Aewin

Divided We Stand

I'm definitely still here, just working very very slowly on a collab with @lovely complex between Gia and Anya

The Mundane [Small-Town Superheroes]

Aaliya Patel

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● N A M E ●

Aaliya Patel

^{Allie or Lia works too, for those that are too lazy to say the full thing. Though it's not that hard, is it?}

● A G E ●

Eighteen

● G E N D E R ●

Female

● O C C U P A T I O N ●

Senior High School student, but she can also complete commissioned requests through her Tumblr and DeviantArt pages.

● L O O K S ●

There isn't anything exactly striking about Aaliya, at least if you ask her. She has long, frizzy hair that she usually keeps out of her face in a ponytail, bun or side braid. Her hair is dark brown and reaches past her shoulder when untouched. Her eyes are wide and smile even wider, always curled into a welcoming smile that barely scratches at her optimistic and cheerful nature. Her wardrobe consists of comfortable, but stylish clothing - not to mention, cheap.

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● P E R S O N A L I T Y ●

What Aaliya lacks for in looks, she makes for in personality. At least, that's what she had heard her brother say. Just like her wide, welcoming smile suggests, she's always open and clearly a cheerful person- almost to an annoying level. It's like nothing can rain on her parade and she's proud. Her happy-go-lucky nature does tend to rub people the wrong way. It may be because its just too annoying, or because sometimes Aaliya doesn't take things seriously. She will always look on the brigher side of things, even going as far as purposely dumbing herself down to make others feel better.

Because of her happy nature, Aaliya feels like she shouldn't ever let herself feel bad. That means any negative emotions she feels, she'll bottle it up. How bad will it look if the happy one isn't happy anymore? That's her logic anyway. Aaliya is thankful that she hasn't had any reason to feel real sorrow or anger, and so this bottling-up-negative-emotions works well enough for now when it comes to dealing with small town stressors.

Aaliya also has a short attention span. She loves to do anything exciting, a true adrenaline junkie (but its not like there's many chances in a small town like Verona). Aaliya is the type to pick up a hobby but drop it two days later all because it bored her. The only hobby she has ever stuck to, other than annoying the hell out of her older brother, is art - and that's only because of the possibilities that art offers, but she rarely finishes most of her sketches before she gets bored. Aaliya's need for excitement also means that she can be overly friendly and chatty. What's more exciting than other humans? While it may take her a while to realise when her presence is not wanted, she's not the type to force her friendship upon anyone. With Aaliya, you know what you're getting.

● R O M A N T I C I N T E R E S T S ●

Aaliya is a true romantic at heart. It doesn't help she grew up adoring Bollywood movies, that have a tendancy to feature over-the-top romance, but despite the cheesiness that her brother scoffs at, Aaliya loves every moment of it. What's wrong with wanting to be seranaded every once in a while? Especially by a cute, and tall hunk - definitely tall. Anything taller than her is good enough. Being smart and funny is quite the bonus too.

● O R I G I N S T O R Y ●

Born to second-generation immigrants from India, Aaliya can admit she's had a relatively cushy life when compared to her zillion cousins back in her home village in the rural outskirts of Gujarat. Her parents weren't graced with her wonderful presence first, however, instead it was Aaliya's brother, Ajay they met first. Born two years earlier to two very young adults barely starting their own life, Arjun was almost like the trial child so when Aaliya was born, it was all smooth sailing from there.

Actually, it wasn't. They were just as demanding of Aaliya as they were of Ajay. They'd seen their first-born do so well in school, eventually leading to being the top student amongst his peers in school. While her parents were a little more considerate a second time around, ensuring Aaliya (and Ajay) would grow up being loved and happy, but successful too. That was the keyword after all; Aaliya's mother was a gynecologist in the local hospital, and her father taught Business in the local college.

At the age of seven, Aaliya discovered that her drawings weren't so bad. It wasn't exactly a talent, she couldn't exactly recreate a masterpiece like the Mona Lisa again, but it certainly wasn't terrible. It was a recreational hobby she enjoyed and was rewarded each time her mother stuck a drawing on the refrigerator.

From plain paper and colored crayons, her drawings developed into painting, and by the time she was thirteen, she was gifted her own digital tablet to keep her entertained on the condition that she'd focus on her education and not let art get to her head. It was only a hobby, Aaliya didn't have any plans to make a living out of it.

She had seen enough movies.

Moving onto high school, the pressure to do better than her brother grew harder for her to avoid. Ajay had moved out of the town to study Law in some big city, leaving her to be reminded constantly about his accomplishments. While she never did bad, it wasn't the best. Aaliya would avoid the pressure by staying back late under the pretense that she was studying in the library with friends, but in fact, she was holed up in the art club room, relaxing the rest of the afternoon and most of the evening away, only going home for dinner and bed.

This lasted until her senior year, and surprisingly she's yet to be caught by her parents. The day she discovered her powers was certainly a strange one. After taking the previous day off from being strangely ill (Aaliya never got ill, she was proud of her immune system, thank you very much!), she found herself already in the art room the next day, in her pyjamas and her hands a complete mess with a drawing of shattered glass on a pavement. At first, she brushed it off as sleep-walking-slash-drawing and forgot about her edgy sketch until it happened again. Two hours later, she "woke up" in the middle of Maths to find she had doodled on the back of her textbook without being fully aware of it, this time of a kid being tripped in the hall. Before she could brush this one off, she saw the exact same kid get tripped in the exact same place. Chalking it up to coincidence, she tried explaining away the many instances she'd "wake up" to a sketch only to see it happen later.

There are a few drawings that she's yet to identify or see happen in reality, and there are a few that she doesn't understand at all. Unable to figure out what exactly was going on, Aaliya decided to keep this to herself, after all it's not every day you wake up being a clairvoyant after being sick.

...But at least this makes her unique from her brother, so that counts for something, right?

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● S U P E R P O W E R ●

Precognitive Artistry

● P O W E R C L A S S I F I C A T I O N ●

Mystic

● A B I L I T I E S ●

Aaliya can draw the future. That's the most basic way of putting it. When she's having a 'moment', as she puts it, Aaliya gets the sudden urge to draw, which she can't suppress. Even if it's a scribble in the corner of her notebook in the middle of History, Aaliya's mind will go blank and her hands will move without her consciously thinking about it.

● W E A K N E S S E S ●

Well, first of Aaliya can barely remember drawing. Sometimes she finds herself awake at four in the morning with her sketchbook out, tools scattered all across her desk and a sketch that she doesn't remember drawing. Because of this, Aaliya also has to figure out what her drawings mean, and depending on what has been drawn on the paper it can easily take a while before she figures out what it means.

The drawings she has may be completely random, and doesn't need to be about her own future (one time she drew her neighboour being locked out of their home after a long day at work) and that makes it infinitely more complicated to find out what the actual hell is going on.

There's also the fact that she can't exactly control when or where she'll get the need to draw, and when it hits, she cannot stop herself from drawing. So far she's been lucky that she's always been carrying a pen and could draw on a spare page in her notebook, but Aaliya doesn't know what will happen if she doesn't have either a tool to draw with or a canvas to draw on.

The Mundane [Small-Town Superheroes]

@McHaggis @Roosan @Liriia @Undine Finally done with one, but the next one will probably take a while since I really want to finish my assignment that I stupidly haven't started yet that is due on Monday

Aaliya Patel

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● N A M E ●

Aaliya Patel

^{Allie or Lia works too, for those that are too lazy to say the full thing. Though it's not that hard, is it?}

● A G E ●

Eighteen

● G E N D E R ●

Female

● O C C U P A T I O N ●

Senior High School student, but she can also complete commissioned requests through her Tumblr and DeviantArt pages.

● L O O K S ●

There isn't anything exactly striking about Aaliya, at least if you ask her. She has long, frizzy hair that she usually keeps out of her face in a ponytail, bun or side braid. Her hair is dark brown and reaches past her shoulder when untouched. Her eyes are wide and smile even wider, always curled into a welcoming smile that barely scratches at her optimistic and cheerful nature. Her wardrobe consists of comfortable, but stylish clothing - not to mention, cheap.

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● P E R S O N A L I T Y ●

What Aaliya lacks for in looks, she makes for in personality. At least, that's what she had heard her brother say. Just like her wide, welcoming smile suggests, she's always open and clearly a cheerful person- almost to an annoying level. It's like nothing can rain on her parade and she's proud. Her happy-go-lucky nature does tend to rub people the wrong way. It may be because its just too annoying, or because sometimes Aaliya doesn't take things seriously. She will always look on the brigher side of things, even going as far as purposely dumbing herself down to make others feel better.

Because of her happy nature, Aaliya feels like she shouldn't ever let herself feel bad. That means any negative emotions she feels, she'll bottle it up. How bad will it look if the happy one isn't happy anymore? That's her logic anyway. Aaliya is thankful that she hasn't had any reason to feel real sorrow or anger, and so this bottling-up-negative-emotions works well enough for now when it comes to dealing with small town stressors.

Aaliya also has a short attention span. She loves to do anything exciting, a true adrenaline junkie (but its not like there's many chances in a small town like Verona). Aaliya is the type to pick up a hobby but drop it two days later all because it bored her. The only hobby she has ever stuck to, other than annoying the hell out of her older brother, is art - and that's only because of the possibilities that art offers, but she rarely finishes most of her sketches before she gets bored. Aaliya's need for excitement also means that she can be overly friendly and chatty. What's more exciting than other humans? While it may take her a while to realise when her presence is not wanted, she's not the type to force her friendship upon anyone. With Aaliya, you know what you're getting.

● R O M A N T I C I N T E R E S T S ●

Aaliya is a true romantic at heart. It doesn't help she grew up adoring Bollywood movies, that have a tendancy to feature over-the-top romance, but despite the cheesiness that her brother scoffs at, Aaliya loves every moment of it. What's wrong with wanting to be seranaded every once in a while? Especially by a cute, and tall hunk - definitely tall. Anything taller than her is good enough. Being smart and funny is quite the bonus too.

● O R I G I N S T O R Y ●

Born to second-generation immigrants from India, Aaliya can admit she's had a relatively cushy life when compared to her zillion cousins back in her home village in the rural outskirts of Gujarat. Her parents weren't graced with her wonderful presence first, however, instead it was Aaliya's brother, Ajay they met first. Born two years earlier to two very young adults barely starting their own life, Arjun was almost like the trial child so when Aaliya was born, it was all smooth sailing from there.

Actually, it wasn't. They were just as demanding of Aaliya as they were of Ajay. They'd seen their first-born do so well in school, eventually leading to being the top student amongst his peers in school. While her parents were a little more considerate a second time around, ensuring Aaliya (and Ajay) would grow up being loved and happy, but successful too. That was the keyword after all; Aaliya's mother was a gynecologist in the local hospital, and her father taught Business in the local college.

At the age of seven, Aaliya discovered that her drawings weren't so bad. It wasn't exactly a talent, she couldn't exactly recreate a masterpiece like the Mona Lisa again, but it certainly wasn't terrible. It was a recreational hobby she enjoyed and was rewarded each time her mother stuck a drawing on the refrigerator.

