|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2017 1:51 pm
((Set one year in the past!))
As per usual, the Hunter's Jubilee was approaching, and when it did, people started pairing. Nobody wanted to be alone this year, like any other– not during a festival specifically designated towards showing and sharing love. To the Junior, this was all simply puerile. She sighed as she packed up her books, dodging a young woman with a suspect box in her hand– if that had been designated for Astra's hands, well, she might never find out, because she found herself out of the hallway and onto a bench in record time.
This time of year sucked. Not only did she feel alone, but she felt worse at every admission of interest. Couldn't they just wait 'til after? Or better yet, have asked months ago. She sighed, rummaging through her bag for something to read– something other than the history textbook they'd been exploring in class, picking through for "relevant passages about the holiday". Ugh.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2017 7:02 am
  The two were not concerned with others- this was a fairly well known fact among their peers. They rarely spoke to anyone that wasn't each other, and when they did they were side-by-side, examining, calculating, judging. And then they likely never spoke to the person again. It was rather unsettling. The way they seemed to communicate silently did not help.
Still, their at-arms-length behavior did not stop their peers from including them in the 'who are you going to take to the festival' interrogations. All in good fun, for others, but for the two it was rather aggravating. They wanted it to stop. They had observed many of their classmates pair up - likely temporarily - over the past few weeks. All but a handful, and only one of them was up to par.
After class they approached her, hand-in-hand, as per usual. "Astra." Umbra started- or was it Cepheid? Hard to tell when they sounded the same. "Are you busy?" That was definitely Cepheid. "We have a request." Back to Umbra. It had been his idea, one that Cepheid was not keen on but it would put an end to the endless probing of their classmates... ideally.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2017 5:00 pm
Oh, look! It waasss... Umbra and Cepheid! Astra took a moment to remember– so often they were referred to by sleights and insults by their classmates, and so seldomly did they speak up, either in class or to someone other than their twin.
The hybrid stretched out, and gave them a nod. "All right, I'll bite. What's up?" she asked, scooting over so they could sit beside her, and not have to separate or stay awkwardly standing to keep holding hands. After all, they had clear preferences for how they interacted with others, when they did, and they wanted something of her.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2017 8:59 pm
The two blinked in unison- all six eyes between them at the same time, not even a slight delay between the two bodies. They didn't speak to the others, but they did observe... and they had observed that Astra was a to the point sort of person, which was something they valued. They remained standing for a moment before deciding to take the invitation to sit- each twin carefully keeping their tails out of the way while doing so.
"You are aware of the upcoming holiday-" Umbra started,
"We are sure, as everyone continues to talk about it-" seamlessly, Cepheid continued as Umbra quieted,
"In the interest of staving off further prying, we would-" and once more as Cepheid grew quiet, Umbra began speaking without missing a beat,
"Like to invite you to the Hunter's Jubilee festivities with us." Together in unison they finished the thought. This sort of thing was often what got them side glances and none-too-subtle whispers, but they didn't mind. Communicating came easy this way.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2017 9:07 pm
Astra blinked in intrigue as she straightened up, and folded her hands in front of her, instead of laying them, laced together, at the back of her neck. With these two, she could at least trust that they would be upfront with her, as they were proving, and that they wouldn't be insincere or lie to her.
That was enough for Astra to entertain the notion. "You do realize that this kind of pretense is exactly the sort of reason I dislike the Hunter's Jubilee, right? It's so... fake. Even people who started in legitimate relationships beforehand feel expected to publically perform their relationship statuses to the world," the hybrid replied. It wasn't a 'yes', not yet– but it also wasn't a 'no'.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2017 9:14 pm
Again they blinked. It was hard to tell with the glow of their eyes and near lack of visible irises, but the two exchanged a glance for a moment. Perhaps they had miscalculated Astra's reaction. Regardless, it was still salvageable, she hadn't outright turned them down. This time, Cepheid started. "That is precisely the point."
"We have no interest in the holiday-" Umbra shook his head-
"We are only interested in ceasing the annoying pestering of our classmates-" Cepheid continued,
"Surely you have also experienced it?" Together they tilted their heads to the right, issuing Astra twin inquisitive stares.
