Tweak

InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "That's what she said!"

Dove (charmisma) wrote in st_margarets,
@ 2014-03-23 18:01:00

Entry tags:

character: garret dover, character: valentin graff, location: beyond the academy and camden

Thread: Garret & Valentin
WHO: Garret & Valentin
WHERE: Their hotel room, Fredricton
WHEN: Late Saturday, after the pancakes and music.

With the pebbles from the fairy circle securely packed away, Garret was able to have fun with Saturday's exploration. Though light on the supernatural, it was still fun and he was really grateful for getting the chance to meet and talk to the rest of the students who came along. They were so interesting! Back at the hotel, the grunge from the mini-concert had gotten to him and Garret had chirped that he needed a shower. He grabbed his dorm pants and a towel before closing the door. His clothes were discarded onto the cool tile floor and quickly the room - stall, really - filled up with steam.

Once done, he dressed, the towel over his narrow shoulders, soiled clothes in a heap within his hands. He stepped out and turned on the fan, getting the steam to go up instead of out as he opened the door. "So did you have fun today? I think tomorrow is going to be pretty great. I don't know if I'll ride a Pegasus, but just seeing one will be really cool, I think." He spoke while shoving his clothes into a trash bag he'd nabbed from the front desk.

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fangling
2014-03-28 10:46 am UTC (link)

Valentin got up, hunting down his shoes. It didn't matter how long Valentin stayed in a room: he just brought chaos wherever he went. It seemed like his suitcase had exploded, clothes strewn everywhere.

He found his shoes under his open suitcase. It was anybody's guess how they ended up there. "So, you wanna come along when I pick up the beer? Might go faster when I do it alone, I saw one of those corner stores down the road."

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charmisma
2014-03-29 12:25 am UTC (link)

"No, you go on. I'll put on something a little more...substantial, I guess." He didn't know if they were going out somewhere with the beer or staying in. Either way, it wouldn't hurt to be in something that offered a little more support. Besides, Garret was well-aware he'd just slow the vampire up.

Garret went to his wallet and pulled out some money, holding it out to Valentin. "You know, for my part."

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fangling
2014-03-31 06:02 pm UTC (link)

"Keep the shirt. It's cool." Valentin took the money, grinning. He liked it when he didn't need to ask. "Thanks." He slipped into his shoes, and went off.

***

Twenty minutes later, Valentin was back. "Sooo," he said, rushing in, "apparently, Canada doesn't sell beer at cornerstores, only at government approved liquor stores that are all closed by now. I bought two sixpacks of local brew off some guy and his van -- the man at the cornerstore directed me to him. I don't even recognize the brand."

Valentin held it up. "Schooner Lager," Valentin said, accentuating the guttural sound, "No idea, but it has alcohol."

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charmisma
2014-03-31 11:11 pm UTC (link)

Garret took the suggestion to heart and waited until Valentin was out of the room before stripping off his dorm pants and then put on some underwear and a pair of shorts he'd brought with him in the hope of warmer weather. The room constituted that.

Flipping through the channels, Garret turned when Valentin came back in. His face was hopeful, but ended in a frown. "Didn't mean to make it a hassle for you," he said said, but Valentin didn't seem too put out by it. Garret wasn't going to ask him for change, for his troubles.

"And I guess with you around, we don't even need a bottle opener, huh?" Garret scooted up on the bed, making room. So should we go door to door?"

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fangling
2014-04-01 06:46 pm UTC (link)

"Was no thing," Valentin said. Had the vampire still been a human, he would have questioned the decision to wear shorts on a Canadian spring night. As it was, Valentin usually forgot to give a hoot about the temperature outside: as long as it wasn't raining or snowing, he was fine. Besides, Garret had nice legs.

Valentin sat down on the bed, grinning. "So, what do you want to do? Pop one open and talk first? Who do you wanna see tonight? Who do you want to hang out with?" Valentin handed Garret a bottle and took one for himself, and then looked at it, puzzled. He wasn't sure how he was going to open it without an opener. "Uh..."

