[Closed] Rhythms and Dynamics (Madeleine)

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Melody
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Fri Jun 21, 2019 12:41 pm

Near Dinnertime
27 of Intas, 2719
The Library, Brunnhold
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Melody finished copying down the final paragraph of notes from the chapter she had been studying and leaned back with a quiet sigh. Her fingers hurt, as did her wrist, possibly even her brain hurt today. The Subtleties of Quantitaive Casting was a very dense book with more Mathematics in it than she had expected, it was going to be a book to be consumed in small bites, with a lot of careful thought in between. Yet it might be exactly what would help her take her static spellwork to the next level... She placed it on the stack of books she'd chosen to check out - two books relating to art, another on physical, a rather thick one on static, and now this last one on quantitative. These were enough, she decided suddenly, this was likely enough for a minimum of a few weeks worth of independent work. She stood up, the overstuffed armchair a little too heavy to be moved back easily, just a little uncomfortable to stand up from.

She collected the rest of her materials spread out in front of her and put them back in her backpack, which she slung from one shoulder with a practised heave, and lifting the books she wanted to borrow, started for the librarian's desk. The reading area was fairly full considering the hour, but then being casual with schoolwork wasn't something most students could afford given the level of expectations they were dealing with. She was almost out of the reading area when a familiar face stopped her. It was Madeleine, from the shopping outing a few days back.

The girl was engrossed in reading some book, and she looked so small, a child really. Melody felt it a good thing thoughts could remain private, she doubted Ms Gosselin would appreciate being likened to a child. Yet it wasn't just the difference of three lofty years that made her seem that way, it had rather more to do with the way the girl carried herself. Even now she was huddled into the chair, even her feet were drawn up under her. By what Melody had observed, Madeleine was a little bit like sunshine and the threat of snowfall mixed together. She felt things with an abandon that to Melody seemed like the memory of a very distant childhood; had she ever been so uninhibited?

The chairs across and adjacent to the girl were unoccupied, and the table was well clear of the usual clutter of notes and reference material and pencils and such things that students tended to inevitably create in the course of an intense study session. Melody spent a few moments wondering if she should disturb her, then decided to let their fields guide that decision. She approached close enough for their two fields to brush against each other. There was recognition, the fields somewhat belike because of the shared focus of static, yet different with a gravitational pulling sensation in Madeleine's field indicative of her primary focus of physical conversation. But apart from this, the younger student's field felt heavy with a feeling that very much felt like loneliness to the older student. Melody walked right up to the table, and as the pretty Anaxi girl looked up from what seemed to be a treatise on the theory of static conversation, she gave a small smile. "Hello Ms Gosselin," She placed the books in her arms on the table, glad to get a reprieve from the weight, and continued in a soft voice that hopefully wouldn't carry in the silence of the library, "Am I disturbing you? Were you very busy?"

She leaned in a little and asked, "I was about to head for dinner in a bit.." Sudden doubt assailed her as to whether her intervention was welcome, or even warranted, and so there was some hesitation in her voice, and a subtle distance in her gaze when she continued with her offer. "Would you... I mean if you like, we can head in together..."
Last edited by Melody on Tue Jul 16, 2019 8:43 am, edited 2 times in total.

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Madeleine Gosselin
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Fri Jun 21, 2019 4:50 pm


Near Dinner Time, 27th Intas, 2719
The Library, Brunnhold
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Madeleine had had an awful day. She’d overslept, and she’d been the very last to walk into class, just seconds before she’d have been late. Everyone – every single student – had turned to look at her, and Madeleine had felt her cheeks turn red and she’d heard someone giggle, and she was sure, absolutely sure, that they were all laughing at her inside. It had been hard to focus, both because she was tired and because her cheeks were red for ages and ages.

Somehow, she had made it through the day. Class hadn’t really gotten any better; with no group projects or anything, Madeleine had barely talked to anyone all day. She’d studied through lunch, eating an apple and a roll outside on a bench rather than brave the cafeteria. There was no dance practice that afternoon, so the moment she was free Madeleine had escaped to the library. It was her very favorite place in all of Brunnhold. She loved the way the light filtered through the dusty air inside, the smell of the books, the focused energy of the students.

Today, Madeleine picked out a book on static conversation. They were talking about bending spells in class. Madeleine found it terribly interesting, and so she’d gone and found a book on the theory of it to read more. It was a really nice treatise, mostly focused on the different types of bonds that atoms could form, and how one ought to ask the mona differently for different types of bonds. There was a lot of chemistry in it that she didn’t quite understand, but she kept reading the same words as many times as she needed to, until they started making sense, and the heavy chemistry tome helped too, at least as a reference.