"If you aren't interested-" Cepheid started,
"We'll find someone else, we thought you'd be of similar thoughts." They shrugged in unison. Umbra had come up with the idea, reasoning that Astra was similar enough in thought processes that they wouldn't be totally bored talking to someone else during the festival.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Feb 28, 2017 9:30 pm
Astra sighed gently, putting a hand up to keep them from jumping to their own conclusions. There were two of them, however in-unison they alyways seemed to be, so they obviously careened down their own little trains of thought at a faster clip with someone else to constantly fuel them.
Idly, she wondered how often they wound up on different thought paths entirely, and how long it might potentially take them to realize that, with their unique mode of conversation.
"I didn't say I wouldn't. I'd be willing to help– you two probably get the third degree from some of them. Most of them just get upset when I shrugged them off for asking me." A pause, and a thoughtful hum.
"I think that may be because they expect I'm going already. I did go last year, with my father– but he'll be busy, and I wasn't planning on it. He'd be tickled if I picked something up for him, though. In exchange, though," she said, "I won't brook the two of you dropping me right after. We've got to do something else as well, so it doesn't look like a completely transparent attempt to get people off our backs."
Her voice softened. "That would just make things worse." Anything that someone could be perceived as a snub or as being condescending tended to result in a disproportionate reaction.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Mar 02, 2017 3:34 pm
They ceased talking, used to people raising their hands to get them to just stop for a moment. This was often why they didn't speak to others- though a larger part of it was really just a lack of interest. Despite their small differences they really were the only ones who truly seemed to understand one another. Or so they thought. They lacked the maturity or life experience to really know one way or the other.
"Your response indicated that you might not be." Umbra replied. Cepheid nodded in agreement. They listened quietly while she explained her thoughts on the manner. This time the glance between the two of them was more obvious... Doing things after wasn't part of the plan. But... she had a point. "We suppose that's true. We have a project-" Umbra started again,
"We were going to work on it after the festival." Cepheid finished.
"We suppose you can come with us." Umbra shrugged, for once without Cepheid.
"We'll be in the library so it'll be a public sighting." Cepheid added with a nod of his own.
Together they asked: "Does that sound workable for you?" They really wanted to just get this part over with. Having a third person around while they worked on homework wasn't the most ideal thing, but at least Astra was smart.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Mar 02, 2017 4:30 pm
Were they for real? "A project, meaning a school project? Homework. At the library." The hybrid stared for a moment, shaking her head in amused incredulity. "I mean, I guess it works, technically." Certainly nobody would doubt it as something the twins would actually suggest as a date of sorts. They were strange enough sorts.
"Throw in icecream or the like– I'll pay for mine– sometime before or after working on that project and I think it'll hold water." After all, libraries weren't exactly food courts, and spending several hours there would mean that they'd be bound to be hungry afterwards.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Mar 14, 2017 3:33 pm
Confusion seemed to exude from the pair at her reaction. Why was that so strange? They spared each other matching unsure glances before looking back to Astra. "We assume that's to make it more believable." Cepheid stated, not at all a question. It seemed they legitimately were only interested in doing this just to get the questions to stop- no real intention of actually hanging out at all.
"We find that agreeable. Umbra nodded,
"There is a place not too far off campus," Cepheid continued his twin's sentence,
"They serve specialty ice creams. We can go there." Umbra finished. That should hopefully be the last of it, then.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sun Apr 02, 2017 10:13 am
Well, yeah. "Of course," she said, in response to their question. "The point is to keep people from prying, questioning, and judging, right? We need people to believe it, otherwise the attempt will make things harder for all of us."
If they were going to do this, after all, Astra wanted to make sure every care was taken to keep people from figuring it out and judging her. Their classmates were like sharks– capable of sensing the smallest insecurity or vulnerability– and Astra rather liked her status as it was.
"I guess I'll see you then, then." After all, these two didn't seem to be the sorts to want to stick around– not for too long, at least.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
