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 Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2015 7:26 pm
Night had finally fallen, and it was time to kick his plan in to action.
Smolder opened his bedroom window and peered out at the night sky. The stars were bright and shining. It was just like Below to be so beautiful at night.
With a quick glance around at his surroundings, checking to see if the coast is clear, Smolder pushed through the window, siting perched on its ledge. It was a bit of a drop, but nothing he couldn't handle.
Stretching his wings out wide, Smolder jumped from the ledge and glided down to the grass below. He landed rather silently, pulling his wings back in before standing upright. He had decided to go incognito, opting out for darker colours so as to blend in to the darkness around them while the two crept off campus. Now he just needed to head to the back of the building and meet up with Cassie.
So off he Smolder went, running across the yard to go and meet his new friend, keeping himself low and avoiding any of the windows still lit up, wary of potential prying eyes.
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Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2015 8:25 pm
Cassie had waited for her roommates to fall into a consistent sleep, having decided to settle into bed in her evening clothes. It was nothing fancy, a loose pink tank-top with a floral print, and a dark pair of jeans matched with her boots. She stuffed her feet into them as quietly as could, hoping Smolder wouldn't mind her dressing down. There was no way she could hide getting dolled up at in the late hours of the evening with the Academy's curfew and all.
Her window opened easy for it was usually kept wide, and she judged the distance to the ground with a squint. Cassie had always been a flyer and she decided to step out the window backwards, letting herself catch in midair. Stretching, she closed the window again from the outside before letting herself slowly descend.
Campus was quiet as she rounded the corners, keeping close to the building where the shadows dwarfed her small frame. She hoped she hadn't waited too long, anxious about one of her roommates waking. Just as she was about to doubt herself, she noticed a firey smudge in the distance. There was no way the cover of night was going to hide that. Clutching the strap of the small purse she had brought, Cassie let her wings carry her the last distance, the feathered appendages better for speed than her stumpy legs.
"You came," Cassie greeted with softly in a half-whisper. There wasn't any signs of other Nightmares out here, but she wasn't going to risk something. She folded her wings tight again, smiling softly in the dim light as she approached now on foot. "I couldn't manage to bring along a tea kettle unfortunately, so I hope you have a backup plan," she sighed, the curve still to her lips. It pleased her to see Smolder had dressed down as well.
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Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2015 9:58 pm
Smolder stood lurking in a shadow breathing in the cold night air, black hood of his sweater covering his hair as much as possible, but his fiery red hair and wings were hard to miss.
He was starting to get anxious. Whenever he'd bail and leave the grounds he'd do it immediately. He never needed to wait around and risk getting caught from standing still for so long.
Just as he was worried Cassie wouldn't come, she showed up. Smolder's face lit up, and he had to keep himself from shouting out to her, and so instead raised a hand to flag her down.
"I was going to say the same thing to you," Smolder whispered back. "C'mon. We'll walk and talk." Smolder motioned with his head to the brush he was standing in front of before turning to start to navigate it with his hands out in front of him to grab and reach for the branches so as not to scrap or cut himself more than necessary on the prickly vines. "This is gonna suck, but it's the best way to get off campus without the Adult Patrol out front noticing. Hope you didn't wear anything yer super attached to. We'll cut through here for a few minutes, and eventually we'll hit the street on the other side. And don't worry, little lady! I've always got a back up plan!"
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Posted: Tue Sep 08, 2015 8:34 am
This had been Cassie's own idea - why wouldn't she have shown? Did he really think she was that snobby to send him on a wild goose chase instead of entertaining his invitation? She nodded a little in acknowledgement, more than happy to take the boy's lead. "I can handle some bushes," she assured, but she had only pushed so far in before she was cursing ow under her breath, the thorns snagging on her bare arms and wings. Cassie pressed a little closer to Smolder's heels, his larger shape helping to make a sort-of path before her. While she wasn't fond of being called little lady, her stature was helpful sometimes.
The Fallen fell into a silence as they worked along, the little thorns keeping her more focused on the task at hand than the potential for getting caught. Suddenly though she was stumbling on curb and Cassie righted herself as they came out on the other side. She pushed her hair back out of her face, looking around as she tried to get her bearings. The Fallen did leave the campus when allowed, but this wasn't very familiar to her under the cover of night. "Where are we?" she asked Smolder with a curiosity. "Can't say I get out much," Cassie sighed. Obviously if Smolder knew an escape route, he was somewhat familiar with what was outside of the Academy.
