Where I come from | Jack & Ashley & Eli

[Deleted]

April 2024
Ilvermorny

Jack walked out of potions class and turned down the hallway at Ilvermorny. It was a nice April day, and it was finally close enough to the end of term that he was getting excited to go home for the summer. He missed his folks and his dog and his trees, as dorky as it sounded. He did. He missed the farm and the mud and the tractor. Ilvermorny was great and he loved the grounds and the castle and the people, but he liked his vast expanse of empty acreage at home. He had been so in his own head, thinking about Kentucky, that he hadn’t watched where he was going and he passed very close to another, open classroom door just as another person came walking out of it. He crashed into the little blonde and instantly bent down to help her. “I’m so sorry, ma’am. I wasn’t paying any attention. You alright?” he asked with his southern twang.

@ashley
Elijah Theron Fleming - i'll tag you again when you should come in, but just so you can keep track, here's the thread!

[Deleted]

Ashley was in a good mood. The weather was finally starting to warm up here at Ilvermorny, her classes were going great and she was just happy. It was hard to be upset when the sun was out so often. Besides that, she was sitting in charms class at the moment, which was one of her favorites. Her professor made the class interesting, there was a lot of physical application involved, which was lots of fun too. 

The bell rang and she packed her things up, moving to the door quickly. As much as she loved class, Ashley kind of wanted to be outside right now. Maybe she'd head to the meadow ... it would be awesome if she could run into Eli there. She wanted to see him again, even though they had a study session just the other night. Her days were always better when he was involved in some way.

What she didn't expect was for someone to run into her, knocking her down to the floor. Ashley blinked, accepting his help as the guy helped her back to her feet, apologizing with an awesome southern accent. "Oh, that's no problem at all. It's fine, really. I'm fine," she answered, a small smile growing at the corners of her mouth as she looked up at him. He was cute. "But really? Ma'am? Do I look married to you?" Ashley teased, grinning as she spoke, assuming that would make it obvious that she was teasing. Her smile widened as she looked him up and down briefly, "Feel free to bump into me any time you want."

JOHN ELLIOT CLARK

[Deleted]

Jack couldn't help but smirk as the girl insisted that she was fine. He recognized her vaguely, as he did almost every face that he passed in the halls of the school, but he didn’t know her at all. He thought, though, that she was a year younger than he was. Which made sense as to why she was coming out of one of the 5th years classes. “Good. I’m glad to hear that I only caused minimal damage in my utterly distracted state.” He said with a smile and a small nod. She commented on him calling her ma’am, and asked if she looked married to him. Obviously, he knew that she wasn’t. He had never thought of ma’am as a married woman, but he didn’t want to get into any of that. “Sorry Miss. No offense intended.” he realized that she was teasing him, but it was still in his character to apologize. He thought of himself as rather chivalrous and charismatic. “I might just take you up on that.” he smirked when she began to flirt, insisting that he could feel free to bump into her anytime. “You’re sure there’s no damage? We shouldn’t exchange information for a incident report or anything?” he asked a bit more suggestively.

@ashley

[Deleted]

This guy was cute. The more she looked up at him, the more Ashley noticed that fact. The thing was, he was cute and his attention was entirely focused on her. Of course it was probably because he accidentally pushed her to the ground, but Ash would take what she could get. She loved attention, especially when it was coming from cute guys. She giggled when he mentioned that he was glad he'd only caused minimal damage. "Me too. Wouldn't want to have to go to the medical wing for something small like this," she teased right back. He apologized, calling her "Miss" this time and saying he hadn't meant to offend her and Ashley rolled her eyes. "I'm not offended, you're fine," she answered, not wanting him to get worried. She'd much prefer to have a fun back-and-forth with this guy than apologies. "Oh? I'll look forward to it," she teased back, winking. Then he was asking if she was sure there wasn't any damage and Ashley's small smile turned into a smirk. He was flirting back with her. She shrugged a shoulder, "Well, I mean ... I can't feel any initial damage, but maybe getting your information would be a good idea, just in case. Name? Age? Favorite place to take cute girls?" She grinned up at him, quirking an eyebrow invitingly as she waited for his answers. 

