Summer Semester & Holidays

[Valerian Eclipse]

Ethan's face lit up when she had accepted his proposal. A grin spread across his face as he said, "Well, then...let's put this on!" Gently, he slid the beautiful ring onto Harri's finger. Then he grabbed her hand. "Let's go tell the others!" He wondered how everyone would react. Especially Bethan and Ava. He wondered if Bethan liked him well enough, to let him marry her best friend. But he shrugged off the feeling he felt in his stomach and began to walk towards the school.

Ava was sitting down at her kitchen table, her fingers tapping against the dark wood. She was deep in thought as she stared out the kitchen table. Slowly and steadily, the brought the mug of tea to her lips and took a sip. Her dark eyebrows knitted together and she pondered the idea of getting older. She had recently turned 20 years old and had gone into a slight depression. Ava felt old, and didn't like not being a teen anymore. And now she felt bored....and tired...and lonely.
Her dark red hair fell down in curly waves along her back and shoulders, and a black headband held her bangs away from her face. With a swift movement, Ava stood up and retreated to the bathroom. She examined the almost non-existent wrinkles that were forming on her forehead and groaned. "Get a grip, Ava. There's nothing there..." Acting like a child with a temper tantrum, she stomped out of the bathroom, her black boots making a ruckus against the wood paneled floor. Then her thoughts drifted toward Java. Where was he? She wanted to see him. And she was sure that Bethan was taking care of Evie.  

[Misconstrudel]

[[I'm the worst Guild Captain ever, aren't I? Oh HH, my baby, I missed you! Honestly, I did! ... Okay, I'm done talking to the Guild now sweatdrop

@Valerian Eclipse: PM when you see this. I have big plans. Huge plans!]]

Jon's eye flicked to the hem of Odile's top, then over to Beth. Who had disappeared. "Well, I guess that settles that, then. God, O-dial, way to scare off the fresh talent."
But he winked. "Guess I could beat you at Combat some more."

Bethan was sat on the bench by the fountain, angled so that Evie - who was on her lap - could see the water. Java had been adamant that Bethan was not to go any closer to the water, which was fine; after all the chaos of the last few weeks, Bethan needed a sit-down. She was content just to sit here playing with little Evie and keeping an eye out for Harri and Ethan coming out of the woods.
"That's right, Evie," she said quietly, "Aunti Harri's come back to see you!" She rocked Evie from side to side, making her giggle. Evie reached out a pudgy hand to Bethan's face as she beamed at the little girl, and she blew on it playfully, knowing it would make Evie giggle more. Which it did, and, though it was quite a mild day, the breath fogged up as it streamed around Evie's tiny fingers.

Java walked across the stone bridge leading to his and Ava's cottage, marvelling again at how their friends had managed to do all this for them. As he drew nearer, he thought he heard a thudding. Probably just Ava moving some chairs in the kitchen... he thought. But he entered cautiously, just in case.
"Ava, honey?"  

[Valerian Eclipse]

Ava was huffing and puffing by the time Java had entered the cottage. Her hands had been tightened into fists but they instantly relaxed when she saw her husband's face. "Oh, Java!" She said happily and raced toward the door. Ava tackled him with a sort of bear hug, her arms outstretched and a bright smile on her face. She didn't notice that she had almost made them both fall down. "I'm glad you're home."  

[Misconstrudel]

Java grinned. It was a good thing Ava was so dainty or they'd both have been on the floor.
"I'm glad I'm home too." he said, still grinning at the smile on her face. He kissed the top of her head. "It's nice to see you happy again."

