#para 04

Belle: "I come bearing gifts." Putting her conversation with Easton out of her mind, Belle dropped the bag of Chinese takeout on Beau's desk. Cocking her hip against the corner and grinning at him as she rummaged for fresh chopsticks and the rice, she tried valiantly not to comment on his appearance. For both their sake. "There's gong bao chicken, szechuan, noodles. Take your pick and tell me how the rest of your day went, Professor Suave."

Beau could swear Belle knew how to read his mind. Or just how to read him, which she probably did. His plan had been to work until at least 9 or 10 and probably not eat until much later. "Have I mentioned you're my favorite? Today, at least?" His stomach growled right on cue, the descriptions alone enough to do so. "I've been shut up in here too long, I was beginning to forget what human faces looked like. How was your day, gorgeous? Other than surprising me in class, of course."

Belle: "I believe it may have been mentioned, but I don't get tired of hearing it. This doesn't count as a bribe, by the way. I technically bought dinner for a friend and then we had a bunch of leftovers. You're doing me the favor by helping me get rid of some of them." Grabbing chopsticks and rice she made her way to another chair, relaxing for what felt like the first time in a week. "Long. I'm going to have to adjust my schedule, but it'll do. You know if you actually read your class notes - and paid attention - you wouldn't have been surprised. But the look on your face was well worth it."

Beau "What would it have been a bribe for? My company's always available, but I appreciate you and your friend not eating it all. If you just happen to not want to take ​any​ home I can help with that too," he teased, snagging chopsticks of his own and the noodles. "Let me know if you need any help with the schedule? Horrible at one for myself but pretty good at helping make them." He paused with noodles halfway to his mouth, a faux offended look on his face. "There were other things to focus on! This weekend was... intense to say the least. Was just glad to have my lesson plans done."

Belle: "For services rendered, if the stupid gossip blog gets ahold of it." She rolled her eyes and waved her chopsticks in the air as if scratching that topic out. "I've got it covered, just complaining." Amused, she leaned back in her chair and toed her heels off, curling her legs up beneath her. It wasn't a pose she adopted in front of just anyone. "My weekend was intense too. In a better way, but still. The rosters have been out for weeks, you could have glanced at it." She laughed, eating some of the rice. "I thought you were playing coy. You know if there wasn't an ethical issue I would have jumped your bones as soon as I found out you were here. How often are we ever in the same place, at the same time, and single?"

Beau shuddered at the idea of being called into an office because of the gossip blog, but at least so far they hadn't caught anything he'd been subtle about. "If they get ahold of it we can just prove we were friends a long time ago. Not sacrificing a friendship for a job," he muttered, but it was hard to stay irritated when Belle treated his office like she did his studio. "Any storied you'd care to share? I did! Briefly. Apparently not long enough to see your name, but we'll call that first semester dickery. Or. Something." The second the words were out of Belle's mouth he choked a little on his food and he cursed the absence of suave around his friend. "For the record, I'd have jumped your bones the second I knew you were interested. Four years of no opportunity to do all the dirty things I'd had in my head an now you're my ​student​. Fucking ethics. No, if I'd have known you were my student starting this morning I'd have done a lot more last night than just kiss you."

Belle: "You wouldn't lose your job, because there's no proof that we're sleeping together. Because we're not sleeping together," she pointed out, literally pointing with the chopsticks in hand. "None that you want to hear if you plan on keeping it in your pants." His reaction had her stifling more laughter, grabbing a bottle of water and tossing it his way. "I expected you to! I figured you'd read the roster and didn't want to risk it. I'd say I thought you weren't interested but...come on."

Beau "That's true. It's so ridiculous that they think there's no control among the teachers. I get clear abuses of power, or clear ethical lines being drawn, but..." He shrugged, still irritated by the entire topic of students and teachers. Maybe it wouldn't have been such an issue if it hadn't been so stirred up lately. "What kind of control do you think I have?" Beau faked shock, but it lasted a fraction of a second before he let it drop. "Didn't hide it well. But hey, I'm the master of control now, nothing to worry about."

