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 Posted: Wed Nov 27, 2013 6:02 pm
This was the best thing. Seriously. THE BEST THING.
The plate on the lunch tray let out a light clink as it was set on the small table, and Jove couldn't help but wag his tail as he eyed it. He picked his favourite seat. He could see out the window on one side, and watch the students entering the cafeteria passing by on his other side. And in front of him on that plate on that small table... The best thing. It could not get any better than this.
His plate was piled high with a meal his older brother would have promptly removed from his sight, a meal so sugary it would wreak havoc on many a living creature's digestion and metabolism. Jove admired it for a second, inhaling the sweet, rich aroma. These were still warm, fresh from the ovens. Still soft and delicious. Definitely not the sort of lunch for growing puppies, but the little ghost was old enough to make his own decisions, and make himself grow up whenever he wanted! This meal was impossible to ignore.
With one last happy little sigh, the pup picked up the first of the spookies piled tall on his plate and gave it a thorough chomping.
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Posted: Wed Nov 27, 2013 6:16 pm
Mathias hated the cafeteria. In fact, he spent as little time in it as he possibly could, opting to instead hunt for his meals if he could. Today, however, he found himself slowly making his way inside, perhaps just feeling too lazy to go and find his own food. It was, as usual, crowded and noisy and completely filled with ridiculous amounts of ghouls traipsing about. Either that or there was an alarming amount of boils in the school that wore heeled or otherwise feminine shoes. Creeping his way away from the door and against a wall, Mathias steadfastly kept his gaze diverted towards the floor, moving along with one hand raised as though that could ward off anybody coming to near him. His brows were drawn down in a scowl, and he clunked along in his boots in a most unhappy fashion. And then it happened. Somebody who wasn't paying attention, chatting to one of her friends, ran right smack into him, his hand coming in contact with something very soft beneath fabric. Alarm bells were ringing in his head long before a squawk of indignation left the ghoul in front of him, and within moments he found his cheeks flushing, and his eyes raising as he snatched his hand back apologies ready to fall off of his tongue in a jumbled rush. Only for the sight that met his eyes to have him falling back a step, body relaxing, mouth slightly agape as he took in the ghoul in front of him that was still glaring at him furiously. "I am very apologies." He began, his voice turning soft with an almost dreamlike quality to it. "You have most beautiful curves. They feel quite nice beneath han--" He started to say, but was cut off short when a slap took him sharply across the face, hard enough to spin his head to the side before the ghoul stormed away with her friend. He turned and stared after her, taking a couple of steps forward as though to follow, and then stopping and shaking his head. What was he thinking?? He needed to get control of himself before... Another ghoul crossed his line of sight, entering the cafeteria just as the other had left. Mathias let out a sigh, body wilting again, as he began slowly trudging towards that one.
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Posted: Wed Nov 27, 2013 6:36 pm
The second spookie proved to be as good as the first, but it wasn't until he had made his way through the third that he saw someone familiar enter the cafeteria. Mathias had come for lunch?
Jove's ears perked enthusiastically, but his friend seemed to enter not with the same delight the pup had felt earlier. In fact, it seemed almost like he was trudging to his doom. Then something unusual happened. Jove simply could not understand it at all, and even though his sensitive ears pointed directly at his friend he couldn't make out what the dreamy-looking wolpertinger was saying. And it was a good thing too. If Jove had heard his friend speaking to a ghoul about those in such a manner, he would have been aghast at such ungentlemanly behavior.
The slap was even more of a shock, and that was when Jove decided to intervene, and rescue his small friend from what was clearly an overreaction on the ghoul's part. 'Horrormoans', he had once heard another boil call it.
The pup jumped to his feet, and grabbed Mathias by the elbow just as the monster was turning towards the next ghoul with that same confusing expression on his face. That expression like he had just been handed the biggest plate of spookies ever. Except without the plate of spookies. The tugging continued until they had returned to his little table.
Jove nudged Mathias to the seat opposite himself. All the while giving him a long look. An explanation would be really good right about now, but the silent ghost was not the sort to raise questions.
