After wishing Lock a happy new year and tacking on another quick apology for the . . . antics that had happened, Piper slipped out of the party--you know, just in case something worse happened. Or something more boring. Like staring. Not that she had been staring at the group, no sir, she wouldn't be so obvious. Just, you know, a glance here or two. Probably should have started the new year by introducing herself, especially since most of them were reapers . . . Seriously, what would-be star woudl be afraid to socialize?
Aghhhh, her chest had all sorts of weird lumps bumping around and it was starting to annoy her. She just needed a nice long walk around, that's all. Clear her head with some cold, fresh air.
Piper struck out onto the grounds, flinching as she was met with a breeze. There was still snow around, which she tried to avoid as best she could, but maybe wearing heels hadn't been the best idea . . . Her toes were starting to grow numb. With a snap a tongue of flame appeared in her hands, growing into the shape of a burrowing owl she could hug to her chest. It hooted quizzically, wide yellow eyes flickering with an inner light.
"I'm fine," she replied, pouting her lips. "Just doing walkies."
It hooted again, blinking.
"Yes, walkies without the minipets. You can do that, you know."
The owl looked astounded and amazed at this revelation. Or maybe it was just doing its funny staring again, Piper couldn't quite tell. This particular familiar was . . . just a little odd, but it had a tendency to make her laugh, which sounded like something she needed at the moment.
Smerdle
idk titles or intro posts but here you go /o/
Posted: Sun Jan 05, 2014 9:37 am
Had Brenley known that Piper was close, he likely would have chosen a different path. It had only been a short while after midnight when he had bid Serafina and the reapers farewell, wanting nothing more than to go back to his room and be alone... well, after he had combed the confetti out of his hair, at least. Being around so many people tired him out, and the uncharacteristic discomfort that had resulted from certain other facets of the evening only served to further exhaust him. He quickened his pace, estimating he'd reach the reaper dorms in a matter of minutes. That was before he noticed the fire.
The bright flare caught his eye easily, carrying a certain familiarity with it that had him turning to look before he could come to the conclusion that he might be better off ignoring it. What he saw when his eyes adjusted to the night made him slow down again, letting out the breath he was holding in a sigh as he recognized who else was out here wandering alone. He couldn't run away now, could he? The absence of Lock was hardly a factor in his decision to approach at all. Hardly. At least that's what Bren told himself as he did so.
"Piper?" he said, warning her of his presence, even though it was hard not to hear him coming a mile away. He might have first made sure she was all right, walking around in the middle of the night clutching an owl like she was, but instead he asked, "What are you doing out here?" as if she had done something wrong. The night was chilly, she looked chilly, but he didn't have much in the way of extra clothing he could offer her himself, nor did he immediately think of doing so. "I didn't know you had gone or I would have said good night."
Ol-j-man
both are excellent wat u say
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Posted: Sun Jan 05, 2014 12:35 pm
The owl shifted in her arms and cocked its head a second before she heard the crunch of snow. Then it turned its head to give her a look that said frand? It was immensely hard to give surreptitious looks when her hair was everywhere, and she grumbled inwardly in preparation for the fact that she'd probably never be sneaky. But then the figured piped up which made things both easier and harder.
Slow down or speed up? He was probably just heading back to the dorms, so all she had to do was deviate from the path and he wouldn't have to follow. She could totally ignore him, that was an option--no, no it wasn't, because she remembered that Brenley had at least tried to peek in on her, and she just couldn't be that kind of vindictive. Wait...Wait, what the hell? Why would she run away? She was Piper, damn it! The Afroqueen! She didn't run except to charge at her problems and make them submit to her!
So she took a deep breath, straightened up, and stopped. "Felt like taking a walk," she replied with a shrug, half turning towards him. "Kinda decompressing and stuff after the party." Her owl wiggled until it could poke its head around too, wide eyed and staring curiously.
Frand??
