Archive World of Darkness: The Academy - Reach out and Touch Someone [Complete]

[Atomicweasel]

Friday, August 22nd, after classes...

"Hey, Mari." Rachel didn't look up from her desk as Mari stepped into their room and quietly shut the door. Mari glanced up and saw her roommate bent over a text book, the curly kinky ringlets of Rachel's hair falling loose to the girl's shoulders. Rachel had her earphones on, her iPod propped up next to her laptop. Mari could just make out a trace of the music. It was the jet-fighter song.

"Hi, Rachel." Mari tossed her book-bag on her bed and pulled her sweater up and over her head. She sat and pushed the toe of one shoe against the heel of the other, kicking out of them and then arranging them neatly under the bed. She slipped out of her school-clothes and folded them smartly on her bed, then carried them back to the scuffed up dresser in the closet.

Mari had lost her shyness with Rachel almost right away. Her roommate changed right in front of Mari as if it were the most natural thing in the world and hardly paid Mari any mind at all, whether she was half-naked or fully clothed. The only two things Rachel seemed to care about were her studies and her music. She was as devoted to them as Mari was to God. In fact, Mari would not have been surprised to catch Rachel worshiping her iPod.

She stood in front of her closet, staring at her limited selection of clothes and drumming her fingers on the top of the dresser. She was keyed up. Nervous. What would he pick? Mari fretted. Assuming he even took the call...

"Rachel?" Mari called loudly.

"Who's your date?" Her roommate answered.

"My...what?" Mari blushed deeply, turning to stare at her roommate's back.

"Your date. Who. Is. He." Rachel enunciated carefully.

"But how do you even kn--"

"Mari. Please. It's so obvious. You're so obvious. Who?" Rachel hadn't looked up from her lap-top. Her head still bobbed lightly to the music.

"I...Ravi Fitzcoventry."

"No shit!" Now Rachel did turn. She looked Mari up and down with a cool appraising eye, then finally nodded as if satisfied. "It's two words by the way."

"What is?" Mari blinked in numb confusion as Rachel sprang out of her chair and crossed over to her.

"Fitz-Coventry. You say it together. But it's two words."

Mari stared dumbly.

"Earth to Mari." Rachel snapped her fingers in front of Mari's face. "You want to know what to wear?"

"Y-yes..." Mari stammered.

"This." Rachel pulled a dark low hipped pair of jeans down from Mari's closet and pushed it into her arms. "And...where'd you get this?"

"New York."

"Definitely this." Rachel stood at arm's length from Mari and held a green tee-shirt up to her collar. On the tee there were two bunnies. A gray one and a white one with a pink nose. The white bunny held a Kleenex up to its face.

"Really?" Mari asked dubiously.

"It's you. It's so you. You need to wear this tonight or I'll never speak to you again."

Mari sighed, "Okay,"

"And Mari..."

"Yeah?"

"No bra."

"What!?" Mari squeaked indignantly.

"Mari listen to me very carefully. Do you want FitzCoventry to lust for you, or not?"

"Um. Yeah. I guess."

"Then, no bra. Say it with me."

"Rachel--"

"Mari. You have to work with what you've got. Do you follow me?"

"No..." Mari rolled her eyes.

"No bra." Rachel repeated. She turned and walked back to her desk, leaving Mari to agonize over her choice...

* * * * *

'Feed My Frankenstein' began to churn out of Ravi's iPhone. He pulled it out of his jacket pocket and frowned. Mari. Ravi let the phone ring a few more times, enough to make her sweat a little, before answering.

"Hello Mari." His tone was guarded and flat.

Mari felt like she had been punched in the gut. He hates me now. He totally hates me. "Hi." She stood up sharply from the edge of her desk and paced anxiously back and forth. "I um...I had a dream about you."

Across the room Rachel groaned and shook her head in dismay.

"N-not that kind of dream!" Mari hastened to add.

"Yes. And?" Ravi answered coolly.

"Well...I was kind of hoping..." God helps those who help themselves, Mari reminded herself. "Can I see you tonight?" she blurted out before her courage could desert her utterly.

__________________

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

[Ravi FitzCoventry]

On the other end of the line, lounging on his bed in just his trousers, Ravi's eyes widened in astonishment and tried not to grin. She'd dreamed about him, eh? He'd just been toying with the idea of seeking out an evening's entertainment and now it appeared the entertainment was providing itself. Mari sounded heart-tuggingly hopeful, so heart-tugging, in fact, that he had to fight to remember that he was angry with her. The memory of her turning her back on him helped there, wiping the grin from his face. So now she was calling him, hmm? Wanted to see him tonight. He felt a sudden urge to say something scathing and cruel, for no better reason than to draw blood and hear her gasp...

Ravi blinked, bewildered at the impersonal yet joyfully visceral sense of malice that was receding as quickly as it had come into his heart. Mari didn't deserve that, not for this. She had called him, had confessed to having dreamed about him, and had bravely stated that she wanted to see him with that vibrant, hopeful quiver in her voice.

Still, that was no reason to make it easy on her.

"Well, I was planning to drive into town and grab something non-institutional to eat. Maybe see a movie." he said casually. He let that hang in the air for a moment, counting to five.

"Oh." Mari responded, her heart's sinking audible in her sweet voice. "I-" Ravi smoothly interrupted her dejected reply, his voice a little warmer.

"But seeing as there's no-one waiting on me, I can delay my evening's wild debauchery." He went on with a wry smile on his face. "If you want to chat about this dream, I suppose we could grab a bench at the central quad in say half an hour? Corner nearest the parking lot? We can talk there for a bit."

"Great!" Mari exclaimed brightly as her heart leaped, then caught herself. "I mean, great. Good. Uh, I'll see you there?"

"See you there." Ravi affirmed before hanging up then looking at the clock. Whistling to himself, he pushed off the bed and sauntered into the bathroom.

* * * * *

Thirty-nine minutes later...

Mari checked her watch again, fighting against rising fears that this was some form of cruel payback on Ravi's part. Even now, she was sure, he and a dozen beautiful, elegant rich girls were peeking out of some window and laughing at her whilst taking pictures of her, braless no less. The beautiful young teen looked around the quad as though trying to spot her persecutors. She was about to give up when she spotted a tall, lean figure rounding the corner of the General Learning building with a graceful, straight-backed saunter that was exclusive to one resident at Dalton. Spotting Mari, he changed course and headed towards her at the same unhurried pace.

Ravi was wearing black pants and a white sleeveless top, over which a loose, casual black silk shirt was artlessly thrown and left hanging open. The faint wink of sunlight heralded a thin gold chain around his neck, and his long black hair was tied back in it's usual ponytail. Hands in his pockets and designer sunglasses tucked with one arm in the collar of his tank top, he could have stepped off the men's runway in Milan. As he drew nearer, Mari could see his green-gold eyes studying her from head to toe, but other than a polite, affable smile there was nothing betrayed by his smooth, beautiful features.

"Sorry I'm late." he stated with some aplomb. "I was trying to pick out the right shirt. I was considering not bothering with it, but realised that the mystical invisibility that causes would have made it hard to have a conversation with you." His eyes glinted and he grinned, a crooked, charming grin that was one-part teasing to two-parts humour.

"You're looking nice." he said as a fast follow-up while Mari was trying to decide whether he was still mad at her or not. "Don't think I've seen you out of uniform or sports kit before." He examined her with a smile playing around his lips. "It suits you."

[Atomicweasel]

“Oh, thanks.” Mari glanced down at her shirt, feeling painfully exposed. Why did I listen to Rachel? she asked herself for the umpteenth time since stepping outside her room. Rachel had also been the one to suggest she wear her hair down. And so she had. And now the chocolate cascade of her hair was splashed all over the place, in long bangs past each ear and down over her shoulders and getting blown into her face by the wind. She reached up and pushed some of it back and then took her turn inspecting Ravi as he had inspected her. He looked sharp and classy and chic. He looked wonderful. “You look good, too.” Mari concluded bashfully.

“I’m glad you approve, this time.” Ravi couldn’t help sniping. He was rewarded with a pretty blush and Mari’s downcast eyes.

Mari had stood up as Ravi approached. Now she sat back down on the bench and looked up at him diffidently. She waited for him to seat himself beside her and watched him cross his legs and stretch himself out languidly against the bench, one arm slung casually over the top of it. “So...” he prompted.

“So...” Mari tilted forward a little, letting the curtain of her hair shield her from Ravi’s penetrating green-eyed gaze. I don’t even know where to start. “I had this dream, this morning...and you were—“ abruptly, Mari stopped, pushed her hair back again and raised her head to turn and look at Ravi. Her beautiful hazel eyes were clouded with uncertainty. “Are you pissed at me? Cuz of yesterday?”

Ravi could sense Mari’s vulnerability. He could smell it. It was a sweet delicious scent and he took a deep breath and filled his lungs with it, savoring it the way he might have savored the bouquet of a fine wine...before drinking it.

__________________

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

[Ravi FitzCoventry]

"Pissed at you?" Ravi said with some bemusement before shrugging, then smiling off-handedly. He looked up at the sky as though considering a weighty question, then cast a glance back at Mari. The sight of her beautiful, vulnerable eyes peering out from under the gorgeous brown tumble of her hair melted his heart somewhat, and his smiled softened a little. She was brave, and forthright: her calling him and her question just now indicated that. He could respect those qualities.

"To tell the truth, I was furious. But then you called, and asked to see me, and then here you are... and it is amazing how quickly the stormclouds dispersed." He reached out to her, laying a warm hand on her slim shoulder as his lips quirked with wry amusement. "You're a hard woman to stay angry with."

He felt Mari tense then soften under his touch before he withdrew it, and the shy smile on her face seemed to illuminate the girl from within as the cloud of uncertainty in her hazel eyes vanished. Ravi's eyes widened as he suddenly felt breathless, as though he'd been kneed in the diaphragm at the sight of her happiness. Struggling to recover his aplomb, he was aware that his mouth was hanging open a little and closed it.

"Nevertheless, I consider my lesson learned." he said in an attempt to lighten the suddenly intense feelings that had hit him. He grinned charmingly at Mari. "No more hanging around shirtless at soccer practices." His grin turned roguish as he amended "...too often."