JOHN ELLIOT CLARK

[Deleted]

Jack was glad to have bumped into someone with a sense of humor and someone who didn’t seem to take it too seriously. He had before, bumped into people who would yell at him for not paying better attention and then rush away in a huff and give him a stink eye whenever they saw him again around the castle - as if he had done it on purpose. She joked that she wouldn’t want to go to the medical wing for this and he nodded, it wouldn’t be nice to explain to the nurses that he had bumped into her… it wouldn’t be the first time he would have had to do so. She wasn’t offended by what he called her and he was happy to hear that. He didn’t want to add insult to injury. As to his teasing on having to exchange information, she seemed to like his suggestion and agreed, “Well, in case future damage arises, My name is Jack. I’m 16, I’m in Pukwudgie. My favorite place to pick up cute girls? Well definitely in the hallway. You got me there.” he said with a laugh. “And I should probably get the same from you… just for insurance purposes, of course.” he said with a nod.

@ashley

[Deleted]

Why hadn't Ashley ever spoken with this guy before? He was cute, easy to talk to and not as tense as a lot of people she'd met before. Even better than that, he didn't seem to hate her without even knowing her. Lots of people realized that Ashley did things with Bianca and Katherine and then they had nothing to do with her anymore. Maybe he didn't know that they were her friends, and would avoid her once he did, but Ashley was determined to take advantage of this opportunity while she could. He started answering her questions and Ashley nodded along, pretending to take him entirely seriously as he flirted back with her, asking her to answer the same questions. Smirking slightly, she began, "Insurance, right. I'm Ashley, fifteen and in Horned Serpent. I don't really have a favorite place to pick up girls, cause I'm not really into that sort of thing but I guess I like for guys to pick me up in hallways. it seems to work pretty well, don't you think?" She winked, "Oooh, I have another one. If I do have further medical conditions because of this, where could I find you? You know, to get compensation or whatever?" She quirked an eyebrow at him, enjoying this wordplay far more than she had in the last while. 

JOHN ELLIOT CLARK

[Deleted]

So far he had learned that the girl he had ran into was a year younger than him and in a different house, which made sense then why he didn’t know her. He was a social guy and liked to talk to and get to know people, but for the most part, his social group consisted of people in his house, in his year, or, who had similar traits and hobbies that he did. “Seems to be workin’ just fine.” Jack smirked with a little nod when she teased him about him picking her up in the hallway. She then had another question and he had nowhere to be at the moment, so he was happy to entertain her questions. She asked where she could find him and the smirk on his face grew, “right for compensation purposes, of course. Uh, I don’t spend too much time in one place or another, but outside on any given day is a good bet.” he explained. He didn’t really have a regular spot at Ilvermorny castle where he liked to be, but he didn’t like to be inside more than was necessary. “I’m sure you could find me if you asked around a bit.” he winked.

@ashley

[Deleted]

This guy was great! Ashley chuckled when he answered her teasing question, saying that it was working fine. He had a sense of humor and didn’t seem completely put off by her teasing, which was a bit of a relief to the blonde. She knew that not everyone was okay with such blatant flirting, but apparently he was, which made it even more fun. She lifted an eyebrow when he said that he could normally be found all over, but outside as a general rule, “Well that’s nice,” she answered softly. “Being outside is always fun.” Ashley’s mind flashed to her last study session with Eli in their meadow and her stomach rolled a little. She didn’t want to think about it really, but her time with Eli was becoming more and more important to her. She smirked, “Oh, I’ll keep that in mind,” she teased back, not quite wanting to end her time with the handsome tall stranger yet. Jack. “So is that where you’re headed right now, or do you have another class?” Ashley asked curiously, mostly just trying to keep the conversation going. If he wasn’t busy … well, she definitely wouldn’t mind to get to know him a little better during the next little while.

JOHN ELLIOT CLARK

[Deleted]

She agreed with him about being outside being nice, even though he hadn’t said so out loud, it was definitely implied based on that fact that he said he was outside most of the time. After a bit of a flirty back and forth about where he could be found on a daily basis, she asked if that was where he was heading right now. The young man shrugged his shoulders, “Honestly, I was just walking, I hadn’t decided where I was heading yet. I just got out of class. I have got a free period right now though.” he told her, a bit suggestively. He wasn’t sure what he had going on, but during his free periods, he normally found his friend Eli and they would hang out until one or the other (or both) of them had to go to class or had something else to run off to. “I’m sure you’ve got another class though, so I won’t take up too much of your time…” he didn’t want to seem like he was trying to push her away, but he also didn’t want to prolong the conversation, there was a lot of joy in mystery. Plus, he could see over her head that his friend was turning down the hallway, probably looking for him, Jack thought.

