Thread: Playing the Game [ Chai & Razgriz ]

RE Playing the Game Ariamella Razgriz Colorado Springs, CO Early-mid November Stella shrugged at Frank, her eyes still following the other pair as they walked across the parking lot and disappeared behind a row of cars, making it even more impossible to see them in the dark. Thank goodness they were finally gone! Oh, you know... The same old. You? she told the waiter, beaming up at him, grateful to finally have some semblance of normalcy in her night. But her answer made his lips twitch up in a smile clearly this was not the 'same old.' He rarely saw her with Adrian to begin with, and the hooded guy across the table was as new as could be. But he rolled with it and nodded along. Still in school, you know how it is. He frowned a bit and crossed his arms, his voice lowering as he then said, Sucks that I can't practice magic as often, but I'm still trying! I told you I'd catch up to you one day, so don't count me out just yet! He grinned at her, his face full of boyish charm. Anyway, I'll let you guys eat. Maybe if I'm lucky I'll catch you later? Stella nodded back and watched him walk away, a tug of envy pulling at her. Frank was lucky in some ways, along with the rest of the magical population that wasn't half as important as the Ten. They truly had the best of both worlds, able to practice the arcane as well as live sort-of normal lives. They had so many options available to them. Maybe Frank didn'this parents insisted on him attending Colorado College, the highly selective private college where he was studying Economicsbut most of them did, and that was a luxury that she didn't have. Not many of the Ten would have it either, or the Dregs, she thought to herself as she pushed the food around on her plate, keeping quiet for a few minutes while she and her bodyguard ate. Well, while Ric ate. Rowena seems... nice, Stella finally said, rearranging the pieces of seasoned beef on her plate with her chopsticks for the ump-teenth time, not really picking them up to eat. She wasn't sure why she bothered lying to him considering he had sat through the entire thing, and had even heard the parts about her ' parts .' Strangely, she felt oddly self-conscious sitting in silence in front of him, suddenly wishing she hadn't worn a sports bra. But what did it matter to him how big they were? Why did she even care? It was rare for her to be on the losing end of some verbal sparring the ladies of the elite seemed to excel at it in some way or another, and the jab done by the female Dreg stung a little more than she expected it to. And with Adrian's dumb ass fueling it with story telling time, it left her drained of the energy to continue fighting with Ric. But the comment was still a lame attempt at conversation, something she couldn't help. There was nothing else she could talk about with him they had nothing in common other than their dislike for each other. What was she supposed to say? 'Hey, what do you think of the weather?' No... 'What do you think of the food?' seemed more appropriate given that they were eating, and it was a relatively safe topic to chat about, as well as being an incredibly boring one. It was almost up there with the weather. Or maybe the honest route of 'I think Rowena's a skank' was a better choice? But as much as she wanted to blurt out the words, she didn't want a repeat of the earlier scene. And she would rather die than have Ric start comparing her breasts to the ginger's massive jugs. After downing the rest of the tea in her cup, she set down her chopsticks and sighed, taking a deep breath and exhaling audibly. I'll be outside, she told the warlock across from her, sliding out of the booth and stretching as she stood. One hand reached within the top of the long-sleeved shirt she wore, digging around for a couple seconds in the right side of the stretchy undergarment before pulling out two fifty-dollar bills, tossing them lightly onto the table, careful to place it in spot entirely clear of spilled soy sauce. A hundred dollars on a dinner that was likely around thiry-five dollars seemed to be an awful lot, but it was more or less her apology for causing the small scene at the restaurant. And she was sincerely sorry, but she was too tired to explain everything. Maybe she'd tell Frank later if she had the time. She actually planned on talking to him before she left but... Ah, oh well. Thanks so much, Stella smiled at Jiao as she exited, leaving Ric at the table. Almost immediately, Jiao craned her neck toward the back booth, trying to see what the warlock was doing now that he was alone even two elderly Chinese women looked his way, whispering in hushed Mandarin, no doubt gossiping about him already. You're her protector, aren't you? Frank asked rather nicely as he sat down at the table, setting an empty take-out box and a Styrofoam soup container on the table. He began to slowly pack up Stella's largely uneaten food, taking his time in separating the white rice from the cuts of beef. She doesn't like wasting food, he said simply, not really expecting an answer, but smiling as he closed the box and moved on to pouring the leftover hot and sour soup into the shallow foam cup. It would be clear to anyone that he just about adored her. Liked her, both as a friend and in the romantic sense of the word. And yet he also seemed to know that he had absolutely no chance with her, not only because he was in school a majority of the time, but because he had an idea of exactly how important she was to the magical community. You don't like her, he said next. It wasn't a question, but an observation that hadn't gone unnoticed. It wasn't said with any malice either Frank wasn't that kind of person, but he made it obvious that he disagreed. The Stella he knew, or rather everyone else knew, was not the Stella they had seen tonight, fraternizing with trouble and shady faces. But it wasn't his job to change anyone's mind on the way they might have felt about a certain person, and he doubted it would have worked anyway. When he was finished putting the food away, he tied the box and cup within a plastic bag, then pushed the small package with the bold red 'THANK YOU' message on the plastic towards Ric. She may not look it, but she's real nice. You mind taking that with you? She'll feel bad if you don't, and my mom'll never hear the end of her apologies. Hope you liked the food, man. Frank flashed Ric a friendly smile and stood, retreating one last time as he took Stella's empty plates with him.