un: nadiasays

[mfes]

You know what you guys are missing? A school paper.

You'd think that with how ~rich~ and ~prestigious~ this school is, there'd at least be some sort of tabloid keeping us newcomers in the know about what's happening here.

So you know what? I'm gonna start one. Name's Nadia Rizavi, and I'm a brand spankin' new Candle from Arizona. Anyone else wants in, hit me up. Now accepting applications, AKA give me an elevator pitch on something you can offer to my new pet project! If I'm impressed, you're in. If not, well, sorry, be less boring!!!

Now let's get this thing started.

Comments

un: j.griffin

[onebetter]

nadia

rizavi

really now?!?!?!?!

1/2

[mfes]

[mfes]

[ james. griffin. are you KIDDING HER RIGHT NOW, ]

we need to talk

[onebetter]

I'd say??

Where are you?

[mfes]

In my dorm.

Lumiere 101.

[onebetter]

omw

[ And that's all she gets because James is dashing over there. What the fuck. What the fuck, what the fuck, what the fuck. Lance was one thing but Nadia? He half expects her to be a fae trick, just a mirage, just... WHY is she here??

The knocking at her door happens in record speed. James may be slightly out of breath. ]

[mfes]

[ nadia opens her door immediately and...

holy shit. holy shit. it's her best friend whom she hasn't heard from in at least a month. this explains so much.

she holds out her hand in front of him, as if to silence him. ]

Wait wait wait, don't tell me -- you're a Candle, you've known about magic since you were born, and you've been lying to all your friends about where you're going for college because you're bound by the Secrecy clause.

[onebetter]

[ He opens his mouth. He closes his mouth. He stares at her, because this is entirely too much, and in a weird way it's just making him angry that the world keeps playing these kinds of tricks on him.

Maneuvering past her hand, he simply lets himself into her room. ]

Exactly that. Just like Lance Alvarez, did you know that? And like you, huh?

[mfes]

[ nailed it. ]

Wait, Lance?! Are you -- [ god. god!! james, lance, keith... ina and ryan are gonna show up, too. she's calling it right now. ] no, you're not joking. And yep, pretty much.

[ he's angry, and she knows it. nadia liked to think she knew james well; now, she's not so sure. ]

Look, I'd say sorry for not telling you sooner, but I'm not sorry at all, because you know how it goes. You get it.

[onebetter]

I get it.

[ And that's all he can say for a moment, because this is too much and he needs a seat. Thus he grabs Nadia's desk chair and takes one. Deep breathing now, Griffin, deep breathing. Nadia Rizavi. One of his closest friends since high school days. Here.

She lied to him the whole time.

And he can't be mad at her because he lied to her in the exact same fashion.

So he settles on just being mad at the world at large, gut-wreckingly mad. ]

I get it and... this whole time, we could have talked about this? I could have talked to you, to Lance, just... does everyone at our school know? I can't believe this.

[mfes]

[ she can't blame him for how he's feeling, because she's feeling a whole lotta things herself. she's mad he lied, but she lied, too. so did keith, so did lance -- it's all so much.

she groans and sits at the edge of her bed, scrubbing her face with her hands until he speaks again. ]

Beats me. God, we could have talked about this for years, and we didn't even know it?

[ this is fine. this is clearly fine. ]

Please don't tell me you're also gunning for the Garrison. Please.

[onebetter]

.......

[ No. No, no, no. That's. No. He just buries his face in his hands in response. That's all.]

[mfes]

.....

[ welp, you're getting the exact same response from nadia, james. head in hands. ]

[onebetter]

[ And for a moment.... there is silence. He feels more connected to Nadia in this silence than he has in a long time. That's nice at least.

Wow.

Just wow.]

.... my name is Griffin. It's literally Griffin. My dad is an officer in the local division. God.

Also Lance? His sister is in the Garrison. Keith? Probably set to be scouted. Just keeping you up to date.

[mfes]

I don't know anything about the local division. Parents are connected to the division in Europe.

[ this is. a lot. ]

So are Lance and Keith Candles, too?