Madeleine had started sitting square at the table, but she hadn’t felt like taking notes – the book was mostly for fun anyway – and so over time she had shifted up in her chair. Madeleine had long since mastered the art of tucking her feet on the chair beneath her in a way so her boots didn’t touch the chair cushion, and she could still get her skirt over her legs so that it wasn’t inappropriate. Before long, absorbed in the book, she had curled up, half-swallowed behind the book propped on her knees, absorbing every word with deep fascination.

Madeleine wasn’t sure how long she’d been there when a surprise voice jolted her out of her concentration. She looked up, wide-eyed, to see Melody Grace Amberleigh – the Mugrobi who looked like an Anaxi, who Madeleine had met on a shopping trip a few days ago – standing there and… talking to her? Madeleine’s eyes widened a little more in surprise. Hastily, she put her fingers at her place in the book and closed it over them, clutching the heavy thing on her lap, the weight of it comforting.

Before Madeleine could even say anything, like telling Melody that she had been reading, actually, but it was all right that Melody had come over and interrupted her, Melody kept talking and first mentioned dinner, and then – Madeleine wasn’t exactly sure, but she thought maybe Melody had invited Madeleine to have dinner with her? Madeleine’s eyes were even wider than before, big and blue in her small pale face.

“Oh,” Madeleine said. “Um,” she looked down at her book, then back at Melody, feeling shy and uncertain. Maybe it wasn’t what Melody had meant? She couldn’t really want to have dinner with Madeleine, could she? Melody was older, and very pretty and nice; Madeleine couldn’t think of any reason why the other student would want to have dinner together. But… she also couldn’t think of any other way to interpret what Melody had said.

Madeleine took a deep breath, mind racing. If she was wrong, if Melody didn’t want to have dinner, then Melody would tell her – would tell her she was an idiot, probably, and maybe even laugh at her. But, if she was right, if Melody did want to have dinner, then Madeleine wouldn’t have to sit alone, and she hated sitting alone so much. It was so miserable, and she was, actually, hungry, all of a sudden – very hungry. Her stomach felt like a little hole in her torso, burning through her skin.

“I – I’d – ” Madeleine tripped and stumbled over the words, afraid despite her decision. “I’m not very busy,” she looked down at the book on her lap, summoning all her courage. A little spike of fear shot through her field, jagged and easy to sense. “It’s nice to see you, Miss Amberleigh,” Madeleine added a moment later, not quite brave enough to say what she really wanted. She took another deep breath, and blurted the words out. “Yes dinner would be nice.”

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Melody
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Mon Jun 24, 2019 4:11 am

Near Dinnertime
27 of Intas, 2719
The Library, Brunnhold
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It was awkward to begin conversations, she never knew what pace to keep, either she'd say too little, or too much. This, she suspected, was one of those times when she had said too much. It was perhaps unfortunate that being social was more art than science, but even art operated within certain rules, though they were rules of aesthetics and sensibilities.. Or perhaps the reason she kept misstepping was because she kept going off on these mental tangents mid-way through interactions? Melody's lips quirked in something half way between a grimace and a smile of rueful amusement at herself before she smoothed her expression again.

Madeleine's surprise at her approach was clear, from her wide eyes as well as from her field. Perhaps, it was a convention to not mix across years? Well, it was a silly convention in that case. Or perhaps... Vaguely she remembered following behind Justen and his friends. She must have been young, perhaps eight or nine? She remembered the older boys playing tag, and games which involved a lot of frantic running around and chasing a leather ball.. She remembered wanting desperately to join in but not having the gumption to ask... It had taken a long time before Justen had noticed her and asked her to stop gawking and come play, if she thought she could keep up that is...

Melody's smile warmed at that remembrance, though the memory was shaded with embarrassment as well as the relief of being included. It perhaps was a case of painting the world with her own feelings, but in that moment, Madeleine, with her bent head, looked very much like a grown-up version of that long ago Melody. However as the younger student raised her head, but still didn't reply, she began to feel self-conscious. Perhaps she had misread the situation? Perhaps it was the sort of loneliness that wanted no company? To Melody, the feeling of being by yourself had as many shades as had Hulali's waters. She took it as given that everyone was familiar with all the various shades of it. One's own heart, she believed, could be the only true judge of what a particular shade of loneliness meant, or needed.

The pause grew longer, and the silence was on the verge of becoming uncomfortable, when finally, thankfully, Madeleine spoke. All of Melody's second-guessing fell away. Yes, inviting Madeleine along to dinner had been the right thing to do. She wasn't sure of what to make of the momentary spike of fear though, surely the girl wasn't scared of her? Perhaps she should make an effort to talk more?