Belle: Smiling over at him, Belle very slowly gave him a once-over, just to tease him. "That explains some things, anyway. How long have we known each other? A few more months will hardly kill us to wait." Standing again, she padded barefoot back over to his desk and grabbed some szechuan. "I'm thinking that I'm paying for that good weekend with a string of bad luck. Is it going to bug you if I see Martin again?"

Beau squirmed in front of her gaze. "You say that like you're so certain I'm still going to want to jump your bones at the end of the semester." A smirk teased the corners of his lips that would've given him away even if Belle ​didn't​ know him as well as she did. The noodles were slurped up between sentences, patting at his mouth at Beau's only effort to stay polite. "What happened?" He paused for a second but the reply came easily. "Aside from the regret I'm not sleeping with either of you? Nah, babygirl, you do what you want. Just let me know if someone messes with you or makes you in any way uncomfortable and I'll methodically destroy them for you. Martin included. Not that I think he ​would​, but,...."

Belle: "I'm not used to getting turned down and it's happened twice now in as many days. My taste is impeccable, so that can't be it," she said, humming and pursing her lips. It didn't bother her all that much, considering her options weren't limited to Beau and Malcolm, but she couldn't help being a little bit dramatic. She nudged her knee against his, the only really safe bit of affection that she could give him while they were in his office. "I'll let you know, papa bear."

Beau 's eyebrow shot up, trying to imagine who'd turned Belle down. "Maybe it was someone not looking for anything right now?" He didn't quite connect the dots, still a little worn out from starting the new semester on just as little sleep as he always got. "Thank you. Can't get in trouble for protecting someone," Beau said with the most knowing grin. "Wait. Papa bear?" The drink he'd been sipping on got set down and for a moment he looked irritated before the laughter started, full and loud. "Fucking ​Frankie​. Now the whole school's going to go for it.:

Belle: "Mmm. Someone not looking for something with /me/ right now. Ethical considerations, you know the deal. And I'm not going into it more than that. Draw your own conclusions." His reaction to the nickname sparked her grin again and she wrinkled her nose at him. "They are, and it's fantastic. It suits you."

Beau "Of course I get it...." He trailed off, already making his own conclusions but deciding not to voice them for the moment. "How does it suit me?" The snort was just waiting to come through, and he briefly broke to lean forward and push at her shoulder in the most subtly teasing way he knew how to do. "You know what a bear is, right?!"

Belle: Belle shifted and kicked his foot before rubbing hers against his ankle, out of sight of anyone who might look into his office. It was still pretty weirs, a student sitting on her professor's desk after hours sharing a meal. But at least they wouldn't be seen playing footsie, good lord. "Yes I know what a bear is. I also know what you look like shirtleas, and the description seems pretty apt to me." Laughing for a moment, it turned into a sigh and a slightly wistful smile. "I should get going. I have homework and you're going for drinks with Martin." She paused for a second. "Didn't think it would be this difficult, you as my teacher. And not because you're a stickler in class."

Beau didn't discourage her in the slightest, hand going out to run a hand over her leg but caught himself in time. "So I've got to be a hairy to be considered a bear? Though hey, as long as no one's trying to go daddy kink on me then I'm not going to complain." A small huff slipped out, wanting to protest but knowing that anytime they hung out on campus it'd probably be veering towards short and sweet. "Did he tell you I should get drunk? He's encouraging my bad habits." It was a brief, very rushed move as Beau moved to brush his lips over her cheek, against the corner of her lip, but it was just innocent enough to be something just between friends if his office door popped open. "C'mon, up babe. We've only got... what... four more months? I'll keep you so busy grades will be in before we know it."

Madison didn’t even bother to settle into her hotel room before she was out the door and ready to explore Johto. She’d spent the entire train ride studying a map of the areas they’d be able to visit, but it hadn’t taken Madison long to figure out where she wanted to go first. Taking off at a light job, Madison headed directly towards the foot of the ice path.

