Archive World of Darkness: The Academy - Angels and Devils [Complete]

[Atomicweasel]

"That's reference and you can find it right over there," the librarian, a short-haired woman with glasses and a smattering of freckles, pointed past Mari's shoulder. "But if you want to see some less common versions, we have a few rare copies in print. You can't take those out either, but they're a little different from what you might be used to with the King James...and you can read all you like in the study lounges."

Mari nodded eagerly. "Where can I find those?"

"Go down those stairs to your right until you get to door B. Then if you follow the aisles past the center you should see Theology on your left and you should find them right there. There's some study cubes along the wall, and even a couple of sofas." the woman smiled encouragingly at Mari.

"Great, thank you." Mari answered sweetly. She traipsed down the stairs and through the aisles as instructed, finding the Theology section without much difficulty. She thumbed over the titles, discovering bibles in versions she'd never known existed, as well as treatises and thick leather bound volumes with musty smelling pages. A cracked spine with yellowed pages got Mari's attention. The Vulgate she read. She carefully extracted the heavy tome and opened it up, only to find an incomprehensible sea of letters. Maybe it's Latin, she figured, gently returning the book and continuing down the aisle. Towards the end of the stack she discovered another thick weathered old volume. Angels and Devils. She bent down and slipped it free of its neighbors. Opening it to a random page, Mari discovered a series of illustrations, done in an antiquated style, almost like engravings. She folded the book neatly under her arm and walked back out of the aisle.

A sofa in the middle of a wide study lounge area looked inviting, but when Mari walked around the back of it she discovered it was taken...by the most beautiful boy she had ever seen. Her breath caught with a little gasp. All thoughts of Mr. Burke from her math class were chased out of her mind by the dark skinned young man stretched out before her. His face was sharp and angular, his crow-black hair caught up in an elegant ponytail. A stylish black blazer was folded over the arm of the couch next to his head, his beautiful green and gold trimmed shirt was untucked and his lashes were as thick and deep as a girl's. He was sleeping, murmuring something and twisting fitfully.

Mari felt a pang of tenderness. She clutched her book to her chest, staring down at him, shifting hesitantly from foot to foot as she looked first to her left and then to her right. They were alone. She tried a discrete little cough. The boy only turned onto his side with a half-growl, half-whimper. Mari gulped, looked carefully around again, and then set her book down on the table next to the couch and squatted on her heels beside the boy with her thighs pressed modestly together. He smelled like almonds and something else. Earthy but sweet. "Hey..." she chewed her lower lip nervously, then hesitantly reached out to touch his shoulder. "you're having a bad dream."

__________________

Height: 5'1", Weight: 102 lbs, Hair: Dark brown, Eyes: Hazel, Striking looks 4, Dexterity 4, Presence 4

[Ravi FitzCoventry]

He was running. Running fast as he could, faster than he ever had before. Behind him was something... something terrible. Under his bare feet was leaf-mould and earth, and he was running so fast that he barely left indents in the soil.

Behind him It came, unhurriedly. It's hot breath was on his neck and shoulders, It's footfalls whisper-soft and steady. It shouldn't be able to keep up with him, but against all probability It was. He ran harder, sucking in hoarse gasps of air, pushing himself faster. He was a good runner, he knew, and right now he was running faster than he thought was possible. But what was behind him wasn't possible to outrun. Some deep intuition told him this, but he ignored the voice. To be caught would be to die, to feel fang and claw rend his flesh. It wanted to tear him apart, to scatter him to the four winds.

He couldn't surrender to it. Would never surrender to it. He was a FitzCoventry, whose ancestors had won their arms at the side of kings. He didn't run like a rabbit. He ran with a purpose. He would stay ahead of this Thing, this unseen stalker, until he found the right ground. Then he would turn and make a stand, look the Beast in the eye...