"Great!" She picked up the stack of books again and gestured with them in the direction of the librarian's desk. "I just need to make sure these are entered against my name, and then we can go.." She glanced quickly at the closed cover of the book Madeleine held, "If you don't need to borrow this, we could meet outside, at the steps?" It wouldn't be too long from the library to the cafeteria in Doxeter, but the weather was still not one for dawdling... She'd try to be as quick as she could.. She was suddenly extremely hungry indeed. Having a guaranteed companion to eat with would be very much welcome. She should do his more often perhaps..
Last edited by Melody on Tue Jul 16, 2019 8:44 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Madeleine Gosselin
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Mon Jun 24, 2019 10:06 am

Near Dinner Time, 27th Intas, 2719
The Library, Brunnhold
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Melody didn’t hesitate at all to confirm that she had, in fact, really been inviting Madeleine to dinner. Madeleine had prepared herself so thoroughly for a refusal that the lack of one was startling, and her eyes widened a little, her whole body freezing, for a moment as upset as if she’d heard the no – a little flare of it skittered through her field, then flickered out as soon as it had started, as the reality of Melody’s yes sank in.

“Oh,” Madeleine breathed the word nearly-silently, and smiled at Melody, fully now, the tension on her face easing away, replaced by a bright, happy smile that looked like it started somewhere in her chest and seemed to fill her entirely. Hunched shoulders smoothed out and straightened, and her legs shifted out from under her, feet planting on the floor to bring Madeleine back to a normal seated position.

“I borrowed them earlier, so I – yes, that sounds good,” Melody probably wasn’t interested in whether she’d borrowed her book, Madeleine chastised herself. She swallowed, a little afraid that Melody would leave her standing and waiting on the steps, but she got up and started to gather her things as the older galdor made her way towards the librarian’s desk. Madeleine checked Melody’s direction periodically, as if making sure she was still there, pausing every few motions for it. She would put one thing in her bag, peek, put another thing in, peek again, dragging the whole packing process out much longer than necessary.

Even still, Madeleine finished before Melody. They had agreed to meet on the steps, though, so even though it was tempting to go and wait at the counter – that way Melody couldn’t forget – Madeleine forced herself out of the library with slow, trudging steps. It was darker than she expected outside; not as dark as when Madeleine usually left the library, but still quite dark. Madeleine moved over to the side, well out of the way of everyone else entering or leaving the library, and fixed her gaze firmly on the ground, ignoring the occasional flick of eyes towards her and one burst of laughter that she could have sworn was directed her way.

Madeleine shifted a little, adjusting the strap of her bag, and wondered. Why did Melody want to have dinner with her? Madeleine couldn’t really think of a reason, but she imagined Melody would tell her. Maybe not; maybe she was supposed to already know. It felt like there were so many things that she was just expected to know, that people never said but Madeleine was somehow meant to understand. Madeleine tried, she really did, but they seemed to just slip past her. Worse, sometimes, she would find out later that what she had thought she understood was entirely wrong. Those were the absolute hardest, and Madeleine had spent more than one night staring at the ceiling replaying what she could remember in her head, trying to figure out how she had gotten some things so wrong.

But there wasn’t any way she could have misinterpreted Melody, was there? Meldoy had asked if she wanted to head into dinner together, Madeleine had said yes, and Melody had said great. Abruptly, Madeleine froze, understanding. Melody had only asked about heading in. Madeleine’s heart sank a little. Melody probably just wanted someone to walk over to the cafeteria with her; she probably didn’t really want to eat with Madeleine. That was okay, Madeleine told herself, swallowing a lump in her throat and pushing back at the wave of disappointment threatening to swamp her. She would eat by herself. It wouldn’t be the first time and she didn’t think it would be the last either.

With how rushed she’d been that morning, Madeleine had forgotten to bring a cloak. It had been a nice day, warm for spring, and she hadn’t needed it earlier, but it was getting cold now, really cold, and Madeleine found herself shivering a little as she waited. She shifted from foot to foot, slowly moving them between her confisalto positions, distracting herself with thoughts of dance. It was silly, so she’d never told anyone, but sometimes as she went through routines in her head, if she really focused, she could feel it in her body. Just now it seemed to warm her up a bit, as if she really were dancing.

Madeleine waited, the disappointment in her field ebbing to a faint soft throbbing, leaving the mona almost neutral around her, her head full of thoughts of confisalto and dancing, her cheeks pink with cold, and her heavy bookbag strapped across her back. She was hungry; she needed to eat. If she did it alone, then so be it. If she told herself that enough times, Madeleine hoped, she would even start to believe it.

When Melody came out, Madeleine felt a sharp surge of relief that she wasn’t quite able to hide; it flickered through her field and died out as Madeleine remembered that just because Melody hadn’t ditched her here didn’t meant she actually wanted to eat together. Madeleine smiled at the older galdor anyway, swallowing, and tried her best to make conversation.