It was the complete opposite of everything Madison had known growing up; her life had been filled with the heat of the volcano, or the crashing waves of the ocean. She’d never seen something so frozen before, and the whole place looked like crystals sparkling in the sun. It was disappointing that she couldn’t go inside, but even just standing, gaping at the foot of the path, was enough for Madison.

Madison wished she had a fire Pokemon right now to help her keep warm, but she stooped down to pull warm clothes out of her bag and bundle herself up as well as she could. While she was getting ready, though, Madison heard a soft whumping sound, and she glanced up to lock eyes on what looked almost like a blue bowling ball, rolling and bouncing down the hill.

Madison took off at a run, following in the direction of the ball of snow and trying not to slip on the ice as she ran. By the time she’d reached it, it had unfurled itself, and was bouncing eagerly, looking at Madison and Crush by her side. 

“Oh, I know what you are! You’re a Spheal!” Madison exclaimed excitedly. It was so cute, and she almost squeed loudly, but then realized it might scare the Pokemon away before she had a chance to catch it. And why wouldn’t she want an ice Pokemon added to her team? If she’d had ice moves before, she could have easily beaten Marley Rose and her stupid grass Pokemon.

“Crush, tackle!” Madison ordered, and watched her Pokemon skitter across the ice and slam into the Spheal, who continued to bounce -- maybe tackling Crush in return? She couldn’t tell, the opposing Pokemon was just so round and bouncy that she wasn’t quite sure what it was doing. Still, she had to weaken it fast if she wanted to catch it, and Madison ordered, “Rapid Spin!” as she watched Crush retreat into his shell and spin in the Pokemon’s direction again. 

“Spheal!” it cried out, and Madison felt bad that it seemed to be in slight amounts of pain from colliding with Crush. It was a wild Pokemon, that was probably enough damage to let her catch it fairly easily, right? Madison would never know unless she tried. 

Her hand went straight to her pocket, and Madison extracted a Pokeball, hurling it blindly in the direction of the Spheal. At first, it bounced out of the way, and Madison frowned at the idea of losing her Pokeball -- and potentially the Pokemon. But then, by a stroke of luck, the Spheal bounced into the air again and landed right on top of the latch of the Pokeball.

Hunter was quieter than usual as he pushed open the heavy doors of the library and made his way past Mr. Prince and into the large room. It seemed fairly quiet for a Sunday and he could only assume everyone was busy sleeping in instead of meeting their exes for potentially discussion. He took a table as far out of sight as possible and sent her a quick text about his location before trying to relax.

Eva made her way down the hallways towards the library, trying to think about what Hunter wanted to talk to her about. Ever since their break up, Eva had always felt slightly awkward around him. After all, they had been dating for years-- hell, even his parents had been predicting their wedding . Sighing, Eva concluded that she'd just have to listen to whatever Hunter wanted to tell her. When she felt her mobile buzzing in her pocket, Eva looked down as she made her way inside of the library, looking around for Hunter. When her eyes fell on where he was sat, completely out of sight, she made her way towards him. "What's up, hunny-hun?" Her old nickname for him fell from her lips purely by habit as she sat down opposite him.

Hunter had been balling up pieces of parchment as he waited and had a growing pile as a result of his nervousness by the time Eva finally made her way into his line of sight and he slowly lifted his head, giving her an easy smile. "You and that nickname... It should be banned, Evita." The answering nickname had been given a few months into dating when he'd realized just how much it made Eva want to swat him, and it'd stuck. "There's something I wanted to tell you. Before you heard it from someone else..." Suddenly the nerves were back, twisting his robes in his hands and itching to play with his wand instead just to have something to do with his hands.

Eva noted to herself that Hunter actually looked really nervous. Since when did that happen when they ever met up? Easily smirking, Eva shrugged and placed her bag on the floor beside her. "Mm, the longer you call me that nickname, the longer yours is staying." She answered. Thankfully, things weren't feeling all that awkward between them both, which was something Eva was grateful for. "Okay, sure?" Her eyebrow rose in curiosity as she looked over at him. "Merlin, Hunt, you look like you're about to pass out. I'm sure it's not that bad."

