AlteredTundra

Palm Beach Royals: Senior Year

_{An @metanoia & @Ejected Collaboration
Featuring Carter Newton & Stella Lambert}

"And you-" Carter said as he redirected his attention to Stella, grabbed her by the hand, and spun her in a quick circle. "You look very beautiful. Enjoying the dance so far?"

Insert that immediate blush, Carter always knew how to generate that kind of reaction out of her. Every inch of her face was red from the bottom of her eyelids where her eyeliner and concealer did well to hide the evidence of her sleepless nights this past week to the creases of her mouth that flashed such a wide smile she could hardly contain the unflattering giggles that followed her cinderella twirl.

As she unattractively snorted, she said, “y-yeah! I mean, yeah I am. But, I mean,” she stuttered. Stella took in a breath, leaned close to Carter, her hands accidentally (well partially at least) came to a full-stop on his chest, “can we go talk? I mean, somewhere a bit more private?” Her heart was beating at insane pulses but she kept her composure. She had to be the bravest version of herself tonight and especially in the minutes that were sure to follow.

Almost instantly, a troubled expression came across Carter's face. "Is everything okay, Stell?" He asked. But after taking a quick glance around at those who still stood not too far away, Carter simply grabbed hold of Stella's hand and nodded his head in understanding. "We'll be back. You two have fun!" The young man said to April and Santiago with a half-smile before leading Stella towards the nearest exit.

The two didn't speak until they’d stepped outside of the country club and the sound of the DJ's current musical selection had died down a bit; The garden was only occupied by Ariana, but as soon as they entered, she left. So, for the moment, Carter figured that it was the perfect spot for them to have their conversation. Carter didn't let go of Stella's hand as he turned to face her, an inquisitive look on his face. And once again, this time slightly more concerned, he asked her, "Is everything alright, what's going on?"

Stella had a vast mixture of emotions flowing around her body from anxiety that crept up her spine like a slowly-slithering snake to the uncertainty that made her palms almost sweaty, but she also felt warmth at the touch of Carter’s hand. As it centered around her heart, causing it to flutter the moment their eyes met, Stella smiled at his concern. “Oh, sorry,” she quickly apologized, “I’m just…” She speedily thought for maybe a few moments, biting her lip. Get a hold of yourself, Stella! “I just wanted to talk is all!” No, that wasn’t all you wanted. “Spend time with you, and, well...” Stella squeezed his hands. “Carter, I like you!” She blurted out.

"You had me worried there for a sec," Carter said with a light chuckle, letting out a sigh of relief upon hearing that nothing was wrong. But his breath caught once more when Stella finally said what had been on her mind. She likes me. Carter could feel his ears begin to burn as he stood before Stella; hearing her say those words instantly made his heart rate quicken. It didn't take much longer for a smile to spread across Carter's face as he said, "I like you too, Stella."

“Carter…” She softly smiled at him.

No matter how bad things got at home, there was always the dream scenarios she had created for herself, the perfect “what if” life she painted to help quell the stress caused by her fights with Chrissie that always ended up like this: Carter looking at her with that too-cute-to-handle smile and the way specs of autumn amber danced in his eyes whenever he centered them on her and him uttering some version of “I like you”. She had practiced over and over what she would say to him if he ever said it to her, regardless of what prompted it like she was giving a speech but she couldn’t prepare for how speechless being in the reality of the moment.

Stella tried to shake off her nerves and she half-laughed. “I’m sorry.” Instinctively, the brunette apologized. She didn’t know why she did that; just one of those habits she couldn’t break. “I never imagined you’d feel the same. I mean, I just...I don’t know, it’s been a while since I’ve liked someone as much as I do with you and I guess I didn’t think you’d feel the same.”

"You don't have to apologize." Letting out a laugh of his own, Carter found himself interlacing Stella's fingers with his. "It's funny that you say that, cause I've been feeling the same way." And it was true. Carter had already known by then exactly how he felt about Stella but had been putting off outwardly expressing these feelings to her in fear of being rejected. It wasn't like Carter didn't have any past experiences with girls, but being with Stella was different. He liked being around Stella. He liked the way that she made him feel. It was deeper than surface-level. And truth be told, he was still a little stunned that she felt the same way.