Brenley's last statement was met with hesitation. "Uh...Well, I mean, you, um...You looked real busy with your friends, so I didn't wanna bug you." Wow, that sounded even lamer out loud than it did in her head. The Afroqueen found herself walking again, cursing inwardly.
Smerdle
cuz I'm rusty but yay o7o and yay dumb Piper behavior
Posted: Mon Jan 06, 2014 11:39 am
Ah. Okay. He could understand the need for a solitary walk better than most. Of course, he usually took his during the day and couldn't recall ever having done so in the snow, though that was probably only because there wasn't much of it back home. It seemed like a valid enough explanation... for him, not Piper. He knew he wasn't privy to the ghoul's innermost thoughts or anything, but he liked to think those letters she'd sent before they'd ended up meeting face-to-face at school had given him a little insight, at the very least.
"Hm. The party," Bren echoed at a near whisper. He supposed he'd had as much fun counting down to the start of the new year as could be expected, but he couldn't help feeling the evening had lacked something too. Trying and failing to have anything more to say on the subject, at least at the moment, he instead snuck a glance at Piper's profile then looked curiously at the owl, returning its stare until he was forced to blink.
When she spoke again, Brenley quickly found himself drowning in potential replies, though he couldn't bring himself to voice any of them.
We were just looking at a tree...
You were more than welcome to join us...
I'd only just met two of them...
No busier than you...
He remained standing where he'd stopped, attempting to piece together a response, until he realized she was on the move and rushed to catch up with a merry jingle.
"You wouldn't have. Bugged me, I mean." He swallowed and slowed to a walk, looking straight ahead instead of at her. "I meant to come over again like I said I would, but you and Lock... I didn't want to bug you either."
Ol-j-man
o piper
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Posted: Mon Jan 06, 2014 12:44 pm
She half expected him to leave her be. Brenley liked his own personal space after a while, so it wasn't a stretch he'd offer her the same. But Piper didn't like being alone for very long: that was the reason she had a tendency to surround herself, whether with people or with pets, and that was why her particular spells were usually centered around conjuring familiars.
So she was relieved to hear him catch up, though at the same time it also made that knot return in her chest. The one she had been keenly familiar with at her old school.
"Oh. Well, uh. Next time I'll definitely pester you to make up for it," Piper tried to joke, perfectly happy with looking ahead as well. Her owl was more than willing to do all the staring for her anyway, its beak parted in what could have been considered a smile.
Frand stared back!
When he mentioned Lock, she couldn't help but scoff a little. "I think he would've liked a friendly face around; I know I would've. You should've seen him when my cousin came around, he was, like, totally ready to melt into the shadows...Actually, his feet sort of did...Some date." But she felt guilty immediately after saying so, and she fingered the bracelet he'd given her while making a face. "Lock's a nice guy, but he's...got problems standing up for himself, I guess. I feel bad for him."
Piper glanced at him. "Didja hear me and Ket fighting?"
Smerdle
Posted: Fri Jan 17, 2014 1:58 pm
"Yes. You should." A short, amused huff escaped him as he recalled Piper's brand of pestering. In hindsight, if what had happened at prom was what he could expect in the future, he didn't think he'd mind more of it. Bren glanced at the owl again, pressing his lips together in a stern line. Now the creature was just getting creepy.
Frand denied.woh woh wohhh
As Bren turned away, he found himself shaking his head at the very idea of Lock welcoming his presence, but, thankfully, he only did so for a moment. He doubted the other boil would have wanted him to interrupt at all, but he certainly wasn't going to say as much, now or ever. Feeling a certain measure of satisfaction as Piper criticized the reaper's lack of bravery, Brenley tried to suppress it, though he couldn't do so completely. He'd had plenty of experience standing up for himself, or at least some fragmented part of him had, but he hadn't exactly jumped to take her side at the party either. This... Ket... had been rather loud and intimidating, and wait...
The one who had been yelling at her was her cousin? Bren had met him once or twice in that other world too, but he hadn't put two and two together until now. Well, this was awkward.