He tripped, a treacherous root catching his ankle and sending him sprawling headlong. He struggled to get to his feet, hearing the pad-pad of It's steps come closer, feeling long fangs grazing the skin of his shoulder-

Ravi let out a low, quiet cry and jerked awake, sitting bolt upright and causing the girl touching him to gasp and hop backwards nimbly as he turned towards her. The girl started to say something soothing but the words stalled in her throat for a second at the wide, scintillating green-gold eyes gleaming with a feral light and the half-snarl of fear on Ravi's lips. They held that tableau for a long second.

Ravi relaxed, his extraordinary eyes closing for a second as he ran his hands over his face. That awful, vibrant tension that made him look bigger somehow, more menacing even in his fear, likewise departed. He let out a deep, shuddering breath, rubbing at his temples and smoothing his hair back. He'd come in here to collect books, but the library was nice and warm, and there was a window with a lazy, hazy golden stream of sunlight... and so he'd decided to skip Literature and take a little nap. He could claim jetlag if anyone asked, after all.

And that dream. He frowned a little, trying to remember what it had been about. Being chased by someone, wasn't it? Or was he the one doing the chasing? He pinched the bridge of his nose between thumb and forefinger, chasing sleep away, then looked up. Someone had said something. A sweet-sounding female voice, it's tone one of concern.

"Hmm?" he said before he caught sight of her, then he immediately upgraded his response. "Hmmmmm. Well hello." he all but purred, his exotically hued eyes taking in the vision before him with frank appreciation. She really was lovely... A little young, perhaps, but lovely. Hair the color of rich chocolate, a pair of heartbreaking hazel eyes and a figure that was slender but athletic. Her olive complexion was darkened delightfully by a tint of rose at either cheek as she met his gaze. Ravi smiled at her, his eyes gleaming in the sunlight. "I'm sorry. I was a little distracted there for a moment. What was it you said?" His voice was smooth and deep for a boy his age, and the accent was fascinating. Educated, English, but with a hint of something exotic and wonderful.

"I asked if you were okay." the girl said with a sweet, intensely shy smile. She sounded American, inner city. A strange accent to Ravi's ears, and not one normal to the Academy. "I'm sorry for waking you, but you were having a bad dream, and..." she shrugged cutely. "I didn't know what else to do." She bit her lower lip for a second, then offered a hand. "I'm Maria Palacios. But my friends call me Mari." she added, then blushed deeper red. To her credit, she didn't break eye contact or lose composure.

"Then Mari it shall be." Ravi replied, his voice softly rolling the syllables of her name. He stood up with feline grace and took her hand in both of his, eyes never leaving hers. "For anyone who rescues me from a bad dream is definitely someone I wish for a friend. I am Ravi, and in your debt."

[Atomicweasel]

In all her short life Mari had never met anyone who looked like Ravi, let alone spoke like him. Had he been a boy from her neighborhood he would’ve leered at her and said something like Mira, mira, pa donde vas nena, ‘tas muy buena! Vente pa’ aqui mi amor, no seas tan cruel! or, if they were feeling lazy, Arroz! Que carne hay! But Ravi talked like a storybook and there was a lupine passion in his wild green eyes that made Mari’s heart race. It was with a start that Mari realized she was staring, that her hand was still warmly clasped in Ravi’s.

She gently extricated her hand. Her laugh, embarrassed and dulcet and deeply contagious, was followed by an adorably self-conscious little grin. Her blush kept on blazing. “You don’t owe me anything for that,” Mari demurred, trying to find something to do with her hands that didn’t involve nervous fluttering. She finally clasped them behind her back, which lent a modest emphasis to her small but exquisitely perky breasts. Mari didn’t have a lot of experience with boys and it was showing. Her sisters would’ve been all over Ravi, Mari suspected, cooing at him, flirting shamelessly. They would have said clever risqué things and laughed throatily and leaned toward him and smiled wetly, and built an atmosphere of charged sexuality with just a glance. All of that was as alien to Mari as shoes were to a snake. So, smitten though she was, Mari didn’t coyly bat her lashes, twist her hips or break into schoolgirl giggling...nor did she allow her shyness to overcome her bravery.

She looked right back into Ravi’s mesmerizing gaze with an earnest and quiet intensity of her own and secretly prayed he would say something more in that delicious accent of his.