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charmisma
2014-04-01 10:44 pm UTC (link)

"Yeah, let's talk and have one, see if anyone comes looking for us. Then we can see what happens." Garret had already hung out with Craig at the circle and figured he'd probably be hanging out with his room mate too. At least, he hoped he was. "You seem like pretty good company," Garret said, being truthful but avoiding the question at the same time. He knew if he got alone in a room with Mickey, things would happen much quicker than he was ready for.

Valentin seemed like a fun alternative. It was a bonus that he would listen to Garret too. Gar liked the attention. He frowned slightly when Valentin looked at him like that. "Oh, sorry. I thought all vampires were extra strong. So you could just twist off the cap."

Looking around, Garret tried to hide the flush in his cheeks as he got up and went over to the sink's edge and brought his hand down on the cap with the lip of it against the hardtop. The cap snapped off and spun in midair before falling to the floor. "Just don't break the sink," he chuckled, handing the open one to Valentin and taking his. A quick second later and he collected the two caps and tossed them into the trash, plopping down beside Valentin.

"What should we toast to?"

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fangling
2014-04-01 11:40 pm UTC (link)

"Best field trip ever," Valentin said, clinking his bottle against Garret's. "And I... I guess I could've done that, actually. Though I might have just broken the glass instead of taking off the cap, and I wouldn't have seen your neat little trick just now. So, you know, plus plus. I mean, win win."

Valentin was glad he was rooming with Garret. The boy was nice and seemed like fun, without being too crazy about fun or too dull. He'd make a nice friend. Someone you were mates with, not someone you dreamt about biting. Yes.

No biting.

"Is it weird," Valentin said, "just going on a field-trip while being the new guy? Did you make many friends? I can't decide if it's a good way to meet new people or more of a thrown to the lions sort of deal."

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charmisma
2014-04-01 11:55 pm UTC (link)

"Oh, it's pretty easy. I'll teach you sometime." Garret thought for a second. "I'll teach you with soda bottles, not beer bottles." Garret took a gulp, only realize a moment after that it led to carbonation rising. Garret slurped it up, shoving the bottle neck in a bit further so as to not make a mess. He slurped at the tip then checked to make sure it wasn't going to go all over them.

"Really weird," Garret agreed. "I didn't want to be stuck at the school with no one I knew, so I figured why not let the school pair me up with someone who has to stay with me, at least for a little bit. I lucked out, with you. You're pretty great. And! You come with bonus prizes." Garret took a smaller sip of his beer.

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fangling
2014-04-02 02:55 pm UTC (link)

Valentin grinned when Garret had to scramble to prevent the beer from gushing all over. He didn't make it a big deal, though: back when he was human, Valentin had spilled more beer than he'd actually chuffed.

"That works out nicely, then," Valentin said. He had lucked out with Garret too, especially because Matt hadn't come along. Sure, he could've paired up with Oliver, but otherwise, not many of his Pegasus buddies had come along on the trip. "Befriended anyone else yet?"

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charmisma
2014-04-02 10:21 pm UTC (link)

"Yep!" Garret agreed. "Have you met Craig? He and I go back, I used to see him at Farmers Markets on the West Coast. We would get into mischief together, as my mom called it. Nothing bad, just dodging around people trying to buy heirloom tomatoes and charged objects from my coven. We had to call it a family back then because even in Washington, I'd still get a look." Garret rolled his eyes.

He smiled, almost slyly before continuing: "I met Mickey, he's the first one in Kitsune I've met. He met me at the vending machines and I bought him a Snickers bar.. He uh...wanted to show me his room, but I was brand new and didn't think I should." Yet was left unsaid in Garret's mind. Mickey thrilled him, but scared him at the same time. He wasn't sure he was ready for that sort of rush yet.

"What are the people in your House like?" He took a more thoughtful gulp of beer, finding a hint of pear at the back end he wasn't expecting. Maybe he was imagining it.

