|
|
|
last online Apr 29, 2024 12:33:38 GMT -7
|
|
|
Sept 22, 2020 21:32:19 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Sept 22, 2020 21:32:19 GMT -7
October 2025 @blair
Divorce was such an ugly thing. Love, of course, even uglier. It was messy. So full of raw emotion. Heartache, heart break. Betrayal. Irrational. People did stupid things for love, and even more so when love turned sour, which it always would. Her parents had been a great example of how irrational love really was. But hey, you didn't need love to have fun. Maria was proof of that.
Blair explained her houses, Wampus, then Hufflepuff. Wampus she wasn't too familiar with, but she knew it was one of the Ilvermorny houses. Hufflepuff, however, was more familiar. "The house of just and loyal," Maria mused softly. While houses didn't say everything you could learn a bit about the person depending on the house they were in. Maria smirked as Blair asked where she'd gone to school, guessing "here". Here, of course, meaning Hogwarts. Well, technically she had attended her last year at Hogwarts, she hadn't been a Hogwarts student. "Durmstrang." A brutal school by anyone's standards. Durmstrang wasn't known for it's warm and fuzzies or come-by-yas. It was a ruthless environment with a dark reputation. "England is much nicer." Maria eyed Blair up and down as she spoke, emphasizing the "warmer". It obviously she was not referring to the weather.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
last online Apr 29, 2024 12:33:38 GMT -7
|
|
|
Sept 22, 2020 23:17:19 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Sept 22, 2020 23:17:19 GMT -7
October 2025 "The house of just and loyal." Well, that was what was said about Hufflepuff House, at least. Blair supposed that she had found that to be true. it also seemed to be the one with the fewest stereotypes about it, other than that some of the students who weren't in Hufflepuff thought that they were just the leftovers… (Or the stoners; she'd heard that one, too.)
And Maria? "Durmstrang."
Blair didn't have first-hand experience with Durmstrang, though she knew that their delegation hadn't fared well following the Triwizard Tournament—oh, and that the school was known for also teaching its students the Dark Arts. It theoretically sounded cool, but she didn't think that she would vibe with the sort of pure-blood elitism that must have been present there.
Maria also expressed her preference for England, the way in which she spoke it still undeniably sultry. Blair herself had her apprenticeship, so she was tied there at least until she was finished with it. Her memories with Whiskey were mostly in Scotland—at Hogwarts and in Hogsmeade—and not in some hole-in-the-wall empanada place on the No-Maj side of London. The sort of thing that she had with Maria, whatever it was that she could call it, was the sort of thing that she had wanted out of being in a new country. And all of the bad things that had happened seemed to fade away when she was looking at her.
Blair bit down on her lower lip and smiled a little at Maria. "Yeah," she agreed. "I like it. It sure beats Texas."
@maria
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
last online Apr 29, 2024 12:33:38 GMT -7
|
|
|
Sept 23, 2020 9:06:38 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Sept 23, 2020 9:06:38 GMT -7
October 2025 @blair
There were a number of reasons Maria had stayed in the country after the... explosion. A memory Maria wished she could forget. Losing her cousin. She had no memories of Elias in London. Nothing to remind her of him or her crazy grandparents. London was different from the world she'd grown up in. It was her fresh start. Away from everyone that knew uncomfortable details of her life (aside from Adonia, but Adonia was the only good thing remaining from her upbringing).
Thankfully, Blair didn't ask when she'd graduated, or if she'd been at the Tri-Wizard tournament. Maria wasn't sure if she would have answered if asked. Or, if she was willing to answer how much detail she would give. Hell, Maria still hadn't told Blair she was half veela, though perhaps Blair had some strong suspicions. "Well, you probably didn't have much choice at first." Maria mentioned. Blair's age would have put her at graduating during the quarantine lock down when the country was completed locked down to travel. "So, why tattooing?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
last online Apr 29, 2024 12:33:38 GMT -7
|
|
|
Sept 23, 2020 10:04:47 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Sept 23, 2020 10:04:47 GMT -7
October 2025 "Well, you probably didn't have much choice at first."
