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 Posted: Thu Feb 24, 2011 6:27 pm
Jove pouted slightly, but trotted along next to Ren without a sound. He had to take quick steps to match the taller student's strides, his curled up tail bouncing along behind him, and he frequently glanced up with a warning scowl. "You'd better not be planning an adventure," it said, "I need those books for studying."
Freckles was somewhat more tolerable than Puppy, but Jove had to snort anyway. Like Ren was one to talk about freckles...
He followed the other boil past his own dorm, and into the maze of interconnected buildings where the monsters lived. Staring at the decorations and peeking out windows had him falling even farther behind the gryphon. He was almost in Ren's room before he realized it, and then proceeded to stare at everything like it was made of stars or something equally fantastic.
With his books forgotten, he looked up at Ren with wide eyes and a WHOA expression.
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Posted: Thu Feb 24, 2011 7:56 pm
Ren caught the looks Jove kept shooting him, but he didn't say anything except toss the younger boil a playful wink as they walked.
"Hey," he said innocently, grinning and holding up his hands in a gesture of innocence. "Don't give me that look! Jack knows I have freckles too! They're something to be happy about! Think of it as a friendly nickname, little one; we all have them."
Standing inside of his room, Ren turned back around to face Jove, letting out a small laugh of pleasure. "You like?" he said, gesturing around the spacious area. "Or is that just an 'this room has way too many things in it and I really need to clean it?' kinda look?"
Tossing Jove's books lightly on the bed, along with his bag, Ren pulled a stack of pillows to the skelevision set, patting the one next to him.
"Come sit down, I'll show you what Scario Kart is," he said with an easy smile as he pulled out the controllers. Flicking on the set, he settled back comfortably against the pillows. He wasn't entirely sure the puppy would sit; maybe he would grab his books and run, but Ren rather hoped he would stay. He was amused and interested by the younger boil; he was a welcome breath of fresh air compared to the students Ren had met lately.
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Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2011 6:03 am
Jove trotted over to the bed where his books lay, ears flicking in Ren's direction as he talked, but the pup made no move to answer verbally or otherwise. A moment of hesitation instead of grabbing the pile and running, but the little ghost paid no attention to them at all as he touched the soft covers laying across the bed. He couldn't see if there was a pleasant little under-the-bed space like in his own dorm room, but that was a task for later.
He walked over and investigated the pillows, his head tilting curiously at Ren's casual flop. Would this explanation of Scario Kart be better than the drawing? It didn't look like the gryphon was putting any serious thought into the attempt...
Jove sat down anyway, wiggling in place to get comfy before mimicking Ren's relaxed posture.
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Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2011 12:40 pm
For a few moments, Ren was sure Jove would grab his books and run. The little puppy seemed a little confused, blinking around the room, but when he went over to the bed, he didn't reach for the books, instead just poking at the downfeather covers Ren had. After a few minutes of scrutinizing the bed, Jove made his way over to where Ren was sitting, settling down and imitating his position.
Ren smiled, handing him the controller. "Okay," he said, leaning over to explain. "You hold it like this, in both hands. This over here on the left, that's how you move around. See, left, right, forward, back..."
On screen, Ren's car was jolting all over the place, and Ren pointed. "See?" he said, then pressed the arrow buttons again. "This moves your kart where you want it to. Forward, back, to the side."
He motioned for Jove to try, giving him an encouraging nod. "Here, you give it a shot. See where you can go~"
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Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2011 8:20 pm
Jove watched intently, first looking down at Ren's hands, then up at the screen, and then back down at his hands. He glanced at his own controller to make sure he was holding it right, and then pushed the forward button. Fluffy ears perked up dramatically when one of the little karts jumped forward. Then it ran off the road and into a tree.
The little ghost's head tilted. After a glance back down at his controller, he was able to steer the kart around the tree, and back off the grass. The ears perked forward once again as he puttered down the virtual road, the tip of a pink tongue poking out of his mouth as he concentrated on keeping the kart going straight. Slowly he was figuring out the hand-eye coordination involved with playing the videogame, but he wouldn't be winning any races anytime soon.
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Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2011 10:25 pm
Ren rolled his kart around casually, but his gaze wasn't on the skelevision screen. Instead, he had slid his glance to the side surreptitiously watching Jove out of the corner of his eye. The little puppy kept looking down at the controller, up at the screen, then back down again. Up, down, up down...he seemed to be getting the hang of it, however, his ears perking up when he managed to move forward. Albeit, he didn't get very far, but he still seemed rather pleased about it.