Hunter was sure his answering smile was equally as smirking but he was rather proud of how easily it still slipped off the tongue - and how easy it was to rattle her with it. "Awww am I supposed to be scared sweetie?" He stuck his tongue out, relishing in what proved to be one of their less-awkward meet ups if this is anything to go by. "Not so sure it isn't...." Hunter muttered the words but he was sure Eva still heard him. "It's dealing with relationships... but not ours?"

Eva caught his muttering and found herself frowing lightly, sitting up a little straighter. Hearing Hunter tell her that there was something going on in a relationship, but no theirs, didn't come as a shock to Eva. She'd been expecting him to find someone else-- it wasn't like he was ugly , and the girls of Hogwarts made no secret of their attraction towards him. Still, Eva admitted inwardly, it stung to hear that. "Oh--" She trailed off, trying to figure out what to say. "Who is it? That's great." Her smile was genuine, considering she really did want him to be happy, regardless.

Hunter chewed on his lip, not sure why he was still so on edge about this. They'd both known dating other people would have to happen eventually but it was still the first foray into it since their breakup months ago and on some level it felt like a betrayal not to tell her. Eva's relaxed smile helped ease any lingering tension and he leaned forward on his hands with a wry grin. "Clara? We're not dating, not yet, but it's going to happen eventually I think and there’s already something going on and I know I wouldn't want to find out about you potentially dating from someone else so it felt... Necessary?"

Eva thanked whatever God that any feelings she had previously had for Hunter had vanished over time since their break up, meaning that whatever pain she was expecting to feel, didn't come. Instead, she just felt happy for the boy sitting opposite from her. "A fellow Gryffindor, hmm?" She teased, chuckling lightly. While she didn't know all that much about Clara, she'd definitely heard of her. "That's cool. I mean I appreciate you telling me, Hunter." She answered, folding her arms across her chest. "I'm absolutely fine with it, obviously. And I'm really happy for you guys."

Hunter chuckled, batting at her and throwing a piece of torn up parchment in her direction as a sign of protest. "You know, we tried to uniting the house routes and it didn't work so well. A lion - well it's unexpected? Definitely not what my parents expected, though they're probably hoping when they meet Clare she's your mini-me..." Okay, no musing on things with other people in the room Hunter. "Yeah? Thank you Evie. No clue when we'll make that whole official thing happen but it could be next week or a few years ago and when it does - well, fair warning." Ooooh and he was rambling again but by this time it felt like second-nature.

Eva rested her head inside of her palms as she listened to his rambling, finding it slightly amusing. "Hey!" She chuckled, throwing it back at him, trying to at least keep as quiet as she could. "I mean she's nothinglike me, so they're more than likely going to be disappointed." Eva teased, finding conversing about their relationship slightly awkward, once again. In an attempt to shift the topic off of her, she quickly said, "So what's she like?" she asked in a low voice.

Hunter gave a quick furtive look in Fox's direction before rolling a piece of parchment more quietly towards her. "It was necessary! That's definitely going to be a thing, I think, when she meets my parents? Like I find the differences amusing but not sure how they'll react." For a brief second he pretended to kick Eva only to end up grinning instead. "Determined, funny in a witty sort of way. Beautiful, but that's just me being shallow. Talented enough at Quidditch she'll rock the team next year. We argue a lot? But not serious arguments, just back and forth and - I'm rambling now," Hunter said with a bright blush.

Eva nodded, shifting slightly in her seat, finding herself regretting asking about this Clara girl after all. Surprisingly, hearing Hunter talk so positively about her kind of stung? Weirdly enough. Kicking herself inwardly, once again, Eva bit down on her lower lip and shifted her gaze away from him. "I'm glad to hear it. She sounds great." She finally said, a lump forming at the back of her throat. "I mean I'm obviously going to be kicking her butt if she hurts you, but that's just me being protective...And kind of a bitch, I guess?" Another small chuckle fell from her lips.