"But now that we've finally come clean with each other... why don't we just make it official, you know? I for one, think we'd make a pretty great couple," And then came the nerves again. Carter anxiously scanned Stella's face for a brief moment, waiting for some sort of reaction. "So what do you say?"

“Official?” She repeated back, her mouth forming a small ‘o’ before curving into a small smile.

It wasn’t like she hadn’t thought about it. Of course, she thought about it. For heaven’s sake, the only reason she and Marcel didn’t work out was because of how strong her feelings for Carter were. It was beyond physical. Carter was hot and he was every girl’s dream guy: handsome, sweet, confident but not cocky, and he had a certain flair about him - an energy that remained unmatched. On top of everything else, he introduced her to a world that she wasn’t active in before. Ever since November, she had become a stronger person, someone who was getting to know layers about herself she didn’t know existed. She was happy with Carter and whenever she was with him, she felt the happiest she’s ever been, even happier than when she was with Oliver.

Words right now might hold some weight but Stella had been trying to act more than she had done so in the past. So she said nothing. She leaned forward and gave him a short kiss on his lips. As soon as she did that, she immediately pulled away not because she wanted to but her heart was beating so fast that she needed to take a few deep breaths to prevent it from breaking out. “Wow. That was...wow,” was all she could say when she found a moment to speak.

"I guess I'll take that as a yes?" Carter said, a goofy grin spreading across his face in response to Stella's forwardness. And without hesitation, the young man gently lifted Stella's chin, bent his head down, and placed his lips on hers once more, this time a little longer than before. "What do you say we head back in and finally have our dance?"

Immediately on his suggestion, Stella hugged him as tightly as she could. All of her doubts and nerves and especially the attempts Chrissie had made to sabotage her potential relationship -- not a potential relationship now! -- with Carter seemed like a distant nightmare. The only thing she could focus on and the only thing she wanted to was dance the night away with her boyfriend. My boyfriend… That thought had her hook his arm, clinging to it. Probably for the first time in a really long time, Stella was starting to feel like her old self again.

As they walked towards the exit/entrance, Stella smiled at Carter. “I hope they play a song with a fun beat! I’m in a mood to shake it!”

Palm Beach Royals: Senior Year

Kavi had wandered around the ballroom, avoiding the dancefloor, avoiding the crowds of people that split for Ryland and Julie like they both were Moses and they were the Red Sea. He remembered shaking his head at how ridiculous it was that Ryland Aspen, the guy who the queen regent had pinned against someone’s locker not three weeks ago (give or take) and now she was dancing with him.

And that made Kavi think back to a time that was a hell of a lot simpler than right now.

In his mind and in the minutes that followed him slowly keeping to the walls, hands in his white jacket pocket, his legs going directly in front of each other in the slowest walk he’s ever been on, Kavi remembered way back at the beginning of the year when Santiago had his party and when he had his first real exposure to Ariel.

Well, not his first exposure to her but since then, they were pulled in to each other’s sphere like they were the unstoppable force and the relationship that blossomed was the immovable object. No matter what happened between them, whether him two-timing her and Nadia or kissing April or the whole shitfest that happened with Rye and how Kavi’s poor choice of words made Ariel doubt him again, there was always something between them.

And I even told her straight up: I love you, but that wasn’t enough.

Or maybe he gave up too easily.

buzz! Buzz!

The vibrations of his cell phone from inside his jacket pocket brought Kavi out of the deep thought he had found himself in. He quickly checked it and saw that it was Nikki calling him. He answered and made his way back through the entrance and outside so he could hear her. “Nik, what’s up? Everything okay?”

“You mean aside from my utter boredom at home?” Her usual attitude was, as he knew it to be, in fine form. “Yeah, I’m just peachy!”

“Well, that’s great. So what’s up?”

“What’s up? You know what’s up, Kav! Did you talk to her yet?”

“Her who?” He asked, feigning not knowing who she meant.

“You know who her who! Your fiery ex is her who!”

Kavi leaned against the wall in the entrance to the country club and let out a sigh. “Yeah, I talked to her,” his voice was flat and he knew what was coming next.