"Okay," said Ren, leaning forward and pointing to the buttons on the right of the controller. "This one here, labeled 'A;' that one is for getting these coin thingies - "
On screen, Ren's kart skidded towards a spinning golden coin. When he reached it, Ren's thumb jabbed the A button and with a twinkling noise, the golden coin disappeared. He turned back to Jove. Though the puppy was obviously not a particularly verbal boil - that was pretty obvious - Ren was still intrigued by his lack of speaking. Deciphering his many expressions was like trying to piece together a large puzzle; curious and entertaining.
"Okay, see?" said Ren, pointing on screen. "When you get to that gold coin up there on the road, just press the A button."
Standing up, Ren left Jove momentarily to rummage around in the minifridge beside his bed. When he returned to flop back into his pillow pile, he held a package of cookies and two bottles of apple juice, one of which he set between them nudging it towards the boil.
"I'm not sure if you like it, but if you're hungry..?" Ren offered with a smile, breaking open the package and munching on a cookie.
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Posted: Sat Feb 26, 2011 12:55 pm
When the "success" noise sounded for Ren's kart grabbing the coin, Jove's eyes widened slightly and his tongue disappeared back into his mouth. So there was a point to the silly karting! Although the pup had no idea what the coins were for in the long run, they gave him a short-term goal to focus on and keep him engaged more thoroughly than simply enjoying the virtual scenery.
Jove followed the instructions eagerly, and with his ears perked and tongue once again sticking out, he began veering towards the golden coins. The first time he grabbed one, he turned to Ren with a "Did you see?" expression on his face, and let go of the controller with one hand to point at the screen. The immediate result of his actions was to run the kart off the road and down a hill, well off the main path.
The pup didn't wait to see Ren's response, he turned back to the game and returned his kart to the road so he could grab coins with gusto.
Jove didn't really understand what "hungry" was, but when the sweet smell of cookies hit his nose, he abandoned the TV in favour of giving Ren a good dose of unintentional puppy-eyes. Once again his efforts to project an adult, self-sufficient image were thwarted by his doggy nature.
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Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 12:27 pm
From what Ren could see, Jove was beginning to get the hang of Scario Kart. Ren himself had been playing it since he had been old enough to hold a controller practically, but he had only grown to enjoy it as much as he did recently. Since he played with LW nearly every other day, and even with Alessa and Gabrian sometimes, it had become much more than just a typical video game. It had become a chance for them to spend time together, to relax and let the stress of classes just slip away.
Plus it was just plain fun. Ren saw Jove's ears flick upwards as the boil turned to look at him, wide-eyed and excited.
"Got a coin, did you?" said Ren with a laugh as he turned back, holding the controller tightly in small hands, the younger boil's expression one of great determination. Ren almost reached out to fluff up his already fluffy hair, but he didn't want to distract the other; the cookies had done a good enough job of that, since as soon as he opened the bag, Jove dropped the controller and turned to look at him with an expression similar to that of LW when she really, really wanted something.
Holding out a cookie, Ren smiled at the puppy. "Here," he said, setting it in his hands. "Go ahead, you can have one."
Leaning back, Ren munched one of his own, musing a bit before saying "Having fun?"
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Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 2:33 pm
Jove took a couple seconds to look at the cookie like it was something very precious to him... And then he wiggled further into his own pile of pillows and delicately nibbled on it. He didn't understand the point of eating, since he couldn't remember living and thus couldn't remember the sensation of being hungry that preceded the eating, but there were things that tasted really good. And cookies were one of those things.
This was actually pretty pleasant, he was certainly having more fun than staying in his room all day studying. But with that thought his contented mood mellowed, and he finished the rest of his cookie with a slight frown. If he didn't start understanding classes, would he get sent out? He didn't want to go now that he was finally making friends...
The pup heaved a sad little sigh, pulling his knees up and wrapping his tail over his feet. His caretaker thought he would do really well here, but was he smart enough to do really well and still play games and eat cookies?
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Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 3:21 pm
What a curious puppy, Ren thought as he watched Jove nibbling at the cookie. He held it carefully between his hands, like it was something special, and though he took very, very small bites, he still seemed to enjoy it.
"Yummy, huh?" Ren said with a smile, taking another cookie for himself and biting happily into it. "Now, I know there are things much better in this world, but I'm pretty sure one of the best things in life - or death," he added, casting a grin over at Jove. " - are cookies. Because sometimes you just need a cookie."
As if to prove this point, Ren took another bite of his own, finishing it off with a melodramatic smack of his lips. He started to pick up the controller again, but stopped when he noticed Jove hadn't moved to do the same. Sitting up, Ren tilted his head, catching the frown.
"What's the matter?" he asked, slightly worried. "Did you not like it?" Ren shifted positions, moving to sit on his knees. "You not feeling well? I'm sorry I dragged you all the way up here."
