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 Posted: Tue Dec 08, 2009 9:28 am
Sébastien’s mood was abysmal at best.
Not only did he no longer have his French flags, but he hurt from where Avery had punched him and he still hadn’t found Elke. Or Sue, for that matter, which was almost as bad as not finding his best friend. Damned cat boy! If what Avery had said was right, and Sue had been unkind to Elke, his neighbour was headed the right way for a knuckle turnover. Or was it sandwich? Hell, who cared about English sayings anyway. The thought of food only made his stomach grumble again. The French boy had been forced to take a sudden lunch break when the hunger had got too much, eating something (or was it someone?) he didn’t care to remember. But he was better now – or at least, as good as he could be in his current state – which meant he could resume his original activity: looking for Elke.
Searching the hidey holes was risky, and thus Sébastien was aiming for something a little more… purposeful. He’d found the tallest structure possible, cupped his hands around his mouth, and started yelling.
“ELKE? ELKE ARE YOU THERE?”
The best way was always the most direct way, after all.
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Posted: Tue Dec 08, 2009 9:40 am
Christmas had to have come early on account of, well, Hero had let Elke outside. Granted, she hadn't been allowed to take Giselle or Serenade. Nor was carrying Andeon's head permissible. If she was going out she went out alone. Which had been okay so far; mostly she just wanted time to think.
Everyone was dead. Or, rather, undead, which was better than dead dead, but still worse than alive. At least this way, with the undeath and all, Elke didn't have to fret about things unsaid. She could just go say them.
Well, except to... Avery. Avery, who had sent her away. Why was everyone doing that? At least Hero and Serenade didn't seem to think she needed protection. Elke might suck at combat but she had done okay so far! Except for the vodka bottle to the face (we don't think about the vodka bottle to the face). Everyone seemed to think she was dead, or in danger around them, or a monster who needed killing. It was depressing.
Which was why she was pretty startled to hear a recognizable French-accented voice howling across campus. It drew a startled, instinctive yell back: "Sebby?"
Cautiously--he wasn't the kind of eat her flesh, but someone who was might be with him--she approached the direction of the voice.
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Posted: Tue Dec 08, 2009 9:47 am
Sebby?!
Had he been a dog, Sébastien’s ears would have perked instantly. It is also quite possible that his tail would have started wagging. But, as he was not a canine, the best he could do was grin broadly at the sound of his nickname. Elke! It had to be her! Nobody else in the school would dare call him that! Aaah, it was like music to his ears! He would have never thought he’d see the day when he’d be glad to hear Elke yell that disgusting abbreviation of his beautiful French name for the whole school to hear. If he cringed it was only because he was hungry. Yes. Hungry.
Trying to restrain his glee, he called back, “Are you okay? Are you hurt? Is Avery there?” They were three very important questions that needed to be addressed as soon as possible. Quietly he hoped that Avery was not there with Elke. He did not want the other teen to gloat about how he’d found her first, and that his boyfriend instincts were better than his friend instincts. The thought of Avery made him frown, and he pushed those thoughts aside. Focus on Elke. Make sure she’s safe.
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Posted: Tue Dec 08, 2009 10:03 am
She smiled and walked a little bit faster. Maybe Sebby was dead, but he sounded just the same. Not like he was planning on scolding her for seeing him and not fleeing for her life a la her boyfriend, or for approaching him at all like Giselle.
"I'm fine, I'm fine!" The question about Avery raised a spike of hurt, she choked up--no, he wasn't there. He didn't want to be there! Elke coughed twice, took a deep breath, and called, "Sebby, where are you?"
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Posted: Tue Dec 08, 2009 5:04 pm
Phew. She said she was fine. Though, in Elke-terms, that might not exactly mean she was fine, but she was talking and answering questions so she couldn't be too far gone. The French teen breathed a sigh of relief as he started down the hill he'd chosen as a look-out point. Now all he had to do was find her. He stumbled once on his way down, but managed to right himself in time to catch her question.
"Follow my voice! Keep talking and I will follow yours!"
He proceeded to start rambling on about how much he hated Shakespeare, figuring it was as good a topic as any to be yelling about in French. The fact that she hadn't answered his question about Avery was minorly irritating, but he chose not to ask her again. He would see for himself when he found his friend.
Squinting, he shielded his eyes and tried to make out the figure in the distance. Was that her? Had he found Elke? "Elke?"
