initiation ;
with @msunatty at the carriage ride | msumausoleum
the night is young and for some reason xander just can’t find it in himself to give up on getting at least one peaceful carriage ride. of course he didn’t mind the ride with natsuki and stephanie despite his first preference being to go alone. the second time around, he was hoping that toseong student - malia - would be smart enough to not talk to him. it almost seemed like the young girl was unfamiliar with who xander was with the way she had so cheerfully and sickeningly sweetly smiled at him though. it was enough to put him in a bad mood all over again.
after spending some time in the dimly lit dungeons though, he’s headed towards the carriage ride again, slowly stalking over to the one that’s just finished making it’s trip around. there’s a small group of underclassmen who are heading towards the carriage as well - obviously excited for the ride - however, as one of them turns to laugh at something their friend said, she spots xander and immediately stops in place. xander simply holds her terrified stare as he walks on ahead of them as her friends ask her what’s wrong before spotting xander themselves. he can hear their whispers get a little louder in panic as they all shuffle backwards while xander heads straight to the student monitoring the carriage rides.
it’s the same one who refused to let him ride alone the very first time. but xander’s decided that there’s not much the student can do if he gets into the carriage alone. not if they want to get hurt. so he simply ignores their statements of ‘the rides are meant for two or more people’ and goes straight to the open carriage. however, as soon as a hand lands on his arm to hold him back xander immediately pulls out his wand, pressing it against the student’s shoulder.
he’s about hex the student when he sees someone approaching them from the corner of his eye. the spell is hanging on the tip of his tongue but he holds back from unleashing it. as he continues to hold his wand against the innocent student, he turns to confirm that whoever’s walked in on the scene isn’t a staff member or a prefect.
“what do you want?” xander growls out loud as his grip on the student beneath him tightens.
natty wouldn’t say she’s oblivious, really, or that she’s brave-- she supposed the more correct word would be that she’s brash-- or she prefers the term curious. she’d always gone headfirst into things others seemed to run from, it was impulse, and adventure. so, naturally, she was definitely intrigued once she saw gaggles of freshmen fleeing from the carriage ride. she’d been planning to go find some more candy or maybe make her way to the dungeon party-- but the sight immediately made her feet turn and change their path.
the stick of her lollipop portrudes from between her bloodstained lips, the ruby liquid matching the drips from her eyes and the random smudges on her skin as she practically skips along, though her strides were still calm and confident. she can hear the telltale sign of some sort of scuffle as soon as she draws close, and she merely blinks at the sight of a wand pressed dangerously against another student. “woah,” she breathes, eyes wide as she pulls her cherry pop from between her lips, pointing it at the other.
“i know you,” she says without hesitation, eyes lighting up, “i think!” she tacks on cheerfully as she approaches unreservedly, eyes sweeping over the scene as she pops her candy back in her mouth, “you’re really good at hexes right? are you about to hex him? can i watch? ooh, actually, can you teach me?” and natty normally isn’t this wordy, but she just can’t help the excitement, despite the scowl on the other’s face.
“pretty please?”