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fangling
2014-04-03 09:05 pm UTC (link)

"I don't know Craig," Valentin said. "So you grew up in a coven? Have you always been a witch?" That sounded cool, a lot cooler than where he grew up. "I grew up in a hippie commune, but all the new age spells they did there never really seemed to work. Except the drugs in the waterpipes. Those worked."

Valentin grinned. "Ahhh, Mickey." Valentin knew about Mickey. He had a reputation. "Mickey can be... tempting, yes." He wasn't Valentin's type, though. Too... too pretty. "He hit on me, once, but I ran away. He's too pretty to take in, I think. But, sometimes? He takes off his shirt."

Valentin finished his beer and crumpled up the can in an impossibly small ball. "Peg? Pegasi are friendly, if a little cliquish. More about the social than the creative. It's fun, though."

"And what the hell is an heirloom tomato?"

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charmisma
2014-04-03 10:14 pm UTC (link)

"Coven, commune, family, whatever you want to call it. But, ye, I come from a line of witches. They're good with charging - that's pretty much what the coven does for money, but for whatever reason, I can sway the energy when I charge and object. I can charm it or curse it before I let it go." Garret had been working on how to explain himself in the coolest terms possible that speech had been what he'd come up with. Garret scrunched his nose at the mention of drugs in the water supply. So anyone who was thirsty would get addicted. It made him a little sad that Valentin had grown up that way.

Back to Mickey and Garret's cheeks flushed, just a bit. "I kind of ran away too. He was shirtless when I met him...because that made all the sense in the world. He's friendly, and...it's like he's a force, and that can be intimidating. "

"Well, thank you for not being cliquish, I appreciate it." His eyes got a little wide as the can became a dense little ball. Garret chuckled and finished his own beer off. "It's an ugly, ugly tomato that is really fragile but pretty delicious. They're...meaty, almost smokey in flavor. When they come in-season, I'll bring you some to try."

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fangling
2014-04-03 11:01 pm UTC (link)

Valentin tipped his head to the side. "So you can be a good luck charm or a bad luck charm? That sounds pretty cool. Can it only be small things, like pebbles and horse shoes, or can you charm cars too?"

Valentin grinned. "You should go watch soccer practise sometime. He has the tendency to go shirtless there too. Maybe he's allergic to shirts." Valentin gave Garret a light punch on the shoulder. "You like him, huh?"

"I'd like that," Valentin said. "Heirloom tomato... And I thought eggplant was an odd name for a vegetable. You want another beer?"

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charmisma
2014-04-03 11:17 pm UTC (link)

"Well, right now I only do pebbles. They're easy to hide and toss. Plus, the curses...they make me physically sick. If I do anything bigger right now I might end up in a coma or something." He pulled another face.

Garret's face reddened and he shrugged his narrow shoulders. "I do, but I'm not crazy obsessed or anything. He's like a twelve, and I'm probably a six...seven on a good day. I just want to have fun but he might make it super intense, and...not fun." Another shrug.

Dove was glad when the conversation turned. "They're ugly and cracked and bust open with a strong breeze but they've ruined me for store-bought tomatoes. Never buy them from a produce section. They're gross." He nodded his head at the question, checking to see if there was anything left in his empty.

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fangling
2014-04-04 11:57 am UTC (link)

"Coma?" Valentin winced. "Coma sucks. Yeah, don't do that." All Valentin could do was wall-crawling. It wasn't fancy or flashy, but it was useful. And it couldn't kill him or others.

Valentin quirked up an eyebrow as he returned with the second beer of beer for the both of them. Seemed like there was more to this story. "Way I heard it, Mickey is all about the fun, not so much about the long and intense. He's a bit of a manwhore, so..." Valentin hesitated. "You afraid you might like him too much or something?"

Valentin used his strength to open both bottles. Cool. That worked. "So," he said, handing Garret his bottle, "your family grows everything organically?"