__________________

Height: 5'1", Weight: 102 lbs, Hair: Dark brown, Eyes: Hazel, Striking looks 4, Dexterity 4, Presence 4

[Ravi FitzCoventry]

"Oh, but I insist." he informed her, with a smile that was two parts friendly charm to one part... Well, she wasn't sure she could put a name to that last part, but it made her heart pause in it's racing to do a backflip as she felt her breath catch, a sensation somewhere between girlish terror and womanly delight spreading through her stomach like fiery liquor. "Please. Won't you join me?" Ravi half stepped aside, allowing Mari to sit on the couch as he glanced down, tsked quietly and tucked his shirt into place, affording her a glimpse of the smooth dark skin above the waistband of his trousers as he did so.

It's just his skin. You've seen boy's chests before in hot summers. It's no big deal! Mari's rational brain told her while her the rest of her consciousness was stuck somewhere between wanting to bolt and drooling on itself. Mari's composure didn't desert her as she sat, Ravi straightening his beautiful shirt with a few crisp, deft movements before sitting on her right and leaning back, half turning to face her as he did so, resting one ankle on the opposite knee in an elegant gesture. Mari felt his eyes run over her profile as she scooped her books up from the table and placed them on her lap before turning slightly towards him, her eyes resting on the deep bronze skin of his throat and the faint shadow of stubble on his jaw before finally meeting his again. As she did so he smiled brightly, a friendly and reassuring expression that still managed to somehow make her spine tingle.

"I must say I lament not meeting you sooner. Myself, I have only been her a scant few days, and most of those were spent in bed with some sort of summer flu that it seem mostly everyone here had. A dreadfully boring experience which I am glad I can't remember much of. Hence why I wasn't at the social event before the semester started." he shrugged, resting his elbow on the back of the couch and his chin in his hand as he peered at her. His pinky ring glinted warmly in the light. "So where do you hail from, Mari?" Tell me ALL about yourself, for I am fascinated his eyes urged her silently.

[Atomicweasel]

"Queens." Mari said. She sank a little deeper into the couch, folded her hands over her book where it sat on her lap. The barest hint of amusement touched her eyes as she went on to elaborate. "Newyorico. I got here just a couple days ago, too...and I got sick, like right after I got here." She lifted her shoulders into another adorably expressive shrug. "I figure, maybe it was just nerves, but...now, like I feel totally fine, only I'm still kind of just...freaked out by this place."

Mari's eyes swept over the library before returning to Ravi, lingering on the polished shine of his pinky ring. "I got a soccer scholarship. Our coach, Evan Rosen? Maybe you know him? Anyway, he was visiting his brother who got sick back in New York and he saw me playing in the barrio with some friends and..." here Mari paused the tumble of words that had come bubbling out of her so eagerly. Her speech and movements lacked the sophistication of the other girls at Dalton that Ravi had met, but there was a refreshing frankness about her, a simple nakedness to her words, an endearing lack of self-awareness in the way she bent to scratch at a little scab on her knee, an openness in her body posture. She seemed to be without guile or artifice.

"...then here I was, I guess." She blushed again under Ravi's scrutiny. "How bout you? Where are you from?" she asked.

__________________

Height: 5'1", Weight: 102 lbs, Hair: Dark brown, Eyes: Hazel, Striking looks 4, Dexterity 4, Presence 4

[Ravi FitzCoventry]

"Warwickshire, England is where my family has it's seat." Ravi said without any real emphasis, neither bragging nor indulging in false modesty. "That's where I was born and brought up, for the most part. I spent a lot of time with the other half of my family in Northern India. As to how I came to be here... Well, it was nothing so worthwhile as a scholarship, I fear."

"My family has money and influence, and as the eldest son I am expected to be a worthy heir." he shrugged, then grinned, an expression of roguish amusement. "Unfortunately, I had other ideas about how to spend my carefree youth, considering that there is plenty of time to grow up, and as such they sent me here where, they hope, there will be a minimum of distraction with a maximum of supervision." Ravi studied her features with mischievous intensity.