[Atomicweasel]

"Right." Mari grinned back at him, an adorably reticent grin that resulted from her efforts to fight back her smile. She sat back against the bench and folded her hands in her lap, looking out over the parking lot, then turned her face toward Ravi once more.

"So, last night, or this morning I mean, I had this dream and you were in it," Mari's smile faded into an expression of wide-eyed earnestness as she went on, "and I know its lame to tell other people about your dreams, but this was so real! I could smell the forest and feel the grass between my toes and...and when we talked in the library I think we had this moment where we really connected," Mari paused nervously, "right?"

After a moment's hesitation, Ravi nodded. "We did." He affirmed, and he looked piercingly into Mari's hazel eyes.

The intensity of Ravi's stare was, as usual, unsettling. Mari swallowed, chewed at her lower lip, and pressed on, "And...in my dream I was following you. I couldn't see you, but I knew you were there and I was looking for you because you were in trouble." she shivered fetchingly and Ravi noticed the goosebumps on her arms. "And then..." Mari's voice had dropped to a frightened whisper, "...then I found you, but...it wasn't you. I mean it was, but it wasn't. It was like you were someone else only you weren't. You were wild and angry and you jumped out at me. You wanted to hurt me or kill me and I could feel you clawing me and biting me and then I screamed and I fell..."

Mari let out her breath in a sigh. "And then I woke up. It was so real." she repeated.

__________________

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

[Ravi FitzCoventry]

Ravi's eyes went wide as he stiffened in his seat. He looked as though he'd been slapped as color drained from his face.

A shape came into view, feet treading lightly on the leaf-strewn floor. Shining eyes turned towards him too late as he leapt with a snarl of feral glee.

A girl's face filled his vision and she screamed, throwing up her arms in a futile attempt to ward off peril. Too late he realised that the Beast was behind him again, it's growl like laughter in his ears as he looked down into Mari's terrified, pain-filled eyes.

"That- That's quite some dream." he said in a quietly strained voice, his eyes looking in Mari's direction but obviously not seeing her, focused as they were on some other, less pleasant vision. For a long moment he sat thus, then the dreadful stillness left his posture and his eyes met hers.

"I... had a dream too. This morning. And you were in it." he paused and looked away. Mari realised that for the first time since she'd met him Ravi was uncomfortable.

"And...?" she prompted calmly, though inside she was a curious mix of elation ("He dreamed about me!") and dread ("I have a bad feeling I know what the dream was...") He looked back at her and started to speak, then hesitated again, a confused, lost expression in his eyes. Mari was touched by how vulnerable he looked. Shuffling closer, she reached out and placed a slim hand on the arm he had resting on the bench's back. "It's okay." she said with sweet reassurance. "You can tell me." Ravi sighed slightly, then nodded.

"I was in a forest too. Something was following me: a Beast. It was stalking me, staying a step behind and making me run just so it could hunt me. I got mad, so I turned and waited for it. I thought I saw it and I leapt..." She felt his muscles tense under her hand. "But I was wrong. It was you, and you screamed, and the Beast was breathing over my shoulder as I looked down at you... And that was when I woke up." He ran a hand over his face as though trying to wipe away the memory. "I've been having those weird dreams this last week. That day in the library... I was being chased by this Beast then too. And you woke me up. And now this... And you dreamed it as well."

Ravi shook his head, looking down. "I don't know what it means. Maybe I'm nuts. Maybe it's leftover food poisoning."

[Atomicweasel]

Mari should’ve been surprised, but she wasn’t. Her frightening foreboding had been confirmed and she realized now that it wasn’t her own dream that had haunted her all day long, like a stranger’s breath at the back of her neck, but rather the vague awareness that Ravi had dreamed the same dream. She’d known it since she woke up that morning. But it had been a feeling, a trembling presentiment she hadn’t been able to put into words. Now she could.

“Ravi, you’re not crazy...and it’s just some dumb food poisoning.” Mari said, her eyes wide and full of exhilaration. “Everything happens for a reason. I think...” Mari paused and licked her lips, not wanting to sound too crazy, but unable to quell the enthusiasm that bubbled out of her. “I think this does mean something,” She looked at him in earnest entreaty. “God put me on this path for a reason. And he put you on that path. And we were meant to find each other because when we did, it clicked inside both of us.” Mari snapped her fingers crisply. “And...and...” What am I trying to say anyway? “...you might not know what it means, but you can’t turn your back on it.”

“I don’t know what the dream meant either,” Mari frowned “but I know it felt true. That dream was trying to tell you something—tell us both something.” It was then that Mari saw that her hand still rested on Ravi’s arm, that she had been gently sliding her thumb over the smooth contour of his biceps. She withdrew her hand with a start and blushed prettily.

__________________

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

[Ravi FitzCoventry]

He smiled despite his concerns, obviously charmed by Mari's blush, but his levity only lasted for a moment. "Maybe the dream was a metaphor, then. A warning." he said softly, his face turning grave. "I don't have your faith, Mari, but I'm nothing if not open-minded. If there is a God, and He wanted to speak to me at all, then warning me that I might hurt you is as good a use of his time as any."

"Of course, that's not a very upbeat way of looking at it." Ravi sighed as he half-turned towards Mari, tilting his head to rest on his arm and regarding her with an unconsciously soulful gaze. He smiled gently. "Mainly because the last thing I'd want to do is hurt you."

"Well, that's easy. Don't hurt me then." Mari smiled at him through a blush that was threatening to make her glow red. "Maybe it was more a warning for me, did you think of that? Like... don't get all creepy stalker-y and scare you." She smiled at him. "I don't stalk guys, so don't worry about that. Thing is it's a dream, and I believe it's a message. But we won't know what the message is because it could be all symbolic and stuff." She shivered a little bit as an evening breeze kicked up. At least, she told herself it was the breeze, rather than the memory of Ravi lunging at her out of the darkness with gleaming claws and an animal snarl. It was scary, but there was also something strangely compelling about the image of him atop her.

Looking at him now, with that wistful smile curving his lips as he watched her, it was hard to see that snarling face. Mari fought the urge to reach out and touch the hand that was near her shoulder, to run her fingertips over the honey-dark skin. Ravi blinked slowly, then sighed and straightened up again. He glanced around, then looked at his watch. Mari tried not to let her heart sink at the sight. He glanced sidelong at her and smiled. "It's about time for me to go get some dinner and see that movie."

She nodded and stood reluctantly, smiling at him despite not wanting this moment to pass. "I guess so. Thanks for coming to meet me. And for not being mad, and telling me about your dream too." She took a tentative step back, watching the evening sunlight glimmering in his eyes. Ravi's next words stopped her in her tracks.

"Would you like to come with me?" he asked as he rose, uncoiling from his lazy reclining posture with easy grace. He smiled at her expression, his eyes dancing. "Yes. I am asking if you would like to come out to dinner and a movie with me. My treat." He placed a hand over his heart. "I also promise to have you back before lights-out, not get you into trouble, and to keep my shirt on." He winked incorrigably. "Unless you request otherwise, of course."

[Atomicweasel]

He’s asking me out! He’s asking me out on a date! It took all of Mari’s will to keep from jumping up and down with glee or giggling through her fingertips. With a concerted effort she pushed her hands into her jeans pockets and kept her feet on the ground. But she couldn’t stop herself from beaming at Ravi. Her smile seemed to light her up from the inside and for the second time since meeting her, Ravi was struck by the curious aura-like effect of that smile. It was as though Mari were suddenly infused with good and warmth in some palpable way.

Mari went on smiling at Ravi mutely until he laughed and urged, “Well?”

“Oh, yes!” Mari’s blush came rushing back.

“Come on then, your chariot awaits.” Ravi grinned and took Mari by the hand, drawing her toward the parking lot across from them.

“You have your own car?” Mari asked excitedly. Ravi only smiled, but Mari had her answer soon enough. He stopped her at the passenger door of a sleek dark sports car with enormous gold rims and a slick iridescent paint job that seemed to shift and shimmer like oil, passing from green to blue. Mari stared at the car in disbelief. She had never seen anything like it. It looked impossibly expensive.

“This is your car?” She asked in a small stunned voice as Ravi opened the door for her.

“Nice, isn’t it?” Ravi walked around the front and slid in behind the wheel. He settled into his seat and started the car, relishing the almost erotic purr of the 400 horse power engine. He turned to smile at Mari, only to find her still standing outside, staring into the car wide-eyed. He chuckled at her, “It won’t bite you, Mari.” But I might.

Despite Ravi’s assurance, Mari settled into the all leather racing seat cautiously. She looked like she was trying to sit without touching anything.

“Why’s the wheel on the wrong side?”

Ravi’s smile showed her a line of perfect white teeth. “I think you’ll notice it’s on the right side.” He teased. When all he got from Mari was a tremulous look of incomprehension, Ravi took pity on her and elaborated, “It’s an English car, Mari. That’s why. Don’t look so terrified.” He patted her knee.

“oh.” Mari didn’t look any less intimidated. She timidly pulled her seat belt over her chest and carefully clicked it into place, as if she were afraid of breaking it. “Is it new?”

Ravi nodded. “Birthday present from Grandfather. We share similar tastes.” Grasping the stick shift, he threw the car into reverse, delighting in Mari’s frightened little squeal; the girl squealed beautifully. Musically.

“Don’t worry. I won’t get us killed. And if I do, I promise you won’t have to go out with me again.” Ravi smile turned wolfish. He slipped the clutch, pumped the gas, and the car roared into first as it tore out of parking lot like an angry beast…

__________________

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

[Ravi FitzCoventry]

I'm going to diiiieeee! was Mari's first thought as she clutched at the edges of the passenger seat, the expensive sound system springing into life with the last track that had been playing. Ravi's hand flicked out and turned the volume down from 'deafening' to 'conversational' as he smiled apologetically. She could feel the car's growling purr around her as though she were in the belly of the beast, and couldn't tear her eyes from the sight of the Academy grounds blurring past as Ravi steered them towards the main gates. When sudden death failed to materialise and the gates of Dalton were behind them, Mari had a second thought.

My sisters would kill to be where I am right now!