From plain paper and colored crayons, her drawings developed into painting, and by the time she was thirteen, she was gifted her own digital tablet to keep her entertained on the condition that she'd focus on her education and not let art get to her head. It was only a hobby, Aaliya didn't have any plans to make a living out of it.

She had seen enough movies.

Moving onto high school, the pressure to do better than her brother grew harder for her to avoid. Ajay had moved out of the town to study Law in some big city, leaving her to be reminded constantly about his accomplishments. While she never did bad, it wasn't the best. Aaliya would avoid the pressure by staying back late under the pretense that she was studying in the library with friends, but in fact, she was holed up in the art club room, relaxing the rest of the afternoon and most of the evening away, only going home for dinner and bed.

This lasted until her senior year, and surprisingly she's yet to be caught by her parents. The day she discovered her powers was certainly a strange one. After taking the previous day off from being strangely ill (Aaliya never got ill, she was proud of her immune system, thank you very much!), she found herself already in the art room the next day, in her pyjamas and her hands a complete mess with a drawing of shattered glass on a pavement. At first, she brushed it off as sleep-walking-slash-drawing and forgot about her edgy sketch until it happened again. Two hours later, she "woke up" in the middle of Maths to find she had doodled on the back of her textbook without being fully aware of it, this time of a kid being tripped in the hall. Before she could brush this one off, she saw the exact same kid get tripped in the exact same place. Chalking it up to coincidence, she tried explaining away the many instances she'd "wake up" to a sketch only to see it happen later.

There are a few drawings that she's yet to identify or see happen in reality, and there are a few that she doesn't understand at all. Unable to figure out what exactly was going on, Aaliya decided to keep this to herself, after all it's not every day you wake up being a clairvoyant after being sick.

...But at least this makes her unique from her brother, so that counts for something, right?

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● S U P E R P O W E R ●

Precognitive Artistry

● P O W E R C L A S S I F I C A T I O N ●

Mystic

● A B I L I T I E S ●

Aaliya can draw the future. That's the most basic way of putting it. When she's having a 'moment', as she puts it, Aaliya gets the sudden urge to draw, which she can't suppress. Even if it's a scribble in the corner of her notebook in the middle of History, Aaliya's mind will go blank and her hands will move without her consciously thinking about it.

● W E A K N E S S E S ●

Well, first of Aaliya can barely remember drawing. Sometimes she finds herself awake at four in the morning with her sketchbook out, tools scattered all across her desk and a sketch that she doesn't remember drawing. Because of this, Aaliya also has to figure out what her drawings mean, and depending on what has been drawn on the paper it can easily take a while before she figures out what it means.

The drawings she has may be completely random, and doesn't need to be about her own future (one time she drew her neighboour being locked out of their home after a long day at work) and that makes it infinitely more complicated to find out what the actual hell is going on.

There's also the fact that she can't exactly control when or where she'll get the need to draw, and when it hits, she cannot stop herself from drawing. So far she's been lucky that she's always been carrying a pen and could draw on a spare page in her notebook, but Aaliya doesn't know what will happen if she doesn't have either a tool to draw with or a canvas to draw on.

The Mundane [Small-Town Superheroes]

Finally ready to claim Naomi Scott and Sidharth Malhotra for my two FCs

The Mundane [Small-Town Superheroes]

Gonna work on a sheet for this soon, if ya'all would like me

^{christmas break hallelujah}

Salem Witches' Institute {Harry Potter}

Dropping this here before I go to bed, I'll try to finish her tomorrow!

(Reserving Parineeti Chopra as the face claim, unsure whether I'll make another character as well)

Aradika Roy - WIP

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N A M E:

Aradika Roy

N I C K N A M E:

Though she prefers Aradika, she's had a couple of nicknames she's been referred to over the past couple years: Radika, Dee, or even useless - though that last one is usually left for her parents to use.

G E N D E R:

Female

A G E:

Seventeen

B L O O D S T A T U S:

Muggleborn

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this is where you describe their appearance. good paragraph chunk or two. some good starting points are how they hold themselves, how much care they put in their appearance, etc. etc.

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H O U S E:

Tituba

Y E A R:

5-7 only please

E L E C T I V E S:

Three.

B E S T C L A S S:

No more than one; core class.

W O R S T C L A S S:

No more than one; core class.

C L U B S:

Three is the maximum.

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W A N D:

Wood, length, flexibility, core.

P A T R O N U S:

Nothing weird.

B O G G A R T:

Explain what it is and how it appears.

F A M I L I A R:

description of pet here + name

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P E R S O N A L I T Y:

a good two paragraphs.

R O M A N T I C I N T E R E S T S:

what kind of people is your character attracted to? What kind of people have they dated/crushed on before? What are they looking for in a significant other? Are they looking for a relationship or a fling?

L I K E S:

• at least seven

D I S L I K E S:

• at least seven dislikes

H O B B I E S:

• at least four

F E A R S:

• at least three

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Divided We Stand

THIS POST TAKES PLACE THE NEXT DAY!

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Location: Amelia & Ananya's dorm room
Interacting with: | Each other_{@Legion02@Aewin} | Mrs Lovelace _{@lovely complex} | Lucas & Lana |
Horrible → Worried → Concerned → Curious → Interested → Very Curious & Surprised → Investegative → Concerned → Happy
Drowsy → Confused → Tired → Flushed → Embarrassed → Hesitant → Grateful → Anxious → Contemplative → Nervous

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The first thing Ananya noticed when she awoke was that throbbing pain in the back of her head. It was unlike what Ananya had ever experienced before. Her eyelids felt heavy, and the ringing in her ear never seemed to stop. Groaning, she sat up on the bed, the blanket falling off her body as she peered towards her ringing alarm clock. "So that's the ringing..." She muttered, reaching out and slamming the clock from the stand, causing it to fall onto the ground with an audible crack. The sudden sound caused the Nag to wince, her eyes still squinting at the somewhat opened windows in front of her.

Ananya groaned, rubbing her head as she tried looking for anything that could soothe her parched throat. "How'd I...?" Ananya looked around the room, rubbing her forehead as she tried racking her brain for the events of the previous night. It wasn't like she remembered nothing, it came more in little snippets, the rest being too blurry to totally make out what the hell was going on. Ananya remembered getting dropped off at Delirium, then finding Lucas and lying to his face about her purpose for being there. Ananya cringed at her lie. How could she have thought she could've gotten away with that? Anyway... then she remembered drinks... loads of it, and then that's when things got hazy. "Wait, why are my clothes so messy?"

Amelia had, quite possibly, the worst night of her life behind her. For starters, she could barely fall asleep as she discovered just how much she could cry. How did she fall this low? Was it so easy to fall towards her other side? To give in to her nature? She did horrible things to Sylvia. Basically using and seducing her but thinking nothing more of her as a walking, breathing, warmed-up blood bag. How could she think like that about people!? When she finally nightmares kept plaguing her. Mostly of her father, who’d sent her to Delphina on the ground of her villainous behavior. She screamed and kicked but the burned out husk of the Delphina school still dragged her in. Towards the darkness.

At 5 in the morning, she shot up in cold sweat, crying out. After that, her immediate thought was to worry. About Ananya. Lucas had carried her and the girl seemed to smell as much as booze as Lucas did. The last thing Amelia wanted was to accidentally wake the girl up. But she seemed to be sleeping straight through it. At least the vampiress had that going for her. But sleeping wasn’t an option. So instead she went to the kitchen.

Following hours she was filling by watching Disney movies (with her headset, so not to wake Ananya) as she lips synced all the songs. If she knew them or not, it didn’t matter to her. She just went along with it. She kept sitting on her bed, but with arms flailing and ‘dancing’ to the music. When she wasn’t singing, she was eating ice cream drowned in chocolate syrup. For just a few hours she wanted to be happy. Even if that happiness was entirely synthetic.

But then Ananya woke up. Amelia didn’t see that until she heard a loud bang of an object falling to the ground. She turned around and saw her roommate just wincing at the sound. Amelia took off her headphones and immediately went to her cabinet. As student nurse, she always had some medical supplies on hand. Right after Ananya asked why her clothes were so messy, the blonde put a glass with a painkiller next to it on Ananya nightstand. “Take it and down the glass. You’ll feel better.” She said to the Indian girl after which she walked back to her bed and sat cross-legged. “Can’t really answer why your clothes are dirty.” She admitted. Though she was very curious herself. Well, she did mean how the answer would start: Lucas. But what did he do? “Lucas carried you in. That’s how you got here. I didn’t know my roomie knew the big bad puppy of Delphina.” She carefully joked. “What happened last night? Looks like you had quite a party.”

Ananya grimaced as the sound caused Amelia to stop watching her movie. She uttered a low thank you as Ananya took the painkiller and glass of water, tossing the pills into her open mouth before washing it down with liquid heaven. "Oh thank you, god, I needed that so much." She spoke after a minute once she felt like her throat was willing to cooperate more. "Puppy? Lucas isn't anywhere as cute and innocent as a puppy." She huffed, before groaning as she attempted to slide out of her warm bed.

"I just met him yesterday at that party. I wanted to check out the party and hopefully get a couple names to choose from for the tournament, but Lucas caught me out in my lie. I told him I knew Gianna." Ananya paused for a minute, waiting for Amelia's reaction as she checked through her drawers for a fresh change of clothes. "Still brought me inside though, dunno why. He got me drunk, and I can't remember much after that." Pulling out a pink tank with a long black skirt, Ananya folded them and placed them to the side. "Did anything happen last night? You don't look so good." She nodded towards Amelia's somewhat puffy eyes.

Amelia winced when she heard Ananya claimed she knew Gianna. That was just a bad idea all around. Nothing good came of it. Amelia never met the queen of Delphina. She saw her, though, sometimes. The worst thing, though, was what she heard. She fully realized that not all gossips should be believed. But when so many people talked about one woman and all had the same story, how much of it were lies and what was truth? “That probably wasn’t such a good idea. They don’t call him Gianna’s puppy for nothing. If what they say is true, that guy would beat someone bloody if she just wants it.” Amelia explained.

“I-I’m okay” I bit someone and it made her.. wobbly on her feet. After we confessed to her supposed lover. Which wasn’t that mad. I then proceeded to do it again when I got drunk. On the dancefloor. Oh but before I bit her I played with her as if she was nothing but a sentient toy. As cherry on the pie I was such a coward that, when I realized what I was doing, I just run and left her out on the dancefloor with nobody she knew. I’m horrible. “Sort of.”

“But… wait. Hold on! He asked you inside? Like… what? Did he drag you before Gianna? Did she get you drunk? I mean, you should tell an councilor if they forced you to do drink!” Amelia immediately kicked into worried gear. Her most natural state. As well as the easiest way to surpress her own guilt. She’d have to talk to Sylvia. On the dancefloor she may have been a coward, but now she’d have to live up to her choices. Still, she sincerely hoped it wasn’t the case. She did expect Lucas to be capable of forcing a girl to drink. But the vampiress just hoped her roommie hadn’t gone through some sort of hell or something. It would certaintly explain the dirty clothes. Or at least start explaining it.