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Posted: Wed Nov 27, 2013 8:37 pm
Mathias was fully half way towards his destination when something locked around his elbow and tugged him back. He tried to stop it, tried to refuse, murmuring over and over again. "Nein nein nein nein nein..." As he pulled against what seemed to be an unstoppable force, his second year strength not mighty enough to break himself free of that iron grip. All the while his gaze stayed locked on the ghoul, head turning as she continued on towards the lineup, where many other ghouls stood chatting and waiting to dish up on food. So many ghouls. So much breathtaking beauty. There wasn't any that he could properly single out in that crowd, to lock onto, his eyes skating over them all, his brain a jumble of confusion as it had never quite experienced a situation just like this before. Who was he supposed to choooooose??? And then the pulling came to a stop, followed by a nudge that finally had his head turning, his gaze tearing away from all of those wonderfully curvy creatures, a look of confusion alighting his eyes when he saw who it was, a sense of recognition sweeping through him, cutting through the dazzling fog that was the effect all ghouls had on him. "J-Jove?" He squeaked out, keeping his eyes on the boil, fighting the urge to look back towards the line up of ghouls hard. The other boil indicated he should sit, and he did, almost mechanically so. "Hilf mir." He pleaded, body trembling with the effort it took not to look back up. "Bitte. Please."
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Posted: Wed Nov 27, 2013 8:56 pm
It became very clear at that moment that his friend was in a great deal of distress. Even while speaking in strange, unfamiliar words, Jove could clearly understand it as a plea for help. And the look in his friend's eyes was something the pup had seen before. Although usually in more desperate situations than merely entering the cafeteria. Perhaps getting slapped had been too much for his friend to take? But that couldn't be it, they had beat each other up before and it hadn't phased Mathias in the slightest...
Jove made a little murmuring sound in his throat and pushed the plate of spookies across the table. His own appetite was forgotten and the concerns of his friend became his first priority, but he still had no idea what was going on, and no idea what exactly it was he had to defend Mathias against in order to correct this poor state. He leaned in a bit closer and tilted his head ever so slightly, trying to silently coerce some more information out of the wolpertinger.
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Posted: Sun Dec 01, 2013 11:00 am
Fingers were dug tightly into the table top, black claws scraping against it's surface. The wolpertinger was shaking with the effort it was taking to keep his eyes focused on Jove. If he could just do it long enough, if he could just keep his gaze averted, eventually he'd be able to break free of the desire. This was happening all too often, lately, and at some point he really needed to do something about it, something to curb this horrible reaction he had to ghouls, or it was going to get completely out of hand and get him into more trouble then he'd already experienced. Why couldn't he have just stayed at the all boils school? Oh right....too much fighting with everyone. If Jove was trying to say something, Mathias didn't hear it. The way he was looking at him had him thinking he needed to explain further, but with his concentration going towards just not looking, it was hard for him to speak, or to make sense to one that didn't know his native language. "Meine Augen." He tried, the words he needed to actually say slipping out of his head, temporarily forgotten. He tried again, "Cover. Hide. Shield me from seeing."
He hoped that made enough sense because it was the best Jove was going to get.
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Posted: Sun Dec 01, 2013 11:41 am
The wolpertinger didn't even glance at the spookies, which clearly meant the situation was dire. Jove felt that familiar helpless feeling bubbling up inside his chest, pulling another little sound from his throat, a half growl, half whine. He had seen that sort of desperation in the eyes of his friends before. It reminded him too much of his brother's nightmares, when Ren couldn't sleep with all his tortured thoughts. What sort of internal force could be dragging Mathias to show such a suffering look?
Ears perked abruptly when he finally spoke, and although they made no sense at first, Jove was able to piece together the broken english. And then he was suddenly a flurry of activity.
The pup stood up fast enough to send his chair clattering into the one at the table behind him, and whipped off his fancy jacket. Then he threw it over his friend's head, covering Mathias in the dark fabric, as well as half the table and the plate of spookies. Then he leapt across the table himself and wrapped his arms around the now-blinded wolpertinger just to make sure he was suitably "shielded from seeing". It was an awkward pose, and even with his heels his feet were no longer on the ground, but when it came to the safety and well-being of a friend, you had to do what you had to do. Even if it resulted in awkward staring from many of the other cafeteria occupants.