"I... Yes, I did hear you. And, to be fair, I didn't do much of anything to help you either." There. He felt better somehow, now that he'd offered Lock that bit of sympathy. He didn't have anything against the boil. Really! It wasn't Lock's fault that, given a choice between them, Piper had chosen Lock over himself.
Or had she? Who was she standing out here with now, huh? Not. Lock. Brenley squared his shoulders and felt a smirk lift his lips, but no more than a handful of seconds had passed before he was slowly sliding back into a hunch. He was beginning to understand just exactly what the feeling was he'd been unable to shake all night, and he disliked it even more, if that was possible.
Ol-j-man
ALL THE APOLOGIES <3 i went to dinnyworld expecting to tag all night long in the hotel and then i caught the plague and rode rides all day in a daze and collapsed into bed at night and i still can't smell anything anti-yay ;;
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Posted: Sat Jan 18, 2014 12:00 am
Frand FRAND frand wait no whywhy you make the facefrand pls
The burrowing owl became so distraught that it hooted to try and get Brenley's attention. Piper stroked its head absentmindedly, ashes dusting her fingers. It felt good to hear him admit it, but it also didn't feel like it was enough at the same time. Maybe it was awful of her to be this vindictive over a stupid party, but at the moment all her hormones were doing was bouncing and igniting around into paradoxical wants.
Not to mention she just couldn't get that other ghoul out of her head. All those lean ins and smiles and oh let's hang by the buffet and not help Piper, let's go to the tree so we can run from her and stuff, let's go find this other cooler group of reapers to talk to! Hmph. And Brenley just went with it. Sure, he'd popped by that one time, but Piper didn't count it because it was just to hand off stuff to her and Lock. Not anything special.
"No, you didn't," she agreed with a scowl, turning her eyes forward again. Ah, it was simpler to be angry than . . . whatever was going on before. Irrational, but at least easier to understand. The owl seemed to brighten for a moment in her hands in sympathy with the emotion. "But it's whatever. Family stuff. He'll get over it after I apologize."
Or Kettil would shun her or something. Go be the cherry on top of her crap sundae.
"Weren't you with a ghoul earlier?" Piper asked with more than a little petulance. "I bet she's wondering where you are."
Smerdle
this is the sound of my jealousy: dlfkjgdlkfjgflsjkgjasdlfka;lsfk DIDNEY WORL oh gosh though I hope you feel better soon! ;;////
Posted: Tue Jan 21, 2014 9:15 am
Distracted by his own rising frustration, Brenley completely failed to register the owl's cry as anything other than some restless noise it was making. He might have at least offered the creature some sort of conciliatory expression had he truly been paying attention to its distress, but at some point the boil had turned slightly away from the bird and the mage who had summoned him instead, hands fisted and arms crossed over his chest. Bren stared out into the dark, irritation at his own stupidity simmering over a low heat.
He was jealous.
Ever since he had arrived at the party, hell, even back when they'd all gone off on that weird camping trip, Bren had felt a sinking, shriveled feeling in his gut every time he'd laid eyes on Lock and Piper together, like he was losing a friend even though she was standing right in front of him. He knew it was stupid, unreasonable, irresponsible, he knew that they had been friends before and was sure that if he just took some time to give Piper a little attention now and then, that they'd remain so. The fact that none of this carefully considered logic made the feeling go away only annoyed him further, and her accusatory response certainly wasn't helping matters.
"Serafina is just a friend. We said our goodbyes and went our separate ways once things started to die down." As the words escaped him in a clipped rush, the rational part of Brenley's mind wondered if he should assess them on the way out, but in the end, he just let them come, lowering his arms to his sides. "We met up at the party after not seeing each other for some time. We didn't plan to meet, and I'm sure she's not wondering about me now. I merely thought it might be fun to catch up while you were... busy. I didn't bring her any presents, and I certainly didn't kiss her."
All right, maybe the whole "speaking without thinking" thing had been a mistake after all. Brenley inhaled a low, sharp breath, as if he had just gotten a paper cut.
