❄ (frostfern) wrote in carpediem_rp, @ 2015-12-06 08:05:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | character: jack frost (dropped), character: mariko mimasaka (dropped), thread: complete |
Let’s play a love game, play a love game,
Who: Jack and Mariko
Where: Down by the lake, where they had their first kiss.
When: November 29/Evening
Warning: Making up....sorta
Status: Closed/Complete
Confusion. Had he really been that naive to not see this coming from a mile away? She was a Slytherin princess that came from money, a family with a high reputation and a strong business sense. She was strong, but he was not entirely sure how independent she really was when the weight of a legacy that rested heavily on her shoulders. It was because of this reasoning that Jack had come to the conclusion that she had no other choice in the matter. Certain things were expected of her, and he was a segway for an escape to a world where she did not have to be what the world wanted her to be. Right?
Leaning far over on the rock he stood upon, peering down at the reflection of a boy staring back at him on the glossy surface of the lake. The cold air of winter had begun to creep along the shore already in the form of crystalised frost, and the water was certain to be colder than it had been a few weeks ago when they were knee deep in muck, kissing each other with naught a care of the world that seemed to stop around them. Plucking a snow covered rock from under the blanket of white, dusting it off before he arched back and threw it against the calm glass sheet, watching it skip a few times before sinking.
Jack had not wanted to admit that he was hurt and disappointed, so instead he covered it up with that cheeky smile and continuing trouble making antics. He hated being alone, but the situation had called for some much needed quiet time away from people and any rules that would surely make him go stir crazy. Instead, the way the crisp evening air filled his lungs gave a soothing sense of calmness that he had been in search of. His scarf wrapped a few times around his neck and the thick zip up hoodie had been the top layer of a few. He was in no need of his gloves anymore, now that the magic had returned to the school after the mishap and things internally had fallen back into stride. Well, aside from this dull ache in his chest that just did not seem to want to pass. It sucked.
Turning his blue eyes to the set of skates he’d slung over his shoulder before making the trek down to the water’s edge. They weren’t his, he’d found them in storage with some of the winter supplies hidden away at the school. Hockey skates, they were a little older but they fit him none the less. But first, the rink had to be made and maybe, just maybe, he’d feel a ton better after losing himself for a few hours.
It was only the day after the Scribbler had been released, and the day after she had also publically dismissed it coldly. It would have made her parents proud, that she resisted temptation unlike her brother. That she carried their name proudly with dignity and class befitting their station. It was a necessary evil, and brought about a tightness in her chest that she had only let linger briefly.
But she handled it the same way she handled everything else that hurt her, she had boxed it up and stored it away in a corner of her mind where it wouldn’t hurt her anymore. Some people would say it was unhealthy, that she needed to face things and deal with them but that was not her particular method of coping with things. It had worked out fairly well since she was a kid. Now she was taking a pleasant walk, alone, focusing on her friends and the state they would be in from the effects of that terrible rag.
Her steps stopped suddenly, the newest most fashionable winter boots available ceased in front of a white arctic hare that had settled itself in front of her seemingly materialized out of the snow itself, “Bunnymund.” she recognized the animal immediately and she was fairly sure that he recognized her as well. Where was his master? Quickly, her eyes darted around the grounds looking for a familiar set of blue eyes and excited smile, finding none. Looking back at Bunnymund she opened her mouth to speak-- as if he would answer her--before she could the rabbit took off like a bullet towards the lake.
”Stop!” Japanese. Maybe her mind was more out of sorts than she had realized. She was torn, on one hand the rabbit was not her problem. On the other, Jack would be heartbroken if something happened to him. A sigh, an angry mutter and she followed after him against her better judgement.
Hopping along, leaving a trail of rabbit prints in the snow towards the white bank of the lake where he knew Jack was isolating himself when he really should not have been. Like with most whom had a special connection with their familiars, Bunnymund and Jack had been no exception as they had been bound together in the natural wizarding order of things since they had been together. Their bond had run deeper than anyone could know, and when Jack turned the moment the hare had rounded the tree trunk he’d known that it would have been sooner or later he’d be found out.
“Hey buddy,” he muttered turning his attention back to the still lake before hawking back yet another flat stone he had found under the white blanket. Just as the rabbit hopped to his side, Jack wound up far behind and maybe lifting his leg to gather more momentum for the release. Well, that is until he heard the crunch of the freshly fallen snow under a set of footsteps trailing not too far behind his better half.
“You were followed,” his blunt statement had been laced with a bit of annoyance, hoping to crap the rabbit didn’t sell him out to a teacher or something. He wasn’t suppose to be down here on his own after the sun had gone down. But like many things involving rules and regulations, Jackson was not one to follow them so easily. His eyes squinted to the approaching silhouette of the small figure that couldn’t be anyone else but a another student. Turning his attention back to the lake, he continued on with the wind up and let the rock skim across the calm plane of the surface, as he had done many times between his first arrival and now. Hopefully the intruder would just pass and ignore him and allow him to wallow in his own woes until that ache had dulled to nothing. Nothing. Void. Blank spaces. He should have been used to it by now anyhow. How dumb.