That was also true. It hadn't been her decision to leave Ilvermorny and transfer to Hogwarts, but neither of her parents were about to homeschool her if they could help it. Still, things had turned out alright—more or less—and it was sort of funny that she had wound up working for another American.
"So, why tattooing?" Maria wondered.
"It just… seemed sort of natural?" Blair supposed, still smiling as she spoke to Maria. "I've always loved art," which was probably the one thing that she had in common with either of her parents, from her perspective, "and there's something really—I don't know—metal about it." She grinned. "Like… It's like a high. You, uh, kinda get addicted to it."
@maria
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
last online Apr 29, 2024 12:33:38 GMT -7
|
|
|
Sept 23, 2020 10:38:42 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Sept 23, 2020 10:38:42 GMT -7
October 2025 @blair
Maria prided herself on her linguistic skills. Before she started attending Durmstrang she was speaking, to some degree, three languages. Portuguese, Swedish, and Romani. It was only after starting school that she started to learn English (besides a few odd words or phrases). But by this point in her life, English was her primary language. She was very proficient in it. But... Blair had just used a word Maria didn't know. Well, she knew the word but she was pretty damn sure Blair didn't mean it's normal translation. Metal?
Maria's eyes narrowed a bit, still confused. It must be slang. American slang maybe? She hadn't heard it used before now, so it couldn't be British English.. could it? "... Metal..?" Maria was slow to admit her confusion, but at least she'd finally said something. Blair had said much more, of course, but the foreign slang had distracted her form the rest of Blair's words.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
last online Apr 29, 2024 12:33:38 GMT -7
|
|
|
Sept 23, 2020 10:52:11 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Sept 23, 2020 10:52:11 GMT -7
October 2025 Blair laughed softly when she heard Maria's confusion over her use of the word "metal". "Um, like 'hardcore'. Like heavy metal music. The genre," she tried to explain, hoping that that made enough sense to Maria. She really hadn't meant to confuse her, but it was kind of cute to see her confusion, too.
How else was there to explain it? Blair paused, chewed on her lip, and thought. "It's like… the tattoo machine, it's way different from drawing with a quill and ink or something," even if it was still technically "ink". There was a literal buzz to it, though it was a lot harder than it looked to get it right. It was needles.
She focused on Maria again. "I mean, I could just sketch stuff," and she did draw quite often, just for the sake of drawing. There was nothing wrong with drawing on parchment. "But I like that adrenaline rush."
@maria
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
last online Apr 29, 2024 12:33:38 GMT -7
|
|
|
Sept 23, 2020 11:09:10 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Sept 23, 2020 11:09:10 GMT -7
October 2025 @blair
The laugh was... irksome. Like a few stray sparks from a fire. Not full anger, just... a little bite. But at least Blair went on to actually explain what she'd meant by "metal". Ah, okay. That made more sense. Still, an odd slang word if you asked Maria, but slang didn't always make the most sense. "Ah," she answered softly. Though, Blair's explanation didn't end there. She went on to elaborate how the tattoo machine was different, and then that it was an adrenaline rush. Maria definitely knew that feeling.
She smirked as Blair's explanation came to an end. She stopped twirling her hair and leaned forward on the table, towards Blair. She couldn't get quite as close as she wanted, considering the table between them, but alas, she wouldn't complain. Too much. "Why settle for the mundane when there's something much better out there?" Her voice was low, barely a whisper.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
last online Apr 29, 2024 12:33:38 GMT -7
|
|
|
Sept 23, 2020 11:25:50 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Sept 23, 2020 11:25:50 GMT -7
October 2025 Maria took in her explanation, seemingly understanding what it was that she had been trying to convey with her use of the slang word. Once she had explained that she liked the adrenaline rush that came with tattooing—and with being tattooed, for that matter—Maria had leaned in closer to her from across the table. "Why settle for the mundane when there's something much better out there?"