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charmisma
2014-04-04 12:18 pm UTC (link)

"Yeah, at least not yet. I should grow with the craft as I get older. Besides, I don't think curses are smiled upon at the school, so no sense in me getting in double trouble."

Garret lifted his eyebrows. That was interesting information. "I don't think it's that, it's just that I don't know him. I know you better than I know him. If he wouldn't want to get to know me before we hop into anything together, I'm not sure it would worthwhile. Enjoyable, yeah probably but..." Garret shrugged his right shoulder, brightening when Valentin opened both the bottles on his own.

"Yay, I don't have to get up," Garret joked, taking the bottle when it was offered. "No, we're not strict-organics. We have a gardens and stuff so technically it is organic, but most of the organic stuff was at the farmers markets where we sold our charged objects. That's where all the city people would come on the weekends and pat themselves on the back for supporting local farmers and artisans. It's a little silly how much people would pay for something without arguing when they're face-to-face with the person who picked it."

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fangling
2014-04-05 11:30 am UTC (link)

"I don't think they frown upon curses, per se," Valentin said. "I mean, they're on the curriculum. I think you should be wary of using them? Like, be aware of what they might cost you. Like, with guns? Bullets aren't the ones who kill you, you know?" It's those holding the gun.

Valentin nodded. "Yeah, enjoyable, but fleeting. Just... be careful. Mickey has a reputation."

"So, was it, like a gypsy lifestyle? Going from place to place?" he asked, and then took a swig. "I think you'd like Berlin. It's got lots of second hand stores and flea markets -- we like to support the local artists and stuff. It's how most of my building made their money. Painting pictures in the weekend, and painting walls for the rent."

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charmisma
2014-04-05 12:36 pm UTC (link)

"Well, they probably frown on me casting them on people. Oh, I know what it costs, and I don't use them lightly." Garret nodded sagely, eyes wide and serious. It had only taken him a couple casts to learn that in most cases, it wasn't worth having someone trip over their own feet to be off his for several hours.

"We weren't nomads," Garret corrected with a smile. "My parents have a house but others in the coven happen to live around them. Their parties aren't really for sporting events but they use it as a disguise when they want to do a ritual or something. Nothing gross, mostly harmonious gatherings." Garret's eyes lit up when Valentin started talking about himself - Garret felt he was stealing all the conversation.

He leaned in just a bit, taking a sip of his beer from the side of his mouth. He could feel his pulse quicken, excited to learn something about a vampire and his culture from the source. "That sounds very hands-on. I bet painting the walls helped paint the pictures. Giant canvases before you covered them up."

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fangling
2014-04-05 04:24 pm UTC (link)

"I'm not sure," Valentin said. "I think he kept his artistic painting and his professional painting pretty separate. Besides, my parents did different things. My dad's a math teacher, my mom runs a bar. She has all these artsy folks over for poetry slams and live music. They were more... arts-adjacent."

Valentin laid down on the bed, making himself more comfortable as he looked up at Garrett. "Not to make fun of your pants or anything, but 'harmonious gatherings' sounds a little like a euphemism for r-rated gatherings." He took another sip of his beer. "Have you ever cursed someone for real?"

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charmisma
2014-04-05 06:20 pm UTC (link)

"Ah," he said. That made sense to him. He wasn't quite sure who the 'he' was, if Valentine's father was a teacher and his mother ran a bar. He figured it would be impolite to ask. "Oh, that's cool - supporting the arts is important. Especially when dirty hippies can use it as an excuse to sit somewhere and listen to others for a while. Not that we ever did that. We weren't those kinds of hippies."

Garret snorted and ducked his head, pulling himself up on the bed by Valentin. "Well, maybe sometimes they were. I have a Mom and Dad, but we were all really close. I was never involved in those sort of gatherings, but I didn't attend all of them either." Another sip of beer as Garret gave Valentin's question some thought.

"Once. I was really angry at someone for some reason and I was clutching a pebble and I just meant to hit him with it because he was a jerk. It hit him and he fell and almost broke his arm. And...I got the whiplash. Vomit just...everywhere." It wasn't a proud moment for him.