"I'm glad to say they were certainly wrong on the distraction side of things." he said with a slight grin tugging at one corner of his lips. "So what brings you into this corner of the library and to my rescue from nightmare and boredom on this fine day?"

[Atomicweasel]

Mari suspected that when Ravi spoke of his family's seat he didn't mean a chair. She sat and listened to the lulling rise and fall of his voice, unconsciously leaning toward Ravi and nodding as if she understood all about money and influence and the tension between loyalty to family expectations and the need for self-exploration. The truth of it, however, was that Ravi's rebelliousness was something Mari couldn't even begin to relate to. She saw it in him the way she saw his striking good looks, his stylish way of dressing, as another layer to add to her growing infatuation with the dusky skinned, emerald eyed boy. In Ravi, rebelliousness made sense. It was charming in the same way his feminine lashes were charming. It drew Mari into the deepening fantasy that she sat beside Prince Charming. It was disarming. Cute. It made him vulnerable in an irresistible way...

...but Mari herself would never have entertained the thought of filial rebellion. When her mother said jump, she asked how high and threw in a 'sí señora' for good measure. Her sisters were not only her friends and companions but also her role-models. She respected them immensely, and the rare moments when she earned their displeasure weighed on her like stones.

Ravi could afford to be a black sheep. Black looked good on him. For Mari, family was all she had. All she had ever had. Their struggles had been her struggles, their joys her joys...and they had always looked out for her. Always protected her. Now, for the first time ever, Mari was alone...and sitting a scant foot away from a boy whose beauty and gentle speech was at odds with the undercurrent of fear Mari felt when she looked at him. It was as if Ravi was poised to strike. Like he might pounce at any moment. And if he did pounce...Mari had the feeling he'd just as soon bite her as kiss her.

She felt a shiver, and then goosebumps on the insides of her thighs and the back of her arms. "I..." Mari had the uncommon urge to lie--something she never did--to make up some story about getting done with her classes early, to say anything except what she'd really been doing down in the library, for fear Ravi would lose interest in her. "I was looking for different versions of the bible. Evan told me they had a really great collection here." Mari held up her book with a self-depreciating little grin. "But I found this instead. It looked kinda interesting."

__________________

Height: 5'1", Weight: 102 lbs, Hair: Dark brown, Eyes: Hazel, Striking looks 4, Dexterity 4, Presence 4

[Ravi FitzCoventry]

"Angels and Devils." Ravi read as he reached out with courteous self-assurance, fingertips brushing over the book's cover for a sensuous second before his gently took it from her. Mari became intensely aware of his shuffling a little as he did so, so now he was sitting closer to her, leaning back into the couch with his leg nearly touching hers. His attention was on the book for the moment, however, turning it over in his hands before opening it and reading the inside cover. "You're right: this does look interesting."

He looked back up at Mari, studying the way her rich dark hair framed her beautiful features: girlish still, but with the promise of womanhood definitively stamped upon them. He wondered if her hair would smell like chocolate if he buried his face in it, and a faint shiver of heat ran through him. She smelled good up close: faint scents of soap and shampoo, warmth and cleanliness and... He mentally shook himself out of his reverie, aware that she was looking at him, her dark eyes wide with a mixture of quivering fear and trembling excitement. Her youth troubled him a little bit, but...

She was so delicious.

"I'm sorry." he apologised with a faint smile. "It was rude of me to stare so." Green-gold eyes dropped back to the book for a second, then peered back at her through lowered lashes as he opened 'Angels & Devils'. An irresistably mischievous smile curving his lips, he read a selection at random. "'The demon prince Rosier, whose name means 'Rose Tree', is a Dominion of the Second Hierarchy. His is the patronage of seduction, tainted love, and the abandonment of virtue.'" The woodcut illustration accompanying the entry showed a bestial-faced, horned figure apparently waylaying a swooning woman. The handsome young nobleman grinned at Mari. "What they don't show in the picture is the chloroform. I mean seriously, can you imagine abandoning your virtue to that?" Chuckling, Ravi held the book up, turning it so that Mari could see.