Ananya's eyes narrowed at Amelia's vague answer. Part of her wanted to push the girl into telling her what was bothering her, but she wasn't sure whether they could be considered close enough for Ananya's interest in the matter to be anything other than annoying or in bad taste. Maybe it would be best to leave it; let the vampire say it when she's ready. Nodding to herself as if silently agreeing, Ananya then returned to sit on her bed, facing the blonde. "I don't want to seem insensitive but if there is something that is bothering you, you can tell me. I'd be happy to help, even as just a listening ear." Ananya added a hesitant smile at the end, unsure how the vampire would take her concern. She waited for a moment before answering her questions, speaking up a little louder as she could feel her headache slowly recede.

"No, I-uh, never met Gianna. Um, he did sorta force me to drink at first but I suppose I decided to keep going, going by how much my head hurts and how little I remember about the night before." She then laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of her neck. "My feet do feel a bit sore though, and I briefly remember dancing." She then looked down at her dress, her thumb brushing against the dirt marks. "I guess after that I went outside? But I don't know what I'd be doing to make my dress so dirty. And I can't even find my boots I wore last night... Did I even wear my shoes back to our room?" Ananya tilted her head.

“Thanks.” Amelia gave Ananya a sincere smile. But it felt quite strange to be offered help, as she always was the helper. Not that it felt bad in any way. It was just a new feeling. One she didn’t think she was worthy of. Especially not after what she did. Venting wouldn’t help, only living up to the consequences would. “It’s not insensitive. It’s actually really nice.” A master in turning around conversations. That she did learn from her father. She turned Ananya’s care into praise for the Indian girl. And it should be praised. It was a good thing to do, caring for one another.

“Yeah, Delirium has a wicked dancing floor.” A flash of Sylvia and her there went through Amelia’s head, immediately making her face a little darker looking. “You went outside? Well, that’s a start. You don’t happen to know where you went, do you?” Of course Amelia was super interested now. Where did Lucas lead her too? Some villainous lair? That wouldn’t explain the dirt. There aren’t that many places left in New York where you could find actual dirt. How deep down the rabbit hole did Lucas get the poor girl that she remembered this little of last night? “You didn’t have shoes on, or with you. I’m sure they’ll turn up.”

Ananya's cheeks grew dark at the praise, and she cleared her throat while avoiding eye contact. She wasn't used to praise, so she always reacted awkwardly when someone decides to compliment her. "Thanks? I, erm- it's good to that people care about you, y'know? I may have only known you for a few hours at tops, but you're still my roommate and I care." Ananya bit down at her lip to stop herself from rambling.

"Erm," She paused, closing her eyes so she could think. Where did they go? Now that was the million dollar question. She forgot about her boots as she racked her brain for any ideas, but the dirt on her clothes could've been from anywhere! "I remember getting up on a tree. Like, sliding on it. So it's safe to say something forced me to shift, which might be the reason why my clothes are dirty?" There was still a dull ache in her bones, the sign that usually reminds her of her recent shift, only this time she couldn't exactly remember what happened, except that something happened.

“Shift?” Amelia had no clue what the girl meant with shift. Well, she had some clue. Shifting was the term supers used who could transform into something. She knew this because, technically, she’s a shifter too. But she never shifted into her Elder Form. She didn’t want to. Ever. It was the symbol of giving in to her vampiric nature. Still, she was curious. “Does it hurt? I mean, the shifting?” She could have asked into what she shifted. In hindsight, she actually thought that would be a more polite question. But it would seem curiosity kept winning out from her. She could only hope her roomie wouldn’t take offense in it. Because she sincerely didn’t mean any.

“Well, there aren’t that many trees in Manhattan.” Amelia started, visibly pondering on the situation. There were a few parks with trees. Manhattan wasn’t entirely devoid from green. But most parks closed at night. “Did… did you climb a fence? Or something? I mean, the only trees there are, are in parks. And –euhm- those close at night…” Did she really break into a park at night? Amelia sincerely hoped she didn’t. The girl seemed to be in a pretty confused state about it all. Maybe if the hangover resides a little would she remember anything? But that could only happen if she wasn’t too far off on the night itself.

Does it hurt? Ananya rubbed her elbow, squeezing down gently at the skin with a hiss. "Sort of, I mean I've shifted enough so it doesn't hurt as much - or I guess I'm just used to it? It's the lingering pain afterwards. That's how I know I shifted last night." Ananya sighed. "I suppose I might've forgotten my shoes wherever I shifted, I may have been too drunk to have picked them up when I changed back into my clothes..." She sighed with disappointment this time.

When Amelia asked whether she climbed a fence, Ananya shrugged. "Probably? Honestly it's all blank. I have to decide whether it's worth asking Lucas what happened last night but I'm not sure whether I really want to know..." What if she'd followed along with some evil scheme? Hell, maybe she initiated something evil under the influence, Ananya had no idea what sort of drunk she was. "Maybe it'll come back to me, or maybe its best if I plead ignorance."

Amelia listened attentively as Ananya described her shifting. But the more the girl talked about it, the less the vampiress looked forward to it. Getting used to the pain wasn’t on top of her bucket list. Could she live her entire life without turning into an elder? Her dad wouldn’t like that thought. He wouldn’t constantly stay in the Elder form. But during certain ‘events’ he reveled in nothing more than shifting and showcasing his strength. But then Ananya said something strange. Some really weird. “Wait… hold on… you changed back into your clothes with... Lucas nearby?” Did she do it!? Already!? Did he!? Maybe that was why her clothes were so dirty! Amelia blushed a little by the mere thought. But at the same time the vision of Leon shot through her mind.

Ananya's cheeks grew red, her hands reaching up to cup her cheeks as if to soothe her flaming skin as she thought about it. "Er- I mean- no!" Surely nothing like that happened, maybe Lucas didn't see her shift! He may be a villain but surely he didn't... Ananya sniffed, muttering under her breath. "Eh bhagvaan maine kya kiya..." She then looked at Amelia, her mouth pulled down to a frown with a flustered look, "Can you help me find out? I don't know whether I can face Lucas alone..." She closed her eyes again, rubbing at her inflamed face until... "Wait! I remember guards! Maybe you're right, we broke into a park?" That would be a more... innocent... explaination why she had to change with Lucas nearby...

The doubtful denial didn’t really make it more believable. In fact, Amelia immediately saw how red she got by the mere mention of it all. The cherry on top was the Hindi which Amelia couldn’t understand. Maybe her great-grandfather could. But she wasn’t about to call him just for this. Luckily for the girl she mentioned breaking into a park. “Okay, first off, let’s check the news.” She sincerely hoped that Ananya wasn’t in the news. The sheer amount of trouble that would cause would be unprecedented.

Break in at Central park

Somewhere around midnight one or several people managed to break into central park. How exactly these young people got inside is still unknown. Security guard Roy Breaker was patrolling the southern part of Central park when he came upon clothes. He told us that he heard a noise and saw movement near the swings. When Mr. Breaker returned with back-up to find the people responsible, the clothes, as well as a bottle of alcohol, was gone. So far there is no evidence of the act other than the broken gate on 59th street and 6th avenue.

At the same time Lucas hit send on his phone:

To: Ananya
You left your boots in my sis’ car. I can bring ‘em tomorrow when she brings them back if you’d like?

Amelia looked up from her laptop, a bit flustered. “Well… I think I know where you guys went.” She sheepishly said as she turned the laptop around to show Ananya the news. Amelia recognized the broken gate as Lucas’ MO. And the fact that nothing else really happened was a blessing. But Amelia was still confused as of what exactly all happened. Like why exactly she had to change.

She was in the news.

How much of a coincidence would it have been if on the one night she was drunk out of her mind, two people broke into Central Park around the exact same time Ananya's memory becomes... hazy. She bit down on her lip, feeling the ball of anxiety grow in the pit of her stomach. Were they going to get into trouble for this? No one knew for sure it was her and Lucas that broke into the park, but Ananya couldn't help but think that somehow news would get out and Mrs Lovelace would find out.

Ananya wasn't sure whether she was happy with the development. Sure, nothing indecent happened, but she and Lucas broke into the park last night! Her eyes scanned the article thoroughly, her hand flailing behind her to grab the vibrating phone. "Came upon clothes..." Did she shift to avoid getting caught? It sounded like something she would do if she had no other choice. It made sense anyway, Ananya noticed her knees were a little scraped up. "So we broke in, tried to leave, I fell and shifted?" She muttered to herself before looking at the phone.

It was from Lucas.

She stared blankly at the bright screen, eyes narrowed. Did she ever give him her phone number last night? But that explains how Lucas and her managed to escape Central Park and return back to Mayweather. "At least I know where my boots are." Ananya turned the phone so she could show it to Amelia. After she was sure her roommate had read the text, Ananya brought the phone towards herself and began typing out a text.

To: Lucas
Yes please!

Hesitating for a minute, she asked Amelia. "Should I ask Lucas if he's free? So we can ask him what happened?" She was still looking down at her phone, her fingers hovering over the on-screen keyboard as she decided whether or not it was a good idea.

“You can try? I’ll be there to support you.” No way Amelia would leave Ananya alone now. She clearly was quite upset about what all happened. And she actually had reason to be. Going out with Lucas, how could that ever turn into a good thing? He may have carried her up the stairs but that hardly made him a saint. But Amelia would lie if she wasn’t a little curious at what actually happened. So far she couldn’t really piece together the story entirely. “You feeling better right?” I mean from the hangover? A simple check-up question. She just wanted to be sure Ananya was OK. Else, she looked at her arm. Maybe a drop of her blood could help? But how would you offer someone that? With an absentminded fingernail, she trailed over her own arm.

After last night she realized far more that she was a vampire, not a human. That, in itself, wasn’t so bad to her. It was just that she thought differently last night. Or rather, she learned the full extent of what she would dare think and do as a vampire to a human. Was that how her family constantly thought about people?

"I feel better, thank you." Ananya gave Amelia a small, tired smile before returning to her phone. She was grateful to have a kind roommate that was willing to help out despite not knowing what was going on. It definitely made things a little easier to deal with, having someone around for support. Amelia didn't seem like the type to judge, so that was an added bonus.

To: Lucas
Are you free? We want to know what happened last night.

Ananya was vaguely aware she'd written we instead of I, because part of her was sure that Amelia was also interested in knowing. She showed her the text again. "Now we just wait..." She sighed. She pulled up her email app on the phone, typing up her message to Mrs Lovelace.

What was she even going to say? She didn't know what names to put in. Last night was supposed to be her time to find out names but meeting Lucas had thrown that plan right out the window. 'Maybe I should write his name just for messing my plans up last night.'

To: Lovelace, Cecilia
Subject: Opponent choices

I wanted to get back to you with my choice of opponents for the tournament quickly, but I ran into some trouble last night so I haven't got three names. I do know two I would like to fight though.

1) Tristram Cringe - I didn't like how he behaved with you during the meeting. Plus he's a little weird.

2) Lucas Farweight - Because of reasons.