@ashley

mentioned: Elijah Theron Fleming

[Deleted]

Jack told her that he hadn’t really decided where he was going yet, that he was just walking around and had a free period. Ash’s smile grew a tiny bit as she chuckled at that knowledge, and the tone in his voice as he told her so. Honestly, it seemed like too much of a coincidence that she would have a free period too, but she did. This guy was fun to be around, more than she expected when she got knocked down. “Oh, it’s no wonder you were moving down the hallway so quickly then,” she teased, implying that he was eager to get out of class or something like that. She didn’t really know the guy, so Ashley honestly couldn’t say if that was true or not, but she was just having fun. She was about to tell him that she didn’t have another class for a while when he said that he was sure she had to go to class so he wouldn’t take up her time. Honestly, Ashley was a little surprised by that. She knew he probably wasn’t trying to get rid of her, but that’s kind of what it felt like. Maybe he was meeting with someone during his free time. That would explain his rush, and how someone so adept at flirting wanted to stop so suddenly. Ashley smiled, twisting her head to the side just a bit as she looked up at him. “How kind,” she commented with the tiniest of smirks. It grew as she realized what she was about to say. “You do know you’re the kind of guy that girl’s don’t mind being late for though, right?” Ashley was kind of teasing, but not really. Still, she wasn’t going to be late because of him. She’d save that for another time, probably sometime after doing something with Eli. Then Ash shrugged, not wanting to push him or make him uncomfortable, since he just said he didn’t want to take up her time. “See you later then,” she answered airily, giving a flirty wave before turning and walking off, unable to help feeling a little disappointed. She’d have to look him up some other time and see if he’d mind flirting with her when he didn’t think he was busy. Or maybe he just wasn’t interested in some fun flirting. Whatever.

(Ash out)
Elijah Theron Fleming
JOHN ELLIOT CLARK

[Elijah Theron Fleming]

only dust settles.

DUSTING DIRT FROM HIS HANDS, ELI SMILED AS he made his way back in to the Ilvermorny Castle. He'd slipped away after breakfast to tend to a new patch of Feverfew he'd planted. He was introducing them closer to the riverbed and while the soil was strong, he was a little worried about the family of Puffskins that lived nearby. They had a habit of gnawing on anything he tried to grow, he suspected the liked the feed he used.

Eli's mind was delightfully occupied when he turned a corner only to lift his head and stop. With surprising reflexes, Eli backtracked and hid around the corner. His back pressed tight against the damp stone wall, he could hear the delicate laughter of a girl he knew. It was Ashley. Followed by the low, familiar twang of his friend Jack answering. It was his Ash and his Jack. He hadn't thought they knew each other. A few times Eli had tried to subtlety mention blonde girls in the lunch room just to see, but Jack had never bitten.

Lifting his hand nervously to his face, Eli pressed his knuckles hard against his lips. He was officially eavesdropping at this point. His ears straining as Ashley asked Jack where she might find him. Why had his stomach suddenly dropped to his knees? He waited to see how Jack would respond, but it didn't make him feel any better. They were flirting. And it bothered Eli. He almost turned to interrupt, but his feet were planted stiff on the ground. Nobody knew that he and Ashley were friends. It wasn't exactly a 'secret' secret, but who was he kidding. It was a secret.

All Eli could think as he stood in the shadow of the stone wall was, Ashley never talked to him like that. They were close and they confided in each other, but it was different. It was never easily flirtatious. Jack was good at that. Eli had always told him he had a mouth for girls, but he'd never considered a world where Jack would use it on Ashley. His Ashley. And that she would so easily reciprocate.

Before Eli knew it, they were parting ways and Eli couldn't help but peek around the corner, just in time to see the fleeting sweep of Ashley's buttery blonde hair. Much to Eli's horror, Jack had seen him over Ashley's head and they caught eyes. Eli pushed off the wall and turned around the corner hastily, his voice high when he lifted a hand in what he hoped was a casual wave. "Hey, man, who was that?" He said in an unnatural rush. "Is that, uh, who is it...?" He clicked his fingers erratically. "Fontaine... or something?" He cleared his throat, feeling cold at the fingertips. 

JOHN ELLIOT CLARK  
mentioned: @ashley

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!