“What books did you get?” Madeleine asked. She hesitated, feeling stupid, immediately regretting her choice. “I – I should have just looked. I’m sorry,” her gaze dropped again, embarrassment seeping out into her field.

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Melody
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Tue Jul 02, 2019 3:07 am

Dinnertime
27 of Intas, 2719
The Cafeteria, Brunnhold
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The books went in her bag, her thoughts ranging ahead to the next set of experiments she wanted to do. They were small things, as most of her experiments tended to be. She should be comfortably able to do them in her room, and Cinder would enjoy the company. Thoughts of her pet brought a smile to her face, and a subtle warmth to her field, even as she walked out of the library doors and looked around for Madeleine. It took her a few moments to find the younger girl, the uncertain half darkness made everything strange and hard to recognise. Melody walked over, a small answering smile on her face.

"No need to apologise," she spoke easily and gestured at the girl to begin walking. "It's cold still, let's talk as we walk. You don't even have a cloak on..." Tocks but the child was nervous. She examined her own behaviour but couldn't really think of anything she may have done to cause that... Well, perhaps talking more was a rather more urgent need with this one than she had thought? Melody's lips quirked at the thought of running the experiment, and maybe channelling a little of Lilanee. Even though any results would only be specific to this one galdor, it would still be interesting. Not to mention that if Madeleine grew more comfortable with her, they would both have a more pleasant time. And at the very least, Melody ruefully thought, Madeleine's field would be certain to give her enough feedback.

"I got a lot of books this time. One for static, which is my primary focus, and another for quantitative, which is my secondary. Then two books that deal with things that I need to reference for my art projects, and finally one for physical." Melody finished the list of books feeling slightly ridiculous, it perhaps sounded as if all she did was swot. However she had decided to make the attempt to talk more, and so she would, even if she had to speak her thoughts out loud in an unfiltered stream. "I am absolutely fascinated with the mechanics of static," she held out a hand palm up to demonstrate. "Consider the simplest phase shift spell we learn, the drawing of moisture out of thin air so to say..." She paused for a second, excitement mixing with reverence as she spoke the often practised monite spell. The mona obliged, to Melody it seemed as if the mona partook in her excitement as well, and a simple orb of clear water hovered a few centimetres above her palm. "From something unseen, to something visible, and familiar." She let the water splash on her palm and absently wiped it on her skirts. "The kind of art I work with is static, like a sketch or a painting, a moment captured in time... Yet that captured moment can hint at what went before, and even at what might come after..."

She had almost forgotten her audience, what had begun as an experiment had morphed into passion given voice. It came to her suddenly that this wasn't something she had shared with quite such rawness before, especially to someone she was just acquainted with. Most people, she had learnt, did appreciate beauty, and art was often beautiful. But art was so much more.. And that wasn't something everyone appreciated. She had decided to speak more as a way to put Madeleine at ease, but she had found out something about herself. She had never seen the mona as a tool, but she realised today that at some level she saw the mona and what it wrought as art. And that was what moved her.

Her tone was a little muted with the hush of reverence, the recent revelation too new to be spoken of casually. "I want to.. capture that impermanence.." Her hands fluttered in the air, trying to give a shape to what she meant through gestures where words didn't seem to be enough... Words had never felt quite so inadequate before. I want to be able to convey.. that feeling, that this instant you see through this medium, is part of a longer rhythm..." The sheer audacity of what she had said suddenly struck her, and her face flushed with sudden embarrassment, her field shrinking in concert. She sounded so conceited, and what in the world had possessed her to share this most delicate of a hope with someone who in all likelihood wouldn't understand? She visibly braced herself, it felt as if she had exposed a fragile newborn cub to the harshness of winter. She wanted to hurry and bundle this newborn dream up, swaddle it with layers that'd protect it from the frigidity of disapproval or criticism. In this moment of newness, most everything would hurt, and Melody's pace increased a little, as if she wanted to subconsciously run away from Madeleine. The possibility that the younger student might have a dream she had nursed longer and considered as precious, would be too far fetched to consider. It was unbearably rare to meet spirits who were kindred even in part, and that was yet another shade of loneliness she was all too familiar with.

Yet she could hardly stay silent after saying all that. The weight of the pause would grow too much for her shortly, and so with an effort that was nearly visible, she managed a slight chuckle, "Of course I'm not that talented, nor likely to reach that level, but it's nice to have goals no?" Enough, she couldn't be Lilanee, it wasn't in her nature. The experiment is aborted., The thought helped bring a more natural smile to her lips. They had almost reached the cafeteria doors. She pushed open the doors, holding them for the younger student, then asked, "How about you Miss Gosselin? What excites you about magic? Or if not magic.. something else?"
Last edited by Melody on Tue Jul 16, 2019 8:45 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Madeleine Gosselin
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Tue Jul 02, 2019 1:48 pm

Near Dinner Time, 27th Intas, 2719
The Library, Brunnhold
Madeleine felt a little surge of misery – Melody must really think she was an idiot – and she followed the older girl, walking alongside her. She started to say something about having forgotten her cloak, but the words seemed to stutter and die in her chest, and Madeleine dropped her gaze to the ground, nearly stumbling before quickly picking her feet up and keeping Melody’s pace.