“So, can I assume by your cheery reaction that you didn’t tell her what you said you would?”

If Nikki was here, he would nod. “Correct!” Kavi confirmed, hearing his sister sigh from her end of the call. “Don’t give me that. Listen, I tried. I told her I love her but--”

“--But ‘it’s not enough. I hurt you and I can’t undo that’--"

Kavi laughed. “--is that supposed to be me?”

“Maybe it is, maybe it’s not. The bottom line is you chickened out and let her walk away without you telling her how you really feel.”

There wasn’t any hiding it from Nikki. Where everyone else didn’t see his bullshit, she not only called him out on it, but she felt a sense of pride when she exposed it to him. And he couldn’t be angry at her for that, not when he knew that she was absolutely right. She knew what he wanted to tell her because Kavi had confided in her. Their bond had been closer than ever and especially after things between their parents only became less hidden. It was out in the open that their parents had separated and there was nothing Kavi or Nik could do but be there for each other. And they were. So much so that Kavi told Nikki that he still loved Ariel and he wished he didn’t fuck up for the millionth time.

“Hello!? Did you hear me, tulala?”

He shook his head, snapping himself out of his own thoughts. “Sorry,” he apologized, “what did you say?”

Nikki's response came with a loud sigh. “What I said is you need to find her and make her see you for the first time since you first fell for her. Make her see that it’s not a mistake to give you one more chance. For god sake, Kavi!” She yelled, causing Kavi to remove the phone from his ear for a few seconds. “Man the fuck up, bro! You’re Kavi fucking Salvador and you aren’t you without Ariel fucking Grey by your side. So stop being a pussy and get your girlfriend back!”

Kavi’s end of the call fell silent for nearly a minute. He heard his sister’s voice from her end, but he blocked it out by focusing on what she had told him to do. Of course, he knew she was right, there was no disputing that - but there was more than just what he wanted to do to consider. His relationship with Ariel, while being the most consistent thing in his life since his senior year began, has been toxic. It wasn’t just him that made it like that. When they got together, it was like adding a torch with the opposite end of the stick dipped in oil to a fast-spreading flame. It was like they had something in them that added a temporary relief from pain, but when the drugs wore off, history repeated itself. Kavi knew this and Ariel knew it. They both understood that regardless of anything when they were together, it was more of the same.

And yet…

“Hellooooo!” Nikki called out to Kavi.

“Yeah,” he responded as quickly as her voice went quiet, “I gotta go. Thanks for everything.”

Before she could get another word in, Kavi hung up and leaned back against the wall behind him, sighing out heavily. As he closed his eyes and contemplated what he should do, he caught the sight of Julie and Ryland Aspen walk pass him, arms hooked. He blinked repeatedly, thoroughly confused. “Well, that just happened,” he muttered to himself, ignoring the happy couple.

As he began his walk back into the ballroom, he still hadn’t decided what he was gonna do. There was a mountain of choices with just as many outcomes but Kavi was a little more sure of the how it was going to play out. He just had to find Ariel.

A few minutes later that were spent keeping to the wall, Kavi saw some of his classmates in their natural habitats but none caught his eye by the sight of red hair he couldn’t stop himself from smirking at. No matter how many times they went through it and definitely no matter how toxic they were to each other, at the end of it all, the universe put them together for a reason and even his kid sister knew that reason. Nikki knew things he didn’t and he thought that was brilliantly scary. Clearly something she got from their mother.

So he followed the fiery path she left.

Every step he took brought the limited break in his confidence back up. The things he left unsaid because he saw how much it tore her apart to talk to him kept swirling around in his head, aligning in the order of how he would say it: first, he would list the reasons why they shouldn’t work, the reasons why she’s justified in wanting to move on. He’ll tell her understands, that he didn’t blame her one bit, that he knows who and what he is and that nothing could change that. Then he’d tell her all of the reasons why he loves her and why she made him a better person, why she made him to want to be a better person. He’ll beg, get on his knees and beg for one last chance. He’ll do it in front of anyone who wanted to see him grovel. He’ll do it no matter the amount of laughs that leave his classmates’ lips or if he was recorded doing it, which he knew he absolutely would be. He’d tell her that she has every right to deny her, but that he loves her for who she is on the inside.