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Posted: Sun Dec 01, 2013 11:53 am
Spookies? What spookies? There were ghouls. Beautiful ghouls of all shapes and sizes, though it was the more..ahem..curvy ones that he struggled the most with. It was too much. The temptation was far too strong and he needed to look again, to find his one true magnificent queen and master. To follow them to the ends of the earth, to protect them from harm, to wait on them hand and foot and claw and maybe even tentacle and.... His eyes had just began to flick towards the line up when darkness enveloped him, a weight settling over his head, though slightly tented by his now pronged antlers. He let out a sharp gasp, and was already reaching up to tug what blanketed him off, to be able to see what he wished, what he so desired to see... And suddenly something clamped around him, keeping the covering in place. He struggled a bit at first, to pull his arms out from that grip. To anybody looking on at what was happening, it might have looked very awkward and odd indeed, as the wolpertinger had his chair rocking ever so slightly from side to side. Regardless, the arms held firm, and he was no longer able to struggle, and after a time...he no longer wished to. His movements came to a halt, his body relaxed, and his face flushed red at the implications of what had just happened. Jove had just seen him at his worst. "It is being okay now." His muffled voice came from behind the fabric, a chagrined note in his tone. "I vill be fine if you uncover me."
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Posted: Sun Dec 01, 2013 12:41 pm
Jove was hard-pressed to keep a tight hold on his friend. Clearly he was out of his senses! Either that or afraid of the dark. But no, the pup was going to save his friend from this distress, no matter how hard he struggled! And for a time it was quite the struggle. Jove was tugged farther across the table, and set up a loud clatter as he accidentally kicked his chair over while he fought to keep Mathias from freeing himself from the sight-shielding.
The little ghost was just starting to reach out with his ghostly tendrils to further secure the jacket when the other boil began to relax under him. And then came a small, muffled voice. Jove was relieved, his friend sounded upset, yes, but not distressed. Not like he was.
Jove didn't remove the coat though, instead he wiggled half under it himself. And like that lying across the table with the plate of squished spookies in front of him, he was able to look at Mathias' face, lit by the soft glow of his eyes. His own expression was one of relief, but also lingering concern. Was the wolpertinger really okay now?
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Posted: Wed Dec 04, 2013 1:12 pm
The wolpertinger really had no reason to be afraid of the dark, considering that he could actually see it in quite clearly, being the more nocturnal sort of creature back home. Jove wouldn't have known that, however, and so the fact that he'd had the thought and still held on firm only proved what a good friend he was. Yes that made absolute sense in Mathias's mind. Once freed of the spell that coming into eye contact with multiple ghouls had on him, he felt Jove's hold on him relax. He was about to carefully lift the veil between himself and the wide and horrible world that was the cafeteria with eyes lowered when instead, he felt the jacket move and within moments... There was a Jove. Literally right in his face. He could feel his cheeks flushing further red in embarrassment and chagrin. "I am sorry." He said, words harder to pronounce now that his fangs had grown over his bottom lip. The other boils eyes managed to light the area that they now shared with a soft, glowing light. It might have actually been romantic if Mathias had any clue at all what romance actually was. He saw that concerned expression in his friends eyes, however, and he reached out to place one clawed hand on top of one of Jove's. "I am being okay now. Truely. Difficulty has passed."
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Posted: Wed Dec 04, 2013 4:14 pm
Jove stared at his friend quite thoroughly, as if searching for any trace of a lie in his words. The pup's own body language was very honest, whether he wanted it that way or not, and it had taken him time to learn that words only made it easier to be untruthful. It didn't mean that those lies were inherently bad, but his concern left little room for polite nonsense. After a couple seconds Jove's expression relaxed, and the soft glow seemed a little brighter. He didn't seem to notice the awkwardness of his position, and was not bothered by the way the heavy jacket flattened his hair and ears, or how close he actually was to Mathias at that moment. Surely the sudden tail wagging outside their impromptu hideout was already stirring up rumours. The little ghost could see only embarrassment remained, and slid the plate of cookies forward ever so slightly as though trying to distract the wolpertinger from his worries. Glowing blue eyes flicked downward, and then back to Mathias as though saying "Go ahead, they are good." He knew firsthand what it was like to have a secret like that, a behaviour that was inexplicable and too strong to resist. Once he had been set into a panic every time he felt like someone was chasing him. A friendly game of tag had the potential to send him fleeing as though his life depended on it. And he had even growled at Ren once. That shame and embarrassment was hard to forget, but it was easier to bear when you had a friend nearby.