Impish glittering eyes regarded Mari with some frank curiousity from over the top of the book. "So are you religious, Mari? Or just interested in bibles and theology. Given your name and background, I suspect Catholicism." He lowered the book, revealing a warm, friendly smile.

[Atomicweasel]

"Bingo." Mari reached into her shirt collar and Ravi felt his mouth go dry, but sadly she only extracted a little steel crucifix. She held it out just long enough for Ravi to see and then tucked it back beneath her shirt and sweater. She was blushing again...she couldn't stop looking into Ravi's piercingly handsome eyes. There was something about him, about the way he stared right into her that set her on edge. But she couldn't help herself. She wanted to reach out to him. She wanted to trust him. She hadn't imagined losing her virtue to anyone, not in any detail at least, but she imagined it now and her blush deepened. She remembered the way the sun had poured in through the trees and set the dew on the grass to shimmering, the way the muted glow had seemed to suffuse the entire forest trail and had warmed her as she jogged. She saw herself back in the forest again, the wet grass cool against her naked back, her hair spilled out like a halo, and Ravi kneeling between her thighs, splaying her open and pulling her toward him by her hips. His face hovered over her, his eyes savage and feral and raw with need...and Mari held her breath and waited like a pinned butterfly.

Mari blinked. The vision vanished and left her still wearing her adorably guilty blush. She found her voice a moment later, and took a little leap of faith.

"If I tell you something, promise not to laugh?"

"As I live and breathe." Ravi assured her.

Still Mari hesitated. Ravi might find her ridiculous. He might think her a delusional child...but he might be the first to truly understand.

"I have this connection...with God."

Ravi began to smile.

"You promised," Mari reminded him.

"I did." Ravi nodded, playfully assuring her "And I will not break that solemn vow. Go on."

"Sometimes I just have these really strong feelings. That God is right next to me. Or behind me. Or waiting for me, or..." Mari shook her head. "I'm not explaining it right. It's like...when you're in love with someone and you know they love you and you can just feel it in your bones all the time, even when they're not there...it's sort of like that. Like, if I fall, I know He'll catch me. Or if I get lost, He'll find me." Mari paused. "That's pretty crazy, huh?"

Mari glanced down when she felt Ravi's knee brush against her thigh. She looked up again, slowly...and then she smiled.

It was a smile of such winsome girlish innocence, so bright and honest and wonderfully sweet, that Ravi felt a surge of energy—and not just in his pants. With the sunlight behind her, Mari seemed to glow like an angel and Ravi’s hungry green eyes drank of that glow. He felt wickedly strong, and wonderfully invigorated. Like he could punch through a wall. Lead an army to glorious victory. Do anything he set his mind to…so long as Mari smiled at him like that.

__________________

Height: 5'1", Weight: 102 lbs, Hair: Dark brown, Eyes: Hazel, Striking looks 4, Dexterity 4, Presence 4

[Ravi FitzCoventry]

He was silent in the face of that smile, his glittering emerald eyes almost raptly somber as they regarded Mari's luminous features. Her smile, highlighted as it had been by the rosy tint of her olive complexion, was of such sweetness and perfection that for a moment the young aristocrat, who cheerfully confessed himself a scoundrel, was struck dumb by the sheer energising effect of her smile. He wasn't sure whether to lean forward and kiss her or to lay his head in her lap. He was, for want of a better word, spellbound.

Mari was aware that those green-gold eyes were level with hers, the gleaming facets as inscrutable as the beautifully masculine features they were set into. She blushed a little deeper red under that frank, unabashed stare, trying to imagine what he was thinking and picturing all number of scenarios. Nervously, she noticed that he was leaning closer, scarcely perceptibly at first, but now she was intensely aware of how close he really was. His lips were there, barely a foot away: All she would need to do is lean forward a little and lose herself in that delicious heat she could feel rolling off him. The sunlight glittered golden in his eyes, and she swayed a little...