I haven't got my third name, so I'd be fine with you choosing whoever you'd like for the third choice.

To: Ananya
Not free. We drank at Delirium, you danced on a requested song, we went outside, got into Central Park (it’s in the news, awesome!), guard nearly caught you but I saw you turn into a snake ;) smart thinking. Don’t force yourself today, okay? You probably got a killer of a hangover.

“He’s strong though. He tried Red Level. I mean Mrs. Lovelace actually let him have a shot at that.” Amelia said, worried. Of course, she put him on her top 3 too. But that was because she wanted to prove he wasn’t the strongest there. Now, in hindsight that might not have been such a good idea. “You’re right when you said he ain’t a puppy. I –euhm- saw the consequences of what he could do.” He could rip his own fists open apparently. If he could do that to himself, where would he stop against someone else? But not only that, he had done horrible things to Eliana. The more she thought about it, the stranger Ananya and Lucas’ relation seemed. “You and Lucas… Are you guys like… friends?”

Ananya narrowed her eyes at the text. Awesome!? How was breaking into the park and getting an article written about it awesome? And what the hell was that winky face for!? Ananya growled under her breath, "Kaminey..." She put the phone away behind her. She knew she had to get back at him for almost getting her into trouble.

After hearing Amelia talk about how strong Lucas was, Ananya almost facepalmed. Of course the person she'd put in her list would be an impossibly strong opponent - he's even attemped the Red Level for God's sake! Ananya groaned, "The Gods are definitely angry at me. Lucas is a demon and I'm being punished for something!" She then paused. Friends? Thinking back to last night, thinking about the things she did remember from last night, could she call them friends? She made a face before shrugging, "I think so? I mean, he's not that bad." For a villain, he was definitely not what she expected. Sure, he forced her to drink (but soon after she started to drink on her own), and even saw her change - but he wasn't evil. "Yeah, I think I could call him a friend."

Amelia jokingly waved at Ananya to get her attention when she cursed. “Hey, not to be racist here but I don’t speak Hindi yet.” She was joking, obviously. But hearing another language always made her feel insecure. As if a person was talking about her. She could never know. Then again she wanted to learn more languages to talk with other people. And more importantly, to understand them. In every language there are words that don’t exist in others. Words that are often used to express a certain emotion. To Amelia, actually understanding one another’s language is the first step towards fully understanding each other. “You have to teach me that someday.” She grinned.

“No! No! Lucas is just-“ He’s a Delphina. They have screwed up morals. He drinks like a sailor, fights like a boxer and laughs like a drunken captain after a big haul. That’s just how he is. That’s his version of fun. “-he got a unique way of making fun. Look?” she showed her screen to Ananya again. “See? They haven’t seen anyone. There are no pictures of you and Lucas. You’re in the clear! Nothing will happen!” Amelia tried to assure her roomie. “Besides! What would an awesome person as yourself even be punished for!” Amelia definitely got excited now, trying to pull Ananya into the very same happiness that it brought.

That excitement only grew as she heard that Ananya definitely thought of Lucas as a friend. Who would have thought! A Delphina pureblood befriended a girl from Mayweather! She couldn’t wait until she could tell Eliana. No… wait. Eliana wouldn’t like that, would she? She gets bullied but some other girl is friends with him? Still, it was one step towards peace between the two schools. “That’s fantastic!” The vampires couldn’t contain herself as she pulled Ananya in for a hug. “Who would have thought this bastard would befriend a Mayweather! You’re an angel, Ananya!”

Ananya's cheeks flushed slightly, "Sorry, I forget that I do that sometimes." It was a habit for Ananya to revert back to Hindi in times of stress, it was her first language afterall. Some words in English could never describe exactly how Ananya was feeling better than Hindi could. Ananya grinned back at Amelia, feeling relaxed in the vampire's prescence. It would be great to have someone to talk to in Hindi, so Ananya jumped on the opportunity to teach Amelia."Sure! I can do that! Though... you may end up learning how to curse before I teach you anything else." She laughed sheepishly. It's safe to say that Ananya swears a lot when she gets stressed, something about cursing was always so satisfying, even if it didn't do much to help in the situation.

Amelia... was too kind. No, she was precious. Ananya was surprised at how much joy and positivity the blonde in front of her had. It was amazing. She truly hoped that Amelia would never have to face a single day of sadness. "Let's hope you're right, I just don't want any trouble. Maybe I have to thank Lucas for not leaving me in the park. You said he carried me in here?" Was he really a villain? She hadn't heard much about Lucas before, but Ananya had only arrived on campus a while ago so she might've- no, most definitely missed a lot. Especially as Amelia hugged Ananya, cheering on their friendship, Ananya was sure she had yet to see the bad side of Lucas.

Did she really want to though? She hugged back briefly before pulling away from the hug, with a question in mind. "Why're you so surprised about that? Is Lucas really that bad?" If Ananya was going to accept this friendship, she might as well find out exactly what sort of person Lucas was.

She couldn’t really lie, could she? She heard the stories. Knew what Eliana went through. She knew about the kid, Milo. “He-He’s not really a saint.” She stampered. She hated to talk ill about people. But she hated lying equally. Then again, was everything she heard actually true? Even about that one locker instance? Or the hallways with the book? Amelia heard a lot, but saw very little. Then again, she was just a freshmen. For now she kept a low profile. But she definitely wanted to be more important. And that wouldn’t change by just sitting and doing nothing. But neither would just doing stupid things to stand out.

“But that’s what I don’t get!” Excitement returns. “He carried you up here! Like, not even brutish or so! He was holding you in his arms!” He nearly kissed you on the forehead! She wanted to add that. But she wasn’t really sure if she actually saw that or wanted to see that. She decided to keep it quiet. For now. “How bad can he actually be!?” Probably very bad. But he seemed to have a good side at least. It was a start.

Not a saint? But who was a saint these days? Well except for Amelia, Ananya had yet to find someone with pure intentions. But it wasn't like Ananya could blame them, especially in a dog-eat-dog world. Plus it was to be expected from a villain to do evil things, but she hadn't seen Lucas do anything terrible last night. "I don't remember him being terrible with me, even as I lied to him in the face when we first met."

"How does someone even carry someone brutishly?" Ananya laughed, shaking her head. So Ananya must've passed out sometime after escaping the guard and before arriving at campus for Lucas to have had to carry her all the way up to the third floor. Her mind thought back to the text he sent, the text about her boots before her mouth dropped. "Wait..." She grabbed her phone again, scrolling to find the message. "He has a sister?! He said I left my boots in her car, but I don't remember meeting anyone else? Oh God have I've already embarrassed myself in front of his family! She's going to think I'm some weird drunkard that likes to roll around in mud and leave her boots everywhere!"

“They throw you over their shoulder and don’t give a damn crap if the bone hurts.” Amelia immediately responded, remembering how her oldest brother often carried her when she misbehaved. She learned her lessons quickly. “It’s just so weird that he’s so…almost nice! To you. But to others…” Eliana. “…he’s so horrible.” She pointed out, but not with any less excitement. As if she was happy that she discovered Lucas had a good side despite his massive evil side.

“Wow…. Hold on, he has a sister?” That was new? Nobody ever told anyone Lucas had a sister. She jumped back towards her own bed and scrambled for her computer. After not even a minute of frantic clicking and typing, she looked up from her screen, while holding a massive grin and her phone up. “Guess whose number I got.” Not her cell phone, sadly. But considering the day and time, there was a high chance Lana was at work. Of course, Amelia wouldn’t really call if Ananya didn’t want to. But on the other hand, a little apology wouldn’t be that bad? In fact, an accepted apology was exactly what one needed to feel better about the situation. “At least now you can apologize for being a dirty, mud rolling drunk that leaves her boots everywhere?” Amelia joked to keep the mood light.

Ananya didn't know whether she was supposed to feel guilty. What did she mean by that? "Almost nice? To me?" And what about the rest? What made her so special to warrant Lucas being 'nice' to her? There were too many questions running through her mind, her mouth pulled down into a frown. Before she could voice any of them, Amelia returned to her own bed excitedly to look for something.

"Wait- no! I'll embarrass myself even more! What am I even supposed to say? Oh hi Miss Farweight, I'm sorry for being weird when we first met last night, your brother got me drunk and we broke into a park and I had to change in order to avoid getting caught, also I'd like my boots back?" Ananya cringed. "I don't even remember meeting her! I don't know whether she'll even remember me." 'I hope she doesn't...'

“She’s the older sister of Lucas. Seriously, how bad can you look compared to him?” She was rather genuine with that. But then again, she didn’t want to force the issue. She really didn’t want Ananya to embarrass herself anymore. Or feel embarrassed. But then again, she also felt that whatever she felt now could be a lasting issue. “If you want, I could call her? You know, feel the water. See if she minds everything you did?” It was a genuine offer. But also slightly insane and a rather stupid one. “Besides, you don’t really have to go in detail for what you’re apologizing. Oh and remember, Lucas is coming over with those shoes.” She winked with that last part. Just to joke a little with her roomie. The vampiress was quite happy with the whole situation actually. She didn’t really know how she could use it yet to make both schools as one, in peace. But it was a piece of the puzzle. Maybe if she could manage to let Lucas apologize to Eliana? No, that was a step too far. She was visibly pondering behind her laptop.

Looking up stories about the girl. “Lana Farweight. By some known as the hero Seraphim, donates 150.000 dollars to the Central Park Preservance Association.” She started reading the titles from articles out loud. “Seraphim volunteers are refugee center.” The titles kept on going. “Miss Farweight Middle School presentation: doing good starts every morning.” Amelia looked up from behind the screen, still smiling. “She doesn’t seem like the one who minds much. She actually looks like a really understanding person. Who would have thought Lucas was actually her brother.” Of course Amelia had heard of the Farweights before. Her father made sure to know a few family names. Among them were the Harts too. “Besides, something is telling me she’ll remember you. You two… sort of met… like less than twelve hours ago. She can’t have forgotten about the girl drunk alongside her own brother!” She certainly couldn’t when Konrad mentioned a girl’s name.

Ananya groaned, collapsing onto her back on the bed with her arms spread out. She wanted to apologise for acting like a complete idiot, but she wasn't sure whether she was going to be able to without... well, being an idiot. Plus, wouldn't it be creepy for her to call up Lucas' sister despite not knowing either of them for more than a couple hours at most? But surely it would be a good move for her to apologise, being a new friend and all. Ananya swallowed her pride, grimacing before sitting back up again. "What's her number? I'll try to apologise but you gotta promise you'll take over if I screw up."

The stories Amelia read out loud made Ananya wonder- how did Lucas become a villain? Lana seemed like a sweet person, a great role model for other heroes going by charity work Lana would complete. Was Lucas just being a rebel? Ananya snorted at the thought. Someone becoming a villain just to rebel against their family. Surely that was taking things too far. "I honestly do hope she's forgotten. It would make this conversation a lot more easier. But you're right," she sighed, "but a girl can hope, right?"