[onebetter]

Mhm, yeah. Lance has ice powers or something, Keith has a flaming sword.

[ And hm. Here's the thing. The thing for which Nadia is the worst person ever. Let's go. He sighs.]

I can levitate. 50cm as of now, no more. Laugh and I'll end you.

[mfes]

Not laughing.

[ she's. trying not to laugh, i'm so sorry james. it's just so ironic that james griffin, superstar, has the most unremarkable power ever. ]

Iiiii mean, it's not like you had a choice? Can't you just do fancy stuff with runes, anyway?

[onebetter]

[ Nadia has regained at least three friendship points by making decent attempt to be nice about this. James smiles a little.]

Yeah. Shot the Herald in the face with my self made rune armor. It was pretty cool.

[mfes]

[ look she feels kind of bad, it's the least she can do. but james regained a ton of cool points for that. ]

Now that's the James I know.

[ she lets out a laugh before it trails off. nadia suddenly looks pensive and a little awkward, maybe. ]

So uh... Why'd you stop talking to us? I didn't hear from you for an entire month. I'm gonna be honest, I was pretty mad for...a while.

[onebetter]

[ Ah, yeah. That. James' smile vanishes again and there is silence for a moment. What's one moment added to the span of over a month after all? One little moment to compose himself here and... simply be honest. Because he can be honest with her now, for the first time in his life. ]

It was because of the Herald. I had no idea what I was supposed to tell any of you in Arizona. You were over there, living life as normal, going to local colleges and I... I was here, preparing to fight a war that might cost my life. I was here watching hordes of undead soldiers that I'd eaten my meals with a day before. I was.... I just was out of energy to make up any more lies and pretend I could relate to what was happening at home anymore.

[mfes]

[ james...sounds more honest here than he ever has. he sounds more like himself when he says this, and rizavi needs a moment to take all of this in. he's not having an easy time here, is he?

hearing that he's hurting like this, though, is something rizavi can't just ignore. she stands up and walks over to james before she pulls him into a hug. ]

...I'm sorry.

[onebetter]

[ ... oh. Talking to his friends about his problems, receiving comfort on such a simple physical level... It's been a while since he's had that. Daybreak is always full of hurt and confused students trying to tend to each other's wounds, but everyone is always hurting and it's hard to really make it less. Hard to come by a simple hug and just... compassion.

He hesitates for a moment, then wraps his arms around Nadia in turn. He'd been lonely. Way too lonely. Even now that he's made a good amount of new friends, none of them can really replace the old friends he used to have and who used to mean the world to him. Now he has one of them back, just one, and it's overwhelming. James closes his eyes and breathes out slowly, relaxing his body. ]

I missed you.

[ And that is one truth that is simple and should have been spoken much sooner instead of gotten obscured by all the complicated half-truths around it. ]

[mfes]

[ it's true. everyone's always hurting in this god forsaken school -- not that nadia knows that yet, but she can only guess that everyone else must be facing the same kind of pain james is. she can't pretend to understand what he's going through, but the most she can do is be here and be the friend she's always been.

nadia's a troublemaker, sure, but when her friends need her? she's there. she may not always be the best at knowing what to say, but there's nothing more she can say in response. all she can do is let him know she's here, and it seems like she's effectively gotten her point across when james hugs her back. ]

Missed you too, best friend.

[ she's a little teasing when she says it, but it's no less genuine. she really did miss him. nadia pulls back and smiles at him. ]

You don't have to do this alone anymore. We got this.

[onebetter]

[ They've got this. A nice thought for sure, even though James isn't fully convinced of it. ]

... and to think we could have had that all along.

[ He shakes his head a little, still in disbelief over what separation the secrecy clause had doomed them to for years. It's good to have it resolved now, but it is hard to not be retroactively bitter. ]

Catching you up on all that's going on here is going to take forever.

[mfes]

[ oh-ho? rizavi pulls back and moves to sit at the edge of her bed again, propping her elbows up on her knees and leaning forward in intrigue. ]

It's a good thing I have all the time in the world.

[ ohhhhh boy. ]

Hit me with your best shot.