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Posted: Tue Dec 08, 2009 5:36 pm
With a quick nod, she cupped her hands around her mouth to yell back; some nonsense about a book she'd been reading. Before the fire, before... all of this. It made her smile. She liked to think about the book. It had been... happy. Well, not exactly, but all the bad things had gone away in the end and everyone had lived and then they were happy again.
"Sebby!" Elke ran to her friend once she spotted him--blond hair and green skin, it was a distinctive combination. A safe distance away, she stopped walking; she held up both hands. "Sebby, no one's got you yet," she chimed, sounding pleased as punch. "I'm so happy!"
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Posted: Tue Dec 08, 2009 5:51 pm
Aha! There she was!
Sébastien gave a whoop of joy as he picked up his pace, breaking out into a jog to get closer to his friend. Elke was okay! He was still grinning when they got closer, resisting the urge to grab her and twirl her around. Close proximity with Giselle had already proven to make him think strange things, and he wasn’t about to start down that track with Elke. Nevertheless, he made sure to give her outstretched hands a friendly squeeze, his mood only improving when he noticed that Avery wasn't with her. France: 1, England: 0.
"Of course no one's got me! I'm French! They never get the French! The blonde puffed up his chest, his grin never faltering. "But you are okay, yes? I was worried…" What with Avery and Giselle's reactions to Elke's name, he had started to wonder if something really did happen to her.
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Posted: Tue Dec 08, 2009 6:09 pm
They never got the French. Of course! Elke smiled, glad that he seemed okay and that he wasn't pushing her away like everyone else had. "Fine," she assured him, "But listen, okay?"
She waited until she had his full attention--as if she hadn't already had it--before speaking again. "Sue. You remember Sue?" Pause. "Tomorrow, the day after next, he's going to try and lure you back to the old dormitories. Stay away from there. It's dangerous." Her tone of voice was achingly serious, her expression entirely unlike her usual looks. "He's already convinced I hurt Piper. Sebby, he's crazy. Please don't go near the dorms."
It crossed her mind to mention she had hurt Piper, but she was afraid that he would leave. After spending so long being told to run run run, she kind of wanted to stay.
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Posted: Tue Dec 08, 2009 6:21 pm
"Listening," Sébastien replied instantly, more than happy to be paying attention to his friend. Besides, she looked like she was getting her Serious Face on, and that meant he had to listen carefully. The memory of Giselle's Serious Face was still fresh in his mind, which made Elke's seriousness only a little worrying. Was she going to make him promise something too?
Well, a warning was close enough. The French teen frowned at the mention of Sue, shaking his head even as she continued to speak. "Sue is an idiot. You would never hurt Piper and if he's going to try and lure people back to the old dormitories he's a bigger idiot. He may think he talks to cats, but the kitties aren't going to save him. You’re the one that has to be careful, Elke. I won't get hurt." After all, he had survived being buried underneath the remains of a burning building. What could one cat boy do to him?
"I am not afraid of Sue," he added still frowning. "Besides, I heard he harassed you."
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Posted: Tue Dec 08, 2009 7:40 pm
If she'd thought of it, of course she would have extracted a promise from Sebastien involving not going near the dormitories at all. She didn't, and so she smiled gratefully. "Thank you, Sebby--if you see Avery or Yvette, please tell them to be careful too?" It turned out to be kind of hard to think about your boyfriend who may or may not have broken up with you when he told you to kill him. Elke certainly was proving very poor at it.
"Um. If hitting me with a golf club is harassment, I guess so," said Elke sheepishly. "Who told you that? I never told anyone." Except Avery. But never straight out, always obliquely.
She was just much less inclined to be nice about Sue when she had a bruise from him and his crazy.
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Posted: Tue Dec 08, 2009 8:25 pm
Tell Avery to be careful? Sébastien couldn't have stopped his mouth curving downward even if he wanted to. Nonetheless, he sniffed, before replying, "If I see either of them I'll be sure to warn them." She was lucky that he liked her so much. He didn't do this for just anyone, you know. He had standards to uphold, being a Frenchman and all. But if Elke asked him to tell Avery to be careful then he would have to do it. No matter what he thought of that friend-stealing punk.
When Avery had said harassment, the blonde certainly hadn't expected it to be assault with a golf club. His jaw literally dropped when Elke admitted that Sue had hit her, whatever small amount of tolerance he had remaining for the cat-loving teen vanishing in an instant. "He hit you with a golf club?! Where?! I swear to God if I see that son of a b***h I'll… " He made violent gesture, before remembering that Elke had asked him a question.