Of course. For a Snake who had tutors before she had friends, Mariko had let herself be led and tricked rather easily. It would be embarrassing if she wasn’t now focused on the awkward position she now found herself in. It seemed like Jack hadn’t realized who she was, or maybe he was going to ignore her. Well, it was hard to blame him.
Now she had a choice, she could turn and leave without him being the wiser. Her self given quest regarding making sure the rabbit was safe was complete, her good deed for the week done. Or month. Either way. Or she could speak to him, maybe they could go back and act like the Scribbler(and her dismissal of it) hadn’t happened.
“You should be more careful of him.” Of course, her pride won out. Mariko, like the previous generations of Mimasaka’s before her, detested being ignored. Or not seen. Alright so they liked the attention and justifying their work on everything about them. Nothing wrong with that. Besides, she had done a good thing, someone at least should know about it. With that she turned, pivoting on a tiny heel to walk back to the castle. Maybe find Skye, or one of the Slytherin girls to gossip about silly things that didn’t really matter.
Just as he was about to throw the last of the small rocks he had compiled, his thoughts had been torn from him by the sweet sound of her pretty voice that he could never forget. His eyes closed for a moment to gather his composure in order to formulate a response that was suitable for the acquaintances she wanted to be. See this was where he felt most of his confusion. They had been on dates, or he was led to believe that they were. The way her small fingers tangled through his choppy blonde hair that day under the tree by the forest….away from the school. The Astronomy tower where she cuddled up between his legs and Bunnymund on her lap as she listened to his babble about the stars.….after hours...playing with curfew. Or how their first kiss seemed to melt together like it ...just belonged together. She was laughing. Enjoying the moments shared between them and even didn’t mind so much the muddy mess smeared over her nice blue dress….until they had been spotted by that group of girls in the distance and she took off faster than he could ask her why. Well, now he knew.
His eyes turned to the Hare at his side before casting a glance over his shoulder to where she stood as radiant and done up as usual. He wondered if he had even met the real Mariko under all that glammar, wealth and lineage. He was convinced he had.”We have a connection, he knows where to find me,” he offered a smile before he turned back to the lake he’d been debating on turning to his personal ice skating rink for the past hour or so. “What are you doing out here so late,” people can see, you know, he wanted to add but the bitter words didn’t come because he knew her reasoning was her own and it was not his place to judge her for it. Though, did that mean they couldn’t be friends? As much as it did hurt to know that she could end up with someone else that could not make her smile the way he had appeared to do. He frowned at the thought.
“Do you want to go skating?” he asked her, though his heart had been racing for the anticipating rejection that was sure to come. His eyes lifted to the not yet frozen lake that stretched far across the adjacent shore with the soft rise of cooling mist lifting from the surface with the enchanting silver shimmer of the moon hanging over a cloudless twilight backdrop.
Mariko had never had a pet. Between following her parents over the world for various meetings and gatherings, then traveling from school back home, along with the fur and smell it had been agreed that pets were just not the best idea. So she took his word for it, regarding Bunnymund, that she had no reason to be worried. Or maybe she did, and he didn’t want her concern? The thought stung a little, and she tried to sweep aside the feeling like hiding empty bottles under a bed.
She had frozen, with his words, hands in pretty pink gloves tense in the pockets of her blue winter coat. He sounded so kind. But his voice was toned down, she noted. He lacked his usual enthusiasm, that he usually had in all things, especially her. Closed off. Another sting, knowing that it was probably her that had caused it. Since when did she care though? Never. it didn’t matter what Bucky had said, some things were unchangeable, this was one of them.
“I fancied a walk.” Obviously. That was clearly what she was doing and she didn’t need to justify herself to him. Right? Right. She owed him nothing. Back turned and determined to go back to her common room, sit by the fire and return back to the life she led before Jack. A leg raised to take another step before she heard his second question. Ice skating. Of course the boy so obsessed with winter would want to go ice skating with the girl he was enamored with. It would be just like a muggle movie, or a snowglobe.
Words fought their way to her mouth, I would love to, being at the forefront. But she had hurt him. In front of everyone. Anything more would just be stringing him along because he knew without a shadow of a doubt where she stood now, so she should leave. Shouldn’t go ice skating. But she was anyway. He brought out a side of her that, now spoiled by finding someone so accepting, did not want to go away. So she turned back, a smile on her face somewhere between her picture perfect fake ones she practiced and the sincerity that she usually had only for him, Skye and Bucky, “Yes. I would.”
When her answer had come after a long moment of silence between them, knowing that she too was mauling over her own choices and what would be the best for her family. Jack had not come from money, or at least he did not think he did. Otherwise, he would have known the day he’d been picked up but the Ministry the day they had found him in the snow that night. Surly relatives would have come to seek him out if he was of any importance at all? But none, in the six years he’d been at Hogwarts. The six years he’d busted his ass at Honeydukes so he could at least have something to his name other than nothing at all. He couldn’t even imagine what it was like for her having to deal with such pressure. It only solidified his interest in digging a little deeper into his past, kissing goodbye to his freedom and the binds that tied them down. He was a free spirit after all.