Hunter caught himself before he could make an utter fool of himself babbling in front of everyone, giving her a sheepish smile. Something in the set of Eva's shoulders seemed... off now, but worrying about it might backfire and do nothing but make it worse. "That's one word for her, definitely." This time the smile was warmer and he reached across the table to squeeze her hand, still keeping a careful eye on her just in case. "Not a bitch? Well maybe to others. You know I tend to find that trait a bit appealing. You have myfull permission if you ever need to." The words were said solemnly, not because Hunter thought that'd ever be necessary, but because the occasion seemed to deem it.

Eva was completely done with this conversation by this point, and she made a silent note never to ask about Clara again because damn, regardless of her getting over Hunter, that stuff still hurt. Maybe it was because she was using Clara to bring herself and her own self esteem down through Hunter, which was weird, but normal, for Eva. She was competitive and strived for perfection, which was why her emotions at that moment kind of made sense. She was dragged away from her thoughts when Hunter squeezed her hands, and she stiffened, pulling away from him. "I still find it weird how you find my bitchiness appealing." She answered immediately.

Hunter wasn't sure where the smiling Eva that'd been there moments before had gone but the sudden chill in the air had him shivering. It's not that he couldn't understand. If Eva was rambling about some new guy she was interested in Hunter would've still probably wanted to stuff her mouth with the parchment in front of them to make it stop. Maybe not because of jealousy but it was weird and the complicated mess that was moving on sucked. "Some things you never understand? You'd be boring if you were always nice." The rejection of any form of affection sent a twinge straight to his smart and he pulled away quickly with a weird half-smile.

Eva found herself shivering as the spiral of tension circled around them, finding herself completely conflicted and confused about why this sudden... stinging was coming from. Maybe it was because the bitterness and hurt from their break up was never really resolved, now that she thought about. It wasn't a bitter breakup, she knew that. Yet it was in her mind. Whenever she thought about their relationship, it was always classed as...as a regret, she guessed? Something she wished had never happened because of the aftermath that followed from it. Tucking a layer of hair behind her ear, Eva found herself smiling at Hunter's words. "That makes sense." Eva spoke slowly, before adding, "And it's true, some things you never really understand."

Hunter sat back in his chair to fiddle with the slightly loose strings on the edges of his robe instead, trying to keep his eyes trained on her even though this new distance between them ached in the worst ways. No, he wasn't in love with her anymore, but he'd hoped they'd be able to push past the awkwardness to be friends like they'd promised. "You know I always make sense Evie, you can't deny that." A few beats before he continued, leaning forward again hesitantly. "That's the most honest statement I think I've ever heard."

Eva was always going to be honest with Hunter, even when she didn't quite understand her emotions herself, so instead of making a lame excuse to leave, which was so tempting to do, Eva locked her eyes with his and said quietly. "Listen, I'm completely happy for you, Hunter. And believe me when I say that because believe me, you deserve to be happy. But...I don't know, it's weird? Hearing you describe this apparent perfect girl that you're going to be dating. Maybe it's supposed to feel weird, I'm not really sure." She admitted, feeling her cheeks flush in embarrassment. "I'm glad you told me, seriously. I just...I don't know? There are some things you'll never understand and this is definitely one of them."

Hunter gave her a strained smile, and while he didn't try to reach out again he did make sure not to break their eye contact while she talked. "I do believe you. You don't say anything you don't mean, good or bad. We're... hopefully, but it's not official and I - this was an 'in case'," he murmured, even though he wasn't sure why he needed to clarify. All the facts had to be there before Eva continued her thought process, maybe? "We can stay away from uncomfortable topics but for the record... It makes sense. Even wanting you to be happy, it'd still be a bit of an... a bit ouch to hear you were dating someone else." Finally he was sure he'd stopped rambling and he took a huge breath just to calm himself. "Okay... Eva? For the record even if we're dating other people, your honesty is always appreciated. Even when it's telling me I suck by proxy. Which happens on occasion."