"I... I'm, um... That... Not that there's anything wrong with that."
Ol-j-man
o nooo here is a taste of floridaaaa ;; *sprinkles with mickeys and judi denches*
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Posted: Tue Jan 21, 2014 7:30 pm
She might have believed him. She was going to, actually, even if it was a little counter intuitive to her need-to-rage impulse, if only because the ghost hadn't been given a present. But Brenley had to mention kissing. And Serafina. And not being wrong. And for some reason the words just sort of clicked in the wrong order in her head and ignited, because Piper's temper came back with a vengeance.
"So, what, you wanted to?" she snapped. "Why're you telling me? It's not like I can help ya there." No sir, not even if he begged. Her eyes narrowed into an accusatory glare. "I bet it was real nice to meet her again, real fun, yeah. If you took one second to really look, Brenley, I wasn't busy at all. Lock was the most boring damn date ever; we didn't even get to dance. I'm starting to think his damn cat typed the message asking me to the dance in the first place," Piper added with a bitter grumble. And she no longer had any guilt about airing her opinion.
But it stung nevertheless to believe it was possible. Then again, Lock had said himself he couldn't control his familiar, and it definitely sounded like an area of frustration for him. It shouldn't have surprised her at this point if so, with how awful the night ended up being.
The burrowing owl hooted as if to say you don't really think that or that's just the anger talking, which was about the point that she didn't much care for holding onto it anymore. With an abrupt motion, she slapped her hands together and the creature disappeared with a soft hiss, ash falling onto the snow. "But I get it. Who cares about penpals when you've got to catch up with old ones? 'Specially penpals who steal from family." For a brief moment her lip quivered, and then Piper's expression became a solid scowl. Shoulders hunched, she rubbed what remaining heat she could into her arms and sped up her pace to a brisk walk.
Smerdle
this pleases me yes good (also many apologies for piper being awful)
Posted: Wed Jan 22, 2014 2:28 pm
Every scathing word Piper aimed his way seemed to yank the ground out from under him an inch or two at a time. It was happening, just as he'd feared. He was losing a friend, the only one he'd ever really had before he'd gotten here that wasn't related to him. She had hundreds more to choose from, thousands probably, but he could count his acquaintances on one hand, and none of them were quite like her.
Brenley's fists remained clenched at his sides, and even though the unfiltered stream of words he had leveled at her a moment ago had served to cool his burgeoning anger into something more approaching desperation or fear, his expression remained curiously blank, his faintly furrowed brow and slightly parted lips not at all indicative of his mood. This was why it never paid to give in to irritation. You ended up covered in bits of broken holiday decorations or standing, speechless and alone, in the snow.
He came back to himself with a faint shiver as Piper dismissed her owl and stormed off. He hadn't the slightest idea what to do to make her see her accusations were bunk, but his love of challenges and worry over losing her friendship sent him jogging after her immediately. Things couldn't be that bad, right? She hadn't even hit him or anything.
"Piper, wait. I've never wanted to kiss Serafina. I swear." No, right now the only thing Brenley could think to want was a deviant familiar who knew how to send texts. "And unless you were choking or... um... bleeding profusely, I don't think I could have ever really interrupted a date." He quickened his jog, coming up beside her as he continued. "I'm sorry, okay?" He was pretty sure sorry was a good thing to say in this situation, though he doubted the things he was sorry for were the same ones she might think he should be. "And I..."
Bren paused for a second when he registered what she had said. "What?" he breathed. Oh. Suddenly at least an additional sixty percent of the evening made sense. He slowly spread his bloodless fingers and reached for her shoulder, lowering his hand again before he actually touched her. "I'm sure you... had your reasons?"