Ravi blinked, and the spell over both of them broke, both plainly still feeling it's effects as they sat up a little, though still close to one another. Mari was a little breathless, and her face felt hot enough to fry an egg on. She could see Ravi's skin was likewise a little darker under it's exotic colour, though he seemed to recover his aplomb faster, his lips curving in a warm smile that contained only a trace of his usual deviltry.

"I'm impressed. And humbled, truthfully." He placed a hand over his heart, fingers pressing into the beautiful fabric of his shirt. "I have of course met religious people who claim to have faith. Most of them were terribly banal and dull. You, on the other hand..." he pursed his lips faintly, eyes still smiling as he regarded her. "What you describe is truly lovely, Maria Palacios." Ravi's mouth curved again in a roguish grin, a teasing light entering his eyes.

"It almost makes me wish I were a better person."

[Atomicweasel]

Mari hid a childlike giggle behind her hand. The mysterious effect of her smile had gone. The sun still kissed the dark brown of her hair from behind, but it no longer seemed so much like an aura. What was left of her smile when she lowered her hand, still tender and sweet, had passed from magical to fetching. “You don’t really mean that,” she assured Ravi with touching conviction. “everybody wants to be a better person.”

The adorable nymphet sitting beside Ravi shifted her weight, curling one leg under the other, and for a tantalizing moment her skirt climbed a little higher up her shapely thighs, until she disappointingly reached down to smooth out the hem. “Maybe those people you met before, who claimed to have faith, didn’t really have faith at all,” Mari tone was gently reproving, as if she were delicately scolding a little brother perhaps, a hint of reproach delivered good-naturedly, softly-spoken, and de-fanged by her affection. “maybe they were just scared.” Her charming hazel eyes turned serious. “Lots of people are scared. They’re afraid of dying and not being anymore. They’re afraid and they think if they tell people they believe in God then that’s the same as believing...and then they’re not scared anymore because they don’t have to think about what happens after they die. That’s not dull, though.” Mari paused. “That’s just human.”

Ravi’s hand was right next to hers on the couch. Mari very much wanted to reach out and hold it in hers. His fingers were long and elegant. His pinky ring looked heavy. She wanted to feel the heft of it in her palm. That’d be weird. she had to remind herself. We only just met. But the connection between them was almost tangible. It was like a line had been drawn from Ravi’s eyes to Mari’s soul and it was pulled taut and tense and she could feel it trembling between them. Waiting for something to happen.

“I should probably get going to my next class.” Mari made no effort to move.

__________________

Height: 5'1", Weight: 102 lbs, Hair: Dark brown, Eyes: Hazel, Striking looks 4, Dexterity 4, Presence 4

[Ravi FitzCoventry]

"Yes. You probably should." Ravi replied with a faint smile and a knowing look in his exquisite eyes that caused Mari to pinken again. He shifted his hand, gently touching her fingers with the tips of his as he leaned closer. The warmth of that contact was like electricity in Mari's body. He was going to kiss her, she was sure of it. She probably shouldn't allow that. In fact, she was sure she shouldn't allow it. He was beautiful and confident and some feminine instinct told the young woman that he was entirely too much trouble. Unfortunately, some other, older and equally-feminine instincts were jumping up and down and shouting so loud that they drowned out those boring old spinsters in the 'caution' section.

Ravi looked down at the curve of Mari's mouth as he leaned close, breathing her in as he did so before his eyes looked up through his lashes to meet hers. "Before you go, however..." he breathed, his gaze intense and seeming to fill her whole world, "... there's something I have to find out."

"Oh?" Mari managed, her voice whisper-soft despite the faint squeak that underscored it. He was going to. He was really going to kiss her. Right here! Having just met her! Her eyes almost fluttered closed as she leaned a little forwards, but with a stern admonishment to herself she kept them open. Not seeing him would be a crime.