Eva found herself breathing in sharply, not daring to break the eye contact between them both. It had been a long time since she'd managed to actually talk to Hunter, properly. Without the awkwardness, well kind of, and the tension. "It makes sense, huh?" She questioned, raising an eyebrow and grinning slightly. "I promise I'm not still pining for you or anything, it's nothing like that. I guess we just dated for so long and this was bound to feel weird, right?" She was trying to convince herself more than anything, and maybe Hunter knew that, or maybe he didn't. She wasn't sure.

Hunter was sure this was one of those moments that shouldn't have ended in him wanting to burst into giggles but he really did. Instead he settled on giving her a raise of his eyebrow and leaning forward to rest his chin in his hands. "It really does." Now he actually gave in to the chuckle and the sound felt a little like a relief. "Don't worry, there's no part of me that thinks you're still secretly in love with me or anything like that. If this was supposed to be easy then it'd be a little like making the time spent together worthless y'know? And that's one thing it's definitely not."

Eva found herself smiling with him, glad she was at least honest with him. "Okay good." She said finally, sitting back in her seat and finally starting to relax. "It was never worthless, I agree. You know, I'm just glad we still have this weird awkward little friendship thing going on still. Most people who date for as long we did just ignore each other. I'm glad we're not like that."

Hunter felt a weight lift off his chest at the way she was smiling, and matched it easily. "Exactly." Fidgeting was still a normal habit for him but at least now it was more because it kept his mind from working overtime than awkwardness. "So am I. It would have been easy to, because it keeps the slightly 'how do we act' at bay? But I prefer this. It would suck to not have you in my life."

Eva noticed Hunter starting to relax too and her smiled grew slightly, knowing that maybe things wouldn't be so awful and awkward after all. "I prefer this too, definitely. I mean we were friends before we dated, and now we're still friends after. Life goes on." She replied with a small shrug. While she didn't see herself getting into a new relationship at any point soon, Eva also was happy to know that even if she did, Hunter would more than likely have her back. "I've got your back and that's just the way it's going to be."

Hunter nudged her with his foot, sure the tension in his shoulders was entirely gone by now. "Life goes on is probably the most accurate statement I've ever heard. That was our biggest worry before dating, y'know? So I'm proud of us." Maybe dating Clara wouldn't happen - though lord knows he hoped it did - but it was still insanely awesome to know Eva would be as okay as she could be with it. "Because you're awesome, Evie, duh."

Eva found herself raising an eyebrow when she felt Hunter nudge her with his foot, gently nudging him back. "Mhmm, I'm all for the cheesy statements and quotes that everyone rolls their eyes at." She chuckled, before nodding quickly. "I'm proud of us too." When Hunter called her Evie, she found herself smiling again at another old nickname that had now resurfaced. "There are only too many compliments I take before I get big headed, geez." She joked, unfolding her arms.

Hunter was ninety percent sure this might lead to the kind of joking fighting that'd gotten them kicked out of the library before, but it felt normal. "Oh oh course, because you're just the queen of things that are cliche," he teased, though he was glad she seemed to agree. "Oh right, because unfolding your ego any more would totally be the wisest decision I've ever made." The laughter was right there in his voice, and so obvious.

Eva could see in the corner of her eye that they were one joke away from being kicked out again, which didn't come as a surprise to her at all. They'd been kicked out before for laughing too much. "I am definitely a Queen of something. Just not of Cliche things." She laughed, before shrugging in agreement. "My ego is definitely high enough as it is, babe, and I don't think making it even bigger is a wise idea."

Hunter looked around furtively, grateful he'd not brought along much just in case the inevitable ended up happening. "Then what pray tell are you the Queen of? Because it's not subtletly, or modesty," he joked, hoping he knew she didn't mean it as a serious insult. "Part of me worries about the day you marry your prince and your egos are so large the kingdom can't contain it."

Eva thought for a second, trying to think of an answer to his question. "I don't know, yet. Maybe the Queen of managing to insult people without actually having the intention to?" Smirking slightly as she said that, Eva then continued, "I mean people end up getting offended, which sucks." At the mention of her supposed prince, Eva shrugged slightly. "Mm, I'll just have to keep my fingers crossed then, I guess."