at least - alongside a number of products designed for a singular, specific purpose (”Bear spray?” he had questioned, but the irrefutable reasoning Azul gave him discouraged further discussion of his luggage) that bloated the backpack to what looked nearly twice his size. What did worry Jade though was that Azul, for all of his mental celerity, was slow in all things physical. Even without the bag. The bonus points promised to them for this exercise would be lost if they couldn’t even reach their destination in time.

“The beginning of the obstacle course is roughly two hours up the mountain.” Jade returned from his inspection of the trailhead’s sign with its map committed to memory. Their destination was marked in blue near a path that forked from the main trail hardly a fourth of the way up. He had only visited that area once, but he was confident that he could find it again.

//

Azul sees it when he leaves the dining hall for a breather. A crowd of students surrounded the fountain at Main Street, hollering. There’s the sound of frantic splashing— Azul knows better than to approach the active scene. 

So, he waits. 

(Of course, not without snapping photos.) 

When the laughter grows once more and a silhouette is pulled up from the fountain, the merman inches closer. He watches as the group of students leave (not without memorizing their faces— he knows them, knows which dormitories they belong in) and saunters over to the lone figure.

“Well, well, well… What a predicament that you’ve found yourself in, Mr. Rove.” A smirk is tossed at the student before him, “I take it that you’ve found some new attraction to the party?”

He had been trying to mind his own business....till he got caught up with some ruffians. One sassy comment had led to him getting shoved around and knocked into the fountain. his torso and hair drenched as he managed to keep his waist down out of it. Glaring up with hair stuck to his face he reached for his pen. "back the fuck off now before i destroy all your electronics and make sure your haunted by spiders..." He threatened sending a blast of wind at them to knock them back.

"My magicam account just hit a goal mark of subscribers...I don't want it destroyed..." One of them whimpered to the ring leader. The ringleader kicked some water at Rove before walking off. Rove scoffed ‘Good fear me!’ he thought. ‘ I am the most terrifying person in this school!’ 

Well...it couldn't get worse than this....

Then he heard Azul's voice. He tensed standing up feeling his under vest and the clunky baggy robes soaked through his hair dripping in his face.

"Hello Azul..." He smiled at the other but his voice was gritted through his teeth. Of course Azul had to catch him in this moment of weakness and mess.

Before the other could say anything he shrugged off his ceremony robes letting them fall to the floor with a wet slap. the sleeveless vest top under it shining wet and sticking to his frame. With an exhaled breath he reached up and pushed his fringe back, slicking the wet hair back and giving Azul an intense stare. "How is your evening going?" He said out his voice dripping in disgust.