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un: nadiasays

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.

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[ 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.

[ ... 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. ]

[ 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.

[ 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.

[ 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.

[ Where does he even start with the complete wreck that this last half a year has been... And how does he do it in a way that won't have her fixating on the weird and embarrassing parts.... Actually, most parts are weird and embarrassing. ]

I have two things that will shock you immensely, so I want to get it over with. Any wild guesses before I go? Might make the reality look tame at least.

[ ............. ]

...Did you actually manage to befriend Keith Black?

Uhm.

So, just forget everything I said about looking tame. Forget it right this instant.

Okaaaaaaaaay. Go on.

We've... kind of been dating for around three weeks?

[ Let him die now. Just let the ground swallow him down into the depths of hell. ]

Called it! I SO called it!

[ oh my god. she's way too excited about this. ]

Saw it coming from a mile away.

You didn't.

[ HE REFUSES TO ACCEPT ANYONE COULD HAVE POSSIBLY CALLED THIS. ]

Oh, come on!! It's like a classic love story of rivals turned to friends turned to lovers!

[ CACKLES ]

Yeah, it's... definitely not that.

[ In a way James wishes it was this classic and easy, but it isn't, and he's not even sure they aren't still enemies on some level, but thaaaaat's too much and too complicated, possibly for ever. ]

He gave me a toad. So I have a toad now. That's another thing. It glows.

Riiiight.

[ rizavi is sorely misinterpreting this, but it is what it is. mostly she's just amused that these two are dating. have fun with that, james. ]

How...romantic. Never took Keith to be the flowers and chocolates type, so that makes total sense.

I just wanna know what about me said 'toad', but I suspect there's no deeper reason other than that he found it cute.

[ Which is relieving at least. ]

Or maybe it's the glowing. He's got a glowing wolf puppy already.

A glowing what?!

[ yooooo!!! ]

Alright, you guys are officially taking me to the Outlands, because I want one.

[ Suddenly grinning. ]

The little guy teleports.

No idea of his species or where there's more though, he was an orphan baby.

Dang, that's pretty awesome. You think Keith's gonna let me meet the little guy?

Oh, definitely. Pretty hard not to meet him, too. Cosmo loves making new friends. He's a darling, really.

[ He may be embarrassed about his boyfriend, but he is not at all embarrassed about loving his boyfriend's dog. ]

Though I should move on to the second shocking thing, right? I don't trust the people running this school.

[ she's pretty excited about cosmo, but that second point gets nadia to really stop. ]

Okay, they must be really bad if you're saying that.

I'm not sure how bad or not it is. But I do want to find out. The way information is dispensed here is... lacking, to say the least. A lot of the students are skeptical about it.

I want to find out the truth. Don't actually tell that to anyone, it's a down-low thing. I trust you.

[ And he does. He wanted to trust her so long in their friendship, but there have always been reasons he couldn't. They'd both been lying, been forced to lie. Now this can finally end. ]

I knew starting a paper was a good idea!

[ nadia...please. ]

Secret's safe with me. You want me to keep you and Keith a secret too?

[ nadia definitely gossips, but when it comes to her james? she's really good at keeping their secrets. especially james'. ]

It's not a secret on campus, don't mind that. I'd appreciate no texting home about it though. I'll do it on my own terms.

[ Whenever he has worked out what those terms actually are supposed to be. That's a can of worms he has to figure out before going back to Arizona for his birthday next month.... Ugh. ]

And faculty's gonna read that paper, you know that, right?

Yeah, sure. I'll keep it under wraps.

[ because hoooooo boy. not only is it something james should do on his own, but nadia doesn't want people asking her about him. she wouldn't be able to explain how they kept in touch, really. ]

And of course I know that! I'm keeping it PG because there are literal kids on campus.

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onebetter - 2019-07-25 12:21 (UTC) - Expand

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