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fangling
2014-04-05 11:17 pm UTC (link)

"Not everyone in Berlin is a hippie," Valentin said, proud of his hometown. "Some of them are hipsters, and some of them are altos, and for some reason, there's lots of Asian nerds. It's like New York, only grungier."

"Heh," Valentin said, "it seems the way we were raised wasn't that different. You were raised in a coven, I was raised in a commune... It's funny how we're all about the nurturing and the cooperative."

Valentin eyed Garret and bit his lip. His curiosity was too great. "Why'd you curse him, then?"

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charmisma
2014-04-06 12:40 am UTC (link)

"I think I'd like to visit sometime," Garret said, meaning it. If they could go visit a merpeople city, why couldn't they go somewhere simple like Berlin? It seemed like the simplest thing just to get into a plane and go.

"Nurturing is in our natures, I guess," which struck Garret a bit funnily because he remembered he was talking to a vampire. But anyone could be nurturing, and he knew for a fact that not all vampires sparkled. Granted, he hadn't seen Valentin shirtless...yet.

"I...well, okay, I did mean to, but I didn't know I could. Everyone just thought I could charm objects, make them lucky of give someone a boost of self-confidence or alertness or whatever it was they wanted. No one ever figured there'd be a duality inside me. He..." Garret hesitated then glanced down, then back up. "He kicked a puppy at a market for absolutely no reason and blamed it on one of the coven members and they got into trouble. He deserved it, but I still felt bad afterward."

It was more of a physical bad than a guilty one, but he figured Valentin could see that was what he meant. "So...can I ask you what it's like to be a vampire? Besides the wall-crawling. I mean...are you thirsty?" His face flushed, then went pale. "Sorry! I hope I didn't offend you." He shrank slightly away on the bed, looking down into his beer.

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fangling
2014-04-07 01:58 pm UTC (link)

"I'm not that nurturing," Valentin said, rolling on his back. "I mean, I don't know what I want to be when I grow... when I get older, but nurse or doctor aren't very high on that list. I'm not good with blood."

Valentin's eyes went big "He kicked a puppy? What an... I mean, that's so not cool. No wonder you wanted to wish bad things on him. I mean, I would've... I mean, I don't know, but I definitely would've given him a stern look."

Valentin opened his mouth and then gave Garret a look. "I, uh, yeah, I'm thirsty sometimes, but animal blood does trick. Mostly, I just miss not being able to enjoy the sunshine, but the night is pretty enough in its own way, I guess."

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charmisma
2014-04-07 10:32 pm UTC (link)

"Well, instead of going out and exploring the city by yourself, you're here getting to know me, which you don't need to do. Nurturing comes in lots of forms. Maybe you'll be a gardener," Garret said with a smile.

He hadn't thought about missing the sunlight. Yeah, he wouldn't really like that. Garret reached over and patted Valentin's stomach. "The night's pretty cool, yeah." He took a long pull from his beer and barely managed to cover his mouth with the back of his hand before he belched.

"And yeah! That guy was a total dick. You just don't kick a puppy. Freaking sociopath."

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fangling
2014-04-09 10:55 am UTC (link)

Valentin grinned. "I kill plants, like, always," he said. "I like cars." Valentin liked tinkering around with engines and mechanics. Auto Shop was one of his best classes. He just got how those things worked.

Valentin giggled when he felt a hand over his stomach and then, Garret gave a very good belch. "Rude," Valentin said, though from his tone it was clear that he didn't mean it. "Too bad the cursing comes with such a kickback, right? It's very... Like, for all things you get, you have to give something of the same value back."

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charmisma
2014-04-09 11:34 am UTC (link)

You can nurture a car, I guess. I mean, you'll always have employment because I don't tihink people will be getting rid of automobiles any time soon. You can just get in there and get your hands dirty."