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Posted: Tue Sep 08, 2015 12:17 pm
"Dunno." he said swiftly in a half-whisper. "I was just told by this escape route by Castus. He said once we hit the street to go left to hit town. So I suppose we're going left ... or was it right? Must be left. That's right." Smolder nodded his head, re-assured of himself.
Smolder was riddled in tiny little cuts. It may have been better to fly over to brush like Castus had suggested, but Smolder had been too paranoid about being seen with his bright colouring to risk flying over it. Now if a teacher asked why he was covered in bruises and cuts in class tomorrow, he'd need to come up with a reason why.
The Fallen started walking down the street, hands in his pouch pocket, and his messenger bag bumping against his knee with a small ting each time it made contact, the sound of something metallic hitting something else inside it. "He said there's one cafe that stays open for another hour or two, so we should have plenty of time to make it. If not, he gave me direction to an excellent sky-viewing spot, and I've got alternative drinks in my bag ... unless you'd much rather go with Plan B as our Plan A?"
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Posted: Tue Sep 08, 2015 6:01 pm
Well that was sort of cute, Smolder asked around so they could do their sneaky date. She glanced from side to side, just as unsure, but Cassie trusted him. He seemed like an adventurer. She gripped the strap of her purse, taking long strides to catch up with the fire-haired Fallen. She considered his suggestion, flipping her bangs with the back of her hand.
"I don't make much tutoring, if any at all," the pink-haired girl admitted, chewing her lower lip for a moment. "So while exciting, the cheaper option would be nice." Cassie smiled a little. While he was a head taller, Smolder was far from intimidating and while she knew little about him, she wasn't afraid to be alone with him. "Besides, who knows who at the cafe might get nosy." Cassie sighed, trying not let on she was still sort of anxious. Honestly, she had just gotten carried away being a bit playful at the library.
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Posted: Thu Oct 29, 2015 1:21 pm
Smolder paused, turning to face Cassie with a rather wide grin on his face, pulling a set of thermoses from his bags. "Well, then!" he said rather cheerfully. "We've got some boozy tea and some alphabet soup we can share! You can thank me later for coming prepared with free alternatives! I am a frugal man!" Smolder pushed both the thermoses back in to his back, cramming them deep inside his bag, trying to squeeze them around the picnic blanket inside. He was kind of thankful that Cassie preferred the sky-viewing spot. It was what he had preferred to, but he wanted it to be lady's choice.
"Once we get to the end of the street here, we'll take a right. Then we'll have to dip back in to the forest and follow the path. We'll be climbing uphill a little bit from that point!" Smolder kneeled down to make sure his boot laces were nice and tightly tied and double-knotted before heading off again.
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Posted: Fri Oct 30, 2015 5:56 pm
"Alphabet soup?" she couldn't help but chuckle, pulling down her tank top a little. Certainly frugal, yes. "Sounds amazing, good thinking." She watched him struggle, a faint curve to her lips yet. He was a very amusing boy, wasn't he?
"I'll follow your lead, adventurer," Cassie assured before doing the opposite and flying a few paces up ahead. She giggled some, tilting her head to side. "If you can keep a good pace that is," she teased, toes barely touching down before her wings were going again, the pink feathers carrying her to the end of the street as directed. Cassie turned the corner, just out of sight before stopping, grinning as she clutched the strap of her bag. Now that she knew the plan, she felt a bit of a second wind that had originally been squashed by her qualms about sneaking out.
She only waited for his bright locks to be in sight before heading further, this time on foot. Her pace was more leisured now, but she was excited. "Where in the woods exactly? My sense of... exploration is a bit rusty," Cassie asked, planting a hand loosely on her hip.
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Posted: Thu Nov 12, 2015 5:06 pm
Smolder had been about to gallantly take the lead and march the two onwards, until Cassie floated away on the gentle night breeze. Smolder licked his lips as he watched her, standing back to watch her flutter down the street. He let her fly ahead of him, admiring the pink Fallen's movements ... and while she was distracted by taking charge, Smolder flared his wings out, plucking a feather from his span and hiding it in his bag to try and present her with later, if he got up the nerve.