She released her death-grip on the seat and relaxed back into the comfortable seat. Out of the corner of her eye she caught Ravi glancing at her, a note of concern in his green eyes. Mari turned and smiled at him reassuringly, feeling warm at his answering smile. He wasn't so bad under the nonchalant bad-boy act, she knew in that moment. Sure, he liked the effect he had on girls. And he acted like some romance movie scoundrel that the heroines always (and didn't Mari think they were stupid for it!) fell for mistakenly before settling down with the Nice Guy ™.

But real life wasn't like movies, Mari knew. Real people were more complex than two-dimensional images on a screen. The young man next to her was little more than a boy, for all his looks and sophistication and apparent cynicism. She knew he wasn't a bad guy at heart. He didn't laugh or scoff when she talked of God, didn't mind admitting the possibility of His existence. He wasn't afraid of being honest, even when the truth was spooky. He didn't shrink from speaking his mind... or his heart: "...the last thing I'd want to do is hurt you..." And he'd meant it, she knew.

Her luminous hazel eyes watched Ravi as he drove, taking advantage of his concentration being elsewhere to study him. He handled the car with a hint of flash and flair but appeared in perfect control, his face in repose as the glittering eyes took in the world outside the sleek sports car. The setting sun played golden fire over his skin, the patterns of light shifting as the car moved. The silence as they drove was comfortable yet charged with a subtle electricity.

Ravi, for his part, was aware of Mari's gentle scrutiny and working hard not to let it distract him as he drove. Now and then he glanced at her, flashing her a warm smile, but he reserved the greater part of his concentration for not driving on the wrong side of the road as they entered the town. Now where... Ahh, there. Following the directions he'd memorised earlier (wasn't Google wonderful?), the young nobleman pulled into the parking lot of a local steakhouse and killed the engine.

"Well, here we are. Apparently the best steakhouse within a hundred miles of Dalton." he grinned at her as he deftly unfastened his seatbelt and slipped out of the car, coming around to the passenger side and opening the door for Mari before offering a hand to help her out. Her hand was soft and warm in his, and the normally detached youth felt a surge of unfamiliar protectiveness as his date looked up at him with soulful eyes, her rich dark hair billowing like a short cloak in the breeze. The protectiveness was mixed in with the 'knee-to-the-gut' strength jolt of desire he also experienced, causing a moment of discombobulation. He blinked and tried to remember what he was saying.

"Um... where was I? Yes. Sorry for the quiet. I'm not too used to driving on this side of The Pond yet. And it would have been unbelievably embarassing to have crashed with you there." He smiled and turned, threading Mari's hand through the crook of his arm as he flicked the lock and alarm button on his key fob. A double-beep sounded behind the pair as they walked towards the restaurant.

"Table for two, please." Ravi said smoothly to the matronly waitress who met them at the door. Momentarily distracted by his exotic good looks and accent, she blinked for a moment before realising that yes, he was still standing there. With a fetching blush that would have suited a much younger woman, she quickly directed the two of them to a vacant table, presented them with menus, then whisked herself away to recover.

Ravi winked at Mari over his menu, smiling. "So what do you fancy?"

[Atomicweasel]

What Mari really fancied at that moment, was a change of clothes. She wanted very much to be wearing a dress. Or a skirt and a nice sweater. Or really anything but the jean and tee combo she had let Rachel talk her into. Her sisters would’ve flaunted their ghetto fabulousness shamelessly, fearlessly, with all the confidence born of squeezing their sinuous shapeliness into tight revealing clothes. Mari, instead, feared that her jeans showed too much of her hips, that her swath of exposed midriff was vulgar and provocative and worst of all, that she had no bra. She was certain Ravi could make out the swell of her little breasts through the tee, indecently marked by the exclamation points of her nipples. With the fine silverware and thin-stemmed wine glasses and pristine white tablecloth before her, Mari was reminded of those games in the newspaper. What doesn’t fit in this picture? She looked around the restaurant, at the men in sports jackets and the women sparkling under the weight of their jewelry, at Ravi sitting in front of her with all the poise and bearing of a prince, at the whole aura of wealth that filled the steakhouse, that bled from every set of perfectly cut hair and every golden wristwatch and every pearl necklace and every pair of designer shoes that clacked by on towering heels, Oh, yeah, that’d be me.

“Mari?” Ravi was asking her, “do you see something you like?” His honeyed voice brought her back to the present with a start. She hadn’t even glanced at the menu. She opened it now…and then stared in stunned silence at the prices. Fifteen bucks for a salad?

“Um…” Mari couldn’t even understand half the things on the menu. What was a gruyere? What was a shallot? She was about to timidly suggest that she’d be fine with just water and bread when Ravi came to her rescue.

“Why don’t I just order for you?” if his smile betrayed the ease with which he slipped into a domineering role, or the twinge of satisfaction it brought him, Mari didn’t notice.

“Oh, cool, thanks.” She agreed gratefully.

__________________

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

[Ravi FitzCoventry]

It was endearing the way she glanced around nervously as Ravi, after glancing at the menu, ordered for them both. Endearing, but a little hard on the relaxed tone he'd intended for the evening. He regarded Mari for a moment, studying the way she looked almost forlorn on the other side of the table, and came to a decision. Mari blinked as Ravi stood up and shifted his chair, moving it around the circular table to sit alongside rather than across from her. Grinning engagingly, he moved his place settings likewise before seating himself, creating a cosier space where they were side-by-side rather than each alone on their side of the table.

"There. That's better." he declared as their sodas arrived. He flashed a grateful smile at the waitress and waited for her to move away again before looking back at Mari, his expression inscrutable for a moment. "Thank you for coming out with me." he said simply, then smiled with heartfelt warmth at the beautiful girl. "I'm glad we're friends again. I'd like to apologise for acting like an ass before."

[Atomicweasel]

Mari felt a strange mix of elation and disappointment. She felt elation, that Ravi wanted to be her friend, was happy to be going out with her and remorseful about the shirt incident. But the word ‘friends’ also filled her with dread. Was that all he wanted her to be? Just friends? Had he sounded the death knell on the first fluttering of hope she’d had that this date might lead to something more? Mari didn’t want to think about that. She wanted to think about how nice it felt to be sitting next to Ravi. The world had been reduced to his bright smile and the low sincere murmur of his voice and the piercing green of his unfathomable eyes. The steakhouse seemed less threatening now. It was like all the other people drinking and eating at their tables had faded into ether. Maybe, Mari realized, it wasn’t their judgment she had feared, but rather Ravi’s. And now Mari was shielded by his approval, as if a bubble of comfort and safety had been dropped over their table.

“It’s okay,” Mari stirred her Coke with her straw and then bent to take a little sip. “You weren’t being an ass…” she looked up at Ravi and bit back a grin, but the sparkle of mirth in her hazel eyes gave her away, “…well, maybe you were being an ass.” Mari paused, stirred her Coke again and gazed at Ravi thoughtfully, “It just, bugged me. There was that other boy being a jock and running around with his shirt off like he’s God’s gift to the world cuz he has a six-pack, you know? Just being dumb and macho and I thought, ‘Ravi’s not like that,’ you know, and then you took your shirt off and gave it to me…like a trophy or something.” Mari’s shoulders rose into a helpless shrug. “I guess I didn’t know how to take that. I guess maybe I took it wrong. I wasn’t really mad at you or anything…just, kinda upset I guess…and then I was worried you hated me and wouldn’t ever talk to me again. Anyway, it’s stupid. I made it a big deal but it’s not.” By now Mari’s blush was back in full force “I’m glad you invited me out and you’ve been super sweet to me and…and I really like you and I don’t want to be just friends…and I really like being with you.” Mari concluded shyly, inwardly cursing her cowardice.

__________________

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

[Ravi FitzCoventry]

"Well, boys will be boys until they learn better." He smiled at her, appearing very boyish for a moment. "Particularly when they're trying to impress a girl they like. Looking back, though, it was particularly wince-worthy, wasn't it?" His grin was impishly rueful. "Trust me, that sort of thing isn't my usual style. I suppose I just got sucked into the macho vortex." He reached out and tugged a stray lock of her tumbling hair back into place, a tenderly affectionate gesture. "Lesson learned on my part."

Mari's blush, if anything, deepened as she looked back into his eyes, her sweet mouth a little open as she tried to process the sensations of his nearness, his warm smile, his touch and his soft voice. Deep under his selfish, hedonistic cynicism Ravi was experiencing something new as he looked into Mari's face. Something softer, more protective underneath the usual hard-edged, sharper bite of desire he was more used to.

"And you're welcome for the invite out. I'm glad you called me up." He held up a hand, palm out as though he were taking an oath. "I admit it, I was sulking. I thought you had rejected me and it hurt." He smiled and picked up his Coke, taking a sip. "But that's all behind us now." He was leaning elegantly on the table while he waited for their food to arrive, half-turned towards Mari and focusing on her every word and expression. He smiled as an idea occurred to him.

"So tell me. What's your favorite food?"

[Atomicweasel]

"Arroz con pollo." Mari answered without hesitation. Her smile became infectious, irresistibly cute and catching as she leaned forward, as if about to impart some terrible secret.

"There's this place, Carmen's, on 52nd...it's amazing. It's this little hole in the wall kinda place, you know?" Listening to the intimate whispered cadence of Mari's voice, Ravi could well imagine this was how she spoke in Confessional, spilling her secrets piously to some bored priest who would send her on her way with a penance of Hail Marys. "And they have the best arroz con pollo, ever!" Mari went on, her hazel eyes bright with want. "There's not even hardly any place to sit down or anything, just, you know, like a couple of stools," the quicker she spoke, the more Mari's Newyorican accent began to poke through, like a little splash of Caribbean and NYC all mixed up together. "and those are always taken anyway." she paused, tilting her head and appraising Ravi with a grin. "You wouldn't be caught dead there. Paper plates and plastic forks...I always get it to go and they just put it in this foil wrap--the rice is always perfect and the chicken is sooo good--and they fold it up for you..." Mari placed her palms on the table and folded her delicate little hands together. "like that, and that keeps it warm until you get it home." She laughed.

"That's my favorite. What's yours?"