Before her dilated eyes, Ravi's face drew closer and closer before... before sliding past hers, his smooth-shaven cheek touching hers. Mari's heart was hammering as he filled her senses: touch, smell, sight, hearing. She heard his breathing, smelled his scent, felt the smooth texture of his skin offset with just the merest hint of stubble. He took a deep slow breath, then let it out, then again. She felt his breath stir her hair and prickle on her skin tantalisingly, and her eyes did close as she braced herself against the falling sensation.

And then he was gone, returned to his previous position right next to her, his face still close, his smile both wicked and warm. Mari blinked, a little confused and not sure whether she was relieved or disappointed. Seeing her confusion, Ravi's smile widened.

"I wanted to see if your hair smelled as good as it looks." he shrugged, his scintillant eyes sparkling as he smiled at her. "Happily, I wasn't disappointed."

[Atomicweasel]

She had been sure Ravi was going to kiss her, and now she sat in stunned silence, her eyes wide as she tried to make sense of Ravi's playful little trick. Was he just teasing her? He had to know she would've been expecting the kiss. His mischievous smirk said it all...

Mari felt like a fool. She could have protested, but she hadn't. Which meant she was willing. And Ravi had seen it all with those ravenous green eyes...and he'd declined her body's unspoken invitation--an invitation Mari was hardly even aware of giving, but which she could not honestly deny to herself. She had wanted it. Enough to let it happen. And Ravi hadn't.

Either Ravi had sought to humiliate her, or he'd been too much of a gentleman to take advantage of her desire, even if it meant denying himself the soft liquid heat of her lips. But no matter how she looked at it, Mari was ashamed of herself.

She blinked out of her stupor, blushing right down to her toes, and stood up so sharply she felt dizzy. "Thanks," she said dumbly. Then, feeling more idiotic still, she turned to go, hoisting her backpack up onto her shoulders. She got about five steps before she remembered the book and, face burning, came back for it. She lifted it to her chest, fighting past confusion and shyness to blurt, "Will I see you again?"

"Well, that very much depends..." Mari's heart sank.

"...On whether we exchange numbers or not." Ravi grinned at the way Mari's expression brightened almost instantly with hope. She fumbled with her backpack, finally getting it off and open so she could rip out a sheet of notebook paper. With a black sharpie she wrote her name on it, Mari Palacios and below it her number. Her handwriting was crisp and slanted aggressively to the right, almost mannish. It lacked the curlicues and heart dotted 'i' Ravi might have expected from a girl Mari's age--especially one so clearly smitten.

"Here." Mari burdened herself with the backpack once more, folded the note in two and handed it to Ravi. "You can call me or text me or whatever and then I'll have yours. I gotta go. Bye."

"Until next time." Ravi answered.

Somehow, Mari found the will to tear herself away from Ravi's transfixing green eyes. She turned and dashed back down the aisles to return the book, then raced up the stairs and out of the library. If she ran, she might make her next class on time.

Mari ran.

__________________

Height: 5'1", Weight: 102 lbs, Hair: Dark brown, Eyes: Hazel, Striking looks 4, Dexterity 4, Presence 4

[Ravi FitzCoventry]

With a small sigh of contentment, Ravi lay back against the arm of the couch, swinging his feet up and cushioning his head in one hand as he enjoyed the warm rays of sunlight as well as the lingering sweet scent of Maria Palacios. He held up the folded piece of paper before his eyes, nimble fingers flicking it open as his eyes traced the digits and letters written on it. And he smiled.

This 'quiet remote place of learning' was proving to be absolutely wonderful. Two interesting, fascinating and attractive girls in one day, as purely random encounters. Each different, each with their own appeal. What fun! If he had to choose between them... But of course, the scoundrel smiled to himself, he didn't. Not yet, at any rate. After all, he did like both of them, and on more than a superficial level. How very intriguing, yet somehow frustrating.

So... He fished out his iPhone from his blazer pocket and entered Mari's number into the already well-stocked address book. A gentle smile on his lips, he tucked the slip of paper into his pocket and tapped out a text message to her with quick, well-practiced finger movements. Fingertip hovering over the 'Send' button, Ravi closed his eyes and waited. He stayed like that for a short while, breathing slow and steady, making himself relax and wait. Finally, ten minutes after the lesson bell had rung his eyes opened, he smiled to himself, and he hit the button.