Amelia grabbed her own phone and started typing in the phone number. “Don’t you worry. I’ll grab that phone the second you start doing something stupid.” Then again, she never really defined what she thought to be stupid. Honestly she thought that rambling was just innocent insecurity. Lana was clearly a woman capable of forgiving a girl that. Amelia would only take the phone over should Ananya become rude in any other way. Or if she started speaking Hindi. Well, it felt as if her speaking Hindi had large chance to happen.

“Here.” She said, handing the phone to Ananya as she sat down next to her on the bed. The phone went over a few times, until Lana picked up:
”Farweight Foundation Public Relations. How may I help you?”

Oh God it's really happening. She took Amelia's phone, listening to the dreaded rings before she heard the woman on the other side speak. "Err, namastae, aap-- Err, sorry," Ananya pressed a hand to her mouth, inhaling sharply as she looked at Amelia. The call had barely started and Ananya was already screwing up! "Sorry about that, erm, Miss Farweight, I'm- I'm Ananya Sharma, the erm, girl you picked up last night?"

Amelia literally face palmed and then nearly scrambled for the phone as Ananya started speaking Hindi. “No, no, no, no!” She nearly grabbed it but right then Ananya started speaking English. The vampiress let out an audible sigh and mouthed: Don’t do that! She kept her ear close, though. With her vampiric sense focused on it, she could hear Lana speaking. Still ready to grab the phone in case of something.

“Oh, Anananya right? How you doing? Did my brother take care of you?”

Ananya shrugged, but kept the phone glued to her ear as she waited for Lana to continue on the other line. She cringed as Lana called her Anananya, but she was sure it wasn't a mistake. "It's Ananya," She corrected quietly, before clearing her throat. "I-I'm okay, dealing with the hangover and he did. He was kind enough to carry me to my room, according to my roommate." Ananya eyed Amelia. "I, erm, wanted to call you to apologise for my behaviour last night. I wasn't in an appropriate state to meet you last night, and it's ten times worse knowing that you're Lucas' sister- I hope you don't hate me? I mean, that was probably not the best way to meet your brother's new friend and all and erm-" Ananya bit down on her lip as she realised she was rambling. "I'm sorry." She wasn't sure whether she was apologising for rambling or for her behaviour the previous night.

Ananya could probably hear a squee coming from the other side of the phone when she told Lana he carried her upstairs. “Ananya? Are you sure it’s not snake?” Lana teased. “No problem. Trust me. I’ve picked Lucas up in worse states.” Lana said with a genuine and reassuring voice. “I wouldn’t hate you over just being drunk and tired. You went out with Luke so I did expect him to have someone with him who was…well… Just don’t worry about it. All is fine.” Of course, Lana would leave it at that. “I do need to ask you something, I hope you don’t mind it. Are you Delphina or Mayweather?”

At the same time, Amelia sat next to Ananya listening in closely. She mouthed: You gave her a wrong name!? Obviously that was probably a bit embarrassing. But the older girl clearly didn’t seem to mind. In fact, she teased Ananya about it. The Vampiress couldn’t help but grin as Ananya told Lana Lucas carried her up the stairs. The squee told her Lana and Amelia probably had similar thoughts. Then Ananya’s rambling began. Soon the vampire wasn’t so sure if she wouldn’t grab the phone from Ananya after that. If anything, Amelia fully expected her to switch over to Hindi. Though luckily it appeared that the Indian girl realized it herself and swiftly finished with a sorry.

Squealing? Did Lana trip on the other side? Before she could ask out of concern for the older hero, Lana teased her. "N-no-" It wasn't the first time someone had joked like that, but it still flustered her each time. Despite her nerves, Ananya had to pat herself on the back for not returning back to Hindi, despite how much she wished she could. Ananya shrugged at Amelia's direction, mouthing back a reply that sounded like I was drunk, as if it was going to save what little dignity she had left. How could she say the wrong name, even when drunk? Anananya? How did she even mess up that bad!? Also, what exactly did Lana mean by that? Someone like what? Her eyebrows furrowed and she looked at Amelia, a little confused, as if Amelia had all the answers.

"I'm a Mayweather student," she answered, a little hesitantly, as if her friendship with Lucas was on the line with this answer.

“Oooh. I knew it! Well, I’ll make sure you get your boots as fast as possible. Oh and again, don’t worry about last night. Stuff happens. But I have to go now, Ananya. I’ll talk to you later! Bye!” And with that Lana hung up. She was a bit in a hurry, as she did have a job she had to take care of.

“Well… Seems like the sister approves.” Amelia beamed as Lana ended the call. She got bubbly again, happy that her roomie wasn’t hated. Actually, she was bubbly because it seemed as if Lana genuinely approved of Ananya. At least her day grew a little brighter now. “And you didn’t revert to Hindi!” She exclaimed happily. “See, nothing to worry about! Well… except Lucas… I hope you’re not afraid of facing him. I mean, he will come in for your boots tomorrow… want me to take ‘em for you?” It was a genuine offer. A weird one though. Ananya claimed to be Lucas’ friends but seemed a little on edge of meeting him alone again. Maybe it was because of what happened last time the two were alone? Alas, she just offered the idea because she wanted to have Ananya a way to get out of the situation. Not everyone should be brave constantly.

Well that went well... Ananya listened to the dial tone, her mouth opened as her goodbye never reached the other end of the phone. She looked at the phone before handing it back to Amelia. "I think that went well?" She was unsure, eyebrows still furrowed. Lana seemed way too excited from her answer, and going by how excited Amelia looked, Ananya was sure she was missing something.

"Wait! What do you mean approved? I needed to get her approval?" She wasn't aware that she had to get approval for friendship. Her cheeks grew red, if that was the case then Ananya was glad that Amelia encouraged her to apologise for her behaviour last night. Ananya's confusion melted away as she smiled at Amelia, "You would do that for me?" Ananya wasn't sure whether she'd be able to look him in the eye after what Lana said. Peeping? God help her...

Maybe Amelia shouldn’t have mentioned ‘approval’. It sounded weird, especially when Ananya still thought it was about friendship. Amelia caught up quick enough on why Lana was so happy. Maybe they both thought a little too much out of the situation? Alas, that didn’t really matter right now. She was just happy Lana had no ill feelings towards Ananya. Or rather, Ananya was now assured of that. “It’s nothing! Really, it’s nothing!” she assured Ananya. For now, it did really mean nothing.

“Of course I’d do that for you!” Okay she was genuinely surprised Ananya would take her up on that one. Then again, maybe it was all getting too much for a second. Having just called his sister to apologize and then seeing how not just her but also your roomie got all happy about the situation probably didn’t help. Still, only now did she realize that this could lead to Ananya avoiding Lucas. “But –euhm- just a fair tip. I hope you’re not planning on running or avoiding him. I mean, sure I want to take your boots tomorrow for you. But as friends you have to face each other someday. You know?” Amelia started realizing that that might be a less than the desired thing to Ananya. It felt so weird, having someone as a friend but still avoiding that person.

With narrowed eyes, Ananya dropped the subject. It really didn't feel like nothing, it felt more like Ananya was missing out on something, but she didn't know how to ask. "Well... at least our friendship has been blessed by Lana, so that's good, I think?" She then stood up, stretching out her tired limbs as she felt her body regain some energy after the tired night she'd had. Her smile never left her face as Amelia assured her that she'd do the pick up for her.

"Thank you, Amelia." She stopped stretching to smile at her gratefully, walking over to the girl to hug her. "Really, I owe you." Ananya was aware she couldn't avoid Lucas for very long - she wasn't planning on it anyway, but she wanted to give their friendship a couple days. Or at least enough time for Lucas to forget about whatever he saw last night. "I know, I'll face him again soon. Just not yet? I don't know what Lana meant by peeping, and while I may have an idea... I would prefer not to find out." If it had anything to do with that winky face Lucas had texted her, Ananya definitely did not want to know.

Hindi Translations

1) "Eh bhagvaan maine kya kiya..." – "Oh God, what have I done..."

2) "Kaminey..." – Bastard

3) "Err, namastae, aap-- Err, sorry," – "Err, hello, you--"

Divided We Stand

@Aewin
OMG!! Heeeeyyyyy!!!!

@HushedWhispers

Divided We Stand

_{Me as I post the collab between @Legion02 and I}

Divided We Stand

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Location: Bar → Side Staircase → Central Park
Interacting with: Each other_{@Legion02@Aewin}, Lana, Amelia
Exhausted → Happy → Afraid → Evassive → Elated → Challenging → Evil → Tense → Bit Tired → Caring
Energized → Tired → Happy → Concerned → Anxious → Elated → Scared → Mortified → Sleepy

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Ananya's excitement grew as the music got louder. Taking full credit as the braver souls in the crowd started following her lead to the foreign song, thus slowly bringing life to the dance floor, the drunken girl danced along to the beat of the music with little grace or coordination. She sang along to the lyrics, her fingers curling and gesturing towards some of the other guys standing awkwardly along the sidelines, hoping to get as many people involved as she could before the song could finish.

It worked for the most part. Ananya looked at Lucas, surprised that despite the dance floor growing more crowded by the minute, he was still in her line of vision - dancing. Ananya laughed. She didn't know why – she's drunk, does she really need a reason? – but she didn't expect Lucas to be dancing along with her. Though it lifted her spirits, and as the song grew to a close, Ananya stopped dancing for a moment to breathe. "Was that fun, or was that fun?" The girl's lips quirked up playfully as the song changed to something with a little more bass.

“That was-“ Lucas was used to rapid movements and loud, banging music. But mostly of the training variant. Where sweating was allowed, laughing was discouraged (by very painful hits) and the very idea of ridiculousness was weeded out by pure discipline. Dancing felt like the exact opposite of it all. Of course, Lucas had to follow Anayna’s moves. He never danced before in his life and she seemed to know what she was doing. It also helped a bunch of people realizing that they just should follow her lead. Before half of the song was over the dance floor got filled with people dancing on a song they’d probably never listen to if it wasn’t for this strange, Indian girl. “-something. God, I’m sorry, I have to sit down.” He sort of stumbled his way towards the bar, where luckily enough two bar crunches were free for them. Lucas was already dropping drops of sweat because of the dancing when he arrived at the bar, where he quickly ordered a cocktail. When Ananya arrived, he could only ask: “Okay, where the hell did you learn how to dance like that, because ” he said, as he pointed at the dance floor. “You just lead more than half that dancefloor in a song none of them heard.” It was obvious that he was in a good mood. The night had take a turn for the unexpectable: him dancing. As he expected.

"Booo," pouting at the tired villain in front of her, Ananya followed behind. Despite disappointed that the song was over and people were dancing to something else, she couldn't deny that she was also quite tired from dancing so much. She laughed breathlessly, stumbling a little closer to him so she could hear Lucas over the pounding bass of the new song. She followed after him towards the bar, taking the remaining seat to his side before letting her head drop against the bartop.

"That-" Ananya's voice started off muffled, before her head shot up, laughing again and leaning her chin against her palm, talking louder so he could hear her. "- was not dancing, that was just... uh, fun! The other girl before, the really pretty one, now she danced. I just got everyone to let loose a little bit." Ananya then turned to the bartender, tiredly ordering a glass of water to soothe her parched throat. "Now, I'm gonna be a little cocky and presume that you had a helluva time." She looked at Lucas one more time from the corner of her eye, her eyes twinkling in mischief, before she took a sip of water from the glass handed to her.