__________________

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

[Ravi FitzCoventry]

His smile widened at Mari's unreserved enthusiasm as he listened, green eyes almost seeing the small hole-in-the-wall restaurant as the lovely young girl painted a picture with her words. When she grinned and told him that he wouldn't be caught dead there, the young nobleman shrugged in a non-commited way and chuckled softly, but his mind's eye was seeing Mari standing at the counter on the way home from school, perhaps, or maybe just with some friends on a weekend afternoon, holding her small hands out to receive the wrapped foil package with the same shine in her beautiful eyes he could see now. He leaned his cheek in one palm and studied her raptly.

Quote:

"That's my favorite. What's yours?"

For a long moment he didn't seem to hear her, still staring at her heart-shaped face intently before blinking as though returning to wakefulness. "My apologies." he murmured, not moving his cheek from his hand nor his eyes from his face. Then he blinked again and grinned a trifle bashfully. "You have a way with words. And an adorable accent when you forget yourself." He straightened up somewhat, but was still leaning towards her, unconsciously keeping the intimate space between them as though he didn't want it to break, ever.

"Hmm, my favorite food." he stared off for a second, then grinned at her. "Makhani. It's a chicken dish common in Punjab. Creamy, spicy and sweet, and delicious with fresh hot naan bread and rice. Almost every April I go out to Amritsar and stay with my family there while they celebrate Vaisakhi. That's the local new year's festival, marking the beginning of planting and the Spring. There's feasting and dancing, everyone wearing bright colours, and the Sikhs put on martial displays like horsemanship and swordplay outside the huge Golden Temple there." He smiled faintly as he spoke, his deep voice soft on Mari's ears. He grinned then, a trace of embarrassment. "My grandmother and aunts always make sure they make Makhani for me, and they play a game where I have to guess who made it that year." He chuckled and shook his head, rolling his eyes. "If I get it wrong, and I usually do, they all laugh and cluck and scold me like hens. The only one I can guess right is grandmother's - hers is the best."

He sat back as their food arrived, the waitress setting down the steak and fries in front of him, and grinned at Mari, his expression making him look very young and unguarded. Something about the beautiful girl was making him feel good. Not just hormonally, but as though he was made a better person just through being near her, which Ravi was well aware wasn't strictly the case. He liked it, though, which was another strange thing for the young cynic.

[Atomicweasel]

“That sounds really good.” Mari smiled sweetly at Ravi, then glanced down at her meal. Neatly arranged in the center of the plate was a fine filet mignon cut, thinly drizzled with béarnaise. Lined up diagonally next to the steak were three thick asparagus spears, also touched by a decorative dribbling of béarnaise. Mari poked her fork experimentally into one of the asparagus spears and lifted up the end of it, as if she might find something unexpected underneath it. She caught Ravi looking at her, giggled with embarrassment and cut herself a small bite. She chewed with the air of someone embarking on a grand experiment, and to Ravi’s relief, nodded her approval and then remarked, “yum!”

“Do you miss them a lot?” Mari asked, apropos of nothing, as she began the attack on her steak with little forkfuls, eating bird-like. Ravi was making much quicker progress on his own steak, though he paused and savored every juicy bloody mouthful, relishing the sensation of tearing into his meat with his teeth. As he ate he had a strong and sudden feeling that Mari’s delicate innocence, her tight little body, sitting across from him was like an invitation to a similar act of violence. Even as she looked up at him demurely through the thickness of her lashes in a way that made his heart swell with tenderness, some other animal instinct, some dark part of him wanted to see the infatuated shine of her hazel eyes turn to tears, wanted to see the sweet smile of her soft lips transformed into an open ‘O’ of terror. This part of him longed to leap at her, ravish her pitilessly, reward her trust and warmth with a cold wild savagery that would leave her broken and hurting and only then be sated. His blood buzzed in his ears and he felt a hideous strength well up inside of him...

Then the feeling was gone as quick as it had come. It took Ravi a moment to realize that Mari was looking at him expectantly. “I’m sorry...what?”

“Do you miss your family?” Mari repeated.

__________________

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

[Ravi FitzCoventry]

What Ravi wondered as he took a gulp of his Coke to buy time for his nerves to settle the hell was that? The feeling had been intense and frightening, and yet strangely alluring in it's primal cruelty. The expression on his face was pensive, but in the shadow of the facets in his glittering eyes, Ravi was scared.

"Well, I haven't had time to miss my parents yet, particularly since our last meeting was, ah, stormy." he said, forcing a smile that was intended to be both warm and mischievous, and to his credit mostly succeeded. "But I've been at boarding schools since I was old enough, so I got used early to not having my parents around all the time. And yes, for the record, I did cry my first few nights away from home." He grinned at her, shrugging. "Actually, it was more like every night for a week or so. I was seven, so that's excusable." He shrugged again, off-handedly. "After the adjustment, though, it got easier. Now as for my Indian family... Yes, I miss them a lot. I see them more rarely, but it's always good times."

"How about you?" he regarded her keenly, his eyes roving over her face. "How are you adjusting?"

[Atomicweasel]

“It’s been pretty rough,” Mari admitted. “me and my sisters are super close. It’s just weird not having them around all the time, you know?” Mari sawed off another bite of her filet mignon and pushed it through the béarnaise sauce on her plate. “And I miss mom’s cooking. She makes the best empanadas.” She bit the steak off the end of her fork and chewed, blushing a bit as Ravi watched her and waited for her to continue. She tapped her cheek, sipped from her coke. “This steak is really good, though,” Mari placed her hand lightly and fleetingly over Ravi’s. Her cheeks colored only slightly as she met his gaze.

Sitting in the oversized chair, the toes of her tennis shoes pressed against the floor and her legs bent out from the knees down, Mari seemed especially child-like. She looked so small and fragile and vulnerable. But when she raised her head to look straight at Ravi, as she was doing now, he fancied he could see in the girl the woman she would become. The classically beautiful lines of her face would emerge from the youthful softness of her face. Her girlish curves would fill out. She would outgrow her cuteness. She would be sleek and strong. Gentle and impressionable as she was now, Ravi could sense the promise of steel in her hazel eyes, waiting to be drawn out.

Her giggle broke his reverie and reminded him that she had yet one foot in childhood. “You keep staring.” Her blush deepened, but she sounded pleased, her tone dropping to a confidential whisper. “Are we still watching a movie later?”

__________________

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

[Ravi FitzCoventry]

"I'm staring because you're worth looking at." he replied in the same confidential hushed tone before flashing an incorrigible smile. The light touch of her hand was like the brush of satin over his, tantalising and tempting. He remembered her age, her innocence, and cooled his ardour somewhat with an effort of will. Mari's blush at his words was hot enough to fry eggs on, and she looked down at her plate before glancing up to meet his dancing eyes once more, her own eyes shining with purity of first-love.

"And yes, we are most certainly still watching a movie." he continued before devouring another piece of his own steak, strong white teeth making short work of the rare meat. He smiled warmly at Mari. "I'd be an idiot to pass up the chance to take you to the movies." Inwardly, however, he was growing more and more concerned, and not for himself (which was another source of concern). Mari was a good person, truly good. She was young and full of promise, and every civilised shred of conscience in his body was beating the young rake over the back of the head. Part of him wanted more than anything to keep himself away from her for her own good, but at the same time he didn't think he could stand that. Especially the possibility of watching Mari date someone else. It wasn't romantic feelings. No, not a bit of it. It was... protective feelings. Yes, that was right. Someone like Mari, someone good and sweet, needed an absolute bastard watching over her.

Of course, that promised to give said absolute bastard the worst case of blue-balls in the world. But noble endeavours are seldom easy. So Ravi tried to put the imaginings of what Mari's body would feel like against his away in a safe, secure place. This was a date, not a seduction. There were always other girls to seduce.

Even if he really wanted this one.

[Atomicweasel]

“So, what are we watching?” Mari asked, looking pleased with herself and battling her blush.

“Before you called, I was thinking I’d watch District Nine.” Ravi answered, watching Mari busy herself with cutting another little bite-sized piece of meat from her steak. “You like giant alien bug people and lasers and South Africa, don’t you?”

“Mmm,” Mari glanced up into Ravi’s mirth-filled eyes. She nodded, swallowing her mouthful and made her eyes comically wide. “I love giant bug people and lasers and South Africa!”

“I’m glad,” Ravi smiled, and then chuckled, as Mari’s infectious giggling got the better of him. “You’ll probably like this movie, then.”

Mari’s giggles soon subsided under the heat of Ravi’s renewed scrutiny. He watched her as she ate. He watched her as she sat and spoke and sipped from her coke. She tried to hide behind her lashes, and her steak, and then behind stories of her sisters…

“…and we were at the zoo and I was like eight and I kept bugging my mom for these yellow ice-cream bars cuz they had ears, you know? And I thought they were Mickey Mouse even though Yani told me Mickey Mouse was only in Disney World and I was being stupid, and it was before lunch so my mom didn’t want to get me any, but I just kept asking and asking and promising I would eat all my lunch anyway and I was just like, ‘please please please’ and she was all ‘no no no’, but finally she got me one anyway. And right away when I tried it, it was totally gross just like Yani had said it was gonna be but I didn’t wanna let on, you know? So, I kept trying to eat this ice-cream bar but it was just so gross and I kept making faces and Yani and Eli kept making fun of me and my mom was all, ‘that’s what you get for being so thick-headed and stubborn and now you gotta eat it all’ and I was trying, but it was so nasty I just wanted to cry…so finally, Yani takes pity on me…and we were sitting down now, at this bench where we were gonna have lunch right after I choked my ice-cream down, but I still had like half of it left and everyone was totally sick of me whining I guess, so okay, so Yani’s all, ‘fine, let me try some. I wanna see if it’s really that gross,’ and she kinda leaned over like this…”

Mari paused in her story telling to lean toward Ravi across the table and opened her mouth, acting out Yanaida’s ill-fated offer, “and as soon as she did, I just took my ice-cream bar and jammed it into her mouth as quick as I could and she just sat there, with the ice-cream hanging out of her mouth looking cross-eyed. Eli just about died. Even my mom thought it was funny.”

“I guess you kinda had to be there.” Mari retreated under another enticing blush.