Leaping down from the familiar rock he’d been standing upon, the same one he and Mariko’s shoes had shared the day they had kissed. His heavy boots making a crunch sound against the lightly packed snow as he stepped to the water’s edge. “Might wanna stand back for this one!” clapping his hands together and giving a sharp rub of his hands to psych himself up. He’d done this once before, but it was like, the end of the Spring and classes were ending for the year so the groundskeeper was more than a little ticked about it. OOPS.
He did not need his wand for this, as for some spells he did not feel the need for the conductor. Jack was more than enough conductor when it came to his specialty, though admittedly it did make it far easier to control. But maybe he did not want to control it as much this time? Maybe he wanted to just let it pass through him, exposing the exceptional talent he possessed to show that he was not completely useless in her eyes. Perhaps he was a fool for thinking such things. Why did he care what she thought when she so bluntly did not care for him?.
Crouching, Jack spread his bare hands just touching the surface of the glossy water and taking a deep inhale of breath before he exhaled it between his hands. “Hyldýpi frysta” and instantly the magic began to sprout from it’s host with the deep sound of expanding freezing water with loud crunch and pops extending a safe thickness in depth and spreading the entirety of the body of liquid until not a single drop was left unfrozen. Indeed, the words had not been of their traditional Latin based dialect as spells normally had been, it stemmed from the root of an ancient form of Icelandic instead. Either way, he didn’t know why but it seemed to improve the potency of his ice spells.
Mariko stepped back from him, more because she was startled than because she was actually listening. Although as a rule she never put herself at risk for bodily harm, so standing back when there was possibly unstable magic going on was second nature. Her eyes widened as she took in what he did, watching the lake change in a way she did not think was possible from someone so young, especially without a wand. Even when she had grown up with magic all around her, it was still a beautiful display that caught her off guard.
For a moment, she forgot the awkwardness and the tension between them, only caught up in his display of skill. She stepped forward, a gloved hand on his shoulder as she took in the display with undisguised awe and respect in her eyes, “Goodness Jack. I am impressed.” Between still finding her footing after encountering him unexpectedly and watching their new private ice rink, she didn’t take her hand from him as quickly as she should have. But she would deny it later, obviously.
A moment later she noticed the skates he had with him, and retrieved her wand from inside her quote to rectify her lack thereof. A quick duplication spell on his skates, before she scowled at them. Like all of the lovely ladies she was descended from, Mariko had tiny, delicate feet. So she flipped through her mental list of clothing modification charms and spells, a couple of flicks and swishes of her wand later and the skates were smaller. Along with, of course, a nice cotton lining and a lovely purple color to boot. The spells weren’t permanent, and sooner or later they would fade into nothing. But she didn’t expect she would be out here that long.
“Are you--” She only hesitated for a moment, if there was one thing she rarely lacked, it was confidence, “Are you sure you want to skate with me?” Someone like her had no trouble getting friends, or at least, hangers on that counted for friends in her circle. No issue getting romantic partners should she choose them either. The last thing she would want was spending time in the company of someone secretly resenting her.
Normally, he would have felt the pride swell in his chest at the compliment, but instead, he remained in silence watching the final touches of his magic take effect. The deep popping sounds of air pockets trapped in such a sudden chemical change bursting to the surface before it smoothed over leaving a surface that looked more like a sheet of glass than ice. It was only this he seemed to have a rising talent for, when all other magic seemed not to come as easily to him. He had spent many hours, despite the view others had of him, practicing these spells he’d been unexplainably weaker at. Mostly during detention where he had most time to spend on them.
His bright blue eyes turned to the delicate, pink gloved hand upon his shoulder feeling the ping of heartache in his chest again. As small a gesture as it was to anyone else, it had meant something to Jack which is why he didn’t not attempt to move from her. His gaze followed, however, when she took out her wand and began to swish and flick to create a masterful pair of skates she could use to join him. She really was something else. He couldn’t help but deny that.
His brows shot up at her small, questioning voice before his expression changed into a furrowing thought. If he didn’t he wouldn’t have asked her. He just wasn’t entirely sure if she wanted to be there with him, until she made her own prim and princess pair of skates. Turning to look over the vast rink, the reflection of the silver shimmer of the moon over the glossy surface gave them free reign on just about anywhere in the open and giving them enough light to do so. This is why he loved evenings in the winter, because of scenes like these.
“I want to. Because no matter how low you think of me, I still care about you. More than I should. But I can’t help it now. You have opened yourself up to me, whether you choose to believe it or not and to me, that is a special gift, Mariko. Something I can’t just ignore or shut off and on like a light switch. Maybe that’s my problem. Who knows…” smiling, Jack bounced to his feet and stepping back to the rock where Bunnymund was protecting his -sleeping near- his skates and began to unlace them.