And all of that would never happen because Kavi saw her with Sawyer. And in that moment, he didn’t know what to think or feel. Kavi wasn’t sure if he should give Sawyer a right hook and tell him to stay away from Ariel or if he should laugh. Of all the people who could be given her time of day right now, the brother of someone who was one of Kavi’s victims. This had to be his karmic justice. First, it was Elijah’s justice, to which the universe rewarded him with a stern slap to the face from the crimson queen and now it was his crimson queen with Gavin Lockwood's brother.

“Figures.” His voice was low and Kavi locked his gaze on Ariel and Sawyer for a solid seven seconds. She had fallen over and was getting up. Sawyer was a good guy, so Kavi knew he would be a gentleman to her, probably apologize and say it was his fault for not looking. If there was anything he was to take away from this, it was that she might actually have some chance of being with someone she deserved. “Yeah, that’s cool.”

Probably in the biggest shock for him, Kavi wasn't angry or upset. He didn't feel the usual urge he had been overcome with in the past to rush over and beat someone's face in. Could he? Sure. It wouldn't take much. Sawyer was bigger than Gavin and Kavi had no doubt that he could get his licks in before any real damage could be inflicted. No, that wasn't it. Kavi was, for the first time, understanding something about himself and about how things were going to be for him from here on out. Call it an epiphany or personal growth, but Kavi understood that he no matter how badly he wanted to be with Ariel, which was a lot, he had his own shit to figure out before anything could happen between them again. That in itself provided him with some peace of mind.

World Beyond the Lexicon

As much as I would love to get more interactions in, Caelum is too exhausted to do anything but sleep the night away.

WitchBlood

@Blu As much as I wanted to join this, I am afraid I just don't have a concrete idea for a character. Sorry but given this unfortunate development, I'm going to withdraw my interest. Good luck with the roleplay!

Cancelled - until next time family. Thank you for understanding.

▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃ Mood — Better. Following Sami's strongly-phrased suggestions ▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃

She might’ve expected Val or AJ to snap at people like that, but the usually chill Sami was the last person Ava thought would lose his cool. She would’ve said a few things if she wasn’t the least bit terrified that he would bite her head off even more than he had. That and he wouldn’t pour her drink. Yeah, call Ava linear all you want, but she needed it right now, so she didn’t have any problem enduring this rare show of emotion from the most unlikely person to showcase it. Ava glanced at Emi and Josie, rolling her eyes away from Sami so she didn’t have to hear round two of whatever slew of this and that he had in store; instead, she took her drink and swung the stool around, her body rotating along with it. Deep down she knew he was right: they were all supposed to be friends and Ava wanted to be friendly. It’s not like she didn’t have it in her, but Josie was one of the few people she might not ever be polite to. It wasn’t anything against her per se, just what Josie did to Nate and how Ava had to act hostile out of loyalty for one of her oldest friends. Yeah, it wasn’t anything personal, right? Sipping her mojito, Ava swung herself back and forth, keeping to a sort of rhythm as Sami put on a catchy song, the beat infecting Ava as she descended off of her stool. She shook her hips, swaying them slightly in every direction they could. She bobbed her head and casually sipped more of her mojito. She turned around and jogged carefully over to Emi, tugging at the blonde’s arm with her free one. “C’mon, dance with me.” Ava didn’t wait for an answer. She pulled Emilia off her seat, though only did so with enough force to pull her to her feet and not spill her drink.

---

Video Games: The General Discussion & Community Thread

horizon 2 and Project Athia gives me life.

Also PS5 memes are wild.