__________________

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

[Ravi FitzCoventry]

He was lost again, enchanted by the simple girlish enthusiasm as Mari recounted the tale. His own meal finished, he sat and watched her face, her eyes and hands as she gestured and grinned and laughed. As she leaned across the table, Ravi felt a strong urge to do the same and quashed it ruthlessly, even as he started laughing at the image of Mari's indignant older sister with an unpalatable ice cream bar stuffed into her mouth.

"Remind me never to take pity on you when you have any sort of frozen dessert handy, then." Ravi said with a brilliant smile as he regained his composure. Mari laughed with him, then they both fell silent, regarding one another. It wasn't an awkward silence, as such. It was a heated silence. Both felt it: a spark of warmth that jumped between them like dry lightning between mountain peaks, causing both hearts to beat a little faster. Mari's eyes were wide and the pupils were dark: he could disappear into them, lose himself. Forget the dreams, forget the sting of anger at his family's judgement of him, forget the banal boredom of his life. All he would have to do was to lean sideways towards Mari and kiss her...

For Mari it was no less intense. Ravi wasn't smiling, but the gold-flecked green of his eyes spoke volumes to the young girl, practically searing her with their gaze. She felt shy under that gaze. She felt frightened at the naked want it revealed. But she also felt empowered, realising that she had had that effect on him. Deep inside her the heat was spreading down through her chest and into her belly. She knew, through some instinct, that all she would need to do was lean towards him, just a little...

"You folks finished?" The bright, helpful tones of the waitress weren't exactly a dash of cold water, but they helped both hormonally-inebriated teens back to reality and away from the precipice. Both blinked at the same time, the spell not entirely broken, but lessened.

"Yes, I think so." Ravi said with a smile after throwing Mari a quick questioning look and receiving a hasty nod as she hid her blush in her drink. Come to think of it, his own face felt very warm too. He checked his watch before reaching for his wallet and giving Mari a smile. "Lets go, shall we."

* * * * * * *

The movie theatre was a large comfortable one, and laden with a few snacks and drinks from the concessions stand the two teens were soon safely esconced in the plush, comfortable seats in the middle of the back row, watching the flickering images on the screen before them. Ravi was on his best behaviour. Though he was leaning towards Mari so the two of them could swap comments about the movie as it played, he kept his hands to himself... Well, mostly.

As the true plight of the bug-like aliens unfolded and the hero found himself being tortured by his own kind, Mari leaned a little closer to him and murmured "Poor guy." in a voice filled with sympathy. Without thinking Ravi unfolded an arm and wrapped it around her shoulders in a one-armed hug, a comforting gesture. But he immediately became aware of her pressed close to him, the scent of her hair, and the warmth of her skin under the shirt she was wearing. He didn't remove his arm, but cast a look sideways at Mari, trying to gauge her reaction.

[Atomicweasel]

For Mari the world seemed to go still. She had the strange sensation that she was standing outside of herself, looking down at a still image. A boy and a girl. Frozen in time. His arm slung around her slender shoulders, their bodies tilted toward each other, tentative and intimate. He looked down at her, she looked up at him. Her arm was cool and soft in his hand. Their knees just barely touched. Filled with the anticipation of that moment, Mari locked eyes with Ravi and felt a flush of excitement race through her, all the way to her toes—curled inside her sneakers. A giddy kind of dread took hold of her. She desperately wanted him to kiss her, but she was terrified too. What if she didn’t kiss back right? What if he found her awkward and childish and unpracticed?

It felt like an audition. The charged space between them grew closer and smaller until Mari felt she would disappear into it. She had to do something. She did the only thing she could. Turned toward Ravi in her seat, Mari suddenly pushed up and pressed the soft heat of her lips against Ravi’s in a gentle kiss. On top of this first kiss she left another, a sweet little butterfly of a kiss. Like a whisper. Like a signature to the first kiss. The move seemed to surprise Mari at least as much as it did Ravi. As she sat back down, blushing at her own brazen bravado, she gasped out “I’m sorry!” and covered her mouth with both hands.

SHIT! Shit shit shit. Maybe, Mari reflected, her seat would do her the kindness of swallowing her whole.

__________________

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

[Ravi FitzCoventry]

The kiss - That kiss, oh that kiss - had been electrically charged. His whole body thrummed like a plucked guitar string right now - he felt as though he could leap buildings and punch holes in the walls. His heart raced, his blood surged in his veins as he licked his lips softly, tasting her: lipbalm and sweetness from the soda and slightly buttery from the popcorn. He wanted to hold her. He wanted to kiss her. He wanted to march out of the theatre with her right now, find a hotel, and spend the rest of the night tangled together with her moans in his ears and her taste on his lips. Inwardly was frightening to Ravi how intensely that tender kiss was affecting him, but all the blushing girl knew was that Ravi's large green-gold eyes had blinked at her in languorous astonishment, the only expression on his handsome features for the longest, most torturous moment of Mari's young life.

Recovering his equilibrium somewhat, Ravi reached out with his free hand to tenderly grasp both of Mari's, his other gently stroking along her shoulder to the tumbling curls of hair. He leaned closer, the still-blushing girl looking up into his face as she felt his fingertips toying with the skin at the nape of her neck.

"Don't be sorry." His voice was a breath against her ear, clearly audible to Mari above the sound of the movie, though her own heartbeat was giving it some competition. She met his gaze and drew in a sharp breath. Ravi's eyes were scintillant pools of green and gold that burned when he looked at her, the heat of his stare touching off answering fires in her body. The air-conditioned movie theatre was too hot, her clothes too constrictive. She drew in a deep breath and breathed in Ravi - his cologne, subtle and spicy, his soap and shampoo under that, but underlying everything something primitively Male that spoke to her flowering body without needing any translation from her brain. Mari's eyes, wide and dark, met Ravi's again and she shivered as a wave of heat rippled through her, her lips parting slightly. Ravi couldn't resist anymore. His sleek head dipped to Mari's face as his lips pressed against hers in turn.

It was a gentle kiss, but far from quick as Ravi took his time. The experienced young man caressed Mari's lips with his from one end to the other before his tongue flickered lightly against her upper lip, tasting and teasing for a moment before the kiss deepened, became more passionate. Long fingers tangled in her hair as his other hand came up to stroke the her cheek, feeling the heat of Mari's blush together with the warmth of her kiss. Ravi's head spun; there was something about the girl that threw him off-kilter, made him forget himself and his good intentions.

[Atomicweasel]

Mari’s fetching blush deepened, not from the embarrassment she had felt a moment ago, but from the dizzying excitement of yielding to Ravi’s kisses. She didn’t know whether to keep her eyes opened or closed. She thought maybe she should keep them closed like they did in the movies, but Ravi’s strange eyes had a magnetism that drew her in and she kept sneaking peeks at his face as he bent over her, twisted around in his seat, to push his fingers through her hair and press his lips against hers.

Everything was happening so slow, but so fast. It was like being in a car wreck. It was like being underwater. She couldn’t see anything but Ravi’s piercing golden green eyes, couldn’t hear anything but the throbbing of her own heart, couldn’t feel anything but the delicious heat of his kiss. Her senses were overloaded and she couldn’t think straight. With every little breath she took she grew more and more intoxicated by the power of Ravi’s arousal. His kisses were soft and his caresses were gentle, but Mari intuited something wilder beneath the surface of those tender affections. There was the heat of something fearsome and wicked. He wanted her.

Ravi struggled to control that fierce and rising urge as the kiss between them turned hard and urgent. Mari was not making it easy for him. Her chest rose and fell and her perfect little breasts swelled just so. For every kiss he gave he got one back, tremulous and tentative and wonderful. She was so small and lissome and sylph-like, so maddeningly vulnerable. And as his passion danced closer to the dark edge of animal lust he kept at bay, Mari seemed to surrender herself up to him more and more willingly. Her little wrists were still clasped in one of his hands. How easy it would be to crush them and pin them to her lap, or his, like fluttering butterflies. How easy it would be to close his fist in her long silky hair and jerk her head back for a real kiss, raw and hot and angry.

The impulse kept getting stronger and stronger, and every soft little sigh Ravi stole from Mari with his lips, every eager tremble that ran through her thighs and hips, fed the flames…

__________________

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

[Ravi FitzCoventry]

Someone coughed and shifted in the seats in front of the pair, either annoyed or embarrassed by the wordless murmurs and heavy breathing behind them. To their left, someone muttered in a subdued fashion that nevertheless came clearly to Ravi's ears.

"Geez, get a room."

It didn't make a difference. The young nobleman eagerly devoured every kiss offered up by his enthusiastic partner and came back for more, victim of a feast where every morsel simply served to make one more hungry. His hand tightened in Mari's hair, pulling her head back slightly as his lips left hers, nibbling down her jawline from chin to earlobe. The girl let out a soft whimper of pleasure and fear, and Ravi felt something surge within him as he returned to her lips and kissed her fiercely. It wasn't enough, suddenly. Something primal inside him wanted to claim the girl, to make her his. Conscious thought was shunted to one side as something savage rose up from within...

Mari felt Ravi's tongue tease her mouth once more and started to sigh in delight seconds before she felt a rumble run through Ravi's chest and a sharp sensation tore into her lip. With a low cry of pain she jerked her head back and looked up at him, eyes brimming as she tasted blood in her mouth. Her confusion deepened when she saw him looking just as surprised as she felt. He released her, shaking his head as if to clear it, his eyes wide with desire and confusion as he stammered "Mari I... I'm sorry."

[Atomicweasel]

In the darkened theater, the blood made Mari’s lip shine wetly. She straightened up in her seat, touched a shaky hand to her lip and blinked back her girlish urge to cry. Her lip stung, but it didn’t hurt that bad. What hurt far worse was that Ravi had wanted to hurt her. He bit me! Mari couldn’t make heads or tails of that. Why would he do that? She turned to look at him and there he sat, concerned and contrite.

Mari rose out of her seat and Ravi caught her wrist as she stood. “Mari, wait...I—” he whispered.

“No, it’s okay. I’m just going to the bathroom.” She whispered back.

“Oh.” Ravi let go of her wrist and watched Mari thread her way down the aisle. His eyes shone as if lit from within, like a cat’s.