Madeleine looked up, surprised, when Melody answered her question; she honestly hadn’t thought the older girl would answer at all. Not only did she, but she went right into a deeper explanation of how much she loved static conversation. Madeleine watched her little spell, feeling a faint twinge of unease – was it really a proper use to cast a little spell like that? – but it was a lovely spell, well-made, and the mona seemed happy to oblige her with that tiny orb of water, glistening in the settling dusk.

“Static art?” Madeleine whispered, wide-eyed. A moment captured in time, a moment that hinted what went before and what might come after. Madeleine shivered, the words striking a chord somewhere in her heart, so deep that she couldn’t even think of anything to say. She listened with the full focus of her attention, eyes wide and trained on Melody, so distracted that it was hard for her to remember to move her feet.

“Oh…” Madeleine let out a little sigh of disappointment when Melody said she didn’t think she’d be able to reach that level. She hesitated, looking up at the other girl at her question, then down, small face tight for a moment. Madeleine swallowed, wishing they weren’t at the cafeteria already, but – maybe if she said something interesting, Melody would want to have dinner with her after all?

Madeleine wanted, desperately, to think of something cool and clever, something witty and fun, something like the comments that Angelique made that always seemed to make people laugh. Instead, though, all she could think of was about those words of Melody’s – beautiful words – and the feeling like dancing in her chest.

“What you said,” Madeleine began, awkwardly. She swallowed a little. “It’s like dancing,” she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, blushing faintly. “I mean, it’s – when you dance, you are…” Madeleine struggled for the words, struggled with a sudden feeling of inadequacy to explain it, struggled worse with the idea of stopping, and pushed through. She couldn’t walk anymore, standing utterly still just inside the entryway, apparently oblivious to the passage of other students trying to get their dinners, streaming around her.

“A dance is just a series of moments,” Madeleine said, finally, brow furrowed as she tried to express herself. There were soft flutters of joy in her field, weaving out from her into the air. “It’s exactly like what you said about static. There’s nothing at first, and then – movement and feeling and life. When you’re dancing, you do move between states, you…” her hands fluttered. “Sometimes you dance on your feet, and sometimes your toes. Do you – do you know about…” Madeleine’s excitement surged again, and she kept trying. Her shoulders drew apart, slowly, her back straightening, her chin lifting. The pinched, bruised look faded from her eyes, and bright enthusiasm shone out of them.

“Well,” Madeleine explained, “in confisalto, you have to shift between, from dancing on your feet to dancing on your toes, and there are different ways to do it – you can draw up onto your toes, slowly, you can extend your leg and step out, or you can jump up and land on your toes, and it… how you make that transition, it depends on the dance and the beat of it, and the sequence you’re in,” she grinned shyly at Melody, still blushing. “It isn’t isolated, you know? And when it all comes together, it’s just - It’s wonderful. It’s not like anything else, except maybe – casting,” Madeleine blushed brighter, thinking of gravity spells, thinking of that wonderful moment when the whole world fell away, and it was only you and the mona, working together to lift something off the ground – off the ground! It was lovely.

“… if you like dancing,” Madeleine added a moment later, deflating slightly, hands wrapping around the strap slung across her chest. Madeleine almost seemed to be holding her breath, staring anxiously at Melody, waiting for the older student’s response. Her shoulders hunched back up, ever so slightly, as if to put a little shield between herself and whatever Melody’s words might be.

Stupid, Madeleine told herself. Nobody cares about your dancing. She wished, with a little twinge of desperation that could easily be felt in her field, that Melody would understand, that she might see in Madeleine’s words what Madeleine had seen in hers.

“I do,” Madeleine added, unable to help herself, small-voiced. “I like – dancing.”

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Thu Jul 04, 2019 11:02 pm

27 of Intas, 2719
The Cafeteria, Brunnhold
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For a few moments after they entered the cafetria, Madeleine remained silent. Melody wasn't especially surprised, for all that few words had actually been said, the conversation had perhaps been a little strange for the younger student. She stood on tiptoe, hoping to better pick out a spot they could deposit their bags at before standing in line. They were early, so the cafeteria wasn't too crowded yet, indeed it seemed the cafeteria held mostly the younger students. One of the smaller tables was free only a few feet away, and Melody turned to Madeliene, hand already pointing out the empty table.

