Beauty and the Geek (Maddie)

[Deleted]

Some people cared about looks, others about brains. Some about both but Argentum found them to be rather rare. He personally didn't particularly care what he looked like as his interests were mostly in his studies. It didn't help that his twin sister was far better at the social game than he was. He mostly ignored all her comments when it came to dating and his appearance but well, lately he had found it a slight concern. He'd signed up for a blind date at the dating agency and had yet to find books that would actually be helpful and his pride would most certainly stop him from going to his sister about things like these. She'd have a field day and he'd suffer for it for more than just hours. Possibly the rest of his life. 

Today he was in Diagon Alley for shopping and hopefully getting his mind of that entire mess and conundrum. Still, he couldn't help himself as he stepped into Florish and Blotts to pass by the section that concerned matters of the heart and stare in distaste at the books that were on the shelves concerning topics of that nature. They probably were outdated by the time they got released anyway! There was no sense to looking good and fashion!

He grumbled as he left the book store, even though he just got two completely new books that normally might have cheered him up. He was grumpy about looks and the state of the world in that moment and ran a hand through his already messy hair, taking his beanie off for a moment before almost aggressively putting it back on his head. At least he wouldn't have to worry about his hair today, right? Except when he looked in the reflection of himself in the window of one of the shops, he saw a messy young boy with a bad posture due to his far too heavy bag and not somebody that anybody would notice and for once, that got to him. He wasn't vain at all but even he at times doubted what he looked like. With a heavy sigh he looked away. "Maybe I should consider allowing Aura give me a make over..." He muttered to himself before shaking his head. His pride wouldn't be able to handle that.

@madeleine

[Deleted]

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During the previous summer, Maddie hadn’t had any time to peruse the stores of Diagon Alley. There had been too much to do back home in preparation for transferring to Hogwarts, and aside from a brief visit for school supplies the day before the train left, she had very little interaction with the shopping district. After a few visits over the last month or so, she was beginning to warm up to it, albeit slowly. It did have an unappealing smell to it that seemed to enjoy clinging to her clothes and going home with her, though. As far as she was aware, they were not in that sort of relationship yet. The problem she had with Diagon so far was that it cost money to get the things that she really wanted. Family financial ruin completely prevented her from making any purchases that weren’t deemed absolutely necessary for her next year of school.

To escape that newly suffocating atmosphere at home, she had taken to walking around Diagon virtually every day for the last week, finally acquainting herself with the various shops and their wares. A few of the more fashionable clothing stores were starting to get annoyed with the amount of time she spent trying things on and not buying, but it wasn’t like she could do anything about that. No money meant no money. After leaving one of these stores with a very annoyed employee wishing her a good day, Maddie almost ran into a boy that was staring at himself in the window’s reflection. She side-stepped in time, but stopped herself when he started mumbling about needing a make-over. “A make-over won’t help you,” she scoffed, staring back at him in the reflection. “You need a lot more than that.”

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Silver was surprised when the girl that just happened to be passing by was speaking to him. He was even more surprised to notice just how incredibly rude she was. He knew she was right but that was just uncalled for! He blinked a few times as he stared at her in what could only be described as an almost comical look of disbelief. He turned to her, his brow slightly furrowed. "I mean, I know. It's a bit rude to point it out so unkindly." He said, calmly, oozing with logic. He knew and it wasn't like him to get insulted over something that to him was relatively minor. It was just looks, who cared about that? Well, apart from most of the world it seemed. It made no sense at all.

He looked her over for a moment, deciding that he didn't like her too much but there was an advantage to be had here. Aurum had taught him that much. In terms of honesty most people cared a lot about being nice and it wasn't exactly beneficial to improving his look if people were too nice to be honest about how he looked. "What more would I need anyway? Apart from a make-over, that is." He was genuinely curious. As long as she didn't tell him to study less, he was pretty sure he could handle it. Not that she could know his studying regime was a lot of over the top. Or well, she wouldn't know unless she spent half the time at the library. Or less, since he was there most of the time when he didn't have classes. He'd chosen far too many subject but he liked the challenge! He sighed for a moment and then plucked at his clothes. "Are you offering to help out?" He asked, half because he appreciated the idea of help on the matter and partially because it seemed like a good enough option. He wanted to impress people and be found attractive, even though he wasn't certain yet what he wanted out of romance. Maybe if he looked better he could actually figure that out.