Garret ducked his head just a bit then laughed, running his fingers through his hair, letting it fall back as he dropped his hand to the comforter. Garret grinned at Valentin, pleased that he understood. "If there wasn't such a kickback, then maybe I'd be wanting to do more cursing than charming, but that's not how nature works. For every tornado, there are a million flowers that bloom. Someone's got to earn to be cursed, but being good is just a state of mind."

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fangling
2014-04-09 06:39 pm UTC (link)

Valentin shrugged. "My parents say I'm too smart to be a mechanic. Like... Like it's something bad." Valentin didn't know. He liked messing around with cars, but he didn't know if it was something he'd want to do for 8 hours a day, five days a week.

Valentin rolled on his belly. "Don't you mean it's just a state of being? Like, the world inclines to the good, and being bad is just a choice? Or...? Everything's in balance?"

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charmisma
2014-04-09 10:35 pm UTC (link)

"Don't let anyone tell you what you should be," Garret said softly. He had enough pressure on him, his coven thinking he's destined for something big. He reached up made sure his necklace was still there. It wasn't a prophecy, but it might as well be.

Garret flicked his shirt collar and curled up slightly onto his side, bare toes lightly against Valentin's leg. "Everything starts out neutral - that's what I believe. People can live their lives being neutral, but then they don't experience much and they don't accomplish much. There are bad people in the world, those that love it. Maybe it's just someone being a bully or maybe they're terrorists. Just like good, there are different levels of evil, I think."

Garret emptied his beer and turned over so he could deposit the bottle on the side of the bed, then rolled back over. "The world balances itself, yeah, but it's not like one bad kid is born then one equally good kid is born. The world's funny. I like it that way. Surprises keep things interesting, even if it's for ill. Eventually, it should right itself, or at least I think so."

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fangling
2014-04-10 10:08 am UTC (link)

Valentin gave Garret a wan grin, not sure what to make of that. Every day, people try to make you act differently, to modify your behavior. Don't drink too much. Don't bite people. Don't be mean to strangers, don't buy non-organic foods, don't judge too quickly... If his parents had been right on all of their don'ts, why was Don't become a mechanic that different?

Valentin finished his beer as well, and then grinned. "That's a very comforting way of looking at the world."

There was no way to quantify happiness, Valentin knew, so maybe the world was neutral. But he saw the news. He'd seen the museums in Berlin. He'd been... bitten for no reason, turned for reason, by someone he didn't even know.

Neutral? Maybe the universe was random, and inclined towards Murphy's Law.

Valentin grinned and let his neck crack as he got up. "Wanna go and look for the others? Share our bounty of beer?"

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charmisma
2014-04-11 02:27 am UTC (link)

"Yeah!" Garret said, hopping up onto his knees and then bouncing on the bed. "We're getting pretty deep for a couple new friends. Maybe we can talk more once we come back to rest for the night." He didn't know if vampires actually slept, so Garret had been careful with his word choice.

He hopped up with a little grunt, stretching his arms up and letting his fingers try to brush the ceiling. He walked to the edge and hopped off, looking for his shoes. "I'm up for knocking on a random door, as long as we hear noises behind it. Don't want to wake anyone up."

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fangling
2014-04-11 08:39 pm UTC (link)

"Sure," Valentin said, getting up and going for his suitcase. He found his scent and sprayed on some extra. Vampires tended to smell weird, not having any body temperature, so Valentin liked covering that up.

As he got up, he showed Garret his phone. "I've got some texts. I know where most of them are at. We'll get you integrating better with the rest of the class." Valentin winked and opened the door.

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charmisma
2014-04-11 10:44 pm UTC (link)

The scent Valentin sprayed was pleasant enough - Garret glad that it wasn't some cloying fragrance that would hang out in the air even when they came back to their room. He nodded while shoving his feet into his shoes.

"I guess we can play it that way, but knocking might be more fun." He brightened at the promise of Valentin introducing him. The blond seemed like the type to make friends quickly, and Garret was ready for that. He took quick steps over to the door and slipped out ahead of Valentin.

"Let's go."

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