It was so. Traditional. And they had just met. But Smolder, despite how much he appreciate the female form from afar, felt the connection there. He was never good with women, and always tripped over his words and felt like a fool anytime he'd try and speak to one. And in the end, he always weirded them out. Or they found him endearing 'like a friend'. 'Goofy' or 'silly'. But 'goofy' and 'silly' were not 'boyfriend material', and often times he felt crushed.
But he could actually talk to Cassie. He understood her, and she seemed to be able to keep pace with his weird mind. That must ... mean this was a shot worth taking, right?
Smolder took a deep breath inward, trying to calm his suddenly racing heart and let his wings fold back against his back before running down the street once Cassie landed at the lamp post. He couldn't keep her waiting any longer.
"We follow the main path that starts in the park!" he shouted the answer to her question, then fell in at her side, only for the girl Fallen to start walking again, and he followed alongside her. "Then there's another hidden path -- much smaller and harder to notice at dark. But we take that path -- which veers to the right -- and we keep talking down there. We'll start walking uphill. It'll get much steeper before we reach our destination. But you and I can just fly up that stretch. Then we'll be there once we reach the top!"
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Posted: Thu Nov 12, 2015 5:23 pm
She hummed a little, enjoying herself enough to let Smolder ponder to himself. Cassie turned the slightest, nodding. "We're lucky it's a good night then," the pink-winged Fallen offered brightly, still comfortable in her tank top and jeans. Cassie kept up pace with Smolder, following the appropriate path with only minimal complaint as they found more of the same prickly-bushes that enclosed the campus within the woods.
As she burst out on the other side only a few paces behind the other, Cassie pressed the briefest hand to the small of Smolder's back as she passed him. "The hill?" she asked for confirmation, gesturing to the steep incline before them. Cassie only paused for a beat before starting to fly at a moderate height, feet touching down occasionally in more of a bird-hop. While the lights of the large Academy often changed the hues of the night sky at school, here the sky was relatively unobstructed.
Cassie flashed Smolder a new smile over her shoulder before properly flying to the top. She was going to wear herself out at this rate (embarrassingly, might she add), but within the tight walls of the school she never got much chance to spread her wings. She was always smacking someone on accident, or her dress would awkwardly fly up. It was always something and that was usually enough to dissuade her from endurance flying. "Oh," she breathed as she reached the top, folding her arms loosely to run her hands over her bare arms.
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Posted: Thu Nov 12, 2015 5:33 pm
Smolder had been grinning the entire time. First at Cassie's oddly adorable complaints about the prickly bushes, then at the thorns sticking to his clothes, then at Cassie's hopping along the hillside. Him and his immature boy mind loved watching her bob her way up the ever growing steeper hillside. Even if she wasn't wearing a skirt or dress now, he could just imagine what the view would have been like had she been.
Walking would have made the trek up far harder, and probably way more dangerous. As Smolder hopped along after her the hill had gone from being a hill to more of a mountain. They were easily 400 feet above ground level by the time they reached the top.
It was an old train tressel, long abandoned and forgotten about. It stretched across in to the trees, held up by steady, tall bars that supported its weight. There were a few small square boxes with that were good for sitting at to take a look at the view. And the view would be magnificent; the stars were bright and plenty, and the town below mere specks, looking as far away as the stars, little smears of yellow light coming from the Academy off in the distance. It seemed like an entirely different world up here, compared to the world below.
"Come on." he gently grabbed Cassie's hand and offered a small, encouraging smile. "We can set up the blanket and such over on the first dock there. You won't fall through the slots, but do mind your footing. If you slip your foot can get caught between the spaces, and I don't want you to hurt yourself." He squeezed her hand gently. "You'll love it. Promise." His voice was softer. Less ... Smolder-like. As if he had sobered on the flight up.
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Posted: Thu Nov 12, 2015 5:47 pm
She turned in time to catch his bright head coming over the top. Cassie didn't get to stare for long before she felt him, making a small oh sound in pleasant surprise before willingly following after. "Don't jinx it," Cassie murmured but she trusted the judgement that they would be fine. Her blue eyes were bright as she took in everything that was before them. It was quite a good viewing spot, and she was already glad they picked it over the cafe. She nodded a little, trusting his judgement. Cassie had yet to decide if she was going to admit she had enjoyed herself. Smolder... was something else, clearly.