Bethan frowned at her jacket pocket as her phone began to ring. Jiggling Evie on her knee with one arm, she answered it with the other hand.
"Oh, Chris, hi... I'm by the fountain, where are you? ...Well, now's not a great time. I've got Evie, and I wanted to catch Harri as well... Fine. It's not like I can stop you." She sighed, and the frown was replaced by a sad look in her eyes. "... Love you too."
In a few minutes, Chris came round the corner, still in his funeral suit. His reddish hair had been cut, so it was no longer the untidy mess it had been when they'd first met, but he was still just as cute. Bethan's stomach twisted. Sometimes - well, a lot of the time - she thought she shouldn't have married so young. Maybe she could have had a job in England, near Parker's... But she loved Chris, there was no doubt about it.
"Hey." she said, softly, as he sat down next to her on the stone bench.
He avoided her gaze, smiling a little at Evie, who had snuggled into Bethan at the sight of a stranger and was now peering inquisitively at him with her big green eyes.
"Hey."
They sat in silence for a minute or two, listening to the fountain, and then Christopher took her free hand and looked at her.
"You want to stay here, don't you?"
Her grey eyes fixed on him and she shook her head, laughing a little too loudly.
"No. Why would I? It's not like I have to help Ava any more, and I should get back to work, anyway-"
"-Bethan" he cut across her, "we both know you want to be here, not in Geneva. There's no point you trying to convince me otherwise."
She shook her head almost imperceptibly, mouth a little open.
"I don't want you to have to choose between us and this" he gestured around him at the grounds. "So I'm going back to Geneva. Permanently... and you're staying here. I have paperwork ready that'll let you transfer to the nearest branch of the SHRC as a freelance scientist. You could use your lab here as long as you submitted weekly reports..." he trailed off, sighing.
For once, Bethan was speechless. Chris smiled sadly at his wife as he kissed her on the cheek and stood up.
"Call me when you're ready to let this place go. Goodbye, Mrs Blake."
"James-Blake." she corrected automatically, then clenched her jaw. "I didn't mean..." she whispered, unable to finish the sentence.
"Yes you did."
Christopher walked briskly up to the school, into the entrance hall where the teleport pad was located, not looking back. Bethan could only stare after him until, long after he'd disappeared from view, Evie began to cry.
"Oh, Evie, don't worry. It'll be okay." Bethan tried to comfort Evie, but, as she stood up to take her back to Java and Ava, tears slid down her own cheeks as well.  

[Eisette]

Harri grinned, taking his hand as they started to walk back up to the school. Even though she was determined not to freak out and look at the ring as she walked, she was very much aware of it's weighted presence on her finger. For a second they walked happily in silence, before Harri pulled her hand free, dancing forward a few steps. Over her shoulder, she grinned at Ethan with a challenging twinkle in her eye.
"Race you to the fountain!" It was childish, perhaps, but as soon as Harri said it, she sped off, hopping a few steps to pull the ridiculously formal heels off her feet mid-sprint, before gathering the long skirt of the funeral dress and running full tilt. Her hair was up, framing her face as it had been in the coffin, but not parts of it flew free, streaming behind her in waves. She laughed as she ran, not daring to look behind her as she concentrated on running as fast as she could, racing against her fiancé.


Odile raised her eyebrows at Beth's abrupt disappearance, before smiling wryly at Jon, the expression wrinkling her nose slightly.
"I did not scare her off! I bet you tried the moves and freaked her out, dude. And you just try to beat me this time." she tossed her head arrogantly, but winked at him,"Well, c'mon then, let's go!"  

[Valerian Eclipse]

Ethan chuckled as he sprinted after Harri. He ran his hardest to catch her, and when he did he grabbed her arm, and pulled her to him. He grabbed her soft face and kissed her softly, a grin on his face. When he kissed her, he saw someone walking by them out of the corner of his eye. He turned and said, "Bethan! We have some great news-" But he noticed there was something wrong. She looked like she had been crying, which made Ethan feel uncomfortable. Bethan crying? It couldn't be true. "What's wrong, Bethan?" Ethan's deep voice was twisted with worry.

Ava's lips spread into a smile as she looked up at her handsome husband. "Let's do something fun tonight!" She whispered into his ear. "Just us two. We can get Ethan and Harri to watch Evie. It would be so much fun." Her eyes were bright at the chance of getting to spend a night alone with Java.  

[Misconstrudel]

New Semester, guys! razz