She swallowed her words at the look on the younger girl's face. The words, no the feelings behind the words were unexpected, she truly hadn't expected her earlier words to have reached receptive ears. Melody's eyes widened, and a slow smile bloomed on her face. Watching Madeleine at this moment was like watching spring advance, a winter-bare branch slowly greening and then putting forth buds. The pause between her words grew less hesitant, her posture grew more erect, more confident. If dance was a series of moments, the transformation in the young woman was no less dynamic than a dance.

Melody didn't consider herself a dancer. She had, of course, learned the dances popular at the various schools she had attended. Dancing was, in any case, one of the more appealing activities the students were required to learn. She didn't think she was a complete disgrace to her name, she could feel the rhythm of music in her blood, and in her heart. She was even passably graceful at the dances she had learnt, but her body could never move to the music the way her mind's eye insisted it ought to. Perhaps dance simply didn't speak to her the way art did. So she enjoyed watching other students attempt the more challenging dance forms, and vaguely envious, wished she could capture even half of that dynamism in her art.

Madeleine apparently danced the Confisalto. It wasn't a dance form Melody was very familiar with, she had some vague idea that mirrors were somehow involved but that didn't seem to make much sense... The way Madeleine described it, it made Melody curious. It seemed to be a fairly stylised and athletic dance style. "Yes!" Melody couldn't help the interjection that burst forth from her when the younger girl compared dancing to casting. It sounded ridiculous on the surface of it, there was no dance involved in casting. But there was a rhythm involved, along with precision, and there certainly was emotion involved too. Casting could certainly be thought of as a performance put on by the sorcerer for the mona, with the mona's acceptance of the request a form of its approbation.

Madeleine's enthusiasm and obvious joy were contagious, and Melody could only stand and smile at the girl, the cafeteria and the other students momentarily forgotten. So the sudden intrusion of anxiety and desperation in the girl's field was startling. Melody let herself smile wider and impulsively reached out to grab one of Madeline's hands. "At this moment, I'm very glad I decided to transfer to Brunnhold!" She tugged the girl towards the corner table she'd noticed earlier before she let her go, and then dumped her bag on a chair before turning to Madeleine again. "I like dancing well enough, though I have never seen a confisalto performance. You'll have to let me see a performance sometimes.."

"Miss Gosselin," she continued in a softer voice, "You have the soul of an artist, or perhaps passion in one's chosen craft makes artists of everyone it touches..." She glanced around, noting that the cafeteria was beginning to fill with students. "You and me, we both work on art, it's only our talents and mediums that differ." She waved at the much longer line at the serving stations, and continued, "I'd love to continue this discussion, but before we indulge in soul food, let's feed our bodies first. Let's get some food, and eat quickly?"
Last edited by Melody on Tue Jul 16, 2019 8:45 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Madeleine Gosselin
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Sat Jul 06, 2019 4:35 pm

Dinner Hour, 27 Intas, 2719
The Cafeteria, Brunnhold
Melody was smiling at her, but somehow it wasn’t reassuring. It could be a happy smile but, Madeleine worried, it could also be a smile like you give a stupid child or a passive, one of those friendly sort of looks that masked how you were really feeling. Madeleine wasn’t good at those smiles but a lot of people were and she - what if Melody -

The older girl reached out and clasped Madeleine’s hand in hers. Madeleine looked down at their hands then back up, wide-eyed, as Melody declared that she was - happy to have transferred to Brunnhold?

Madeleine wasn’t sure she understood but she couldn’t stop the fragile, tentative leap of hope in her chest, fluttering somewhere beneath her rib cage, growing stronger with each beat of delicate wings. Melody wanted to see a confisalto performance and Madeleine nodded, opening her mouth to tell her about the showcase but Melody wasn’t done -

The words ‘soul of an artist’ were nice enough, but it was the grouping of the two of them together, her and Melody, that made Madeleine’s heart dance in her chest, leaping and twirling. You and me, she thought dizzily, artists together.
Melody not only wanted to eat together, but she even wanted to talk more after. Madeleine could only nod, warm yellow happiness color-shifting her field, filling the air around her with soft brilliance.

The feeling lasted through getting her food; Madeleine was too busy in it to care what she got or pay any attention to what was around her, utterly ignoring the passives that served her and carrying the tray back to their - their! - table. She sat and stared down at the food, surprised to discover it on her plate.

Once Madeleine took a bite, she discovered both that she was ravenous and that the food was delicious. It was a struggle not to just eat as fast as she could, and instead to take a neat bite and set her knife and fork down between, chew and swallow in the way she’d been raised to, and then pick up her utensils for another bite. She knew - knew! - it was unbearably vulgar to eat any other way, and things were going so well with Melody that Madeleine was terrified of ruining it.