Forgetting for a moment as she admired the structure that she had Smolder's hand, she gave it a solid sudden squeeze. "Sometimes I hate being a cache child because they could withhold sights and trips like this," Cassie sighed, pushing her hair back with her free hand. "Among other reasons, but you get my point." Cassie smiled a little, following alongside Smolder contently as she played the role of sightseer. She made good on her word to watch her feet but she let the boy dictate what they were doing since he seemed to have something particular in mind.
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Posted: Thu Nov 12, 2015 5:58 pm
Smolder balanced along the steel beams that were bolted firmly in to the wooden planks, walking slowly so as not to rush Cassie or give her cause to trip, letting her determine the speed. However, he paused briefly at her cache comment. He had never put much thought in to what it meant to be a cache child. It was just. Something he was. And until recently, it was what most of his peers had been. It hadn't seemed unusual or restrictive because it had been his and many others' norms. Yet here Cassie was, asking the real questions and wondering about important things. Smolder appreciated that. Admired it a little.
"I suppose they could have. But even if they tried to force us to look away, we've always had the choice to keep looking." he said with a small shrug. "Being a cache child has its disadvantages, I'm sure. But I believe it's just how we go about dealing with our set of circumstances that really dictates what limitations we truly have. At the end of the day, we're all responsible for our own choices and for choosing our paths."
Smolder joined her on the planks once the little dock and it's waist height cage cut him off, squeaking between Cassie and the metal railing, releasing her hand finally to set up their little camp for the evening.
He set his bag down. then pulled out the heavy, thick, but soft blanket from its confines and gave it a small flick after unfolding it, then gently laid it down, letting it fill the square shape of their unconventional picnic site, then pulled out a couple of pillows to further cushion them and set them up for them both. He gestured then to the little den he had made for them, smiling warmly at Cassie and gave a small little bow. "After you, madame~! Please. Make yourself comfortable. I'll get the drinks and food ready."
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Posted: Thu Nov 12, 2015 6:15 pm
She couldn't help but whistle a little, breaking off into a chuckle. "I like to think but not that much, Romeo," Cassie teased, slightly surprised by the words. They seemed a bit beyond him if she was being honest. Her blue eyes shifted downwards, watching her footing as she thought. Cassie still did her best despite the fact she did thought about the cache a lot. She probably blamed it for more things than she should. The Fallen followed after him, expression still slightly pensive as she got caught up in her thoughts.
Stepping back to give him some room to set up camp, she brought a hand up to her face, tracing her lower lip briefly before smiling. "Thank you," Cassie offered softly, moving to settle down on top of the blanket. How long was it between their library encounter and their night out? Smolder had fit an impressive amount of thought into this. She folded a leg under her, extending the other as she lounged the slightest. She squinted the slightest as she watched Smolder move about, still a little hung up. Cassie leaned back on a hand, tilting her head the slightest.
"It doesn't bother you at all to not have a flock?" Cassie asked. Okay, they weren't sheep, but the word felt right. It wasn't a very cutesy date topic but Smolder's words had actually left her with a hint of insecurity. She had always felt like she was missing something, and while it had taken her a long time to admit it, her hoard of fond items was sort of a telltale sign. Some of her items barely had a reason for being kept other than 'vague friend found this on the ground one time and gave it to me.' She was lonely and didn't have her place in the world sorted out and Cassie quietly hoped that maybe life outside the Academy would give her the freedom to find where she belonged.
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Posted: Thu Nov 12, 2015 7:26 pm
Smolder busied himself while Cassie settled herself in, pouring them their drinks from one thermos, and then some soup from the other; a rather odd mix of substances, let alone for a date. When Cassie finally spoke up again, he offered a smile to show he was listening before passing her a bowl and a cup. The bowls were warm in comparison to the cool air of the evening, but he hoped that it would help fend off the chill.
After he was sure Cassie held both securely, he set his own down on the blanket near his spot and grabbed the feather out of his bag discretely, holding it clutched in one hand.
"A flock?" he asked, walking over to join her, making himself comfortable. "No. Not really." Smolder said simply, offering a small shrug of one shoulder. "I had Aten. I mean. He's like a brother to me. He's the closest thing I have to a family. And now I have you." his smile came easily to him. His expression was entirely transparent. "I do admit, though ... it is nice to finally know and get along with another Fallen. My other relationships with our own kind have never really. Worked out." He gave a small laugh. "It gets lonely sometimes." He admitted after a pause. "But, it should be a lot less lonely ... now that we have found one another, right?" Smolder was trying to be encouraging, but he didn't know if it was helping at all.
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