@madelaine

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Maddie was confused. At what point had she been rude in her statement? She was agreeing with the boy that he needed changes to his overall appearance. Her way of doing it just happened to include more than a ‘make-over’. If he hadn’t wanted the criticism, he shouldn’t have been saying any of that out loud. In her eyes, that opened him up to public scrutiny. Now obviously she could have said it a little nicer, but then she would have come across as agreeing with him, and Maddie certainly didn’t agree on his mumbled thoughts. She simply shrugged at his look of disbelief when he said she was rude.

For a second, she didn’t think he was going to bite down on the line she had tossed out to him. The amount of times she had made comments about people’s appearance, and had them storming off or ignoring her, was more than she could count on her fingers. This kid actually seemed like he wanted help, whether it was unwillingly from her or not. “Your hair, first of all. Honestly, I have no idea why you can’t keep that under control. Either shave it off or do something with it,” she grimaced as she craned her head around him to try and get a better look at it. There were plenty of charms out there that could keep locks like that down, or at the very least, in an orderly fashion. “I’m not sure who you’re trying to impress, or if this is your norm, but your clothes wear you more than you wear them…and maybe try not to look as hunched over as you are now.” The only thing Maddie didn’t have a problem with was his willingness to change. Usually that was what lead to strangers running away from her. It had been a while since her unsolicited advice was actually wanted.

Then he asked her if that was an offer to help him. Maddie scrunched her nose at him as she looked him up and down one more time. It seemed like an interesting proposition, and she figured she could probably get something out of it. “What’s in it for me?” Back home, she would have probably gotten a favor out of it. But that was up to the boy to decide, and then she could go from there.

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It was difficult for Silver to determine exactly what he planned to get out of this entire arrangement. In a way he felt that developing himself was bound to be a good thing. He mostly worried it could possibly interfere with his studies, which seemed to make the entire idea a moot point. It wasn't worth a delay to his studies to look more appealing for the sake of others. Yes, he secretly longed for love or at least a romantic or physical connection to another person. Something that seemed almost impossible to achieve when one didn't look the part. Still he listened as she spoke and fixed his posture, as that was pretty much the only thing he could actually control that she had mentioned now. He wasn't about to shave his hair off. He would rather fix it to make it look more decent and under control. He did like his curls and didn't really want to be rid of them. He shrugged then. "It's my norm. I am usually too busy studying to worry about my appearance. It's recently been brought to my attention that I should probably put in more effort if I hope to explore some of the parts of being a teen that include potential romantic encounters." He sighed, realising just how far he was from being any a scenario even remotely close to that.

Then she asked what was in it for her. Now that reminded him of his sister, whom was also smart enough not to give things away for free all that quickly. He smiled at the idea she could possibly be like his sister and then considered his options. "I could tutor if needed. I'm pretty good at learning things." That, naturally, was quite the understatement. "I could pay if that has your interest but that seems a bit of a dull arrangement." He continued, hoping she'd pick something a bit more interesting. He could find a stylist in the world somewhere and the only issue was likely to be that they would ask more money so if that was what she was after she needed to ask a relatively low amount for him to considered it an interesting deal. "Or you can suggest something you might want and I'll see if I'm capable of providing whatever it is that you desire. I can't make any promises as there are boundaries I am not willing to cross but I'll hear you out on even the most insane offer before turning it down. A well informed choice is certain to be better than one made primarily out of fear or concern it might be the worst one fears rather than the best one might hope for. People can surprise us from time to time.

@madeleine

[Deleted]

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She hit that one right on the money. Weirdly, she had a feeling that as long as the kid could make himself look a little better and dress the part, he’d more than likely come across as sharp. All it took was maintaining a decent level of personal grooming and thought about what looked good together. Obviously no one was immune to looking like a slob from time to time. She certainly did now that most of her belongings had been sold off or possessed. But if she could make do with virtually nothing left, then so could this guy. Putting in effort was a tough battle, but she had already taken note of the fact that he was willing to do whatever it took. He also indicated that he was hoping to turn this around in order to try and get dates. That made a little more sense to her. “So you want to go with the brains and the looks. Well, I’m sure we could figure something out then…” The hair was still getting to her, because that was definitely the first thing she wanted gone. It was too unruly, and if he hacked it off it would easily make people more open to interacting with him. Nothing screamed lazy like a mass of unkempt curls. Even when they were taken care of, it still took a lot to get those into working order.