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Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 4:03 pm
Jove sighed again in exasperation and shook his head, hoping he could convey the right message after all those noisy successive questions. He liked the cookie, and his stomach was fine, if that's what Ren was asking. The pup had yet to eat something that disagreed with him in that regard.
He pointed over at the books with a whine, letting the gryphon know what the source of his displeasure really was. If only he could just understand the maths and the history and whatnot! Then he wouldn't have to mentally stumble around like an incompetent child instead of learning like all the other students. It was embarrassing!
The ghost's fluffy ears flopped backwards and he scowled at his knees. He certainly didn't want Ren to know how badly he was floundering, but if he didn't turn things around soon, flunking classes would be a pretty obvious sign.
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Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 4:15 pm
"Hmmm," Ren said musingly, tapping his chin. He tilted his head, offering a small smile to Jove. "Ahhh I'm sure you're not pleased with my asking so may questions, but seeing as how you are not a boil of many words, alas - " He let his shoulders lift and fall in a casual shrug, looking rather sheepish. " - I have to make do with asking a ton of questions, none of which you probably wish to answer, but that are necessary for me to understand you, at least a little bit."
Ren followed Jove's hand to the books on the bed, and he lifted a brow. Pushing himself to his feet, Ren went over, lifting one, then two up into his hands. They were textbooks, not books for the mere pleasure of reading, an Ren examine one math book in particular, squinting at it.
"You don't like classes, is that it?" he asked, then looked own at the books again. "Orrrrr...hmmm..." Ren glanced at Jove, the way his ears pressed back against his fluffy haired head. "Or maybe you're having difficulties with classes? Is that it?"
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Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 4:51 pm
Jove's head sank slightly, his ears pressing more firmly into the fluff of his hair. If only he had just picked up his books and ran when he had the chance! He didn't look in Ren's direction, unwilling to let the other see the glowing flush of embarrassment across his freckled cheeks.
How was he supposed to admit he knew pretty much nothing? Reading and writing had been a noteworthy accomplishment, considering he was just a little foxfire spirit... Skulls, even just repeating his name that first time had been enough to give his caretaker a good startle. But learning to take a (mostly) human form and print his name was a long shot from attending school like a normal student, and the pup refused to give himself enough credit for his past achievements.
As he saw it, this academy was where his caretaker wanted him to be, and thus he had to do well for his caretaker's sake. And his stubborn pride simply refused to admit it was a process that would take some time.
Jove certainly refused to admit as much to Ren, even though his grumpy expression and blush would do the trick anyway.
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Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 5:16 pm
Ren was still mulling over the books, so at first he did not see the way that Jove's shoulder's drooped, the way his head fell down, ears pressed firmly back against his fluffy teal hair. They seemed like ordinary school textbooks; though Ren had to admit, the math one was not quite so easy. He had never been a huge fan of mathematics in the first place. Flipping through a few of the pages, he made a disgusted face before making his way back over to the little puppy. He sat on his knees beside him, glancing over to see his face - which was, in fact, quite red.
"You having trouble, then?" Ren asked gently, smiling at him so as to not insult him. "That's okay! Everyone has trouble every now and then. Doesn't mean you're any less intelligent than anyone else here. Just means you might have to work a bit harder to understand things, is all. Heck, I still don't understand math all that much," he added with a laugh, tapping the book.
Though they had just met, Ren was already starting to like the younger boil. His quiet nature mingled with the lack of talking made him quite endearing, and Ren liked the fact that he was stubborn as well, the way he expressed himself through his face. I guess sometimes we don't need to talk to communicate, he thought to himself, absently twisting the braid in his hair.
"Hey," said Ren, reaching out to poke Jove lightly on the shoulder. "What do you say I help you out a bit? I can help you study, if you need to. I understand if you don't want my help, but if you do, I wouldn't mind. And I'll bring cookies," he added with a teasing wink, gesturing at the bag of goodies beside him.
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Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2011 5:48 pm
Jove whined. He HAD to learn and get good at this whole school thing! And he was working very hard, he hadn't slept in days, and hardly knew the school grounds aside from the most direct routes between his dorm, his classes, and the library. As a ghost the whole not sleeping thing didn't affect him in a big way, but he did miss out on that mental recharge...
He didn't even flinch away from the poke, he just sort of swayed and his ears flopped sideways instead of being folded backwards. Cookies sounded good... And if just sitting quietly with someone was nice, studying with someone might be nice too. He just had to swallow his pride and accept it.
With a timid little glance sideways at his new friend, Jove nodded slightly. His blush only got worse, literally glowing bright enough to rival any wisp-in-training.
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