Sometimes she forgot that most people weren’t raised in families like her’s. Where they became different people from one day to the next, raised to be able to step into whatever shoes were needed in that moment. Lessons on losing her accent in different languages, on easily picking up aspects on different cultures. There was, of course, the one her parents taught her more by example than anything else; locking up feelings and emotions and hiding vulnerability. Because it wasn’t expected, of a Pureblood like her from a distinguished line. It would be bad for business, bad for their name. Sacrifices were made. By the old and the young.
With Jack, Mariko had let a lot of that slip away. Losing the practiced and largely fake charm and smiles for real ones. Him learning two of her secrets so early on put them on unfamiliar grounds, at least for her. Bucky’s secret was safe with her because she was very good at keeping them. He and Skye may make fun and poke at people like her but at least they were raised to keep secrets, because there were so many with families like theirs. Weren’t there?
Given just a little more time, she would be able to box up her feelings for Jack in a nice little box just like she did with her hurt and her anger at her family or fears of caving under the pressure. But before the box in her mind was completely sealed here she was, taking off her boots and slipping on ice skates instead. Because this would definitely help the situation, wouldn’t it? He cared for her, still and it filled her chest with a mix of hope, fear and nervousness and her mind scrambled for a proper answer.
“It was cruel of me, to embarrass you publicly. On the journals. I was just afraid suddenly, I needed to dissuade rumors. It lacked finesse though.” For an apology, it also lacked finesse. But Mariko was not nor, nor had ever been, in the habit of apologising. With any luck, this would be good enough
Taking a seat close by, Jack begun to follow suit, removing his heavy winter boots ol’ lady Flume had graciously purchased for him the previous year. They were nice, and he was grateful to her for the gift since he’d rarely received them, the last one being the tea cup Mariko had given him for his last minute improve rescue operation that had gone rather swimmingly to play. She had managed to escape with Bunnymund and he was left with a mere slap on the wrist from his perspective! The vibrantly painted porcelain had been placed in a safe place, high but displayed more openly in the dorm shared by the other boys in his year. They had seen it, complimented it and asked whom it was from. Jack hadn’t thought twice when answering like he should have, knowing now just how she felt about him. Or did he know?
His eyes turned to her soft words, her attempted to apologise for the way she had behaved had been unexpected, but appreciated none the less. Tugging the first of two skates on, and tugging each criss cross of the laces from bottom to top as he listened to her confess. One thing was for sure, it had been the Mariko he’d learned to love spending time with sitting next to him now. She was not the Slytherin drama queen. The prim and proper heiress to a vast tea leaf business or something like that, she was just Mariko, coming to terms with her guilt that made her more human than the robot her family wanted instead of a normal teenage daughter. He refused to believe she was as cruel as she pretended to be for the sake of appearances.
Tugging hard on the laces, ensuring that it was tight enough to keep himself from wobbling all over the place once standing. There was nothing worse than a loose skate and you balance was all over the place, dang it! He would check hers in just a moment to do the same, but he thought it best to respond after he had carefully pieced together his reply. “I wasn’t embarrassed, Mariko. My place in this social ladder you are so focused on has no bearing on who I am as a person. If that puts me at the bottom of the barrel, than I would rather be happy there than be miserable at the top. I was more confused and hurt because it wasn’t the Mariko I knew. She liked spending time with me. She didn’t look at me with judgment in her eyes. She smiled at my jokes. Accepted my antics for attention. Listened to me babble on about the stars,” the second of his skates had now been tied off, nice and stiff around his ankles as he shifted a little to take her small foot between his legs and began to do the same. Just making sure that when she eventually set foot, she wouldn’t wobble and fall if they weren’t done right. “I think that for a brief moment in time, you were happy too. So, I think it was my mistake for misunderstanding,” he gave a lighter tug against her laces, secure enough but not quite like his before he reached for her other foot. Ah oh, his chest was aching yet again at the sound of his own voice against the cold chill of the evening. It wasn’t surprising, the wound was still fresh and open and it would be some time before it would heal over again. But he was convinced it would in due time.
If Mariko were anyone else, she probably would have opened her mouth to a word vomit of awkward thoughts and feelings. Apologies. Assurances. Frantic goodbyes mixed with sweet words. But If she had a habit of word vomit, it was broken a long time ago by her family. By lessons on responsibility, on pressure, history and a legacy. Dreams, ambitions and a dream that wasn’t her own but she had twisted to be her’s with strength of will. All of this rolled into a tiny girl who refrained from speaking until her thoughts were organized. Until she analyzed them see see what ripples they would cause once she dropped them into the water that seemed to now stretch between them. Metaphorically speaking, of course.
The slightest blush to her already rosy cheeks as he helped her with her skates, and she let her thoughts continue to stew. Mariko Mimasaka would be rushed by no one, pretty blue eyes or not. The need to tell him that he was right, that she was happy with him and she could listen to him babble about the stars any day, that he didn’t misunderstand that that he did make her happy was receding. Her heartbeat calming from the spike of emotion that being close to him again brought about. She would not lose her composure. She was better than that.