When it came to her payment though, he was leaving it up to her. Maddie thought for a moment on what she could easily get out of someone she didn’t even know. Money, for one, but that would be too obvious. His first option was tutoring, which definitely seemed interesting to her. “What year are you? I had to take a medical leave for spring last year, so maybe there’s a way you could help me get caught back up?” He didn’t look like a seventh year, but literally anything was possible these days. Especially if he was holed up somewhere in the castle studying all the time. There would have been no way for her to see or interact with him during the fall.

@argentum ● 361 ● Somnambule by Coeur de Pirate

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOX 2.0

[Deleted]

It looked promising in terms of possibly striking an arrangement. Silver found himself quite pleased, although he was almost certain that Aura would not be. She'd have loved to do the work he was requesting from a stranger herself, but he trusted Aura mostly to turn him into a version she thought was passable. While it would be so, without a doubt, he wanted a perspective of somebody possibly more accepting of his way of thinking and whatever style that suited. Not what he knew or would look good in by default but something... unexpected. Aura was nothing if not predictable to him. Still, he was a little concerned about putting his fate in the hands of a stranger but no doubt it'd work out. If not he'd make a very unpleasant enemy. He didn't really like being messed with and he was more than smart enough to take revenge. "I suppose the combination should in theory work. I'm not planning to dumb myself down for people to find me easier to stomach, which my sister tends to suggest. I'd rather make the appearance more aesthetically pleasing, even though it has no specific value to myself outside of the purpose it serves the world." He noted rather dryly. He really didn't care about looks but he was aware that they could help him further his goals that did require other people. Other people tended to want to see a certain type of picture to give them an impression of who somebody was ahead of time. Best make the first impressions decent.

She asked which year he was and he smiled slightly. "Fifth. My best subject is transfiguration but I've had formidable and near perfect grades in all classes I've taken on. I do admit I'm more advanced in transfiguration but I pick up matters rather quickly and I have a keen memory for details. I'm sure I could keep up with work of 6th years if required, although I might be somewhat challenged by the work of the NEWT standards. I expect to be getting primarily O's in OWLs this coming year." He wasn't even being arrogant, simply honest. He was clever and between himself and his sister they kept each other sharp and on their toes to the point they forced one another to perform better in school. They always judged their own performances based on how much better they'd done compared to their twin, leading to a very fierce competition. Fierce enough to keep their average grades insanely high, even for Ravenclaws.

@madeleine

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Maddie could only stare at him, slightly dumbfounded by how he assumed changing his appearance would make others approach him more easily than working on his personality. Technically he wasn’t wrong there, but there was a point where both needed to be in sync for the real magic to happen. The boy was the analytical, book smart type – Maddie only needed what they had discussed so far in order to pigeon-hole him into that stereotype. Mentally recanting her earlier belief that a visual tune-up would be all he needed was already starting to give her a headache though. Someone could be a genius that dressed impressively but also a stick-in-the-mud when it came to social skills. “Well…we’ll see about that,” Maddie said hesitantly, “Appearance comes first, and then we can come back around to everything else. Maybe your sister will have a different opinion at that point.” Though the possibility of that happening was probably slim. If his sister was already sounding the alarms there, then it meant it was definitely a larger problem than he understood. Not that Maddie couldn’t do something to fix that. She needed a new pet project anyways.

As she inquired about what Hogwarts year he was, she wasn’t completely expecting to be bombarded with his aspirations as a student. Or maybe that was his way of boasting that he could help her? She was confused, but it wasn’t like arrogance was new to her at all. There were certain aspects of her life that she was beyond confident about, like her social skills and fashion taste. And this boy came nowhere close to where her brother had been. Émile’s reputation proceeded him at Beauxbatons, and he had made it known throughout the Triwizard Tournament that he was the one that was most likely to win. It was unfortunate that he couldn’t pull it off in the end, but it also wasn’t the best look after he died either. The papers had ridiculed him, and there were very few students left at the French school that thought highly of his abilities. She didn’t want to assume that this guy was the same as her brother, because Émile certainly wasn’t a genius in his studies. “I’m sure we can come up with something. Rudimentary basics in certain subjects, maybe? Or better ways to study, since I practically know the curriculum for the fall term already.”

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