“Fun fact, that beautiful girl that danced? That’s Gianna.” He said with a smirk. Referencing her attempt to bluff her way in. He found it pretty ironic that she didn’t even know how Gianna looked. Maybe he should introduce them. Though Lucas felt as if right now wasn’t the best of time to go up to Gianna. The day had been long and once he got near Gianna he’d be forced to talk about certain things. He didn’t want to avoid her. But at the same time, being near her would summon up some undesired, recent memories. No, tonight was about forgetting. Which, in a strange way, meant forgetting Gianna. Even for just a moment.

“Some call it cocky, I call it confident.” He said, with a quick wink before he took a sip from his cocktail. “Yap. Definitely had a great time. An unexpected great time cause, honestly, I never expected to dance with an Indian girl I haven’t met until a few hours ago! But look at us! We dominated the god damn floor!” It was pretty obvious that Lucas was high spirits. Laughing at absolutely nothing as the alcohol took over more. He just let it all go, the stress, the insanity of today. It gotten the better of him before. But not tonight. This girl was too fun to let it all get spoiled over. “So what about you? Imagined your night would be like this?”

Ananya's grin dropped for a second when she remembered the lie she tried to pull over Lucas, laughing awkwardly while rubbing the back of her head. "I guess I should've researched better." She finished her drink before laughing again. "I'll give myself credit for trying. I'll accept that you tried star I've seen floating around the internet."

Ananya looked at her empty glass, contemplating whether she wanted a little more to drink. She was already too far gone, why not just throw caution to the wind and have fun? It's not like she'll get this opportunity often. She'll figure out her list of names some other time - but for now? Her goal was to have fun. "I'll have what he's having!" Ananya flagged down the bartender again, pointing at Lucas' drink before beaming at the person and thanking them. Once she was sure that her drink was coming soon, Ananya turned to face Lucas, laughing again. "I guess we're the life of the party, eh? Well I'm glad I decided to lie to your face outside. Hell-" She cut herself off as the bartender slid the cocktail towards her. She raised the glass, her hand shaking slightly as she raised it in a toast, "-I wanna raise a toast to this. To our, err, weird friendship." Could she even call what they had a friendship? Probably. She's drunk, she'll call things whatever she likes.

“To whatever the hell this is we both have!” Lucas toasted, not even knowing what they were. Tonight’s friends? Long term friends? For now, it was whatever it was to him. Tonight everything served the singular purpose of making him happy. Of course, fate had different plans for him. It was when he laughed with something Ananya said, that he picked up a particular scent.

For the entire night, a certain smell hung in the air. It was subtle. Lucas wouldn’t have smelled it if his brain didn’t randomly focus one sense at the time. Still, it was there. A sort of sweet touch in the air. But now a new scent was introduced to the room he was in. A scent his brain recognized. One his nose instinctively picked up. One he was familiar with, yet tried to forget. His mind landed back again, realizing the sudden emotional danger he was in. “Shit.” He whispered, as he suddenly looked around like some hunted deer smelling a predator. “Shit, shit, shit.” He couldn’t see her. He couldn’t see her. But she was here. He was sure of it. Far too sure. After 3 years he hoped that she wouldn’t have this effect on him anymore. But she had.

Then, if by some nightmarish version of fate he saw her. Bright lights behind her turned her all but a black figure. But the contour was enough to throw Lucas into a fight-or-flight reaction. And for the first time in his life, his body choose flight. “Shit!” he exclaimed. Immediately forgetting Ananya. Not that he wanted to forget her. It was just that his brain pushed out all that was not… her. His primal instincts took over. Frantic like a newly released animal he began to push his wait through the thick crowd. Going to the front entrance was impossible. He’d see her. No worse, she’d find him. Instead, he went towards the side staircase. He almost fell down through the door, but once it closed, he slammed his fists on the opposite wall, yelling: “Damn it!”

Was it something she said? Ananya lowered the glass, a lost expression on her face as the playful banter between the two newly classed friends suddenly turned... weird. She watched with a mix of confusion and horror as Lucas stumbled away from the bar as if he'd seen a ghost. Forgetting about her drink, Ananya stood up to follow after him. She didn't know whether she triggered something or he was finally feeling the effects of alcohol, but the Nag wanted to make sure he was okay. With the way he was stumbling through the door - almost falling! - there was no way she could leave him on his own to deal with whatever was going on.

"Hey! Lucas! What happened?" There was concern lacing her voice, but Ananya didn't approach. Instead, while keeping her distance, she stretched her arms out as if trying to pacify him from a distance. "Is everything okay? I-I'm sorry if I did something wrong." How was she supposed to help when she couldn't even think clearly? Her mind was still hazy, her head still throbbing slightly from drinking and the loud music. This... was not the fun that Ananya wanted, but she couldn't ignore a friend in need.

His brain slowly let outside impulses back into his mind. It was at the very end of Ananya speaking that he heard her. He did turn around, trying to gather his bearing again. “Yes, No! I… Ugh, just. Never mind. I’m fine. No, wait. I’m not. It’s just that. Ugh.” Well he did fail spectacularly in keeping it together in front of a new friend. How did she still have so much power over him. His heart still felt ready to skip a beat. It still wanted her. After all that happened. “You want to get out of here? Like, you know, wander Central Park maybe?” he tried not to sound too stressed out. He didn’t want to be in the club for much longer. Every lasting minute he was there she could find him. Then again, he didn’t want to ruin the night for Ananya.

Still unsure, the Nag responded "if that'll make you less freaked out, sure." Ananya took a moment to breathe before approaching. Drunk or not, Ananya didn't push her luck by asking him to tell her what just happened. It wasn't her place, plus he didn't seem like he would be able to tell her properly anyway. Instead, trying to get him to think about something else, Ananya gave him an unsure smile. "Come on, you can push me on the swings."

Going through the front entrance was out, Lucas didn't seem to want to go anywhere near the club anymore so Ananya decided to try help Lucas out of the club. Maybe some fresh air would do well for both of them. It's not like she knew anyone else in the club, so she was sure that she wasn't going to miss much if she left a little early. Plus, it was too stuffy and hot for her liking.

Taking a deep breath to keep it together, just enough to get out, and started walking down the stairs. Just one flight down and he was near the door of the alleyway. They very same door Eliana and her band had used to get in not 2 hours ago. Once outside and after a quickly look left and right, Lucas was assured that he was safe. So he could ease up. His joyful mood returned again as he said: “Sorry for that. You know, shit happens and stuff. Okay let’s go to Central Park. Though I’m guessing we should first get something to keep us going?” Lucas knew Manhattan at night better than anyone. He knew which shops kept open just a little longer than they should maybe. Or the shops where a certain bottle could be bought that one couldn’t actually see from the outside. So after a quick stop they reached the fence of Central Park with the bottle in a bag. Lucas, with somewhat of a playful grin, looked at Ananya and asked: “Did you ever actually break into a place?”

"I think that you're forgetting that I go to a school for heroes." She deadpanned. Well, technicalities. Ananya's goal was never to be a hero in the first place, but to perfect her skills as a Nagin to protect her brother and maybe one day help protect other Nags from the snake charmers from suffering the same fate her mother did years ago. Wow, who knew that alcohol would make you remember unpleasant stuff? Ananya's nose scrunched up as if she were trying to forget the memory before continuing."Well, I'm far from what one would consider a hero buuuuut," Ananya just shrugged, "I think I have enough grip on my morals to know I shouldn't break the law." She decided not to bring up what happened at the club, instead to forget about it and maybe hope that Lucas wasn't going to go crazy on her again.

“Mueh. Morals at midnight are for those either too boring or too stupid to have fun.” He teased. “Besides, it’s just getting in a park. Why the hell would they even close the place at night? It’s perfect for night strollers!” he exclaimed, examining the fence. He actually never climbed over the fence before. But hey, first time for everything! “Besides, I thought you wanted to get on the swings?” After that, he made the choice a whole lot harder. He started climbing the fence. It was high enough that it was a challenge, but he did reach the top and strategically placed himself on top of it. Between 2 spikes. He extended his hand down towards Ananya, saying: “So are you coming, or are you going to break the mood of tonight?” He definitely knew he was somewhat of a manipulative asshole now. But he was also convinced she’d have more fun if she came than if she went homebound now. Besides, he already held his arm out. Even if she wasn't that good of a climber, he'd help her out on that.

"If we get caught, I'm gonna blame you." It was an empty, childish threat, but Ananya smiled. She wanted to have fun, right? And what else could she expect from a villain? Ananya eyed the fence first, but she knew even if she did have enough strength to pull herself up, there was no way she was going to be able to climb a tall fence while she was still buzzed out of her mind. Looking at Lucas, she narrowed her eyes before taking his hand to help herself up the fence. She struggled for a moment before finally climbing over. "There is no way I'm going to be able to climb over that again, that's enough exercise for tonight." She then peered down at the ground, before hopping down.

She couldn't let him think that she was a spoilsport. Looking at the bottle in Lucas' hand, Ananya grinned as an idea formed in her mind. "How about this? Whoever swings the highest on the swings gets to drink first." She challenged.

“If a cop comes, I very much doubt he’ll ask who’s to blame of all this.” Lucas smirked at Ananya. It was true though. No cop would care ‘who’s at fault’. They’d both get arrested if one found them. Not that one would. Lucas wasn’t an idiot. He’d make sure they wouldn’t get caught. Central Park had enough nooks and crannies and darkness, in the very end, was his friend. Lucas just jumped down when the Indian girl said she wouldn’t get over the fence again. “Well, guess we’ll have to sleep here then.” He didn’t want to admit that he really didn’t want to go back to Mayweather. Only trouble awaited him there. Even in the early morning he was supposed to meet up with the principles and Mrs. Lovelace. In the back of his mind the idea lived to never return at all.

But he couldn’t do that. He had people that cared about him, that depended on him. Gianna, Brenna, Keats. He had friends that were dealing with the same problem: that Delphina was no longer Delphina. Maybe they couldn’t go back to the golden time again, but they sure as hell could make Mayweather a better place for themselves. Maybe that meant making friends with a Mayweather? Whatever doubt he may still had about befriending Ananya vanished the second she proposed the drinking game. “Are you very sure about that?” he asked, not really giving her time to answer as he took her hand and pulled her through the dark of Central Park. They soon reached the swing. What was he going to do? Play devious or nice? “You want me to go first? Or you?” Why was he playing nice?

"It'll be like camping but without the comfort of a sleeping bag. Or tent. Or anything for that matter." It wasn't the first time Ananya would have to sleep rough, she and her mother used to go to the woods nearby their home in India when she was still alive. It was fun mother-daughter bonding time while Sunaina would teach the younger snake about the life of a Nag, and often they'd nap in the woods after getting too tired to go back home. Ananya smiled faintly at the memory.