“I am not miserable at the top Jack, I was born to this. It is not something I can take off at will. Or something I can just step away from.” It wasn’t an excuse, or a justification. It was a reason. Maybe a warning to, just a little. Moments were nice during their time, but she wouldn’t give up what she had been preparing for her whole life for. Not for a few precious moments. She couldn’t let her family down. Couldn’t be her brother, “I have to be better than he was Jack. It is not always easy, or a life I lead happily. But in the end, it is mine” Sometimes, when these sorts of thoughts were flitting through her head, she felt so very old, like the teacups in her parent’s office with tiny miniscule cracks but so carefully preserved.
“You aren’t?” unlike Mariko, his words tended to dribble like a faucet from the heart, more often than not and bypassed his brain for approval first. It had only been in rare moments where he sat in silence to absorb necessary information in order to formulate a response that was a little more carefully thought. Where this was one of those occasions, he listened to how he felt before allowing his brain to over think things with a more complicated answer than it needed to be. So, he dug back into the archives to the words he had wrote just for her awhile ago, reminding himself that the Mariko he knew was not a malicious person by nature and that the pressure of her family was getting to her on a level that brought her to those words she felt the need to announce. A confident Mariko would have just brushed off such useless dribble. “You were born into it, but does that mean you don’t have a say in your own future?” she may have not said it in so many words, but Jack was not a fool and was clever enough to pick up on a great many things that he had been able to randomly piece together with the bits of information she had been forthcoming with.
He had known that in what she had said about him had been wrong, she knew the difference. Which was why she had remained when he had asked her if she wanted to join him, out of guilt? He was pretty sure that was it. He’d known that if she truly had thought those things about him, she would have been long gone as fast as her cute little winter boots could carry her. Instead, she was here. With him. And once again finding herself subconsciously and effortlessly opening up to her openly appointed, social nemesis.
“Don’t you ever get exhausted playing this game of charades with and overwhelming need to please others before yourself? You will not end up like him, Mariko, but you don’t have to stop being the real you to accomplish that. I don’t think that’s really fair to have to do that to yourself, you know? Because I would hate to think the world will never get to see this Mariko,” he really had no idea just who ‘he’ was, and a few inward guesses had been tossed around before he came to the conclusion that it would be best to allow her to tell him on her own time. Gently, Jack moved her foot from between his legs and stood to balance on his blades before turning to offer his hands out to her in aid.
This has turned into a more serious conversation than she was prepared for, then again she wasn’t prepared for any sort of conversation with him in the near future at all. Mariko was not the best debater in the world, there were few people who argued with her even fewer who she thought worth engaging in at any serious level. With her parents and other relatives discussions were usually filled with long silences, pointed expressions and flowery words hiding harsher meanings. They weren’t always very direct, discussions were brief and vague. On lookers were often confused, a lot of things went unsaid in her house hold that didn’t need to be said out loud.
“I have a say. I chose to come to this school as opposed to be privately tutored like the majority of my family.” She bristled a little, like a cat who heard a noise it didn’t like, at the implication she had no say in her own life, “Butt here are some constants I cannot avoid. I have to work within them.” Things like her family accepting her, things like scaring away clientele and potential business partners before she even had a business. Things like needing a partner to help with her ventures, who could navigate her world as gracefully as she did. There was wiggle room in her life, but not in all things.
Admittedly, she hesitated before taking his hand, “I think of myself all the time actually. It is one of my most fond hobbies.” She grinned, not catching that her sentence sounded a little odd in English, “ ‘Playing charades’ as you put it is the only way to live I have ever known Jack. I do not really know any other way. You may think me unhappy, but is it so hard to imagine that I am no more so than any other person my age?” Really, she did not consider herself lonely, unhappy, caged, or anything else people like Jack, Bucky and Skye thought about people who came from families like her thought. In her head, she tried to picture Jack at a meeting negotiating a business deal, or at a formal gala like the ones her parents hosted. He didn’t really seem to fit in either, and it made her bite her lip in discomfort as she stepped out onto the ice. It felt wrong, to be having these sorts of thoughts in this place where they had such happy moments before.
He really could not understand how anyone could lead a normal life the way she had believed she had, to say one thing and see and feel another sounded taxing. But he was not one to debate on aspects of someone’s choices in life, if they were truly their own. Though, he was not convinced that her words were honest, even if she had twisted the reality of it since she had been born. It was times like these that Jack was thankful he didn’t have a family, would he have turned out like Mariko if they had been a higher class society. Would she treat him differently? Most importantly, would he lose his own sense of direction with the ambitions of ruling bodies over him? Jack didn’t do well with rules as it was, she he thought not.