Shuffle your music player and post the first 10 songs

_{Be Alright — Arts The BeatDoctor (feat. Skiggy Rapz & Wudstik) — Progressions
Old Town Road — Lil Naz X (feat. Billy Ray Cyrus) — Old Town Road (Remix)
Senorita — Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello — Senorita
White Rabbit — Egypt Central — White Rabbit
All I Do Is Win — DJ Khaled (feat. Ludacris, T-Pain, Snoop Dogg, and Rick Ross) — DJ Khaled
Mercury — Sleeping At Last — Atlas: Year One
Armed and Ready — Jeff Williams and Casey Lee Williams — RWBY Volume IV Soundtrack
Goodbye My Lover — James Blunt — Back to Bedlam
Faded — Alan Walker (feat. Iselin Solheim) — Different World
Shatter Me — Lindsey Sterling (feat. Lzzy Hale of Halestorm) — Shatter Me}

Shuffle your music player and post the first 10 songs

_{Waiting on the World to Change (John Mayer Cover) — Boyce Avenue — Cover Sessions, Volume Six
Ladies and Gentleman — Saliva — The Blood-Stained Love Story
Peacemaker — Iced Earth — Plagues of Babylon
4AM — Our Lady Peace — Clumsy
Astronaut (Something About Your Love) — Mansionair — Shadowboxer
Death By Rock and Roll — The Pretty Reckless — Death By Rock and Roll
Love Songs — Lukas Graham — Love Songs
Fashionably Late — Falling in Reverse — Fashionably Late (Deluxe Edition)
Delicate — Damien Rice — O
Kill Em' With Kindness — Selena Gomez — Revival (Deluxe Edition)}

World Beyond the Lexicon

---

Courtyard → Class C-D

---

Shortly after his battle with Alberta, while Caelum’s clothes soaked in the slowly-dripping blood from his open wounds, Caelum himself had a similar experience with his defeat. Somewhere deep down, he knew that Alberta was a formidable foe. She was someone who not only had towered over most around her but she proved to be insanely gifted in magic and her raw power was nearly twice as impressive. He threw all he had at her and it proved to not be enough.

“But that’s not…” Caelum wrestled with something that took his attention away from what professor Nyx was saying until he decided to let it go and focus on what the professor was saying.

After Nyx finished, Caelum’s mouth sank low when it was revealed that the deciding factor of those who were allowed to stay wasn’t if they won or lost their fight. At the end of it all, the true purpose of the fights was to see how well all of the students controlled their mana.

This information sent Caelum deep into his mind. He had a limited reserve of energy left, having given most of it into his fight with Alberta, so he wasn’t able to correctly process it, but that didn’t render him completely immune to the sweeping effect that Nyx’s authority had on the class. Nearly their entire class was expelled. Only a lucky -- or unlucky depending on how one saw it -- thirteen were left.

He took a slow glance around and he didn’t know if he was relieved that Alberta was still in the class or if he regretted mouthing off to her during their bout. He said a lot of terrible things that he didn’t mean. He wondered if apologizing to her would help whatever punishment she had in store for him down the road or if it would only make it worse. Caelum was rarely one to second-guess himself, but he decided against it and faced forward.

In a flash of darkness, Caelum, as well as everyone remaining were transported from the battleground to the entrance of the main building. In the small amount of time that it took, he felt the effects of whiplash starting to hit him. His entire head to shoulder region felt weak and stiff, his body more fatigued than usual, and any movement Caelum made was met with temporary paralysis. Thankfully for his sake, it started to fade and he slowly walked, following the others to the dorm building.

The time spent walking was great and his speed was slow. The weight of Stormbringer never felt so apparent as it did now. Every aching limb in Caelum’s body begged him to take breaks. Even after the first aid, he received after the battle couldn’t cover everything. He was still incredibly weak but he was stubborn. Just as he had been in the fight that rendered him completely exhausted, he wouldn’t stop until he reached his room.

And as he entered his assigned dorm room - Room C-D - Caelum made sure to take a quick inventory of the room and see just how spacious it was. He had been used to cramped and otherwise unsavory living situations for most of his life. From his home at his village to inns and huts, Caelum’s expectations weren’t high. Hell, he wasn’t picky either, but from his quick lay of the land, he was quite pleased with it. Then again, as long as he had a bed to sleep on, he was satisfied.

The sword-wielder dragged his feet into the common room and found the couch. It was fitted with a decent cushion to provide comfort. His head hit it first and his body soon followed. His body sank into the couch and he let out a sigh of content relief. “This is nice,” he muttered, closing his eyes. “I wonder who I have for roommates?” He asked himself, falling into a temporary rest.

Current Mood in One Gif