[Deleted]

Jack watched the girl go, admiring her form as she went. He loved this school. Getting people of the same age together was a great idea. He admired the school boards thinking. He got to be around pretty girls all day, pretty girls that liked a southern accent too, what a score. It seemed that as soon as she left, his best friend Eli was right by his side. He smirked a bit when he saw the boy standing with him. Eli was asking who that was and for a second, Jack couldn’t remember either. “Ashley, I think. Yeah, Fontaine sounds right.” Jack nodded, he wasn’t completely sure it was right, but it sounded right, if it wasn’t it was close enough. He hadn’t been paying as much attention to that little detail as he should have been. “I knocked her over when she came out of class.” he said, nodding his head to the classroom door opposite them. “She’s cute, though, ‘ain’t she?” He asked. “You know her?”

Elijah Theron Fleming

[Elijah Theron Fleming]

only dust settles.

ELI COULDN'T HELP BUT BRISTLE WHEN JACK probably flirted with Ashley, but could barely remember her name. It had a lot to do with his simmering jealousy, but he didn't really understand that. He clasped his lips and frowned slightly. "Yeah, that sounds right." He muttered stiffly, crossing his arms and rolling his shoulders. He did know her, but nobody knew that he knew her. At least, not the way that he did. Which was much closer than people would assume. "Yeah, I guess." He tried to shrug it off, the idea that she was cute. Reaching up to tug at his earlobe like he hadn't examined her face from every angle. Dreamed about running his hands through her sunny blonde hair. "Hadn't really noticed..." 

"We have a couple of classes together, I think." He shrugged, uncrossing his arms and letting them flop loosely at his sides - he couldn't afford to look so tense. Jack might think something was wrong and probe him about it. And, Eli didn't want to lie to his friend, but he didn't want to ruin what he had with Ashley either. It was a really sticky situation and he didn't know how to proceed. He should probably change the subject but he couldn't help himself as he sidled up to his friend, walking side by side down the hallway - in the opposite direction to Ashley. "What, uh... what were you talking about?" 

JOHN ELLIOT CLARK  

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!

[Deleted]

Jack shrugged when Eli insisted that he hadn’t ever really noticed the blonde girl and whether she was cute. “I don’t blame ya, I’ve never really noticed her either.” he added, though he really meant that. He was sure that he had seen the blonde girl before, but, he had never really paid attention. Looks were one thing, and she certainly had those, but it was her willingness to play that he found truly interesting about her. She didn’t yell at him for being blind and huff off. She played along and had a good attitude about it. So many girls, especially girls that looked like her, didn’t care that it was an accident, they would just yell at him and maybe call him a few choice words. He didn’t care and he let those brush off of him, but she hadn’t. “We exchanged information… for insurance purposes you know, since I bumped into her.” he said with a smirk, she had a good sense of humor. “She’s cool, maybe I’ll try to bump into her again.” he shrugged. “Where are you coming from?” he asked.

Elijah Theron Fleming
(I think we can work on wrapping this up)

[Elijah Theron Fleming]

only dust settles.

STILL SMARTING AT HIS FRIENDS ACCIDENTAL dismissal, Eli truly had to work on schooling his expression as he reached a hand up to rub at his nose in agitation. Anything to cover the growing scowl on his face. They'd spoken about girls like this before, most teenage boys did. But, Ashley wasn't just any girl and Eli was struggling not to make that obvious. "Mm," He hummed wordlessly, averting his gaze in case Jack's perceptiveness caught on to the discomfort Eli was showing. Why did it matter that he hadn't noticed? Wasn't that a good thing? Eli didn't know, but his head was all over the place.

"Insurance?" Eli barked a brittle laugh, eyebrows raised. "Yeah, sure." He deadpanned, because that's what he would have said had Ashley been any other girl. But, it came off a little stiff. Eli played it off behind a cough, complaining about a tickling throat as they continued down the hallway. "Yeah, maybe." He muttered, hoping against hope that this would not be the case and another opportunity wouldn't arise. Except, that just made him feel awful and he dropped his gaze, feeling guilty all of a sudden. Jack wasn't a bad guy. In fact, if he wasn't so hopeless over Ashley himself, he'd probably be perfect for her. Southern charm, and his family had money. Nobody really made fun of Jack, he was too cool.

"Uh, was just heading to the nurse." He mumbled, which wasn't true, but he knew that Jack would have to head the opposite way and he needed an excuse to leave. "That... the tickly cough, you know?" He wiggled his fingers at his throat and made to cut down the next left, instead of right. "I'll uh... I'll see you back at the dorms, yeah?" And then he turned swiftly on his heels and made his escape, waving over his shoulder with a theatrical smile before finally turning away. He'd made a mess of that, Eli only hoped that it wouldn't get back to Ashley.

END ELI - 

JOHN ELLIOT CLARK  

NEVERLAND at ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0!