“Well, I suppose if you say you’re happy than there is no use in arguing,” he followed suit, the moment his blade hit the ice he was gone from the shore in a few lengthy strides to gain some speed. He’d done a good job this time, there were no flaws or blemishes in the surface to trip them up. The air was crisp, but with the moon hovering over the vast body of ice reflecting off the glossy surface gave it a rather nice touch to the scenery. A deep inhale, his arms extended to his sides as if almost to embrace the evening as it had unfolded to this point and let his breath exhale in a deep breath. Taking in the freedom in which he was use to.
Casting a glance over his shoulder, watching as Mariko had taken to the ice as well he turned to skate back to her smoothly and circled around her, with his bright smile returning to his boyish features. To him, this was pure bliss, not so much the act of skating itself but the feeling that had come with it. It was relaxing, as all things winter related seemed to do for his soul, and it reminded him that no matter where he was, this time of year had always been a place he called home. As strange as it had sounded to others, ol’ lady Flume had told him that it was normal if one felt a connection to it.
“So what are we then, Mariko? Friends? Acquaintances? Nothing? Am I nothing? But if you fear I’ll tarnish your name further, I don’t want to add to your pressure,” he cocked an eyebrow, coming to a stop just in front of her before shifting his weight a little to slowly skate backwards at her pace. Perhaps he was a little lost since she had decided to stay, but should he even want to be in her life knowing how low she thought of him now? Maybe he couldn’t help himself. There was a strange draw to her, just as hers compelled her to join him in a twilight skate. It was a dangerous place his was blinding stepping back into, if she so decided that she was not done with him just yet. But, from how their vibe had changed from their previous encounters to now, it was likely their relationship, whatever it was, was over.
It was hard not to watch him with a little awe in her eyes as the tension drained from him so easily, moving with a fluidity and ease that she envied a little. Mariko bottled things up, but he seemed to let them go much easier than her. She just hid it easier than he did. It wasn’t something she was necessarily proud--or ashamed of--just a useful talent. This was his element, that was never more clear than now. The smile that tugged at the corners of her lips was small, but held only a warmth that she couldn’t squash. Even if she had wanted to.
Nothing. The word echoed around in her mind, bouncing painfully from one side to the next with her dark eyes locked on his baby blued. Nothing. The relief and the...Something she couldn’t quite put her finger on, flooded her that he was asking her. Instead of pushing further. Or trying to tell her what it should be. He wanted her opinion, not assuming what it was or trying to give her his own.
Nothing. Did she want him to be nothing? Was he already nothing? Cheeks grew hotter as she remembered their kiss unwillingly. No, not nothing. Not with her heart beating like it was with him close by. Or the rush displeasure she had felt upon seeing the rash of energetic antics between him and the Hufflepuff girl that had sprung up lately.
Impulsively, she reached out to take his hands, “Not nothing. Definitely not nothing.” This was difficult. Mariko’s words were usually chosen with how to get what she wanted, or simply attention. They were planned, along with her tone and expression. This was not one of those times. She felt awkward and out of her element, “I care about you. But I should not. “ Deep breath, “At 10 I lost the freedom to pick my own dream. So I took the one given to me and twisted it until it was mine. I do not want to lose whatever this is as well.” Whatever this was. Which was definitely something. More than he and that vulgar poor excuse for a girl had going for her.
If there was ever a time where his brain and his heart collided inwardly, this would have been it. His brain was practically screaming danger, the red flags springing up all over the place and telling the rest of his body to run. This was not a good, nor would it be a healthy situation to be trapped in. On the other hand, his heart was the stronger of the two and the loud thud of his racing heart when he felt those small hands reach out for his drown out any sort of warnings from the voice of reason. With bright blue eyes turning to where her pink gloved fingers threaded with his bare ones, his heart softened and melted at her confession to reel him in again.
Though, in the mists of absorbing the confirming information he had completely stopped. His skating backwards in order to keep in smooth time with hers forward, allowing her to close the physical and metaphorical gap that had been between them since her choice to stay with him. Fingers unweaved from one of her hands, finding her waist to allow her closer as she confessed her skewed childhood dream brought upon by the pressures from one sibling to another. Platinum brow furrowed, a small ping of contradicting pain in his chest pleading with his mind to help decipher why she should not care for someone she obviously couldn’t help. To Jack, it did not make much sense. But he accepted it, because it was Mariko’s world. To be thrown into such a responsibility at such a young against must have been unbearable for a ten year old to even comprehend. While other children were thinking about new ways of getting dirty, how much candy they could eat without their parents seeing, how much they could get away with without getting into trouble. She was learning how to sit, stand, speak and behave like a little porcelain doll.
He’d figured it out. He scared her because he was able to tap into that childlike nature she had so missed when she was younger. He was able to draw out the fun, the genuine smiles and the comfort that came with being with someone you felt completely safe with. He was jeopardizing everything her parents had made her to be, for a future that had been forced upon her. Jack frowned at the thought, and it was then he had made a pact with both his stubborn logic and his heart that he would not give up on her, whether it be friends or something more---
But before another thought could process, Jack did not say a word to rebut her heartfelt confession. Instead, with a dip of his head slightly he had taken her soft tainted fruit glossed lips and expressed all of the thoughts that had been racing through his head in concern for her, through this meaningful kiss.