* * * * * * *

The glare of the bathroom light fell starkly down on Mari as she stood in front of the mirror to inspect her cut lip. Some balled up paper towels next to the sink remained from her efforts to stop the bleeding. When she licked over it, she could still taste the salty tang of blood on her lower lip. That’s definitely gonna bruise. Mari thought. What was she supposed to tell Rachel when the inevitable interrogation into her date with Ravi was launched? Mari probed her lip with her tongue again. It didn’t look so bad. A little puffy. A little swollen. She splashed some more water on her face, toweled herself dry and cleaned up after herself before stepping out of the bathroom...and nearly running herself right into Ravi’s chest.

“SHIii—p. You scared me!” Mari jumped.

“I wanted to make sure you were alright.” Ravi answered, trying to read Mari’s expression. He chased after her pretty hazel eyes until she met his gaze and finally he was rewarded with a brave little smile.

“I’m alright.”

Ravi took her hands in his, they were cool and smooth and soft to the touch, and squeezed. “You’re sure? Because...” he paused and grinned at her sheepishly and Mari felt herself starting to blush, “I think I got a touch carried away. By the moment.”

“I’m sure.” Mari dropped her eyes shyly when Ravi’s green and golden stare became too much to bear. “It’s not a big deal.”

__________________

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

[Ravi FitzCoventry]

"It most certainly is a big deal." He insisted, but gently, as his eyes rested on the swollen lip. He seemed more freaked out than Mari by what he had done in that moment, but fought to give her a roguish, crooked smile. "I don't usually bite until the third date, you know."

Mari smiled a little at that, but the perceptive girl wasn't fooled. Ravi's hands were warm and gentle, but she detected a hint of tremor in them that gelled with the uncertain glimmer in his eyes. The vulnerability in his usually cocksure demeanour reminded her of when they had first met in the library: how he had looked in the grip of a bad dream. The memory helped to disperse her lingering hurt and confusion somewhat.

"Hey." She gripped his hands tightly. "Don't worry, okay? I'm alright." She tugged on his hands. "C'mon, let's go watch the rest of the movie."

They got back into the theatre in time for the last twenty minutes of the movie. Sitting back together in their seats, Mari stole covert glances Ravi's way. He seemed absorbed in something other than the flickering images on the screen in front of him, almost slumping in his seat as he brooded.

Ravi's thoughts were dark as the young man gazed unseeingly at the screen. What the hell was that? I didn't want to hurt the girl, for crying out loud. I just wanted to... to... ugh, what the hell's wrong with me?! That wasn't a playful nibble - I drew blood! He remembered how it had felt, too: Right, somehow, as though an instinctual urge had been fulfilled. It's just been too long since I've had a tumble, that's all. At least two weeks. Somewhat of a dry spell, to be sure. Ravi glanced sideways at Mari, noting the glances she was stealing at him. Maybe I need to see a shrink. Dreams are getting worse, too.

Mari smiled as she caught Ravi's eye, then frowned slightly as she noted his brooding expression. Shuffling in her seat, she grabbed Ravi's arm and put it around her shoulders before turning and kissing his cheek feather-light.

"It's okay." she repeated. Ravi's arm tightened gently for a moment around her as he smiled back despite himself. He relaxed somewhat, then turned to watch the remainder of the movie with her. His thoughts, however, were never far away from the lithe figure snuggled up against him... or how he had hurt her.

[Atomicweasel]

Mari tried to keep Ravi’s mood light. She smiled so infectiously whenever he chanced to look her way, that he couldn’t help but grin. But neither could he forget Mari’s shocked hurt look, or the taste of her blood on his tongue, when he’d bit her. A somberness had crept into Ravi’s spirits that even Mari’s adorably sweet smiles could not dispel. Some base and savage urge had taken been awoken in him, had stirred itself to life and still pulsed through his veins, still sat warm and satisfied in his belly. What a euphoric rush it had been, to give in to that urge, to let his dark wants spend themselves on Mari, who now sat curled into his side and wrapped up in his arm as if nothing had happened. Hadn’t she felt it? As the movie ended and they joined the crowd leaving the theater, Ravi glanced again at his date. She appeared perfectly and wholly carefree. The cheerful spring in her step reached all the way to her hair, Ravi noted with amusement, where it bounced and flounced at her shoulders and back. Her beautiful hazel eyes were bright and unclouded, and her little hand curled comfortably around the arm he had offered her. She was telling some story about her sisters again and Ravi made an effort to follow her, nodding and grinning as she told it, but some echo of what he’d felt in the theater still thrummed in his ears and Mari’s voice seemed so soft and far away.

“...even Eli’s not as wild as Yani, though...” Mari explained as they crossed through the parking lot. “When she was twelve she just decided she was gonna take me to the store and get some ice-cream, right...so she loads me up in the car and I’m like five and gets the keys and doesn’t even tell my mom a thing and next thing mom knows she hears the car screeching like crazy and goes to the window and there’s Yani, trying to see over the wheel and she’s got the parking brake on still, so it’s like...kkkkssshhhh...grinding the whole way down the street. We made it like a block or two before the car broke down. I don’t think I’ve ever seen my mom that mad.” Mari waited while Ravi opened the passenger door of the sleek TVR Sagaris for her, then slipped inside and stretched across the console to push open his door before he reached the other side of the car. She sat back up as Ravi ducked inside and started the car. “I passed the bitch test.” Mari announced proudly.

“You passed the what?” Ravi looked over at her in surprise.

“The bitch test.” Mari cheerfully repeated, grinning impishly. “If a girl opens the door for you once you let her in, she passes the test. If she doesn’t...” Mari’s slender shoulders lifted into a shrug.

“I’ll keep that in mind for future reference.” Ravi smirked.

The Sagaris rumbled into gear and Ravi expertly maneuvered the high-performance vehicle out of downtown and up the winding mountain road that led back to Dalton. Mari made a few more attempts to bring Ravi back from the fog of preoccupation that had settled over him, but when she ran out of things to ask about Manchester United and Crystal Palace, they settled into silence. Ravi brooded and Mari blushed until the rumbling purr of the car brought them through Dalton’s tall broad gates.

It had grown cool enough to make Mari shiver and hug herself as she and Ravi crossed the darkened campus together toward the dorms.

“You’re cold,” Ravi pointed out, attentive enough to notice Mari trembling at his side and letting her breath out in little misty plumes.

“A little...” Mari agreed, then whispered a shy “thanks” as Ravi wrapped his coat around her shoulders.

“I’ll walk you to your dorm,” Ravi offered as they came to the middle of the quad.

“You don’t have to,” Mari demurred. She wasn’t disappointed when he insisted.

“I’d like to. Which one’s yours?”

“I’m at Lancaster.”

In the dark, Ravi’s smile was broad and shining white. “As luck would have it...so am I.”

“Oh, cool!” Mari’s blush deepened as she gave voice to her excitement. She thought of telling him that she didn’t believe in coincidences. That she had felt an instant and powerful connection between them. That he could just forget about the stupid biting thing because it didn’t matter and when could she see him again. But looking at Ravi’s face, sculpted as if from stone, Mari didn’t feel brave enough to say these things. She let him turn her toward Lancaster and walk her down the faintly lighted path, the yellow glow of the lights casting Ravi’s long shadow ahead of them. She finally found her voice as they stood in front of her door on the second floor.

“Ravi?”

“Yes?”

Mari rose up onto her tiptoes, her palms gently laid against Ravi’s chest for balance, and pressed a chaste and tender kiss on his lips. His hands found her waist, felt the warmth of her hips, and held her there until she broke the kiss and dropped back to her feet. If she felt the sting of the ugly bruise forming on her lower lip, Mari didn’t let it show. She smiled at Ravi in the way she’d smiled at him in the library, a smile so clean and honest and uniquely sweet. “Goodnight.” She said and looked down to where Ravi still held her hips, blushing and laughing. “Goodnight, Ravi.”

__________________

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

[Ravi FitzCoventry]

Originally Posted By: Atomicweasel

"Goodnight, Ravi."

Her flushed face, hazel eyes sparkling with mirth as she swiped a strand of chocolate-brown hair aside and looked back up at him, served to lighten Ravi's mood considerably.

"Well..." he almost purred, his voice soft and deep as he leaned closer to the laughing girl: not really vamping Mari so much as giving her more giggle-fodder. "I could always come in for coffee." His hands didn't move from her hips, a fact that Mari was acutely conscious of as she looked up into Ravi's gorgeous eyes. She was dimly aware of the leap in her pulse at his words and their tone, but the teen's agile mind was thankfully more aware of the slight smile dancing around the handsome mouth.

"I don't have any coffee." She poked him in the ribs with an impish smile of her own. "But I do have a roommate, and Ms Dorn's room is just down the hall." Ravi's comically affected look of conspiratorial chagrin made her giggle again.

"Drat. Foiled yet again." He grinned at Mari, his good-humor plain and untainted by his usual wry cynicism. "Well there's always MY roo-" Mari cut him off with a finger to his lips, which was in itself a wonderful excuse to touch him. She had to concentrate on not letting her finger trace their outline.

"No. And no." Her open smile belied her mock-scolding tone. Ravi sighed theatrically and stepped back, letting his hands slide from her hips - slowly, she noticed, as her body did another little internal leap.

"Goodnight, Maria Juliana Palacios." Ravi said with a slight bow, his formality somewhat offset by the rakish look his glittering green eyes gave Mari from under long lashes. He smiled as he straightened, the shadow that had plagued him seemingly dispersed by her radiance. "Sweet dreams."

"'Night." Mari said, taking a long moment to watch Ravi's graceful form saunter off in the direction of the boy's side of Lancaster. With a little sigh that seemed to come from her boots, she slipped into her room, hoping that Rachel would be asleep...

No such luck. Rachel was watching a movie on her computer, the flickering light of the images the only illumination in the room besides a dim bedside lamp. She looked round as the door opened,and as soon as the latch clicked, Mari's roomie hit pause and pounced.

"Okay, tell me everything. And I mean everything. Where'd he take you? Did he like the shirt? Does he have a hot car? Guy like him, he better. How far did you let him get? Was it everything you (and most of the women in the school) have dreamed of?" The flow of questions stopped for a moment as Rachel blinked and pointed. "And is that his coat?" She came out of her chair, looking closely at the tightly-knit wool blazer.