Blair bit her lip again and looked over to check if the empanadas were ready yet, and then she leaned forward a little locked eyes with Maria. Maria was anything but mundane. She was mesmerizing. Merlin, she was so attractive. Blair almost wished that the table weren't quite so wide so that they would have been able to lock lips from across it without considerable difficulty. Since she couldn't do that, though, she gently reached and moved a lock of Maria's hair away from her face. "I don't settle," she assured her. "You're beautiful."
@maria
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
last online Apr 29, 2024 12:33:38 GMT -7
|
|
|
Sept 23, 2020 11:56:14 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Sept 23, 2020 11:56:14 GMT -7
October 2025 @blair
Maria's gaze dropped to Blair's lip as she bit it, then slowly turned back up to Blair's eyes once more. it look a moment, but Blair finally reacted, leaning forward as well. Maria liked Blair's reactions. Blair responded well, without much persuasion. Blair was receptive to Maria's advances, both subtle and aggressive. It also helped that Blair had already seen how.... aggressive Maria could get when she wanted something. Despite knowing that side of Maria, here was Blair. As if wanting more. it made Maria wonder. Was Blair usually the submissive one in relationships, so she was used to being overpowered... Or was Blair usually the dominate one?
Maria didn't move as Blair reached out, brushing a strand of hair from her face. If anything Maria leaved forward just a touch more, her lips forming a small smile. "Good." Maria didn't settle either. She took waht she wanted, when she wanted it. Though... Oh she was so, so tempted by those two words. The way Blair said she was beautiful. Maria was a vain creature, so she loved hearing those words... Especially so when she could weaponize them. "Is that all I am?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
last online Apr 29, 2024 12:33:38 GMT -7
|
|
|
Sept 23, 2020 18:00:37 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Sept 23, 2020 18:00:37 GMT -7
October 2025 "Is that all I am?"
The words came out of Blair's mouth before she could think through them, and she breathed out heavily. "No," she shook her head. "You're hot, and you're alluring, and…" She knew that it wasn't possible for any human being to be perfect, but how was it that Maria seemed so close?
"I love how you know exactly what you want," she added, "and how you don't give a f**k what anybody else thinks." Maria just did what she wanted, and nobody—and especially not Blair herself—really seemed to take issue with it. "I don't know many girls who'd throw fire at a guy instead of telling him to f**k off…"
@maria
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
last online Apr 29, 2024 12:33:38 GMT -7
|
|
|
Sept 23, 2020 18:51:30 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Sept 23, 2020 18:51:30 GMT -7
October 2025 @blair
Maria smirked at Blair's words. Yes, she definitely was vain. Very vain. She loved to hear people's obsessive thoughts of her. It was exhilarating. It made her hungry for more. She loved the control it gave her. Maria reached out, her fingers lightly trailing Blair's hand. "I give plenty of f**ks." Maria definitely wasn't talking about the same thing as Blair there, but you couldn't make that sort of comment and not expect Maria to take it. Blair finished her thought with throwing fire, and Maria's smirk widened to a mischievous grin. "I'm a very dangerous woman, Blair. Aren't you afraid you might get... " Maria paused, her gaze moving down the Blair's lips, then back up to her eyes. "Burned?"
Maria leaned back into her chair, her grin back to a smirk as she broke the physical contact. It was like a void was between them, the air thick with Maria's last word.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
last online Apr 29, 2024 12:33:38 GMT -7
|
|
|
Sept 23, 2020 19:03:16 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Sept 23, 2020 19:03:16 GMT -7
October 2025 Delicately, Maria traced the shape of her hand with her fingers. "I give plenty of f**ks," she replied, which Blair almost wondered about. There wasn't really time to think about it, though, because Maria grinned at what she had said about the fire. "I'm a very dangerous woman, Blair," she cautioned her. "Aren't you afraid you might get…" Maria waited, and Blair followed her gaze to her lips. "Burned?"