He had stopped. For one, awful and sour moment she had thought that he was going to say she was too complicated or ‘snooty’ and leave. It would be her first rejection since the Gryffindor girl, and to be quite frank she wasn’t sure how she would have reacted if it had come to fruition. Perhaps a mix of disappointment and childish anger at losing something she wanted as opposed to getting rid of that something instead.
But her fears were put to rest, and his face as usual was open his thoughts and feelings. She envied him his easy honesty some--most--days. Though if he was going to be part of her life he would need to get better at hiding them. Thoughtfulness. Acceptance. Determination. It made her heart jump with something she didn’t want to dwell on(like many things with him) and her fingers curled around his compulsively as she deciphered what his expressions meant in this instance.
Mariko was not an expert at kissing by any means. It was her policy to stay rational during ‘physical encounters’ so as to be able to manipulate them easily, that being said, the fact that her rationality seemed to slip by the wayside with him was known. From what she did know of kissing though,she did not think this was a sad kiss, or a goodbye kiss. But not shy, or like she would break like their last one. For the briefest of moments, she lamented her gloves, wanting to feel the strands of his hair between her fingers again as she returned the fervor of his kiss. But she could only curl her gloved hand around his jaw as she leaned into him.
Apparently the lake was their lucky place. Or something akin to that. When their kiss broke she touched her nose to him with sweet affection, the warm smile blooming across her features that she couldn’t stop if she wanted to(but she didn’t) and maybe if she just stayed here she wouldn’t have to put a name to what they were and decide how she would react to him in public. For once though, her mouth ran away from her, figures, that it would be jealousy that would bring out such a side, “So about that girl,” Mariko said the word in a way that clearly said she didn’t think said person didn’t deserve to be called a girl, “That insulted me for you.”
What was he thinking? There had never been a girl in all of his six years of being here had affected him the way she did, and really shouldn’t have because of their personality clash. They were the opposite sides of the pole, to repelling ends of a magnet or like oil and water. But somehow, they had ended up together through a series of circumstances that brought them to this particular moment. But were they really that different? In their shared moments together, he truly believed that she had worked her magic in calming his usual shenanigans, and he had brought her to a place she had so missed growing up. A place where she could just be...herself and be comfortable in it.
That adorable, uncontrolled smile spread across his boyish features with the light brush of the tip of her nose against his in an affectionate Eskimo kiss. Well, that’s what it was called! Once again, finding himself entangled in this complicated web she called her life and knew she would want to keep what they did have under wraps. Though, Jack would try he wasn’t entirely the most discreet of personalities for her to fall for. But the heart wants what it wants, and it’s hard to sway it elsewhere once on a certain path. It was human nature for most, he just wasn’t sure how long or difficult it would be to keep something like this a secret.
His eyes opened to the question, his smile faded a little pulling away just a little bit, reading her face for seriousness. “....Cam?” of course he knew it was Cam she was speaking of, and he had already spoken to her about calling Mariko names, but in the end, Cam was her own woman just as Mariko was hers. “I’ve told her not to call you that, and she agrees...but, hum, you can’t blame her, Mariko. If the roles were reversed don’t you think Skye and Bucky would jump into defend you? Of course they would,” he replied, not that the roles would ever be reversed in a million years, he’d never publicly attempt to humiliate her or anyone, for that matter. Well, unless they really, really, really deserved it. Taking her hand in his as he turned to skate at her side instead of in front of her this time.
Even as she let him pull her across the ice she scowled-cutely of course--he wasn’t shaking her off the subject that easily. Don’t think she didn’t notice that Cam and her were such opposites, what Jack couldn’t get from Mariko he was finding elsewhere. Cam even had the convenience of being in his House, making it all the easier for them to form some kind of weird relationship.
It wasn’t that she was jealous or possesive per se. Jealous implied that there had ever been anything in her life that she couldn’t get her hands on if she wanted it, hearing ‘no’ was not something she was acclimated to. Or losing something that was her’s. Not that Jack was her’s. Except he was. But she wasn’t his. Mariko had never really been anyone’s, even with the ‘good purebloods’ that she had dated, it wasn’t in her nature. But none of that logic stopped the surge of displeasure had seeing the interactions between Cam and Jack.
She shook her head at his rebuttal, “It is not at all the same. I am a Lady,” with a capital L, of course, “Ladies should be defended, especially by men like Bucky.” Her fellow Snake had a good heart, even if he doubted it sometimes. Skye, of course, was also all heart and fiery spirit, such a contrast to her own, maybe that was why they were such good friends. An annoyed hair flip over her shoulder as she glared at him, “Besides, she is lacking in class to go into a verbal duel with me. Such poor language from a girl.” A girl is what she was, while her and Skye were ladies. At least she didn’t call her trash like she did with Molly. Obviously Cam liked Jack, why else would she throw herself into something with a girl she had never met?