Ananya could help but rethink whether it was really a good idea to propose a drinking game, especially since she was already so buzzed. Hell, chances of Ananya even winning was probably low, but at least they'd have fun on the swings right?"You go first. I need to see how I can beat you." Lie. She needed to see whether it was a lost cause to win the challenge.

“Camping? That would require us to sleep. You think I’m going to sleep tonight?” he asked jokingly surprised at Ananya. Maybe he should sleep. He’d have a tough night ahead of himself. Then again, maybe being exhausted and letting it all go over him was a better idea. He tried defiance against the head Warden with little success already. What hope would he have with the Principles of both schools? Lucas knew that adults hate it when children are right and they are wrong. So they wouldn’t even admit it. But they love hearing how right they are, especially by those younger. Yeah, maybe just a tired, docile Lucas was required at dawn. He just had to pull through until 11, after Mrs. Lovelace’s talk. For that, he’d probably have to drown himself in caffeine, though. But after all that, he could sleep it all away.

“No seriously, haven’t you ever seen the sunrise after a long night. I mean, sure, everyone has seen the sunrise from over the horizon. But after hours and hours of darkness, the dawn is so tranquil. You have to see it!” He said, as he smiled a genuine smile. He remembered watching the sunrise from a hill after pulling a night through. He didn’t do it often, and that memory was the only one he had where he was entirely alone. He’d never forget the pure sense of serenity.

“You’re afraid you’re going to lose, aren’t you?” smirked Lucas, after Ananya said he should go first. “Any rules you want to put up before I start with this?” This was a challenge for her because Lucas knew a lot of tricks. Would she get them all? He very much doubted it.

Sleep was for the weak anyway. Why waste precious time laying in one place in a catatonic state for a couple hours when you could use that time to be productive and actually get stuff done? Sure, a nap is good here and there to freshen up a tired mind, but to waste hours doing nothing? Ananya hated it. "Watching the sun rise is always beautiful. You could even say it brightens up my mood while I pray in the morning." Ananya grinned at herself for the pun she'd made, biting down at her lip with a funny expression on her face.

"Hey! I always believe in the underdogs. You may be-" Ananya flailed her hands about, trying to figure out the words that could describe Lucas but to no avail, "...you, but I think I might have a chance." Probably more lies. Who was she trying to fool? "Only rule is... to have fun! Oh, and no powers. So that makes it two rules. Uh, don't think there's anything else I can add to that." She then gestured towards the swing, "let's fly."

Lucas grinned from ear to ear. Oh she had no idea. “Okay, that pun was so lame. Don’t do that.” He first said. Before he jumped on the swing. He had no intention what so ever to sit down. Instead, he started shifting his weight back and forth while standing. The higher center of mass allowed him to go up further and further. Until his entire swing was nearly 170°. It was insane and utterly dangerous. But oh so fun. “You sure you’re going to beat this!?” he yelled at Ananya watching. When he looked forward though, he saw the stars for just a moment before it all switched out for the ground. The tingling in his stomach made him laugh out in happiness. Something he hadn’t felt for days now. Eventually he slowed the swinging down a little. But not entirely. Instead he just jumped off at the highest point. After a quick combat roll he jumped up and, for a second, stuck with the landing. Until the dizziness from the roll and the alcohol swirling in his stomach took over and he promptly fell on his back. On the ground, gazing at the stars he was still genuinely laughing.

Now that she was not expecting. Ananya couldn't even complain seeing as she hadn't mentioned that sitting was a rule, but it didn't stop her from pouting and crossing her arms against her chest. "That's not fair! I didn't know you were gonna do that!" Ananya's laughter stopped as she watched Lucas leap off the swing and do a roll, concern building up in her until she realised he was still laughing. "Show off." She mumbled under her breath as she realised he was okay.

Unless Ananya copied what he did, she didn't think she would be able to beat Lucas. Instead, Ananya pulled off her boots, tossing the heeled shoes over her shoulders so she could walk barefooted towards the swing. Sitting down, she held onto the cord that held the swing up tightly. "Are you ready to give up that bottle?"

Lucas moved swiftly behind her, inched close to her ear and whispered: “Are you?” After that he just grabbed her around her waist, blocking any movement. Effectively stopping her from swinging. All the while he deviously laughed. “I win! I win! I win!” he kept on yelling, not caring if the world heard it. He was drunk and happy. The increased heart rate of the swinging only pumped the alcohol faster to his brain. Eventually, he did release her, moving in front of her again. Laughing like an idiot. “You said no rules, only fun.” He grinned. She should have known better when she went up against a Delphina. “Feel free to try and get back to me.” He now challenged her.

"Y-you cheat!" Ananya called out, surprised at the sudden embrace. She tried wiggling out of his grasp, but it did nothing more than just delay her from completing her half of the challenge. As Lucas walked around to face her, her mouth formed an exaggerated pout. "Chicken! You got scared that I would beat you!" Probably not, but it did wonders for her ego just to think of it like that. Hearing his challenge, Ananya's pout changed into a smirk for a split second before hiding it up with an innocent smile. "Get back at you? Well..." Suddenly, Ananya reached out to grab Lucas, her fingers brushing against his side as she mercilessly tickled him. "You're gonna regret saying that now~!"

“Sure girl, I’m the scared one.” He joyfully mocked the girl as he turned his back to her, leisurely walking up to the bottle they bought. When she talked about getting back to him, he could help but scoff at her. How could she get back at a guy like him? He was practically a tank. He could lift her up if she dared anything. Well, he did believe that until she started tickling him. Suddenly his eyes shot wide open as he started laughing far too loud. He dropped to his knees, trying to push her hands away from him. But without any focus from the laughing, he was only half successful. “Stop it! Oh, damn it, stop it! I swear stop it or you will regret it!”

Then he saw a beam of light. Suddenly his mind went back to serious mode. Of course, there were guards patrolling the place. Just putting up a fence probably wasn’t the only security they had. The flashlight betrayed the location of the guard. Lucas grabbed Ananya’s hand and started running towards a nearby rock, dragging her behind him. He promised her they wouldn’t get caught and he intended to keep that promise. Eventually, they reached the rock and Lucas pulled her in close, covering her mouth with his one hand and holding the finger of her other hand in front of his lips, motioning her to be quiet.

Who would've guessed that Lucas's weakness was getting tickled? For a moment Ananya saw Adarsh in the place of Lucas, her younger brother taunting her the same way Lucas had been doing before - so her first instinct was to just tickle the smug look off his face. Ananya never expected it to work! Despite his warnings, she continued. She wanted to get back at Lucas for stopping her, and now that she knew he was ticklish there was no stopping the Nag.

...Well, except for the patrolling guards. She saw the flash of light a little too late, glad that Lucas had been quicker to notice and react. Her mind was still reeling from the fun so when Lucas began pulling her along to look for a hiding spot, Ananya followed without resistance. Her heart thumped loudly. Were they going to get caught? The last thing she wanted was to get in trouble for being found in a place she wasn't allowed to be in. What would Mrs Lovelace say? Ananya bit down on her lip to stop herself from making any sounds, her ears listening out for the approaching footsteps of the guard nearby.

There was no way the guard couldn't tell that there were tresspassers nearby: the swing was still swaying in the wind, the seat warm to touch, not to mention Ananya's boots were carelessly tossed nearby as well as the bottle of alcohol Lucas had bought from the store. If anything, the guard would probably look around to make sure that they were gone. Hearing the guard step closer towards the rock, Ananya pressed herself further against Lucas and the rock to avoid getting caught. The snake listened for more sounds, anything that could tell her that they were in trouble. Her hand reached up to curl around Lucas's arm, tightening slightly as she wordlessly tried to warn him that the guard was still around - not that he needed any help to know that anyway. Several minutes passed before Ananya heard the retreating footsteps, the guard leaving. Trying not to be too hopeful, Ananya squeezed Lucas's arm in warning, waiting for a couple minutes longer just to be safe before letting go of his arm.

The two were now pressed close against each other. Lucas could even feel the heat of Ananya’s skin. No doubt she felt his. His heart was beating away in his chest because of the tension. Still, he kept his hand over her mouth, not knowing if even by instinct she’d make a noise. Gasping or breathing heavy would be enough for the guard to catch them. He couldn’t let that happen. A flash of thought past through him. Should they be found, he’d knock the guard out cold. He knew he could. But that was his last resort, so he shoved the thought away again. For several moments he didn’t hear anything. But the hand around his arm told Lucas that Ananya preferred to wait it out a little longer. Not a bad idea. He stayed there, with her. Holding her close but not moving an inch. He couldn’t see the light of the flashlight nor could he hear any footsteps. Eventually, after a few minutes. He released his hand from her mouth.

“He may still be around.” He whispered close to her ear. His mind was racing. The fences were high, and every business was locked down tight at night. The only reason to put a security guard on patrol at night was to check for intruders in the park itself. He guessed that there weren’t too many to get caught it. Further, while Central Park had a lot of walkways, it also had a lot of ‘wild places’ where someone on the walkway probably couldn’t see you. Central park was, in fact, filled with these spots. Besides, the guards were probably lazy. Patrolling a place like this at night probably got pretty boring. “When I say go, you dash for your boots and follow me, okay?” the bushes were the nearest spot. Beyond that was a bit of green covered by trees. From there they could still go either place they’d want. Or just stay there. Slowly Lucas crept from out of his hiding place, looking around. No light, no footsteps. He was gone for now. “Go!” He said to Ananya, as he too got up from behind the rock and dashed towards the bottle. Looking around would slow him down, so he just hoped she could follow. Lucas managed to grab the bottle and kept running towards the bushes opposite of the walkway near the swingset. Jumping in. A few seconds later he saw the flashlight shining. The guard probably didn’t see him jumping in the bushes. He just hoped Ananya was just as lucky.

If there was any moment that Ananya was most grateful for her enhanced sight and hearing, it was tonight. Whilst her abilities weren't exactly at it's peak, she could still use it enough to determine when it was safe enough to make their escape. Ananya breathed a sigh of relief as Lucas released his hand from her mouth. She knew they were far from guarenteed safety, but this was better than nothing right? Ananya numbly nodded along to Lucas's plan, anxiety building up in the pit of her stomach. 'Why'd I have to take off my boots?' She adjusted her position so she was ready to bolt towards her boots as soon as Lucas gave her the signal. And as soon as she heard him, Ananya sprinted behind Lucas, her eyes glued to her boots that were tossed about a metre away from the swings.

There was no time to think. She pushed Lucas out of her mind for a moment so all she could do was run for her shoes, but without Ananya's complete focus on the run towards it she failed to notice the protruding root of the giant oak tree, causing the girl to crash against the ground with a grunt. The fall caused her to lose her breath, and she lay still on the ground for a moment with her foot aching. The grunt and sudden rustle of clothing had caused the patrolling guard to look back once more, but Ananya rolled in her spot just in time as the flashlight illuminated the space she once occupied. This time there was no stopping the guard. Alerted, the officer came to investigate just as Ananya attempted to crawl around the tree, stumbling up onto her feet and pressing her back against the tree trunk. There was only one way out of this...