"Wow, family crest on the lapel. Schmancy." She squinted in the dim light. "Looks like black lions on a gold and green field. You think that's real gold?" Rachel ran her fingers over the emblem before Mari caught up with the realisation that she was still wearing the garment in question.

"OH! I've got to go give this back. I was cold and he- I've gotta go and catch him." Rachel nodded agreement.

"Yeah, catch him quick. You don't want to knock on his room door - It'd give him totally the wrong idea. Y'know, like you want to sleep with him. Cos that'd be terrible!" Mari gave a little meeping sound, and Rachel laughed. "I was teasing. Go on, tell all when you get back."

* * * * * * *

Kurt Issein was not a bad person. He was an average teenage Junior and quite badly spoiled thanks to rich doting parents, as he was their only child. Home-schooled by private tutors for much of his life, his father had decided that a prestigious academy such as Dalton would be the perfect place to finish shining up his crown jewel.

Kurt didn't really get on well at Dalton. Used to being the focus of his tutors and parental figures, he resented all of the 'brothers and sisters' he had to share resources with. When he started noticing girls, it was with the bafflement of a fish that hadn't worked out the fine details of how to touch-type. He was by turns an overbearingly boor or a sulky wallflower, neither of which the young ladies of Dalton found particularly interesting or, for that matter, attractive. This, of course, led to a sharp, snarky attitude that won him few friends. Of course, Kurt didn't want friends. Especially the too-cool-for-school types like Ryan Jackson or the sports field jocks like Sean Cassidy. No, especially not them, whom he didn't envy at all. To his list of friends he didn't want or envy he had added Ravi FitzCoventry. Oh, how he especially disliked that one, who seemed to get on so easily and well with Jackson and Cassidy, and who had all the girls talking about him (Kurt liked to eavesdrop, in case someone talked about him. Disappointingly, this seldom seemed to be the case, and then never positively.)

And now Ravi FitzCoventry had taken that sweet Mari Palacios out on a date, and had probably gotten to at least second base with her, what with his fancy car and cool clothes. And worse, he'd had her giggling at her door while Kurt listened from the stairwell, trying to overhear what they were talking about so he, too, could make girls like Mari blush and giggle and not mind if he had his hands on their hips! Of course, he hadn't heard anything useful except Ravi's final farewell, which made Kurt roll his eyes. Okay, fine, so he was an English lord or whatever. Big whoop. Like they were relevant to jack and shit since the Dark Ages, anyway!

So when Ravi came up the stairs whistling to himself, Kurt Issein was leaning against the wall in the corridor, textbook in hand as though he'd been reading, which would have raised suspicion if Ravi wasn't in such high spirits. As it was, he gave the vaguely familiar face a nod as he passed. It was too much: Kurt couldn't resist.

"Nice date with the ghetto-girl?" he asked snidely, almost under his breath. Ravi, though, stopped dead with his back to Kurt, head cocked to one side as he replied over one shoulder without turning around.

"I beg your pardon?"

"You know: Mari? The girl from the Bronx or whatever." Kurt smiled as Ravi turned around, a strangely neutral look on his model-quality features. Kurt took Ravi's silence for confusion. "Oh, you didn't know? She's a scholarship kid from New York. Man, she has some top class ass for a bottom-drawer girl though, doesn't she?" Kurt grinned, thinking that he was destroying this aristocrat's interest in Mari. "I'll bet she knows her way around, too. Girls grow up fast in the inner city areas. I was gonna tap that myse-uuULK!"

It had happened too fast for Kurt to follow. One second, FitzCoventry was staring at him and the next, Kurt was slammed into the wall behind him with bone rattling force, one browned hand around his throat and the other gripping his crotch. He tried to swat the hands away, but Ravi's grip was strong, horribly strong. With fear and shock, Kurt realised he was being held six inches off the ground. He managed to get a choked gasp of pain out around the strangle as he felt his privates being squeezed. Hard.

"Maria Juliana Palacios is from Queens." The voice was part malicious hiss, part low menacing growl as Ravi's eyes bored into his captive. Kurt struggled to free himself, but a shockingly animal snarl interrupted him. "I wasn't finished!" Kurt froze, eyes wide as he looked into Ravi's gaze and saw only pain waiting there.

"As I was saying... Maria Juliana Palacios is from Queens. She likes ice-cream, but not the cheap yellow kind. She has two sisters and a mother that love her and protect her and have raised the closest thing to an angel you, or I for that matter, will ever meet." Ravi bared his teeth, fighting the urge to rip this idiots face off. "She is sweet, and caring, and would probably be more horrified at what I'm going to do to you than at the things you said about her." Ravi's face moved closer, the growl more evident in his voice. "Which is why I'm very, very angry about this. And you're going to be very, very sorry."

[Atomicweasel]

Would Ravi really think she wanted to sleep with him just for knocking on his door? Why do I even listen to Rachel? Mari asked herself as she left her room. I don’t even know what room he’s in… she agonized. Determined to catch up with him before he got away from her entirely, Mari padded quickly down the hall with Ravi’s elegant blazer folded over her arm.

I wonder what kind of music he likes, Mari mused as she reached the stairwell and hesitated between going up and going down. She thought she remembered someone saying only frosh lived on the first floor, so Mari started up the stairs, ruminating on Ravi’s possible musical preferences. It was a sure thing he wouldn’t like Reggaeton, and he probably wouldn’t share her secret love of Johnny Cash—a love that had cost her days of merciless ribbing from Yani, you like old man music! until Eli had come to her rescue, she can like who she wants, leave her alone about it. Probably he liked British bands. Maybe techno. Europeans liked techno, didn’t they? Maybe he would like DJ Shadow. That would be okay, Mari decided.

She had just reached the top of the stairs when she heard the sound. It sounded like someone trying to whistle through a straw. A desperate sibilant whimper.

* * * * * * *

Kurt very much wanted to scream. Ravi’s grip on his testicles had gone from unbearable to agonizing. His face had turned red then purple as he struggled to draw breath. It felt like his lungs were in his balls. And Ravi was crushing all the air out of them. His hands clawed urgently at Ravi’s wrist, but the dusky skinned boy held tight with an impossible strength. He couldn’t budge that arm. He couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t scream. He would’ve given anything for it to stop. And then, incredibly, it did…

* * * * * * *

Mari stepped out of the stairwell into the hallway and stared in disbelief. Ravi was holding a boy by his neck and groin, lifting him into the air and holding him against the wall. The boy’s face was all tears and snot and the funny little noise was coming from his open gasping mouth. And then Ravi turned to look at her and his eyes were like green rings of fire. What she saw in those eyes made Mari take an involuntarily step back, made the little hairs on the back of her neck prickle with terror. It was animal and cruel. It was alien. It was the same look that had flashed in Ravi’s eyes the moment before he’d bitten her. Mari’s breath caught in her throat, but somehow she found the bravery to stand her ground and speak.

“Ravi, stop!”

Something in the tone of Mari’s voice cut through the savage haze that had dropped over Ravi’s eyes like a veil. The satisfaction he had felt in Kurt’s suffering turned to shocked realization, I’m killing him, and he let go.

Kurt fell to the ground in a puddle. He curled into a ball and finally gave voice to his wounded sobs, pressed his face into the hallway carpet, and cradled his shattered nuts in his hands. He felt the bile rise up in his throat and tried hard not to vomit.

Ravi’s blazer hung from Mari’s hand at the end of her limp arm. She stood as if rooted in place and her pretty hazel eyes brimmed with tears. “What’s wrong with you?” Mari whispered.

__________________

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

[Ravi FitzCoventry]

"I..." Ravi was, again, at a loss to explain himself. What had tasted fine a few moments ago, the savage satisfaction of meting out pain to a crass boor, turned to ashes in his mouth as he saw Mari's tears. He looked down at the pitiable human being on the floor, the look in his eyes a plain window to the thoughts in his mind: I did this...? The young aristocrat lifted a hand and ran it over his face as though waking up, then smoothed back his hair before looking back at Mari with eyes that still gleamed, though dim compared to the green fire of a few seconds ago. Ravi's blood felt heated, as though he were running a fever. When he spoke, it was barely more than a murmur, but the haunted look in his eye was terrible to see.

"I don't know what's wrong with me." He looked down at Kurt again. "He... said some things. About you. But I..." He shook his head slightly, then looked back at the slender girl staring at him, his gaze lingering on the bruised lip before meeting her eyes.

"Don't... Don't look at me like that. This isn't me! I would never..." He looked again at her bruised lip and winced, then down at Kurt, who by now had propped himself into a sitting position against the wall and was watching Ravi fearfully. But I did, and I have, and it felt good. What's happening to me?! Ravi's shoulders slumped and he shook his head again, taking a step away from both her and Kurt. Mari matched his step, unsure whether she was afraid of him... or for him. She was about to speak when Ravi raised a hand, warding her away.

"I think... I think I should be alone." He dropped his eyes, his demeanour one of uncertainty. "Please. Uh... Keep the blazer for me." Green eyes flicked up to regard her for a moment and the ghost of a smile curved his taut lips. "It looks good on you." Suddenly he stiffened, and Mari saw his eyes open startlingly wide.

He felt the hot breath on the back of his neck, the fangs grazing his shoulder...

"I have to go." Ravi said abruptly before turning and walking swiftly towards his room, his body stiff and straight. Behind him, Mari could have sworn that the look on Ravi's face before he turned was one of fear...

[Atomicweasel]

Kurt snuffled back his tears with a groan. He watched Mari as she stood there with Ravi’s blazer in her hand looking like she’d just seen her house burn down. The stupid stunned look on her face made him feel a surge of hurt and anger. How could a sweet piece of ass like her care about that son of a bitch, Fitzcoventry? “Your boyfriend’s a fucking jerk!” he spat at Mari, his voice cracking with emotion “And he better watch his fucking back!” It was a hollow and empty threat, but it made Kurt feel a little better.

Mari glanced at the boy crumpled against the hallway, who glared back at her with hostile red-rimmed eyes. His face was puffy from crying and he was shaking with the outrage and indignation of what had been done to him. When she stepped toward him he flinched and threw his arms up protectively, but Mari simply crouched on her heels beside him. She reached out. She gently touched his shoulder. “I’m sorry.” She said softly.