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Posted: Thu Dec 05, 2013 6:46 pm
Their little impromptu hideout became brighter, as Jove's eyes appeared to glow more. Mathias tilted his head to the side slightly, curiously staring at the other boil, and wondering for what reason that soft glow became more prominent, lightening up their space. He even began to lean forward a little bit, his ears flattened back as well, but his antlers holding the jacket up in a tent-like shape. His cheeks were still painted pink with embarrassment, but despite that, his curiosity was getting the best of him when... A plate scraped against the table top, causing Mathias to look down, and to take his hand away from Jove's. It was...spookies? That was the word, right? It was not something the wolpertinger had ever tried before, and he settled back in his seat, leaning back as he inspected what was stacked up on the plate, one clawed finger tapping against the one that was on top, before plucking it up, and lifting it up to his nose, which flared as he took in a deep sniff. To be quite honest, it didn't really smell very much like food, though there was something still enticing about it's scent. He took an experimental nibble, and his ears would have perked up at the taste, if not for the jacket that kept them down. "Thank you." He smiled, fangs flashing in that dim glow, before it faded away, his expression becoming more serious. It had taken a few moments of thought before he said anything, a pause that was punctuated by a whole spooky shoved into his mouth and chewed on, a thoughtful expression in his eyes. He swallowed to spookie before speaking. "Jove, you are good friend. Very good. I am keeping a secret that I vish to share. Vould you...vould you please not be telling anybody if I tell you?"
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Posted: Thu Dec 05, 2013 7:13 pm
Jove was now too intent on the spookies to notice his friend's curious looks. They were still warm, and to his sensitive nose, the little space under his jacket had begun to smell quite strongly of fresh baked goods. And once Mathias had selected one from the plate, the pup took that as his cue to resume his meal. Picking up a delightful treat, he nibbled on it quite contentedly as he watched his friend's reaction. He was unsmiling as always, but there was that happy look in his eyes as Mathias smiled, and his tail wagged once again. Now that the wolpertinger was in better spirits, Jove felt like there was something different about his friend. But he couldn't quite pinpoint the reason... His head tilted ever so slightly as he watched and nibbled, but it wasn't long before the happy moment faded into pensiveness. Jove kept watching, and nibbling, anyway. When Mathias finally spoke again, Jove's ears tried their best to perk up at the compliment. Even if it was serious, he couldn't help it. That's just what canines did when they were praised. Jove shifted his weight, and rather than picking up another spookie, he held up one finger in front of his lips in a shush gesture. It was a physical expression that had stuck with the pup, ever since the first time Ren asked him to keep something a secret. And he had not told anyone that secret since.
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Posted: Fri Dec 06, 2013 2:25 pm
Mathias gave a small nod in understanding, the gesture Jove gave at least universal enough for him to interpret. Keep it quiet. Do not tell anyone. Still, he hesitated, because this wasn't just his own secret that he would be sharing, but one that affected many of the wolpertingers that he knew, if not all of them. "It is most difficult to be telling." He started, trying to think of the right words to use to describe what he needed to describe. "Nein, not easy." He sighed, staring down at the plate of spookies, his hands on the table top, index claws tapping. "Volpertingers sometimes....most often of times, ve have trouble vith ghouls. Ve see them and vish to be vith them. Only if seeing them, though. It is like...trance, a...a spell? Ve forget everything else. Just ghoul is important. Must follow, must do everything for." He hoped that sort of explained it, and he kept his gaze lowered, ashamed of what he had been keeping to himself for so long. "Some ghouls use to advantage vonce known. Very not good. Use for trapping." He looked up, his his hands lifting and coming together to form a what might have appeared to be a cage. "Hoped vould get better, but is not."
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Posted: Fri Dec 06, 2013 4:44 pm
Jove could see the indecision written all over his friend's face, whether talking about this was truly the best course of action, but he remained patient and silent. Mathias would share in his own time, and even if he backed out now the little ghost wouldn't have taken offence. Keeping any secret took practice and watchfulness, it was hard to break free from that habit. Ears turned forward to whatever extent they could when Mathias finally started to explain, and had the wolpertinger looked up he would have seen Jove just watching him. Thinking. Once he was done, Jove tilted his head slightly and their jacket canopy shifted. So it was like a spell? With looking at ghouls? That certainly explained a lot, the staring and the conflicted behaviour... His head tilted the other way as he regarded his friend with curiosity. Was it all ghouls, always? Was it something specific about the ghoul that triggered the reaction? Seeing his friend's dejected expression, Jove leaned forward a little further and bumped his forehead against Mathias' in a reassuring gesture. He would find a way to help, there were lots of books in the library, and he had a lot of friends who knew a lot of things! And since he so rarely spoke even a single word, the wolpertinger's secret would be safe.
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