* * * * * * *

Mari was just settling in, her breath and heart having slowed and steadied after the frantic run to the class (and the intimate moments preceding that dash). She was sure that people would notice something was amiss. How could anyone miss it? She felt like her skin was heated from some inner molten core of something that Ravi had woken in her. She felt alive, elated, ashamed and more than a little jittery.

So when her mobile phone vibrated in her pocket, Mari almost jumped in her seat and scrabbled for it. That she didn't was a testament to her control. It might be her sisters, or her friends back home. It could be any one of a dozen people... But she knew that it wasn't, somehow. Performing the world's fastest covert hand movement, she palmed the phone into her hand and peeked down to see what was contained therein.

Hey Mari,

Thinking about you at the moment, about the

things we talked about and the way you smile.

Enjoyed our talk: we have to do it again.

There's only one regret about our meeting...

That it was cut short.

- Guess Who.

P.S: I wasn't joking - your hair really

DOES smell as gorgeous as it looks. - R

[Atomicweasel]

Mari tried to fight the grin. It was a losing battle. She bit her lip, but the corners of her mouth turned up into a smile just the same. She read the message again and a wave of giddy elation washed over her. He likes me, she thought, beaming down at her cell-phone. When she looked back up, she found herself staring into Ms. Cutter’s face. The English teacher was holding a ruler threateningly, and squinting disapprovingly at Mari over the top of her horn-rimmed glasses. Mari’s triumphant smile beat a hasty retreat.

“Ms. Palacios.”

“Mrs. Cutter?” Mari gulped.

“Is there something in your lap that you find interesting?”

A chorus of giggling and snerking erupted in the classroom and stilled itself just as quickly when Mrs. Cutter swiveled her baleful gaze on the rest of the classroom. She held that pose a moment, letting the silence sink in, then turned back again and glared ominously at Mari. Mari sank a little lower in her seat, her big hazel eyes full of demure contrition. “No, Ma’am.”

“I should hope not. Give me your cell-phone.”

“But—“

“—Now Ms. Palacios.” Mrs. Cutter’s tone went from cool and stony to frozen granite. Mari obediently handed over her phone with a terrified start. She watched Mrs. Cutter snap it crisply shut. “Ms. Palacios.”

“Yes, Ma’am?” Mari squeaked.

“What is my policy regarding cellular phones in the classroom?

Mari chewed her lower lip. She could not recall hearing such a policy, ever. It felt like everyone was staring at her. “No cell-phones in class?” Mari ventured tremulously.

“Precisely so. You may retrieve your phone when class is over. Until that time, kindly pay attention.” Mrs. Cutter rapped her ruler on the edge of Mari’s desk, and Mari shot up straight in her seat, her face burning.

The rest of the class seemed to last an eternity. Finally, while the rest of the students trailed out, talking and jostling, Mari went to Mrs. Cutter’s desk and with eyes and head lowered penitently, took back her cell-phone. “I trust this episode won’t be repeated, Ms. Palacios.” Mrs. Cutter said sternly.

“No, Ma’am.” Mari agreed, rushing out of the classroom and down the front steps. She popped her cell-phone back open impatiently, texting as she walked, oblivious to everything around her. When another student walking the opposite way bumped into her shoulder and then stood and stared after her, obviously ogling Mari’s ass, she walked on without noticing, murmuring an apology under her breath. After storing Ravi’s phone number in her contact list, Mari texted back:

glad you like my hair.

-m.

p.s. you got me busted in english class.

She giggled to herself as she hit send, then looked up and corrected her straying course across the lawn. On the way back to Lancaster Mari smiled brightly, greeted everyone who looked her way with a cheerful ‘Hi!’ and walked with a girlish spring in her step…

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Height: 5'1", Weight: 102 lbs, Hair: Dark brown, Eyes: Hazel, Striking looks 4, Dexterity 4, Presence 4