Jack slowly tilted his head curiously to the side at her adorable little scrowl with his honest words and a slow curl of the corner of his lips into a crooked smile at her challenge to him. He chuckled a little, not so much at Mariko and her strange behaviour towards a girl she also knew nothing about. Not all where the textbook definition of a prim and proper lady, Cam most certainly wasn’t. But that did not mean Cam wasn’t a strong and independant woman with a clear path to her future, making her own way without being trapped under the shadow of her famous muggle father. Sure, she was a little more vulgar than most other girls, but she had a kind heart under it all. Maybe not to everyone, she and Jack just seemed to click from the first moment they met. He was grateful for it, considering he didn’t have many close friends to begin with.
“Should and would are two different things, if Bucky was not your friend I doubt he would jump in to defend you. But he would do it because he is your friend,” he answered, his fingers threading just a little tighter between her gloved ones, he took a long stride to take his place in front of her again. By this time, they had made it closer to the centre of the open barren iceland with nothing but the illumination of the moon casting it’s blue light over them. “Cam did not have to jump into defend me, but she did because she is my friend. I just hope it doesn’t come down to you two having a verbal conflict because that’s the last thing I want,” leaning forward just a little to catch her dark eyes with his, searching for an agreement that she would oblige to at least that request for him.
He knew that Cam was not one to back down, just as headstrong as Mariko had been. Different ways of delivery, but accomplishing the very same outcome. To get one up over the other. It was a thought that did make Jack feel rather uncomfortable, and there were very few things that had made him so. He cared for Mariko a great deal, as he did for Cam in a different way. He had seen the woman she was under the surface of her outer shell, and he loved being with her. But Cam was his friend and they had connected on a level he’d never thought he could with another person. It was not romantic in the slightest. They hung out, had some laughs and gotten into trouble once or twice because they just let the good times roll. Even if it was with a nose jam packed full of snow, and her verbal diarrhea that he was sure the reasoning behind their latest detention. Nothing to do with the fact that he’d started an all out food war in the mess hall. NOPE.
“Do me a favour next time, will you?” his smile widened, “the next time that thing comes out and there is something about you in it, just ignore it if you don’t want to deal with it.” Well, she’ll be saving herself a world of trouble next time. Jack’s heart would be saved from being broken again with her obvious lie as she was still here, attached to his hand, enjoying his kiss and his presence just as she had before the scribbler. And getting flak from those who did not see her point of view the same as she had. His arm found her narrow waist again and stopped so that her smaller frame came flush against his taller build. Sticking his tongue out just enough to brush it over the cute tip of her nose in attempt to playfully break the tension between them and where her mind wandered to his friend.
Jack made it extremely difficult to be mean to in person, which was strange because Mariko was ordinarily very good at being mean to people in all settings. The things she had said to her brother while looking him in the eyes would make Jack’s stomach curl, but that was something she would keep tucked away from him for as long as she could(forever probably.)
Finally, she decided to go easy on him which definitely made up for her lack of sort-of-apology, and drop the subject of Cam. It didn’t stop her from making a note on her mental to do list to dig up dirt on Cam at a later date. Of course she wouldn’t actively do anything with it right away, but it was always good to be prepared. To have a plan B should things not go in a way she liked, the Mimasaka family did not get where they were by simply being lucky and beautiful.
Her cheeks heated in a blush at his affectionate gesture, “It depends, but I shall keep it in mind.” Really, she was being sincere. She would make an effort to ignore it, unless they said something over the line. People had a right to defend themselves, against verbal assaults or otherwise. When she left school she would have a professional PR team to squash rumours or anything slanderous about her, but here she was on her own.
Rather pleased with himself that he was able to disable her displeasure towards one of the few people he’d felt close enough to label a friend. He liked Mariko. A lot, and stepping past the part of her who felt a touch of panic and embarrassment when rumours started to fly. They were rumours that Jack had not taken to heart, where he hadn’t been exactly trying to hide their relationship, he wasn’t boasting about it at the top of his lungs for everyone to see. If they both would have left well enough alone, he was sure that everyone would have been far too involved with their own to give a crap about what was said about them. Though, his was rather light hearted and funny, if he did say so himself, it was why he was poking fun of it more than anything else.
His grin was sweet, as was his light kiss against her glossy tainted lips when she agreed to keep his suggestion in mind. At least now, after all was clear in the air and things could finally return to the way they had been before that stupid scribbler. Like this, together and just enjoying the company provided by the other. No materialistic things, now judgemental eyes and most of all, a side of Mariko he did not wish to see again anytime soon. Not only to save face for himself, but mostly for her and her reputation as well. Jack may not have been from a wealthy family. well known within the wizarding world. A trickster in his own rite, but he was not a bad person and in the end. Would that be his downfall when it came to the cute giggles at his silly antics, and genuine smiles of Mimasaka, Mariko? Only time would certainly tell. But for now, he was driven to take the evening as it had been given to them, like it was their own winter wonderland gift.