"Ah…. Avery told me." It wasn't something he'd like to have admitted, getting information from Avery, but the thought of Sue harassing Elke had made his skin crawl. The fact that he'd actually hit Elke was enough to make Sébastien see red.
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Posted: Wed Dec 09, 2009 6:42 am
She let go of one of his hands to pull up her sleeve, exposing the distinctively-shaped bruise on her bicep. Horror exposed, she let it drop back down. Luckily it hadn't been on her injured shoulder. Also luckily, Sebby didn't seem to be reacting to the smell of dried-out blood.
Thank Heaven for tiny blessings.
"I'm starting to think the entire world's gone mad," she said, sounding a little like she was going to get weepy, "Avery won't talk to me, Sue attacks me, Giselle yells at me all the time..." Elke smiled, a grateful (and platonic, she wasn't flirting) look. "I'm glad Sebby is still the same Sebastien as I've always known."
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Posted: Wed Dec 09, 2009 11:20 am
The blonde swore under his breath at the sight of the bruise. No wonder Avery had been upset about it. "I can't believe him! I honestly can't believe he would hit you. What the hell kind of guy does he think he is?" Sébastien complained as set about tearing one of the cleaner strips off the remainder of his pyjamas. He then proceeded to tie it around her bruised arm. It was stupid, he knew that, bandaging a bruise; but it was all he could do to apologize for not being there to protect her. Aside from killing Sue, but he could do that later.
Being close to her, however, was worse than being close to Giselle. She smelled so much better, felt so much warmer, and if he just took one nibble, one painless nibble--
You promised.
Sébastien bit his tongue to hold his focus. He'd made a promise not to hurt her, both to himself and Giselle. Even if he hadn't promised the history fanatic he couldn't do it. Elke was counting on him to be there for her, to be normal and he would eat his own arm if he had to just to keep her safe.
"They're stupid. Maybe they are crazy, but I'm not crazy." Not yet anyways. "I want you to promise me something though. Avery, eh, he is probably angry and moping, but he won't hurt you. But Sue… you have to promise me you won't see him alone again. He's already proven what kind of scum he is." Sébastien desperately wanted to make Elke promise him that she'd let him take Sue, but he doubt she would let him do that. Still, that promise would be enough. As much as he hated the fact that Elke had other friends, as long as she stayed with somebody he could only hope they would protect her.
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Posted: Wed Dec 09, 2009 3:09 pm
Silly indeed. Elke giggled, even though a few tears slipped out; Sebby, her self-absorbed friend Sebby, thought to ask if she was alright. But Avery hadn't. Of course, Avery had been... had been... she loved him, and that was all that mattered. Sigh.
"Sebby, please be careful. Please tell everyone to be careful? Even the people you don't like." She fussed over the collar of Sebastien's pajamas, wishing she'd been able to look after Avery even that little tiny bit. But he'd been too... vicious, and angry, and she was going to cry again if she thought about it any more so she shook her head to clear out the cobwebs. "They're going to try and kill you."
She didn't answer the statement about Avery, though she flexed the bruise wrist. Nor did she mention how she planned to try and thwart Sue's plan to kill all of the undead students. She just smiled and used both of her hands to make a heart shape. "I'll look after you, though, Sebby," she promised. "I will. I'll look after everyone."
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Posted: Wed Dec 09, 2009 4:07 pm
Tell everyone to be careful? Even the people he didn't like? Damn, she knew him too well. Sébastien made a face, but he nodded anyways. He would tell anyone he saw – who wasn't Sue – to be careful of the dormitories, even though he didn't want to. Elke's closeness was distracting, and he bit his tongue harder. Just breathe, Sébastien, he told himself firmly. Just breathe.
"That's impossible. The French never die." He flashed her his best grin, hoping that it would be of some comfort to her. In truth, the thought of death hadn't really occurred to him. As far as he was concerned, he was still alive, and after surviving a fire he felt pretty resistant. But if the crazy people were gathering themselves under Sue at the dormitories, he would feel a little better if he was armed. Perhaps he should invest in some kind of weapon before this final confrontation.
The blonde's look softened at her final words, and he nodded his head slowly. "I believe you. Are you staying somewhere? I can walk you there, if you want." If Elke had a home base, he wanted to know it. That way he could find her faster if all hell broke loose.
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