It would have been a pleasure, Blair thought, moving back to sitting more normally in her own chair at that point. "No," she replied. It had scared her more that Maria had injured herself in the process. "…Who was that guy, anyway?" She couldn't help but wonder, but she didn't think that he was exactly a friend of Maria's.
@maria
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
last online Apr 29, 2024 12:33:38 GMT -7
|
|
|
Sept 23, 2020 19:37:53 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Sept 23, 2020 19:37:53 GMT -7
October 2025 @blair
Maria brushed her hair off her shoulders. It wasn't necessarily surprising that Blair had answered no. Blair would have ran that first night if she was truly scared. Plus, she'd only caught a glimpse of Maria's "crazy side". She'd had quite the reputation at Durmstrang for her... violent outbursts.
Then, the question. Who was that guy. The one she'd almost set on fire. Maria's gaze went dark. A deep, intense, and violent hatred. Oh how she wanted to go back and actually set him on fire. To make him scream. Should she tell Blair? She didn't want to, obviously. Didn't want to waste her breath on the likes of him. And yet... "The chairman of the Elias Greyback Memorial Relief Fund," she forced herself to answer, teeth gritted. Oh how she wished she'd hit him with that fireball..
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
last online Apr 29, 2024 12:33:38 GMT -7
|
|
|
Sept 28, 2020 20:10:17 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Sept 28, 2020 20:10:17 GMT -7
October 2025 The look in Maria's eyes changed drastically along with the subject. It was an expression that Blair hadn't seen from her, with perhaps the exception of how she had looked back in Diagon Alley earlier that day. There was something distinctly different about it, though it was strangely no less alluring. "The chairman of the Elias Greyback Memorial Relief Fund," came Maria's answer, delivered through gritted teeth.
Blair recognized the name "Elias Greyback"; he had been the Durmstrang Champion from the Triwizard Tournament shortly before the vandalism of Ilvermorny. He was the one who was killed, as had been Émile Chevalier from Beauxbatons. But that was all that she knew. Aside from the fact that there were Greybacks at Hogwarts—and she vaguely recalled a girl with the name Chevalier in Hufflepuff—she knew very little about the delegations from either school. "Memorial Relief Fund" sounded like some sort of a charity, though, and she supposed that it made sense that someone would want to raise money. It was either because they actually cared, or it was out of their own self-interest. Given Maria's reaction, Blair got the feeling that it was the latter.
"So, some… scam artist or something?" she checked. That sounded like a lot of fun.
@maria
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
last online Apr 29, 2024 12:33:38 GMT -7
|
|
|
Sept 28, 2020 20:35:56 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Sept 28, 2020 20:35:56 GMT -7
October 2025 @blair
The relief fund was a joke. The person that started it, a spoiled Greyback bitch, was a joke. Maybe it had good intentions at some point, but the fact that Maxima Greyback had started it just made Maria's blood boil. Maxima had hardly known Elias. Elias had been her only family, and Maxima had made him some... some public icon to use for money (again, probably not Maxima's intention, but that was how Maria saw it).
Maria let out a slow breath, one she hadn't realized she was holding at first. "Publicity stunt," she forced herself to say. It wasn't really a scam, because she knew the funds were actually helping people. Maria's aunt had received some money and the fund had helped pay for Elias' funeral.... "They think they know and own someone they didn't." And they wanted Maria's support to prove it, though she left that part out. The organization already had the Greybacks, and Elias' mother. Why did they want Maria's backing? Oh, right, because she'd "ruin" his public image if people knew. He'd seem less of a saint if it was common knowledge who his cousin was and what she did. But lets be honest, his public image would be ruined enough if people talked about his Romani heritage. Gypsies didn't exactly have the best reputation, after all.
|
|
|
|