Ol-j-man
he is using his peacemaking set of conversational mad libs and therefore doing it wrong
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Posted: Wed Jan 22, 2014 10:04 pm
She didn't want to admit how nice it felt to hear those words (especially the "never" bit), or at the fact that Brenley was keeping up. No, she was supposed to be angry, not easily placated. She was supposed to be chased, not be grateful he decided to do so. Jaaaaaaack, her head and heart were in a small feud and it was like rubbing two matches together, getting closer and closer to igniting.
"Yeah. I bought two ghouls their first cellphones hopin' that'd make us friends," Piper explained wryly, unable to see Brenley had almost reached for her past her hair. "You know what that got me? Two ghouls I don't see or hear anything from since, one mad cousin, and one debt. I gave two bitches free swag, Bren. Who does that? I'll tell ya who." Her hands clutched her arms tighter. "People like me. It's so stupid in hindsight. You can't just, like, buy friendship . . ."
Although look at her: badmouthing Lock, sassing Brenley, stealing from Kettil, ignoring his fiancee, and then trying to buy people's affection? Who'd want to be her friend? The zombies had probably hightailed it after their meeting while they still could.
Wait, wait, she was supposed to be angry, not sad--but she was angry. It just wasn't directed at Brenley anymore: just herself. "Stupid," she repeated again, this time more bitterly.
When the matches finally sparked to life, it was less an all-consuming ragesplosion than it was just a quiet inferno inside of herself. Piper pressed her lips together since the quivering was coming back, and without warning broke into a run--or at least, as fast as one could go in heels. She'd had too much practice with these suckers to fall, but it wasn't the most graceful breakaway from the path either. The snow was a little more stabilizing, even though her feet protested being dunked.
She didn't want to go to her room anymore. She needed the nearest copse of trees to hide in.
Smerdle
#brenley pls
Posted: Fri Jan 24, 2014 10:50 pm
It should have been easier to appear comfortable and nonchalant now that his hands and arms were no longer clasped in front of him in an unintentional shield, but instead Brenley found he had no idea what to do with them at all anymore. It was bad enough that one of them had tried to touch her, and he had never been more grateful for the giant hair that had kept her from noticing the gesture.
He listened to her confession, this time with an appropriately curious expression, even though it was still quite subdued. It helped that he was legitimately curious, not just about what she had done, but why. He hadn't thought he'd been exaggerating when he'd estimated her friends to number in the thousands, but what she had just said seemed to counter that entirely. Maybe he was wrong. Or maybe she didn't know just how... worthy of friendship she was. He sighed faintly, a flash of mild irritation returning at the unbidden thought. Feelings were really stupid.
Bren looked up suddenly when she echoed his sentiment. He thought she might have read his mind for a second, until he realized she was talking about someone else. Herself.
"I'm not sure—"
Near silence settled over the area as the sound of her footfalls faded into the trees, leaving him alone again. This time he briefly debated letting her be, but something pulled him to follow once more. Surely someone so determined to make friends that she would steal from her kin didn't actually want to be by herself.
Normally, the boil was quite happy being a sorcerer, but as he followed her further into the darkness, he wished for a moment that he was a mage as well, or even some other race entirely, one that could see clearly in low light. Bren stopped to catch his breath near a shape that could have easily been Piper or a short, leafy tree. He couldn't tell.
"I'm not sure stupid is the right word," he continued, bending over and resting his hands on his thighs. "Ambitious, maybe. Enthusiastic." While he did think what she had done was rash, he didn't like that these... bitches... had taken advantage of her either. "It's just as much their fault for accepting," he muttered. Brenley looked up again, tempted to prod at the shape he was speaking to. "Piper? I'm... um... I just wanted to say it'll be okay. I'll leave you alone."