You’re sorry? Fuck your ‘I’m sorry!’ Kurt wanted to howl in Mari’s pretty face. But her beautiful hazel eyes were fixed on him so earnestly. He felt a confused knot tie itself into his guts. He wanted to hurt her. He wanted to yell at her that she was a fucking ghetto slut and a whore and a guy like Fitzcoventry only wanted her for a fuck and nothing more. He wanted to, but couldn’t. The words stuck in his throat. He wanted to touch her hair. He wanted to bury his face in her small breasts and sob his heart out. He could only watch, helplessly, as she rose back to her feet and chased after Ravi. It wasn’t until she’d turned the corner that Kurt realized his pain was gone. Utterly and completely gone.

* * * * *

“Ravi, Ravi wait!” Mari called as she raced down the hallway and reached Ravi just as he was opening the door to his room.

Ravi turned toward her with a cornered expression. “Look, this...it’s not a good time. I need,” To run. To feel the grass under my feet and the wind whistling through my hair. “I need to clear my head. I can’t even think straight right now.”

“I just want to talk.” Mari answered quietly. She stepped closer and Ravi could sense the soft promise of her warm nubile little body. All he had to do was reach out and seize it. The scent of her hair, clean and sweet, filled his senses. He thought he could hear her heart beating, frightened and excited, and it made him dizzy with a wild rush of adrenaline.

“Mari. Listen to me.” Ravi had to curl his hands into fists to keep himself from yanking Mari to him. He felt feverish. Crazed. Like he was trapped in his own skin. “I need you to go back to your room. Okay? Go to your room. Go to bed. There’s something...happening. And I don’t want to hurt you.” He had grabbed her without even knowing what he was doing. Without even thinking it. He was squeezing her slender biceps hard, his thumbs pressing into the smooth skin beneath the cuffs of her tee shirt.

She smiled a brave little smile, made all the more endearing and irresistable by her bruised lower lip. “So don’t.” Mari said, echoing what they’d said to each other when they’d met by the bench earlier this same night. “I trust you.”

Click to reveal..

OH NOES...Ravi is being inspired! To do what...I leave up to Ravi. 10d10.hitsopen(8,10)=2

__________________

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

[Ravi FitzCoventry]

"You shouldn't." Ravi said quietly, but the young man visibly calmed at the sight of the smile on Mari's lovely face and relaxed his grip on her arms, letting his hands fall to his sides. He was calm(-ish) when he looked at her, but there was some tumult raging behind the calm. Mari could feel it around her: a faint intangible pressure in the air as though her and Ravi were in the eye of a storm.

He took a deep breath to steady himself, then abruptly placed his hand against the wall for further support. He could taste Mari on the air as though she were kissing him, smell her shampoo and the wispy perfume of her deodorant and the soap she used on her smooth, soft skin... His blood raced around his veins; he could picture her lips bruised red with his kisses and her voice crying his name in sweet, birdlike sounds of passion- No. She's just a child. But she didn't smell like a child...

"You shouldn't." Ravi said again, straightening up and letting go of the wall. "Not when I can't even trust myself." He looked around as though expecting to see something behind him, then blinked and looked back at Mari. He forced a smile. "Mari, it's easy to say 'so don't', but what if I'm crazy? I feel..." he searched for words. "Alive. Really, really alive. So full of life that it's trying to get out."

It paced in the darkness, back and forth, back and forth. Eyes like gold-flecked emeralds gleamed in the dimness, set against a backdrop of velvet...

"That doesn't sound so bad." Mari told him with another gentle smile, reaching for his face with a slender hand. Ravi caught it, carefully, as though catching fine porcelain.

"Believe me, it is." He looked her in the eye. "I feel like running, and fighting, and..." he hesitated right on the verge of saying it. "Well, you know. I feel angry one second and scared the next. I've been having those dreams..." He looked away from her, unable to bear the tender empathy of her gaze. "Something's wrong with me, Mari." he murmured finally.

[Atomicweasel]

Mari looked searchingly at Ravi. She didn’t have an easy answer for him. Clearly, he was telling the truth. She had only to see the troubled intensity of his golden green eyes to know that. She remembered back to their first meeting in the library. He’d been having one of those dreams then. She remembered the haunted and hunted look of him when he’d come awake. Somehow he had reached out to her through his dreams. She had been brought to him for a reason. Mari couldn’t just turn her back on him now and let him drown in his nightmare.

She placed Ravi’s blazer back in his arms. She wanted to hug him and tell him everything would be okay, but what good would it do to throw him empty platitudes? Mari took a deep breath, her mind racing for something right to say. She chased away the unwanted visions of Ravi throwing himself from the roof of Lancaster Hall. Of Ravi strolling down the hall with a butcher knife in his hand and a maniac’s grin on his face. Of Ravi ripping her shirt apart like tissue paper. That’s stupid. Mari assured herself, blushing. Ravi wouldn’t do any of that. He just needed to break free of whatever dark impulses had taken hold of him. He just needed help.

“You wanna go for a run?” Mari asked suddenly. “Sometimes when I’m upset, or I just feel like nothing’s making sense, I go for a run.” she explained shyly.

__________________

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

[Ravi FitzCoventry]

He smiled. Despite all his troubles, despite the sense of something savage lurking inside his soul, Ravi smiled at Mari. It was a clear, open and genuinely grateful smile, which wasn't a usual visitor to the jaded young man's features, and highlighted his extraordinary looks in an entirely different fashion. On impulse he leaned forward and kissed Mari's cheek, then withdrew, still smiling slightly.

"I would love to go for a run, and thank you for the offer." He told her. Then a thought hit him and his face fell somewhat. "But it's already close to curfew." A glance at his watch confirmed that statement. "Damn it. Five minutes till." He shook his head ruefully, then gave Mari another faint smile.

"We could always go for a run in the morning... But I hate getting up in the morning." He shrugged and Mari had to grin at the insousciant elegance of that simple gesture. It was 'normal' Ravi, the Ravi who'd charmed and flustered her in that first meeting. "The only good thing about mornings is the rebellious act of staying in bed." He grinned at her, and the cloud that had been plaguing him since the cinema seemed to lift.

"Well..." Mari peered up at him past her tumble of hair, suddenly shy at the unabashed smile he had given her as well as the kiss. "Are you going to be okay?" Ravi took a deep breath and blew it out, then nodded, head canted to one side as he looked at her.

"I think so. I'll probably have bad dreams again tonight, but there's nothing you can do about that." His gentle smile turned roguish for an instant. "Well, nothing that wouldn't upset Ms Dorn if she were to find out." he teased. Mari went beet red and giggled.

"Seriously, though, I think it'll be alright. It's the weekend, I'll try to relax and dump some stress. Come Monday, if I'm not feeling better, I'll go see the Academy counsellor." Ravi reassured the girl.

[Atomicweasel]

“Okay, well...goodnight then, I guess.” Mari took a reluctant step back from Ravi. “Maybe if you get a chance you could um, tell that boy you’re sorry.” Ravi stared at her and Mari’s blush deepened. “Maybe not right away. When you cool down. Maybe.”

“Maybe.” Ravi rubbed his jaw, remembering the things Kurt had said. Apologize to that miserable little cretin? Unlikely.

“Well, bye. Goodnight.” Mari said again, unnecessarily. She gave Ravi a wave and turned to go, but as he was closing his door she spun back again. “Ravi?”

Ravi’s head emerged into the hallway, eyebrow quirked upward. “Did you decide to have that coffee after all?” he teased, delighting in how easily he could make Mari blush right to her roots.

“No,” Mari unsuccessfully fought a bashful smile, “I just wanted to say, that um...” abruptly she felt an acute awareness of the distance between her and Ravi. His easy way with words. His confidence. His money and status. Why did she feel such a strong connection to him? Why was it so easy to forget the obstacles in their way when he smiled at her, just like he was smiling at her now. It was such a leap, from Mari Palacios to Ravi Fitzcoventry. And yet Mari felt like all she had to do was close her eyes and take a small step and she could reach out and touch him and make all the obstacles meaningless. The feeling filled her with a dizzy kind of elation, it grew too big for her, and suddenly she couldn’t wait to rush down and tell Rachel everything. “I mean, I just want you to know, if you ever need me” Mari briefly held the sides of her head, as if somehow that might help her keep her blush from spilling out, then pushed her hands through her hair. “I mean. If you need my help or anything—“

“I know,” Ravi grinned, deciding to spare Mari any further mortification—charming though it was to watch her squirm. “thank you.”

“Okay.” Mari gave voice to her relief with an embarrassed giggle. “Okay, goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Mari.” Ravi agreed and chuckled to himself as she turned and scampered off.

* * * * * * *

“Well?” Rachel demanded, turning away from her laptop as soon as Mari stepped back into their room.

“I don’t even know where to start...”

“Sit.” Rachel pointed imperiously at her bed. Mari sat. “First of all, are you having his babies—yes or no?”

“Rachel,” Mari groaned, rolling her eyes and turning bright red.

“Yes or no?”

“NOooo...”

“No, or not yet?”

“NO!” Mari protested.

“Not before marriage you mean?” Rachel snickered.

“I’m not going to tell you if you’re just gonna make fun of me,” Mari threatened.

“Shhh. Baby. You know I didn’t mean it.” Rachel reached over to pat her roommate’s knee as Mari gave her a reproachful and long-suffering sigh. “Did you hold hands?”

“Kinda. I guess.” Mari pressed her knees together. “Not the whole time.”

“Did you kiss?”

“Yeah,” Mari brightened into big grin.

“Tongue or no tongue?” Rachel pressed.

“Tongue!” Mari admitted, hiding her face behind her hands.

“You slut.” Rachel quipped, and they both erupted into giggles. “Tits?”

“What do you mean, tits!?” Mari exclaimed.

“Did you let him touch your tits?” Rachel elaborated.

“No! I mean...he didn’t even try to.” Mari’s blush was firmly back in place.

“That’s weird.” Rachel frowned, then leaned forward again to peer into Mari’s face.

“What?” Mari asked self-consciously, as Rachel’s straight Roman nose came ever closer.

“Your lip.”

“Oh. That.”

Rachel looked at Mari expectantly. Mari dropped flat onto her roommate’s bed, stared up at the ceiling dreamily. “He bit me.”

__________________

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