By the same token, she only talked a little during the meal. It was loud in the cafeteria, the hour when most students took their dinner now well underway, and Madeleine didn’t want to mishear Melody or be misheard. For a little while, then, there were only soft platitudes, questions about the food aimed delicately at one another, the occasional smile or soft comment, barely audible over the clatter of plates and forks and cups, the voices raised in laughter or debate. Madeleine didn’t mind that they were quiet; she was just glad not to be alone.

By the time they had both finished, though, Madeleine was feeling a little anxious again. By the time they were outside, Madeleine was shivering in the cold air. Now the silence felt almost permanent, and she didn’t know what to do or say, didn’t know how to get back to that easy feeling they had had before. She looked up at Melody, afraid again; what if Melody didn’t remember she had wanted to talk? What if how all she wanted to do was go back to her room and look at all those books she had gotten?

It would be all right, Madeleine told herself. For a moment, she and Melody had been a ‘they,’ two artists who understood one another. For a moment someone else had thought her an artist! Just the memory lit a little warm glow in Madeleine’s chest, and sent a little smile sneaking over her face. If that was it - if Melody was done with her now - it would be enough, Madeleine decided. She still couldn’t quite work up the courage to say anything, but at least - well, Madeleine was smiling, anyway, and her shoulders were down and relaxed.

And anyway, Madeleine wasn’t sure what to say; she held on to the hope that Melody would still want to talk. If she asked, though, she might ruin it; if Melody didn’t want to talk and Madeleine asked, Melody would feel awkward. But if Madeleine suggested they go their separate ways, Melody might think she didn’t want to talk, and nothing could be further from the truth. So Madeleine sought refuge in silence, the soft chattering of her teeth her only noise, and hoped for Melody to rescue her again.

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Melody
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Wed Jul 10, 2019 12:55 pm

27 of Intas, 2719
The Cafeteria, Brunnhold
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Melody was glad she was able to dispel the anxiety and desperation from Madeleine's field, the younger student had nodded agreement to her suggestion about not lingering overmuch over dinner, and they had proceeded to line up at food counters. The counters at Brunnhold were, as always, manned by the gated passives. They wore the pleasant, yet slightly impersonal, smiles of restaurant staff everywhere. The outright rudeness of many of the students in line, however, wasn't usual anywhere except at Brunnhold. The specific cmbination of an exclusively passive servant class and an exclusively galdori patron class couldn't be common even in Anaxas. The passives and the galdori. What a screwed up relationship. Her mind skittered to the one gated passive she'd had any real interaction with, and shied away. No. She refused to dwell on him or on passives or about where she herself stood on the issue.

Today, she had managed to find someone who she thought might be able to understand why she pursued art. And she chose to focus on that. This feeling of kinship, that was welcomed and reciprocated instead of being ridiculed or rejected, was important. On this day, Madeleine deserved her attention a lot more than faceless passives did. So she simply smiled at the passive who served her with food, and returned to the table.

Emotions, however, did not easily follow the dictates of the mind. The sense of euphoria and delight that had suffused her had lost some of its sparkle, and she found herself making polite conversation over their dinner. The longer the gap between their earlier conversation about art and dancing became, the more unreal it started to seem. Had Madeleine talked about her dancing the way Melody wished she could talk about art? Was her memory choosing to ascribe an undue weight to something that in the end had just been two girls talking about their hobbies? Dinner, Melody worried, might have been the wrong thing to choose... It was like ignoring the urgency of inspiration and insisting that you had to.. go to sleep. You could try going to sleep of course, but the likeliest outcome would be you tossing and turning for hours, and then realising the muse had fled. So you ended up with nothing at all to show for insisting on the so-called 'wise' course of action.

As they both finished their dinner and stepped out of the cafeteria, she could sense the feelings of anxiety spiking in Madeleine's field again. It wasn't as sharp as it had been earlier, her field seemed tempered with something almost like contentment. Perhaps the other girl was silent for the same reason she herself was? Melody drew in a deep breath, the air was cold enough that it was a borderline painful experience. She glanced at Madeleine, the girl was shivering with cold, her teeth chattering. Why had the silly girl not dressed warmly enough, did she want to fall sick? They couldn't stay out, and staying in the cafeteria would only be delaying the inevitable, it'd just get colder with the passing hours.

"You'll fall sick if you linger on in the cold much longer," She looked in the direction of Ameter, where the dormitories for both herself and the sixth form girl would be. "Where's your dorm Miss Gosslin?" Melody related her own dorm's address, "I'm still not sure of the exact locations, if mine's closer than yours, you are most welcome to come hang out in my room.." She'd racked her mind but she couldn't offhand think of any spell that'd help with someone feeling cold, you needed something flammable to ignite, and the temperature spells didn't really work on living tissues. "It would be somewhat undignified," Her lips quirked in a wry smile, "But if we run through the streets, you'll be warm enough, and we'll get to shelter the more quickly..."