Ol-j-man
he's probably really talking to a rock
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Posted: Fri Jan 24, 2014 11:26 pm
For a little while it was easy to follow her footprints if not Piper herself; part of the way into the chase she remembered, duh, she was a mage, and had channeled some heat into her feet that left more noticeable prints in the snow. The trail did grow harder to detect once the snow gave way to mud and grass, however. Brenley in reality was talking to shrubbery while the real deal was up in a taller tree behind him--but to be fair, Piper's poofy hair was begging to be mistaken for an untrimmed bush anyway,
She tried to keep her sniffling quiet, hating that when she got angry, really, actually angry and not just indignant or rebellious or shouty, it always led to crying. Stupid body. Stupid hormones. Stupid boils. She'd told herself she was above all this emotional crap three dates ago. Queens didn't tear up in public, and nor should the Afroqueen. So she focused on Brenley talking to plants and forced herself to slowly pull away from the moping. At least they were outside; at least she could breathe.
"You're not sure. Maybe. Those're real comforting words," she needled him as she leaned back against the trunk, finding it was better to vent than to hold it in, destructive or not. There were still leaves on the tree, so Piper almost blended in if she stayed still: just the moonlight bouncing off her eyes and parts of her dress gave her away. "How d'you know it'll be okay, Bren? Huh? Stealing from family's worse than a crime for us Blacke's. He'll probably forgive me, but it'll always be there in his head: 'my cousin stole from me'. So the next time something happens, I'll be a prime suspect. It's like that whole thing about fences and axing the s**t out of it and not being able to fix the holes or whatever."
Piper realized, belatedly, that she was throwing this at Brenley to try and make him stay without asking him to, even though the sharp tone was pretty counterintuitive to her wants.
Smerdle
close enough
Posted: Sun Jan 26, 2014 11:08 pm
"Don't—" he said, straightening quickly. Bren turned toward the sound of her voice and the faint sniffling he didn't quite register. He hadn't meant what he'd said like that at all. Furthermore, he found he really didn't like her putting words in his mouth in this situation, especially when she was so sarcastically spot on. He had been trying to be comforting. Obviously, it hadn't worked.
The boil didn't move closer this time, and he didn't notice he had recrossed his arms until she had stopped speaking and he could notice nothing else.
"You're right," he finally said, his voice low. "I suppose I have no way of knowing whether your cousin will ever trust you again." He pondered his parents and what they would do if he took something from them. Easy. They would be disappointed for a time and then they would forgive him. Out of curiosity, he followed that up with a thought as to how he would react in the opposite scenario. That one was harder. He was glad it was dark for fear that his sudden conflict was plain on his face.
"I maintain that in time he will forgive you completely, even if things are difficult in the short term. Forgive me for trying to make you feel better."
He said the last with a cloying drawl, wishing he could take back the words as soon as they were free. Whatever expression had been on his face before was replaced by frozen shock. When he realized his mouth was hanging open, he closed it with a faint pop.
xOl-j-man
it's pout o'clock
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Posted: Sun Jan 26, 2014 11:55 pm
She should have snapped at the sarcasm from the last bit, but she didn't. It was a strange feeling: Piper knew she was angry, and yet suddenly her body felt very calm and loose. Almost light-headed even. Before she had been confused but at least aware of what emotions were stirring inside: now she was just lost.
Brenley was not a go-to for emotional support, which was what made this all so frustrating. Well, that and she didn't know what she wanted out of this conversation anymore. She wanted to hit him. She wanted to hug him. She wanted him to get the hell away if he was just going to sass her back. She wanted him to be stubborn and stay and take her stupid drama.
"You know what, Brenley? I didn't ask you to." Piper regretted what kept leaving her mouth, like a waterfall of awful word vomit she just couldn't stop. "I didn't ask you to walk me back or stick around or talk or anything. You decided to. So it's your fault for pissing me off like this. And now?" She raised her arms like she was talking to an audience, another side effect of her theatrics. "Now you gone and make me ruin both our nights. So congrats. Happy Freaking 2014.
"Why'd you follow me anyway?" she prompted with a scowl as her arms lowered with a soft tinkle of bangles. "Huh? I've been a pretty shitty friend to you too, there's no real reason to keep being nice about it. And I know you've met a whole lot more better reapers tonight in that group--hell, I bet you've got more friends out of it." Her voice wavered towards the end and she had to stop to suppress the sniffling again.