Squeezing her eyes shut, Ananya imagined her snake form. She thought of her second half, her Nag form and before she knew it her body started reacting. Numbed to the pain, Ananya felt her bones break and reform, her tanned skin slowly hidden under shiny black scales. Her eyes grew wider, and by the time she opened it, she could see much clearer in the dark. Ananya slid out of her dress, her body sliding against the ground and up the tree just as the guard turned around. Her lower half curled around a branch, high enough to be away from the guard's eyesight, and hidden just enough in case luck wasn't in her side. The guard approached the tree, his flashlight shining against her dirtied dress before he tutted under his breath, mumbling something about indecent teenagers before walking away. The nag waited, her eyes watching the guard disappear long enough before the snake slid back down along the body of the tree and the process begun again. Ananya returned to her human form, quickly and quietly changing into her clothes (and grimacing at how dirty the white fabric had become) before peeking around the corner of the tree and running towards her boots. This time she had more luck with grabbing her boots and hurriedly wandered into the direction Ananya last remembered seeing Lucas disappearing off to.

When a moment passed and Lucas still didn’t see Ananya jumping in the bush near him, he looked back. He saw her, just rolling away back towards the tree. “Damn it.” He whispered to himself. He already prepared his first. Was he willing to do it? Saying he would was one thing, but doing it was something different. That was assault. There was no preparation for it, no people to fall back on here. It was an evil thing to do, knocking someone out. But he was a villain, so he figured that yes. The next logical step after bullying would be actual assault.

But then he saw something… strange. Ananya began to transform. Her body shifted that made Lucas grimace. It couldn’t be healthy. But when she slid out of her dress, Lucas' heart jumped and he looked away. “What the…!?” he exclaimed softly, to still not alert the guard. Did she just turn into a snake!? Shoving away the shame he felt for almost seeing her without clothes he looked back, the guard was shining on the dress. For a second Lucas had to grin. What would the guard be thinking? When Ananya came back down again after the guard left (Lucas kept an eye out for him) he did look away again for a second. Not wanting to spy on a girl that was getting dressed. Or did he? He was a guy, he couldn’t help it. Sometimes he turned his head a bit, just to see her from the corner of his eyes. Until he realized what he did and forced his head to look away again.

Eventually, she reached the bushes, and Lucas quickly crawled towards her. “Okay, first off, that was awesome. Turning into a snake.” He said. “And secondly…” he opened the bottle of booze and handed it to Ananya. “…you deserve this.”

Ananya didn't exactly expect her plan to actually work. Even as she stumbled behind the bushes that Lucas was hiding in, she was still expecting the guard to suddenly notice the missing boots from beside the swing and come looking again. But when the guard disappeared around the corner, leaving the two alone again for that moment, Ananya let out a sigh of relief before collapsing, laying on her back with a soft groan. Shifting was always painful, even if Ananya was used to the pain by now, but it still hurt even today. Her joints felt sore, and all Ananya wanted to do was curl up forever. When Lucas offered her the alcohol, Ananya let out a breathless laugh before she sat up (still mindful to keep low enough to avoid detection) to take the offered bottle. "It was either that, or play hide and seek around the tree until inevitably getting caught." Then Ananya's face grew red. "Wait!" she whisper-yelled, eyes wide. "You saw that? Everything!?" Oh boy.

What other cliche was Ananya going to do? Getting drunk for the first time and breaking into a closed park wasn't enough, now she had to dress in front of Lucas!? Ananya took a swig out of the bottle, pressing her dirty palm against her mouth to muffle her cough. "If I give you this bottle, will you promise to forget whatever you saw?" She avoided looking at Lucas as she pushed the bottle in his direction, the top of her ear (and pretty much her entire face) still inflamed.

Lucas was far too far away to even care for whatever he did. To him, whatever he did, he just did. He didn’t think about it anymore. It took too much effort. He had to think about every word he said for days now. As if every syllable could be used against him in the court of law. But now he was exhausted. He couldn’t keep the façade. He silently took the bottle off Ananya and took a swig. “I saw some of it.” He answered, in a neutral voice. “Which part you want me to forget?” he asked before taking another swig. Finally, he felt serene. It was such an alien feeling to him. But now, as the cool midnight wind rustled the leaves of the trees above them, and the small spec of darkness gave them an open view of the silver dotted sky between the green above them. What else could one feel, if but for a moment, but calm and peace. He looked over at Ananya and for a second got worried. Because she looked as if she wasn’t feeling that.

"All of it, preferably. I did just give you that entire bottle as a bribe." Ananya grumbled. Ananya then stifled a yawn, her eyes stinging as she tried keeping an eye out. It would be best not to bring that topic up again, Ananya knew that if she thought about it any longer, she'd combust from the embarrassment. "So are we planning on camping here or try to get outta here?" Ananya asked. No matter how much the Nag wanted a warm, comfortable bed to curl into, Ananya could tell that she wasn't going to be able to fight off the urge to sleep for long. Shifting into a snake had drained most of her remaining energy, and now with the fun seemingly over because of the damned guards there was no reason for Ananya to try and fight her exhaustion much longer.

She was tired. He saw it in her. In the way she spoke and looked. It got even more obvious when she asked if they’d camp there. With both of them so exhausted, and him having to wake up early, sleeping in Central Park might not be such a good idea. For one, it got cold and he didn’t want Ananya to get sick. Why did he care so much about the girl? He just shrugged it off. “I got a better idea. Just euhm, stay awake a little longer.” After that he pulled his phone from his pocket and quick-dialed 1.

“Lucas, it’s 1am. What the hell!”
“Happy to hear you too, sis.”
“Idiot. Got into trouble again?”
“Euhm… Yes but-“
“Where?”
“Entrance of Central Park on 59th and 6th?”
“Why the…!”
“I’ll explain later. I just need someone to get us back in Mayweather.”
“Us?”
“Talk to you later! Love you! Bye!”

After that quick phone call, he pulled up Ananya from the ground and tried to support her as they snuck towards the nearest gate. On their walk, Lucas asked: “You got a room yet at Mayweather?” if she didn’t, he wouldn’t mind letting her sleep in his bed for a night. He heard the couches in the recreation room were pretty soft. Eventually, they reached the gate unnoticed. But it was locked and Ananya was in no way to climb over the fence. “Crap…” Lucas looked around for a moment. No cops, no activity, not even cams. Nobody would see them. He took a deep breath and a golden force enveloped his right hand. With one slam the metal bent a little. With the second slam, there was a sizable dent in the lock. After 3 hard punches the lock finally gave in and he could open the gate. “That’s going to be in the news…” Lucas said to himself, as he and Ananya get out of Central Park and awaited their transport.

Lana Farweight was pretty ‘used’ to having to pick her baby brother up. He got in all sorts of trouble. Constantly. And she saved him up. Constantly. But that’s what family is for. Oh, he’d definitely get a scolding. She’d do it tomorrow when he had a hangover. Just to make it worse. But she would come. Always. Family cares for each other. Eventually, she arrived at the entrance. Seeing the gate slightly ajar. She knew better than to ask. She saw her baby brother and… a girl? Not one of Gianna’s gang. She certainly wished he’d stop talking to that monster. Did he? “Hey! You two! Get in!”

A little longer? She could do that. Probably. Ananya stifled another yawn before nodding, letting Lucas pull her up. She didn't let him do all the work, last thing she wanted to do was make Lucas drag a dead sleeping body towards the gate when the chances of being caught by another patrolling officer was high. Ananya eyed him from the corner of her eye when he asked about her room, nodding slightly. "I don't recognise my roommate though. Amelia? Yeah, Amelia something. Huh. It's strange how I don't even know many Mayweather students. Is that weird?" She was barely aware that she was rambling. It was the only thing that was keeping her awake, except for the lingering fear from almost getting caught. "I should stop hiding in the training room and library so much. Maybe that's why I don't have many friends. OH god I was supposed to get names for that tourna-thingie. Y'know that one-" Her rambling grew quieter as Lucas broke the lock open to let the two of them out. It was only a matter of time before someone came to pick the two of them up. Vaguely aware that it was possibly the person Lucas was talking to on the phone earlier, Ananya could barely raise her arm in a limp wave before sighing. She didn't need to be told twice to get in. The quicker she could get to a comfortable surface, the better. "Another friend? Hello. I'm snake. No. I'm Anananya." She huffed as she said her own name wrong. "Wow, I don't even know if this is the alcohol or the sleep talking. Hey. Since we're friends, you should know that this guy is a peeper. He watched me get dressed. How rude, right? I paid him with alcohol to shut him up so..." She prattled on, her voice growing quieter as her eyes grew heavier. She couldn't stop herself as her head slowly leaned towards the side, resting on Lucas' shoulder before mumbling something that sounded like comfy before growing silent.

“Nice to meet you, Anananya. That’s a pretty name.” Lana was always genuine with her compliments. Especially now as Lucas finally brought a good looking girl with him. Not that she thought that Brenna or Gianna weren’t good looking. They just weren’t looking like they were up to any good. Then again, she had no doubt Lucas got the poor child into some trouble they needed to be saved from. Her brother was such a bad influence. Always had been since… well… Her. When both the kids got seated, Lana started the car and the short trip back towards Mayweather. The girl was definitely a cute one as she mumbled on about roommates and friends.

“He did what now!?” Not even a few seconds into the ride and she already threw a furious gaze in the back mirror towards Lucas. Who sat there petrified. “I-I can explain!” He stampered, clearly fearful of his sister’s wrath. But then he realized literally everything they did was pretty much illegal. The more Lana would know, the worse. Especially now. What if Mrs. Lovelace was still awake!? The thought was stupid, should he be sober. But his drunk brain was already panicking. “I –euhm- we…just.” No, he couldn’t find an excuse. For one he was drunk and tired. So lying already got harder. But him lying to his sister? That was just impossible. “Sorry..?” he stampered out, in a way of half-hearted apology as he didn’t know what else to say. “Oh you’re going to get it tomorrow. You better charge that phone!” It was clear Lana was not at all pleased.

But in secret she was. The two in the back were total cuties. Whatever Ananya said, she clearly trusted Lucas as she was now literally sleeping on his shoulder. Maybe he finally found a good girl for him? She’d have to stick around for this. Family day would be the perfect opportunity to get to know the girl better.

After a trip that felt like it took ages, Lucas and Ananya were finally dropped off near the dorms. But to Lucas, it was far too clear Ananya was in no state to even move. So he could do only one thing. Gathering up all the power he had he lifted her off her feet and carried her up the stairs. “Oh god, this was a mistake.” He mumbled to himself. Luckily he knew Amelia’s room number. Only for the sole reason that she was the only one who knew he got hurt so bad. If she leaked it, he would know where to find her. But now he knocked on her door for a whole different reason. The girl that opened up, though, was not the beautiful ray of sunshine that he saw at the infirmary. “It’s 2 in the morn- oh… Oh come on in.” the girl sniffled. Her make-up was smudged with long lines of her cheek. Clearly, she had been crying. A lot. In fact, he was fairly sure she still was. Silent he walked in, put Ananya down in her bad and finally covered her with her blanket.