Melody looked Madeleine in the eyes, the smile still present in her gaze, "What do you say Miss Gosselin? Shall we be a little silly?"
Last edited by Melody on Tue Jul 16, 2019 8:46 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Madeleine Gosselin
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Thu Jul 11, 2019 9:17 am

Dinner Hour, 27 Intas, 2719
The Cafeteria, Brunnhold
Madeleine cringed a little at Melody’s comment on her lack of a cloak, teeth chattering a little louder. She swallowed hard and tried to hold them together, anxious that she was annoying the older girl, that those kind words masked Melody’s annoyance with how stupid she was. Her gaze dropped to the ground, and Madeleine waited, tensing, for the inevitable chastisement, the inevitable dismissal, and -

Her dorm?

Madeleine looked up at Melody wide-eyed, not quite understanding. Melody kept going, and offered to - to hang out? In her room? “Oh,” Madeleine breathed. She thought maybe her dorm room was actually closer, but Madeleine would have happily lied about it a thousand times. “Yes I think yours is closer!” Madeleine wasn’t really sure, so, technically, she thought it didn’t count as a lie. It wasn’t maybe a perfect truth but it was close enough, wasn’t it?

Run through the streets? Madeleine thought her eyes would pop out of her head if they went any wider. She swallowed a little, staring at Melody, and glanced around. Madeleine was sure it was undignified, and entirely inappropriate, maybe even scandalous. Students of Brunnhold shouldn’t run! Unless maybe you were late, like for class or something important like that.

Madeleine could feel her heart pounding in her chest. She ought to say no; she ought to be the one to tell Melody that it wasn’t appropriate, that just because they ran places in Mugroba or something (it was terribly uncivilized there, Madeleine was sure) didn’t mean they could do it here at Brunnhold. And silly! Madeleine didn’t want to be silly, silly was for little children, not galdori who were already fifteen and would be sixteen soon and surely weren’t children anymore.

But... Melody was smiling, at her, for her. And suddenly Madeleine realized she was smiling too, her cheeks aching in the sharp crisp cold and - she found that she was nodding, happily, fear and worry swirling through her field and nothing at all compared to the sharp surging joy that seemed to be radiating out from her.

And so they ran. The air was cold and whipping at Madeleine’s face and every inch of her exposed skin, but there was a warm core of warmth inside her. As she ran, clutching her book bag against herself all all the while, booted feet clattering against the pathways, that faint warmth seemed to grow and grow. Madeleine wasn’t sure who started laughing first - maybe it was her - she only knew that by the time they skated into the building and stopped she was absolutely helpless from the giggling, doubling over and clutching her stomach, tears from the cold and the laughter leaking down her cheeks, and if she was still cold she didn’t feel it at all. She was breathless, not so much from the run itself as from the laughter, and it felt lovely. It was as if for just a moment while running she had been in a different time, a different place; one where there was only her and Melody, where no one else could enter. Madeleine didn’t mind - didn’t even notice, in truth - the odd looks from other students.

Madeleine looked up at Melody and giggled a little more. She rubbed her eyes on her sleeve, smiling brightly, looking for maybe the first (maybe the second) time like a normal happy child, all soft and cheerful, no pinched tension, not even around the eyes, cheeks warm and red from the laughter as much as the cold. Her field was soft and fluttering and content, pale yellow shifted, that warm glow filling the air around her.

Madeleine followed Melody all the way to her room. Now she found herself almost chattering, and it was easy, really easy, to talk to the older girl.

“I like having my own room again so much,” Madeleine was explaining, happily. “Now that I’m in sixth form it’s - well - it’s a bit undignified to have a roommate isn’t it? Not that I didn’t like Daphne of course I mean she was very nice and of course we always got along,” Madeleine shied away from thinking too much about how true that statement was “but it’s just - you don’t get to have any privacy, you know? When someone else is always - always - there,” Madeleine made a little face and shrugged, still smiling.

“Or,” Madeleine hesitated, a faint spike of anxiety creeping back into her chest. “Do you wish you had a roommate? At a new place - I mean...” she trailed off, not exactly sure what she had meant to say. Melody was slowing down a little, as if they were already there, and Madeleine felt a faint unease that now she had said the wrong thing, that Melody would want her to go - and she shoved it away. Melody, Madeleine was realizing slowly, wasn’t like that. Her smile had slipped a little, but only a little, and Madeleine was entirely unaware of the faintly pleading look in her eyes.

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